The modern entrepreneur has more tools and opportunities available for starting a business than ever. E-commerce is a particularly attractive option for many reasons, not least of which is its continued growth rate. In 2018, e-commerce sales grew 22.8% compared to the previous year, and they’re projected to continue increasing for the foreseeable future. E-commerce is now one of the largest forces in the global economy, and the most successful businesses need to have an online presence.
You have several advantages when starting an e-commerce business. Firstly, technology now is better than ever, and there are several options for website builders that make it easy to get started. The internet has also made it easier for small businesses to compete, and you may not need much equipment to get started depending on the scope of your business. Besides, you can always scale your business up later. Just be sure to follow some essential guidelines to get started.
Have a Big Launch
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in the beginning is rushing the launch of your site. It’s perfectly fine to go ahead and buy a domain name and set up some kind of placeholder page. Your big reveal, though, needs to be an event, and you need to be ready. This means you need to lay the groundwork in advance. Connect on social media, secure some paid advertising if you can, and definitely have a strategy to bring in traffic.
SEO is essential for your business, and you want to start ranking up in search results from the start. You need to have a plan for creating engaging content that will bring users to you. Creating content like blog posts and video guides is cost-effective and can easily bring more visitors to your site. You might also consider working with other site owners in your niche to make mutually beneficial content. Guest blogging is a good example of this. You need a plan from the beginning to get the most out of your launch window.
Provide a Great User Experience
Your users are your customer base and biggest supporters, so you’ll need to do everything you can to give them a positive experience. This definitely means optimizing your site for mobile devices so these users can browse your site easily. Time spent on mobile devices has surpassed the time spent on TV for many adults, meaning that mobile purchases will continue to dominate. Failing to focus on mobile will not only hurt your business now—it could make you entirely irrelevant in a few years.
Focus on Customer Support
Your customer support efforts will also play a huge role in customer experience. Customers should be able to get in contact easily and depending on the size of your business, you may have a dedicated customer support team. If so, you could greatly benefit from call center monitoring software. This makes quality assurance simple since you can monitor calls and determine the effectiveness of your methods and agents. If there are flaws in your support network, you’ll be able to quickly identify them and improve on them.
Even if you’re running a small business on your own, you should offer customers multiple ways to get in touch with you. They’ll appreciate the convenience and the option of using their preferred method.
Shop Smart
Naturally, it’s not just your customers who will be shopping. You need to get your supplies from somewhere, and it’s always worth it to seek out the best deals. This is where thestore can help. TheStore is a B2C (business-to-consumer) tech outlet that sells brand name products at wholesale prices. While your business may not be centered around gadgets, it’s hard to deny the pull they have with customers. Providing them with an affordable deal on a device they want may encourage them to browse the rest of your inventory.
