Why Your Ecommerce Business Is Floundering, And What To Do About It

Starting up a new ecommerce business is an adventure. At each stage, there are opportunities to exploit and hurdles to overcome. For instance, you might have just set up an ecommerce store. And, suddenly, your home has suddenly become a makeshift warehouse. Or you may be looking to take your business to the next stage by offering services to customers overseas.

Whatever stage you are at, in ecommerce, marketing is everything. But sometimes, businesses can get marketing wrong. And as a result, they start floundering. Thus, every so often, it’s important to step back. Think about whether you’ve got your marketing strategy right. The following are some of the things that you’re getting wrong when it comes to marketing and what they can do about it.

Not Generating Automated Email Marketing

Ask most ecommerce businesses and they’ll tell you that email marketing is the cornerstone of their marketing. Email keeps companies in contact with their customers and hopefully keeps customers interested.

Large companies have sophisticated automated email systems. These work by recording customer preferences and sending them deals based on these. For instance, if you bought a digital camera, Ebuyer will then send you deals on related products and accessories.

Failing To Offer Adequate POS Facilities

When customers come to your online store they expect a minimum level of service, just as they would in a regular store. But because the store is digital, it’s often harder to see exactly where your level of service isn’t high enough.

One of the major complaints from customers is a lack of point of sale functionality. Customers want a retail POS that provides them with parked sales facilities, account options and store credits. But all too often, these facilities are missing from the online checkout. To improve your service, invest in POS and give your customers the things that they want. Ideas include allowing customers to save their baskets, use gift cards, split payments with other customers and so on.

Not Bumping Up Your Delivery Options

We’ve had online shopping for over two decades now. And while the high street has taken a hit, it’s not completely disappeared. Why? Well, it’s mainly because when you buy something on the high street, you get it instantly. With online stores, customers have to wait around for a couple of days before they can get their hands on the product.

Some companies, however, do everything they can to speed up this process. Take Zappos, for instance. This online retailer saw that its customers weren’t too happy with waiting for their parcels to arrive. So they came up with a VIP courier solution. Most customers get their rapid delivery option. But some lucky customers, chosen at random, have their shipments expedited by courier. It’s all part of the company’s effort to make their customers feel special and stand out from the crowd.

Failing To Use The Power Of Photos

Want people to start clicking more on your links? Then start using photos. The higher the quality of your photos, the more likely that visits to your site will result in conversions.