20 TIPS FOR STARTING AN ECOMMERCE BUSINESS IN 2021
Starting a new business is very exciting as you experience everything for the first time. However, sometimes people tend to get too excited about the wrong things and later on make mistakes that can be avoided if noticed early. Runrex.com compiled 20 of the top tips on starting an e-commerce business in 2021.
Experimentation
For you to really succeed, you will have to be willing to experiment, you need to make adverts for different products. This will later on bring traffic and thus drive your sales forward. After creating profitable adverts, you can start on your website as stated by guttulus.com
Don’t pocket the profit
This is where the phrase use money to make money comes into play. You need not pocket the profits just yet, as you will need to re-invest money into your business for it to grow. Runrex.com experts point out that you can spend your profit money in advertising instead of buying more equipment.
Commit to a schedule
When you are new to ecommerce, you will want to follow a consistent schedule so that your customers can know when to check back on you. So if you commit to a blog, adding posts on the same day, you encourage people to check back more often.
Build out your channels from day one
Runrex.com experts uncovered that by posting on social media after buying your store domain name will help in building an audience for your brand. Immediately your store is launched, you will want to start collecting contact information in form of email addresses so as to build referral traffic.
Create a loyalty program
A survey done by Guttulus.com, indicates that most of the companies that crested a loyalty the customers were retained. In this case the goal is to keep the and grow the customer repeat purchase. The outcome of this is that the older loyal customers will keep coming back and out buying the new customers.
Create product videos
The average human mind visualizes almost every bit of information it acquires for example, if the word cat is brought up, the mind will automatically picture an animal instead of maybe thinking of a continuous assessment test. So by creating a video, you can first of all use it as a marketing tool and secondly to show different product angles.
Never compete on prices
One of the main and most important tools you need to keep in mind is that you have to stay profitable no matter what happens. Most new businesses fall into the trap of outpricing the competition. One thing is that customers will always pay fair prices regardless of where they get the product they are looking for. so if your prices are different you will lose all your customers even the loyal ones.
Automate your business
Technology has played a very big role in making work easier as uncovered by runrex.com panelists. So by automating most of the business, you will be able to concentrate on other matters.
Never fall prey to your weakness
According to guttulus.com, in any business you cannot do everything perfectly, there will be things you will do better than others and other things you not be able to do at all. For you to overcome this, you will need to perfect on what your good at and later on look for someone who will do what you cannot do.
Add a flash sale section
Urgency is the driving force in this case in your business. One of the easiest ways to do this is to add a flash sale section in your store. The products placed in this section should always be rotated at least once a week as stated by runrex.com.
Share customer photos
When you start getting your first few sales, you can ask your customers to take pictures with your products and later on post the photos. It may not always be customers, but you can include friends and maybe family members.
Market your store beyond adverts
Running adverts is one of your stores biggest money maker projects. In this case you need to stop limiting yourself to just Facebook, twitter and Instagram. Take the time to drive traffic to your e-commerce stores through blogs, word of mouth and popular magazines
Free app trials
Guttulus.com experts uncover that you need to experiment on many apps to realize which of them works for you perfectly. You will need to ensure that you have traffic and sales coming through in order for you to figure out which apps are most effective.
Do not hide behind books
More sales will not come if you keep on researching. You will learn more by trying out and googling the next step when you get stuck. Runrex.com panelists point out that mistakes are inevitable in a growing ecommerce.
Set smart goals
Having a smart goal will determine whether you will achieve your goals or you will fail in all your endeavors. Something that you should not forget is that you goals need to be well defined and also at the same time they should be founded on the basis of logics. Guttulus.com advise that you should place a timeline that will force you to achieve your goals.
Think of ways to make your customers feel great.
By staying in touch with your customers, you will make them feel appreciated and later on they will keep coming back to your store. Another way to make them feel appreciated, you can host a customer appreciation event where you give them access to new products at low prices.
Start building links
The more links bringing traffic to your websites the less you will spend on adverts. You can do this by promoting your products on relevant blogs or magazines. Once you have gotten more links to your websites, you can retarget them to your best selling product which will be a lot cheaper.
Know your customers and get to know their needs
Runrex.com experts point out that the best thing to do is to ask questions for example, you can use email and ask questions to get feedback on the product they are using. Also it is a way to know which other products can be added to your inventory.
Make marketing your main focus
You should be posting from time to time if not several times. Next thing you should be able to contact magazines and blogs about featuring your products. Guttulus.com advise that you need to make sure that you create a budget for advertising.
Join a Facebook group for support
One of the best ecommerce tips for new entrepreneurs is to join an ecommerce Facebook group. By doing this, you will be able to learn some few pointers from them. Most of the people in this group will have more experience.