It might sound obvious, but ecommerce is business. And businesses need customers to grow their operations. However, they also need to grow their operations to reach new customers. It’s a bit of a Catch–22.
Luckily, it’s simple enough to grow your online business if you know the tips and tricks of the trade. Below are six easy ways to expand your ecommerce business.
Keep Social Outreach Top of Mind
Social media is a dream come true for online marketers. Free to use, it’s also a form of advertising users actually want to see. Knowing this offers ecommerce vendors great power. If you post images, text and deals customers want to see, they will return to your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter pages again and again. They will even promote your online brand to friends and family. Good social media marketing makes shoppers happy which, in turn, rewards you with more customers.
Retarget Customers
One–time buyers are great. But they are far less valuable than return shoppers or lifelong customers. You might be thinking it is impossible to tell who is who, but you’d be wrong. It’s actually possible to convert a one–and–done consumer to a loyal buyer. There’s a couple ways to do this. You can:
These suggestions will help keep your brand top of mind. And, in many cases, that’s enough to hold onto a shopper for life.
Find a Local Supplier
It doesn’t really matter if your business is regional or international; it always helps to find a local supplier. Why? Because it’s much cheaper to get products (or material) from these vendors. It is also likely that you will establish an ongoing relationship and they will cut you a deal for your continued business.
Plan to Scale
Let’s say you are more than ready to handle an influx of new customers. You have a ton of product in storage. Your shipping company is top–notch. And your marketing techniques are enticing everyone and their moms to visit your e–store. But wait… the website crashed. What happened?
Some ecommerce sites cannot handle excessive web traffic. So, they crash, which prevents customers from making purchases or even seeing your offerings. Believe it or not, this happens all the time. If you want to avoid website scalability issues, you’ll need to adopt an enterprise level ecommerce solution like Shopify that can handle massive amounts of traffic.
Make the Jump to Mobile
Speaking of web usability, more and more online shoppers are looking for mobile–compatible ecommerce sites. If your website is slow and clunky when rendered on a mobile phone, you are likely losing out on potential sales.
To remedy this situation, you’ll need to work with a website developer to make your site ready for mobile; or ask your ecommerce platform provider if they offer mobile compatibility.
Go International
If you really want to expand your reach, you’ll have to break out of your comfort zone. International ecommerce stores serve customers all over the world. However, there are a few things you’ll need to consider if you decide to go this route, such as:
This tip admittedly pushes the boundaries on “easy,” but it can instantly turn a small audience of potential shoppers into a global marketplace. Are you ready for the challenge?