As the e-commerce industry continues to evolve due to significant advancements in technology, there are endless opportunities to start your own e-commerce business or move an existing business online.
With frequently changing rules and regulations, it’s important to consider the challenges that come with starting your business as well. Below are some of the main obstacles you may have to face in the initial stages of your e-commerce journey, along with some tips and tools that can help you deal with them.
What are the challenges and how can you overcome them?
Finding the right product
You may have an existing business and a loyal customer base before making the move to e-commerce, but for those looking to start a new business, finding the right product to sell is critical. As Amazon takes over the e-commerce market, where you can get almost any product from one place, and other players provide access to Chinese manufacturers at a low price, you need a unique product or selling point to attract customers to your site. Always study the competition carefully and make sure you stand out from the crowd.
Traffic targeting
Digital marketing channels are evolving and retailers must rely on more than one type of channel to drive traffic to their online stores through the use of SEO and social media. Marketing channels and the approach they use should be tailored to their target audience and monitored to ensure that efforts are directed where the audience is engaging.
Online sellers can spend a significant amount of money driving traffic to their online store, while the conversion rate is usually low. The key to success is building a long-term email subscriber list where you can target your audience for leads and maintain engagement with existing customers.
Customer retention
Attracting new customers is more expensive and time-consuming than retaining existing ones. It is therefore important that retailers get the most out of their customers in order to retain them for the future.
Step one ensures that the initial transaction is a smooth and easy process that makes them want to come back through impeccable customer service, products are easy to browse and the important payment step is easy to navigate. Then you need to maintain customer acquisition through targeted marketing and promotion.
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