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Compete With The E-Commerce Giants

A lot of people want to open their own e-commerce store. However, a lot of people don’t feel like they can compete with the big names in e-commerce.

If you feel this way, you shouldn’t give up on your dreams. If you want your shop to be a success, consider these tips!

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Specialize Your Selection

Stores like Amazon are successful because they offer everything. No matter what you’re shopping for, you should be able to find it on Amazon!  With that said, there are a lot of people that appreciate a more specialized selection. As an example, Modcloth was able to go from a tiny company to a major player because of their carefully-chosen selection of products. People loved being able to browse their curated selection.

You don’t have to offer everything to customers. You can beat e-commerce giants at their own game by offering a niche selection of products.

Prioritize The User Experience

When people shop at big stores, they don’t get special treatment. These companies have so many customers that they can’t afford to give anyone personalized treatment. They have to treat them all the same way.  You may want to consider making a point of prioritizing the user experience. Work to make sure that all of your customers feel special. Try to show your customers that you appreciate their business. If you show your customers that they are valued, they’ll want to shop with you again.

Engage With People On Social Media

Start spending more time on social media. Work to interact with customers and potential customers directly. Talk to them and listen to their input.  Big companies can’t respond to everyone. If you’re a small company, you can listen to everyone that sends you a message.

People have a lot of choices when they make purchases. If you want them to choose you, you can make a point of answering their questions and listening to their requests. Your big competition won’t be able to do that.

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Don’t Make Too Many Changes

Change can be a good thing. However, change can also be alienating to consumers. If a big site changes its layout, a lot of people may not want to shop on that site anymore.

Making changes is a calculated risk. If your site is already doing very well, and your customers seem happy with it, then you shouldn’t feel obligated to change things. Only make changes when the benefits are clear.

Changes can scare customers away from the e-commerce giants, and they can bring them directly to your door. You can capitalize on these changes if you play your cards right.

More marketing tips for E-Commerce Business

Marketing Tips For E-Commerce Businesses

Do you have an E-commerce business? Do you want to make more sales? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then keep on reading.

If you want to have a successful and profitable business, you need to know how to properly market your website. After all, the more targeted traffic you get to your website, the more sales you will naturally get. So, for this article, we’ll be looking at a few ways that you can increase your visitors and achieve your bottom line.

Have a Strong Social Media Presence

Our first tip is you should have a strong social media presence.  This is especially true if you are in a passionate niche. The more people know and interact with your brand on social media, the more they will like and trust you. Once you build up an audience that is a fan of your content and products, the sales will undoubtedly roll in. Therefore, it is imperative that you take the time to create content for social sharing as well as create a strong rapport with your fans across your social media accounts. You can easily double or triple sales by simply linking to your products on your social media platforms once you have built up a strong fan base that is strongly engaged with your brand.

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Focus on Developing Your Website’s SEO

The next tip that will help you to get more traffic is to focus on developing your website’s SEO. SEO or search engine optimization is the process of ranking your e-commerce website for its keywords. The higher you rank in the search engines for your keywords, the more traffic you will naturally get to your website. In order to ensure that extra traffic converts, you should focus on keywords that have strong buyer intent. For example, if you are selling kitchen appliances on your website, then you should be ranking for keywords like “best blender”, “toaster oven reviews” etc.

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Have a Strong Paid Advertising Campaign

In addition to getting traffic through SEO, you should also have a strong paid advertising campaign. SEO can take many months before you reap the benefits but paid traffic is immediate. You should do a lot of testing with your campaigns so that you earn more money than you spend in advertising. This is certainly a process and will take time, however, if you persevere, you will be successful.

Make the Most of Your Current Audience

Besides getting new traffic from SEO and paid advertising, you should try to make the most of your current audience through building an email list. It is imperative that you capture as many email addresses as possible, especially those of actual customers. By doing so, you can re-market directly to your list and get more sales without spending any money on ads or SEO. This is also essential in order to grow your brand and build a long lasting relationship with your customers.

We’ve just covered a few of the top marketing tips for an e-commerce business.  If you implement some of these ideas, you’ll be able to at least double your current sales.

Here you can read about Top Reasons That E-Commerce Business’s Fail

Reviews Can Influence Buying Decisions

These days, consumers don’t have to settle for the products that are readily available to them. They can shop at a number of stores, which means they have plenty of products to choose from.

There are a lot of different factors that influence people’s buying decisions. One of these factors is reviews. Here are some of the ways that reviews can have an impact on what people buy.

 Great Reviews Can Help Put A Product On The Map

A lot of products are able to get noticed because of the strength of their reviews. Great reviews can be a form of advertisement. When people see lots of five-star reviews, they are going to want to take a closer look at what the product has to offer.

People don’t necessarily choose to buy something because of the reviews alone. However, a lot of people wind up buying something because reviews made them check it out.

Bad Reviews Can Scare People Away From A Product

The average person has a limited amount to spend on products. People need to be careful about how they spend their money. No one wants to feel like they wasted their money on something.

When people see that a product has bad reviews, they often feel that the product isn’t a good fit for them. They may not want to take a chance on something that other people have hated. Bad reviews can really hurt a product’s sales potential.

Reviews Allow People To Shop With Confidence

When you’re buying a product that hasn’t been reviewed, you’re taking a gamble. When you buy something that has a lot of reviews, you won’t be taking on such a big risk. You’ll be able to feel a lot more confident about what you are buying.

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People are a lot more likely to make a purchase if they feel confident about what they are buying. Al in all, reviews can have a lot to do with conversion metrics.

If someone is on the fence about buying something, a review may be the thing that pushes them to take the plunge and buy what they want.

E-Commerce Automation – Make Your Life Easier

Running an e-commerce store doesn’t need to take a lot of time and energy. Thankfully, there are plenty of steps you can take if you want to make things easier and who doesn’t want that right?

Automation can really simplify running a business! Here are a few things that you might want to consider automating.

Automated Emails

It’s a good idea to send emails to customers that update them on their purchases. For example, you might want to send out an email that confirms that their order has been received. You may also want to send them an email that tells them when their order is shipped.

Customers really appreciate receiving updates on their orders, but sending emails to all of your customers can take time. If you automate this process, you’ll be able to ensure that all of your customers are having their needs met.

Social Media Posts

Maintaining a presence on social media can play a big role in your success. When you have an active social media account, you’ll be able to make sure that your customers don’t forget about you. They’ll be able to see you and your products in their social media feed.

You don’t have to log into your social media accounts every time that you want to make a post. There are tools that will make it easy for you to schedule some of your social media posts in advance. You can plan out your social media schedule at the end of the day. You’ll be able to stay active on social media all day long.

Mailing Lists

In addition to sending customers emails about their orders, you’ll want to send out messages to remind them of your business and what you offer. As an example, you may want to send a message to someone that hasn’t made a purchase in a while.

You should encourage people to sign up for your mailing list. You might want to offer them some sort of incentive, such as a discount code or a 10% off coupon. Once they’re on your mailing list, you’ll be able to send out automated messages that will convince them to make a purchase.

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How Millennials Have Changed The Way We Buy

It’s clear that the way we buy things has changed dramatically over the last two decades.

Businesses that have been around for a very long time have gone out of business, and new companies have sprung up in their place.

Obviously, we can’t credit all of these changes to millennials. It’s clear that some things would have changed no matter what. That said, it’s just has clear that millennials have had an impact on the way we buy.

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Here are some thoughts on how millennials have changed the consumer world we live in.

Affordability

Millennial’s don’t have the kind of financial opportunities that the generations before them did. A lot of millennials are graduating from school with a large amount of debt, and some students are struggling to find jobs in their field.

Because a lot of millennials have to be careful with their money, many of them try to be smart about what they purchase. They are less likely to buy luxury items and more likely to buy things that offer a lot of value to them.

Convenience

It’s become clear that a lot of millennials prize convenience. According to most classifications, a millennial is someone that came of age at the start of the millennium. This means that most millennials have had internet access for their entire adult life.

Online shopping is something that people of all age groups enjoy, but people in their 20s and 30s make up a big portion of the online shopping market. A lot of millennials make a point of purchasing things with their phones. That means they can buy no matter where they are!

Product Variety

A lot of products that have thrived for generations are now struggling to sell. Millennials aren’t buying items like cereal, soap, and diamonds the way older generations did.

Because millennials have a distinct taste, a lot of manufacturers are trying to offer items that appeal to them. At the same time, there are still companies that are trying to sell the things that older generations love.

Today’s consumers have more options than consumers of the past did, and that has a lot to do with millennials.

Ethical Consumerism

Millennials like to buy products just like other generations do. However, a lot of millennials identify with the things that they buy. Millennials want to make sure that the purchases they are making are ethical. Ethics can actually be a selling point in this day and age!

Companies like Tom’s have been able to succeed because of their ethical practices. Companies that cut corners and treat their employees poorly aren’t doing that well with millennials. While these companies still have an audience, they are struggling to win over the millennial demographic.

It’s clear that millennials have had a big impact on the way that we buy. Now, the generation after the millennials is starting to come of age. It will be interesting to see how this generation winds up impacting our shopping pattern. Let’s see how similar this generation is to millennials.

Top Reasons That E-Commerce Businesses Fail

It can be difficult to ward off concerns when you’re launching a new business. After all, a lot of businesses wind up failing in their first year.  If you’re starting an e-commerce business, you’re going to want to look at the reasons that e-commerce businesses fail so that you might avoid any needless pitfalls. You can learn a lot from the mistakes of others.

They Have A Poor Selection Of Products

You don’t have to offer a huge selection of products in order to run a successful e-commerce business. However, you do have to have an appealing selection of products. You need to make sure that your customers have a reason to place an order.

You should be careful about the kinds of products that you offer. Don’t sell a little bit of everything; try to offer a more specialized selection of products instead. You may not be able to win over every customer, but you will win over the customers that are looking for what you offer.

 They Ignore SEO

It’s going to be hard for you to sell your products if people can’t find your products. You should focus a lot of your attention on SEO. If people are finding your e-commerce site through internet searches, you’ll be able to get a lot of sales.

Search engine optimization is incredibly beneficial. You should start thinking about SEO from the moment you create your site. In many cases, search engines are how your customers are going to find you.

Their Site Is Poorly Designed

If your site is a hassle to use, a lot of people are going to click away and shop somewhere else. A poor site design is going to wind up losing you a lot of business.

A lot of experts say that customers should be able to do what they want to do within three clicks. If you’re making it hard for people to buy from your site, they’re going to turn to another store instead.

You’re also going to want to make sure that your design works on all kinds of devices. If your site lacks responsive design, some customers may not be able to make a purchase through your site.
Don’t scare people away. The easier it is for people to make purchases, the more purchases you’ll get.

They Treat Their Customers Poorly

It’s clear that customer service matters. People don’t always notice average service, but they definitely notice bad service.

You need to make sure you treat customers like they matter to you. You won’t want to treat any of your customers badly. You should make everyone that shops at their store feel like they are valued by you.

If you want your company to be a big success, it’s smart to have to look at the failures of others.

If you think about all of these things as you launch your site, you’ll be able to get your business off to a very strong start.

Building a Successful E-Commerce Site

Due to the fact that your rivals are a mere click away, e-commerce is an extremely competitive field. If customers are not pleased with your site, they simply look for another e-commerce site where they can purchase the products they need. If you want to draw more attention and attract customers, it’s important that your website is as user friendly as it can be.

Regardless of whether you offer the best products on the market or if your prices are the absolute lowest, if customers become confused while attempting to navigate your website, it will likely be difficult to reach a preset target.

What usability really means is that you make your customer´s process of purchasing one that is a simple and quick.

Below are some key tips that I have found useful personally that will help you build the best e-commerce website possible, one that is user friendly and will allow you to create higher conversion rates for your business.

Call-to-Action and Sign-Up Buttons

Steer clear of long signup forms which require visitors to go through a few pages prior to being able to successfully register on your website. As an e-commerce site, it really is not necessary for you to know their phone number, address, line of work, etc. All the you really need is simply an email address and password. However, call-to-action and sign-up buttons should never be underestimated as they can help you to improve the sites usability and build higher conversion rates. Make sure that you really make these call-to-action and sign-up buttons stand out.

No Need to Register to Buy

The long and tedious process of signing up before being able to finalize a purchase is something that online shoppers really hate. How about allowing your guest users to check out the products they want without having to register and after they are done. Then ask them if they would be interested in signing up so that their next purchase from your site will be easier. This method has been proven to increase the rates of sales as well as reduce the rates of cart abandonment.

Proper Search Function

Search functionality will help your customers find exactly what it is they are looking for; this will allow them to have a more satisfying shopping experience as opposed to one that is extremely frustrating. Nobody wants to have to go from one page to the next, and then again to another simply to read the description of every single product you offer and find exactly what it is that they are looking for. This tip is highly recommended all e-commerce sites, however especially for those who offer a wide array of products, it you add it in with a category refinement as well, you will make for a search process that is even quicker and allows buyers to pinpoint exactly what they are looking for.

With these three simple and easy to follow tips you can build an e-commerce site that potential buyer will find easy and enjoyable to navigate,

this will create higher conversion rates for your business and everyone will be happy in the end.  For more tips and ideas check out this video below.

Understanding Conversion Metrics

If you want your site to be successful, you’re going to want to do more than convince people to visit your site. You’re also going to want to work to make your site a bigger success.  If you have a strong understanding of conversion metrics, it will be easy for you to boost your conversion rate.

Here are a few essential tips that you may want to test out.

Evaluate Your Call To Action

When you try to convert someone into a customer, you’re going to use a call of action of some sort. You should test out different calls to action so that you can see how they rate.

Look at what your conversion rate was with a particular call to action. Once you’ve done that, you can look at how making a change impacts your conversion rate. Work to find a call to action that gets the results that you want.

 Avoid Clutter

You don’t want to distract the people that find your landing page. Ideally, you should get rid of any unnecessary links. Focus on the things that will offer real value you to potential customers.

It’s easy for people to get distracted when they try to make a purchase. If you’re able to avoid clutter, you’ll be able to keep people focused on more important things. If you’re smart about the approach you take, you’ll have the chance to push people into making a purchase.

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 Think About Things From The Perspective Of A User

You know how to get around your site. However, your users aren’t going to have the same knowledge that you do. You should try to think about things from their perspective.

If you are able to consider the perspective of others, you’ll be able to come up with a site design that’s a lot more friendly to users. As you work to improve the user experience, you’ll see your conversion rate start to rise.

Keep Essential Information Where Users Can See It

It should never be hard for someone to find vital information. Ideally, the essential information on your site should be very easy for people to find. If you keep the most important information where people can easily see it, you won’t scare would-be customers away. You’ll be able to convince them to take the plunge and buy something from you.

Pay Attention To Trends

When you look at your conversion metrics, you should pay especially close attention to trends. If you’re aware of the way your visitors behave, you’ll be able to adjust your approach taking their behavior in mind.

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How to Get Started in E-Commerce

 Are you interested in e-commerce as a source of income?

Many people today have realized that it is very important to find other ways to make money than with just a traditional job. While working for an employer does provider certain benefits, there can be drawbacks and limitations on how much you can earn. By starting your own online money making efforts you can achieve more financial freedom that you currently have and increase your earning potential!

There are countless folks who are already making money online and you can use your entrepreneurial spirit to join them in the e-commerce world. Learning about the various opportunities that are available to you, as well as how to properly implement them, will give you some wonderful places to begin. While you certainly will not have time to jump into all of them at once, you can use that knowledge to make the choices that are right for you.

Affiliate Marketing

One of the best opportunities that is available through the web is the use of affiliate marketing accounts. While Amazon is the most well known of these, there are many other retailers that offer similar programs. You might want to toss a wide net, such as with Amazon, or to develop your own niche preferences that you focus your marketing endeavors on.

Setting up your own website can be done where you make cash each time a person makes a purchase through your store. Amazon has all of the tools you need to establish a site of your own that will showcase the products that are related to your niche.

Speak to an Accountant

One of the things that you have to keep in mind regarding your internet marketing efforts is that you will have to pay taxes on the money that you are making. Because of this, you should speak to an accountant regarding the right way to establish your company. Doing so will help to provide you with the protection necessary when it comes time to handle the legal and financial aspects of business operations.

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Sell Products Directly Online

There are also folks who sell products directly online. These can be things that you have purchased or made, depending on your own skills and preferences. For instance, if you have a craft that you really enjoy, you might discover that you can make a ton of cash by selling the items you make to the public. There are auction sites and other options, including your own store website.

No matter what you decide to do in regards to your e-commerce endeavors, you can either use the cash to fund your extra needs, replace your job or even as a jump start in a whole new career where you are able to have the financial freedom that you have always wanted to have.

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The internet has provided a wealth of opportunities for people like you who realize
that there is a lot more to life than just punching in and out of a time clock every day of the week. Have fun!

Transportation and Logistics Traffic Trends Upwards

Logistics and Transportation Trends