Establishing an e-commerce business and kicking things off is a fairly straightforward procedure. However, getting it right is usually the tricky part.
There are many ways for your e-commerce business to unnecessarily lose money, even when you believe that everything is going well and you are generating profits.
Read on to determine if your e-commerce business is losing money, and what you can do about it:
Gain a Social Media Presence
84% of online consumers review at least one social media site before making a purchase. For this reason, it’s essential that you have a presence on at least one of the major social media platforms, if not two or three.
Once you’re setup on your preferred social platform, it’s essential to maintain a presence on there by posting high-quality, interesting and valuable content in the form of images, videos, infographics and more. The purpose here is to create engaging content that drives people straight to your website.
Fix Poor Conversion Rates
Once they’re on your website, the next step is to convert them into paying customers. The easiest way to convert site visitors into paying customers is to ensure that you have a fully functioning website that is ultra-fast in its loading speed, on every single page.
When a website features inaccessible pages, you can guarantee that shoppers will not have the patience to hang around waiting. Alternatively, when your website is easy to use, engaging, accessible and honest, this will encourage your customers to hang around to the checkout and beyond.
Earn your customers’ trust
- Point them to testimonials
- Provide them with plenty of customer service options (from live chat to telephone numbers and an email address)
- Offer a privacy policy
- Display security badges to show you offer a secure checkout
- Offer a selection of payment methods
- Keep your customers in the loop (e.g. to confirm their order/once their order has been shipped etc.)
Offer a positive shipping experience
Studies have found that 28% of consumers abandon their cart if shipping costs are too high or if there are surprise shipping fees in place. Instead, negotiate with shipping companies to obtain the lowest shipping costs possible. You could also use your carrier’s packaging instead of your own to save you from extra charges. Also, work with your vendors to receive lower prices for shipping. The less you pay your vendors, the less you need to charge your customers.
Improve the User Experience
Abandoned carts account for $18 billion in losses annually. To avoid this from happening to your business, make sure you:
- Shorten forms
- Simplify the checkout process
- Offer absolute website security
- Research cheaper shipping fees that remain fast
- Use website analytics to determine where and why customers are exiting your website.
Need our Help?
If you're a start-up looking for a boost in the right direction. get in touch. 8 Ways Media is a leading branding and web design agency with a vast international reach along with the knowledge and resources necessary to help a business truly succeed. with more than 20 years of experience in the industry, we are pioneers in effective marketing whilst being responsive, fast and exceptionally creative.
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