Starting an E-Commerce Business? How to Stand Out in the Fierce Competition

There is an intense competition going on when it comes to ecommerce industry. Starting an ecommerce business is very easy but competing with local and international competitors is very difficult. In US the ecommerce industry grew by $394.86 with 42% of all retail growth. If you are willing to start your entrepreneurial journey, you have to cope up with the new developments in ecommerce technologies to secure yourself an advantage.

Now I should Get to the main point. While starting an ecommerce business, the first and last question that comes to mind is:

What will You Sell?

You should always keep a close eye on what product is missing in the market? or what product you can improve? You need to find out the most demanding product that is missing from the market. Like you can sell sunglasses or watches. Choosing the right accessory is very important before you start building on it. If you come up with a custom product, you can dominate the market for longer. So, don’t try to copy current trends.

Here are 6 ways that will help make your ecommerce business stand out in the e-business world.

1. Go Beyond without losing Quality:

If you are selling the same product that is very common on other ecommerce stores then there are high chances that the conversion rate would be on the lower side. You should always try to differentiate yourself from your everyone else. Like if most of the stores are selling black high heels, you can add red, white & blue high heels in your inventory. So, the customers have no reason to overlook you. Do not compromise on the quality of the products. That can also make a huge difference.

1. Build a Mobile Friendly Online Store:

Mobile ecommerce is another challenge to the online merchants. Because Users are now shifting to mobile and tablets. According to studies, nearly 82% of all customers used their mobile devices to make at-least one purchase last year. Moreover, mobile ecommerce is expected to exceed $626 BILLION in 2018. So, don’t miss out to include some mobile friendly features in your online store. Investing in this trend will proves to be very beneficial for your business.

1. Customer Support:

You can also get a significant advantage over your competitors by improving customer support. You can use different channels and tools for that purpose. Below are some ways you can enhance customer experience.

• Offer Live Chat
• Email
• Social Media
• 24-Hour Phone Support
• Help Desk
• FAQs

You should integrate these methods into your business to interact with your customers and separate yourself from the competition.

1. Use Digital Marketing Strategies:

There are endless options when it comes to marketing & advertising your products online. But you should the right way to use different marketing channels for achieving your marketing goals. Here are different Marketing Tactics you can use to attract and convert customers:

• Make your online store search engine optimized (SEO) with the help of compelling content, product descriptions, optimized product mages, meta descriptions & anchor texts
• Use Pay per Click (Create ads on Google AdWords)
• Send newsletters to your current and targeted customers
• Create banner ads on multiple ad networks
• Create push notifications for all devices
• Use social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram) to promote your products.

1. Payment Options:

Accepting PayPal and Credit Card purchases will definitely increase your sales if you are offering products and services on international level. There are $84.3 billion sales from Visa and Mastercard users with more than 143 million PayPal customers online. By providing these payment options to your customers, there is high chance that you can increase your sales by 25%.

1. Shipping Costs:

Shipping speed and cost is very important to maintain your customers loyalty. So, you need to create a pricing structure that is competitive with other online retailers. You can offer free shipping to attract customers but it can’t be affordable sometimes especially when you have just started your ecommerce business. But you can give free shipping on orders over certain amount. Additionally, you can offer discounts on second purchase or give coupon codes.