In e-commerce, the goal of every business is to dominate. Remember that there are thousands of e-commerce businesses worldwide signing up for a website every week. You are competing with the best of the best—from the young entrepreneurs who are full of passion and idealism to the big retail stores that have hundreds of branches across the country. You probably won’t last long if you don’t know to meet your competition head-to-head. It’s not just about your attitude and how you market your business; it’s about knowing how to maximize all tools in your arsenal to come up on top.
Learn From Your Competition
You want to crush your competition because you’ve already identified something in their e-commerce store that works better than yours. Carefully look at the elements of their website. What are the elements that you can replicate in your website? Make sure not to copy because of intellectual property rights. Besides, you don’t want your website to look like a duplicate of your competitor’s. You should also take note of the bad ideas so you can stay clear of them.
Do your competitors generate a lot of sales through their websites? What are they doing right or wrong? If they are trying to differentiate their products and services, you can start crushing them by diluting those differentiators, too.
Have the Best Website
How can you win over the market or emerge at the top of the industry? You need to have the best website. That is only possible if you will also hire the best web designer who can create a website that will provide the best shopping experience for your customers. Your web design should be user-friendly. The elements of the website should all work together to provide a seamless experience and functionality. They should blend well to raise awareness about your brand.
Some businesses don’t realize that the problem is not their products or services nor is it their industry. The problem is simply their website. If your e-commerce business does not have a well-functioning, well-designed, and intuitive website, then forget about topping the list. You might actually be last.
Establish Relationships
What is lacking in many e-commerce businesses right now is the relationship with customers established when there’s a brick-and-mortar store. It is not impossible to have that same level of relationship with customers if you maximize your website and social media presence. Establish a good working relationship with your clients by providing them with great products and reaching out to them even when they did not buy anything from your online store.
If it is their birthday, then send them a discount code to show that you remember them. You can put an expiration on that discount code. What’s important is they know you remember them.
Improve Product Quality
What could be why customers flock to other stores and not to yours? It’s mainly about the quality of products and services they receive from that other business. While you don’t have to copy the exact product or service, you can draw inspiration from them. How can you make yours better? What will make customers give your e-commerce store a second look?
More than the actual product and service, their eyes should feast, too. Post high-quality images and videos. Your customers should never have to second-guess the quality of the products because the photos are blurry and grainy. When they visit your website, they should know immediately what they are getting. There shouldn’t be a moment of confusion about what to expect when the items arrive on their doorstep.
Provide Better Incentives
Incentives shape the customers’ behavior and perception of your business. These incentive programs can persuade them to act positively toward your goal. There’s nothing else that customers love more than getting more value for their money. If they believe these incentives are valuable in exchange for their patronage, then they will be the first ones to land on your e-commerce site. An incentive program can give discounts, freebies, rebates, points, and prizes.
However, the most important thing about an incentive program is to never make it confusing. Be straight to the point. Customers don’t like to feel duped. If they feel like you’ve fooled them into buying more, they’ll never believe any of your programs again.
Since you are competing with millions of e-commerce stores, you need to come up with original ways to market your business better. You have to reach out to your market in unique and inventive methods. The e-commerce industry is hard to crack through, but the tools to do it are actually in your hands.