(Newswire.net — February 16, 2021) — The events of 2020, predominantly the global Coronavirus pandemic and the issues that it has caused, have led to many changes throughout the business landscape.
One of the most significant of these developments is the rise in online shopping. In Australia, where online shopping has traditionally lagged behind other countries, the market has grown since the pandemic began.
In just the first 8 weeks of the pandemic, online shopping grew by more 80%, and as consumers see the appeal of online shopping, with its convenience and competitive prices, we can expect this upward trend in online buying to continue moving forward.
That is because strict lockdowns and shop closures have forced consumers to buy their essential, and non-essential, purchases over the internet.
With this rise in online shopping, retailers across Australia and around the world are having to adapt to ensure that they remain able to provide customers with the products that they require and want.
If your business has focused mainly on physical stores and face-to-face retail, then it can be a challenge to change and get noticed online quickly.
In this article, we will explore how e-commerce businesses can improve their online sales during 2021 and further into the future.
Create An Engaging Website
The first step towards getting online shoppers to buy from your e-commerce store is to create a website that will attract them. While there are many online platforms that allow you to sell, such as Amazon and eBay, having your own business website will help your business to grow and allow you more control over the online sales process.
When creating a website for your business, you must engage the services of professional website developers and designers. By collaborating with them, you can turn your ideas into an enticing site that functions perfectly and attracts potential buyers.
Check Out Your Top Competitors
As with any aspect of business management, creating a quality website and online presence for your e-commerce company requires competitor research. With this information, you can ensure that you understand what other businesses in your niche are doing, and how you can emulate their tactics or improve upon them.
When you’re completing your competitor research, you should make sure that you check out not only your competitors in the physical retail market but also those who rank well for your target keywords and phrases online. Many digital marketing agencies offer services that could help you to get an overview of your competitors and how they are adapting to the pandemic. It would help if you also tried following them on social media and subscribing to their newsletters. By doing this, you can get live updates and always stay up to date with the latest tactics that they are employing to get online sales.
Aim For The Top Of Google Search Pages
It doesn’t matter how beautiful your website is, or how well it works. If potential customers can’t find it online, then they won’t be able to buy from you. As such, you must invest time and money into search engine optimisation (SEO).
SEO techniques can help you to raise your website to higher rankings on Google results pages for your target keywords. As a result, your potential clients will notice your website faster and will be more inclined to visit it and, potentially, buy from you. If you want to find out more about SEO and how to improve your online visibility, then read this article.
Offer Bespoke Deals For Online Sales
Among the benefits of buying online is that consumers can usually find unique deals that they can’t get for physical stores. If you want to grow your online store and get new sales quickly, then you could consider creating bespoke offers.
These could be special offers or time-dependent deals, such as offers for those who buy before a certain date, or on a public holiday. Alternatively, you could choose to create more long-term offers, such as free delivery on orders over a certain value. Use your competitor research to find out what other businesses in your sector are offering to their customers and try to improve upon them.
Use Social Media To Your Advantage
Social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and others, might seem like a bit of fun. They’re a great place to waste time online, but they also have many other uses, particularly for e-commerce firms.
If you create accounts for your business online and then promote them and craft posts that engage your followers, then you could use these platforms to funnel interested individuals from savvy scrollers through to satisfied customers. When using social media for your business, you need to make sure that you choose the right platforms, that you attract your target audience, and that you build a presence that entices them and makes them feel valued. It can take a lot of hard work to make the most out of social media and use it to gain e-commerce sales. Many companies can support you in this, or you could hire an experienced in-house social media expert. They can save you time and help you to boost your online reach.
Collaborate With Popular Influencers
Another way to use social media to boost your online sales is to collaborate with social media ‘influencers’. This term refers to social media users who have built a strong following online and can promote your brand in a more natural way, by indicating that they use your products and sharing their personal experiences about buying from your website.
There are many social media influencers out there, in a wide variety of different sectors. As such, it should be easy to find several who will fit with your brand’s aesthetic and have followers who could turn into potential customers. When working with online influencers, you need to make sure that you get the return on investment that you expect. Therefore, it would help if you work on small projects with them first, then move on to larger ones if they are able to meet the KPIs that you set for them.
Keep Adapting Your E-commerce Business
Like any corporate market, online retail is constantly evolving. New technologies are developed, new strategies become popular, and new platforms are used in connected markets such as social media and website development. During the pandemic, it is having to adapt to many additional challenges and changes, and going forward, it will continue to change.
As such, no e-commerce business can afford to remain stagnant, as it will quickly fall behind the rest of the market and fail to give customers the services that they require. Therefore, it is imperative that you continue to conduct competitor research and that you stay up to date with the latest e-commerce industry developments. Follow e-commerce brands and the businesses that provide you with e-commerce support and services, to get the latest news, opinions and insights on the market.
The online shopping market is highly-competitive, so businesses need to focus on adapting and providing customers with the digital e-commerce services and support that they expect. This article should help you to find inspiration and drive your e-commerce company towards future success.