If you’re an online store owner, you probably asked this question to your team members or yourself regularly: Why should customers shop at our online store instead of all the other online stores?
What makes your online store different, better, or more exciting than your competitors’ stores? It’s important to emphasize the unique value of your store, which will help you attract customers and retain them over time. Here are some tips to help position your online store for growth.
Your Online Store Should Be Secured
Do you know that over 30,000 websites are hacked every day, and I know that you do not want your website from one of them as eCommerce websites are the major target for cybercriminals to make a profit?
Just think for a second your customer visits your website and they see a security warning that your site and their data is not secured, what are the chances that they are going to buy from you, think about it once.
These things make doubts in their mind and the user will move to another online store. That is why online merchants must be aware of the risks and take the right steps to secure their sites.
You could avoid these things by making some steps on your website. Such as making sure that your online store has SSL certification, Choose the secured hosting platform for your eCommerce website or a CMS like Shofipy that provide various build in security features so that you have to worry less.
Create an Authority-Based Website
There are main steps to establishing an authority-based website: identify your target market, generate content that helps your target market grow, and become a thought leader in your industry. You can create an authority-based website by outlining a specific niche or audience in your business plan.
Then, after you launch, continue creating high-quality content geared toward helping people within that niche grow their online stores. If you do it right, not only will visitors be able to make right buying decision but also trust for your store is increased in their eyes.
Publish blogs and newsletters
Content is king, and if you don’t have great content you won’t be able to properly position your online store for growth. While some of your customers will find you organically, to reach more customers and keep new ones coming back, invest in creating better content than anyone else.
Newsletters and blogs are often great ways to promote your business, connect with your audience, and drive repeat traffic. A newsletter can be an especially effective way to share news about new products or upcoming events.
The goal is to deliver valuable information that entices people into returning, which can then lead them into making a purchase. Write content specifically for your newsletters, with calls-to-action at strategic points that guide readers through a sales funnel directly onto your store’s landing page.
For example, you might begin a newsletter with an introductory offer such as:
Read how you can save 10% on any order with our code EXCLUSIVE10! Followed by a segment explaining why the offer is so beneficial to customers.
If you have only one promotion, this would be the place to include it in the body of the email. Be sure to mention when the promotion expires and what steps they need to take to redeem it.
Include other offers throughout the newsletter; these could include limited-time promotions, discounts on bulk orders, or gifts with purchase. Remember, every sale has its lifetime value – even if it’s not as much as your initial sale – so do everything possible within reason to get people buying from you again and again.
Provide Value To Visitors
As a retailer, you can increase sales by providing value to your visitors. Consider adding things like useful infographics, detailed product information,videos and guides on your site. Not only do they provide valuable information but they also keep people interested in what you have to offer—and help them with their purchase decisions.
Giving back is just good business sense; happy customers are better customers, so always make sure that your visitors know exactly what they’re getting when they shop at your store. They’ll appreciate it and so will you! At some point, all small businesses want to grow their reach.
Make Sure the Back End of Your Ecommerce Site Is Well-Oiled
There are many nuances and hidden features of your eCommerce site that you may not be using. One tool is called retargeting. It works by placing cookies on shoppers’ computers that tell your site that if someone comes here and doesn’t buy anything, show them an ad.
This helps you bring back people who were interested in what you’re selling but didn’t make a purchase. Using retargeting is one of many ways to use tools available to online sellers that aren’t available elsewhere. Understanding these tools will help you maximise your sales.
Create Products that Solve Problems
Focus on creating high-quality products that truly solve customer problems. Be a resource that they can come back to again and again. When done right, these customers will become fans.
Finally, make sure that all of your products are easily found on search engines by using keywords in titles and descriptions as well as on social media sites like Pinterest or Twitter which are often considered search engines themselves in some circles.
Build Relationships With Influencers in Your Niche
Look at what your competitors are doing and see if there’s a way you can do it better. In some cases, you can reach out directly and say, Hey, we noticed that you did such-and-such. Is there anything we could do similar to our store? in a very friendly tone.
This is an effective way of not only reaching out but getting people interested in what you’re offering because they see it working so well for another business. Continuation (eight+ sentences): In some cases, companies have found influencers in their niche by looking at the brands their competitors are following on social media.
They’ll look through the follower list to find someone who has a large following that aligns with your target demographic and then send them a DM asking if they want to collaborate or share something on their feed about your product.
Give Google Shopping a go
Building an online store is a great way to make more money. The key is getting your products in front of shoppers—and that’s where Google Shopping can help. With over 1 billion searches a day on Google, it’s a strong traffic driver.
Research shows that up to 50% of people do product research on their smartphones before buying something, meaning you need your products listed on Google if you want any hope of driving them back to your site or store. Sure, you’ll be competing with bigger brands in many cases and might see low click-through rates initially.
That doesn’t mean you should dismiss it as a channel; if anything, those stats show just how important mobile search is.
Engage with Customers on Social Media
Having a social media presence is an integral part of your marketing efforts. It allows you to connect with people in real-time and provide them with valuable content that they want and need.
This helps establish your brand, builds trust, and gives you a better understanding of what your customers need. Without a solid social media strategy, though, it’s difficult for customers to find you and connect with you on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.
With so many options available to businesses today (there are over 2 billion active users on Facebook alone!), it’s increasingly important that companies optimise their digital presence by engaging audiences directly where they already spend time: on social media.
Promote Your Ecommerce Store Locally
One of the best ways to promote your eCommerce store is by positioning yourself as a local company. Branding yourself as a local business will not only allow you to market directly to local customers and influencers but will also make it easier for customers in your neighbourhood and area to find your online store.
Depending on where you live, it may be possible to build relationships with nearby businesses and community organisations, allowing you greater exposure in that particular area. Promoting yourself as a local business can give you access to grants, funding, and other forms of assistance that are specific or even exclusive for smaller businesses. Do some research into what’s available in your region!
Offer Something Exclusive to Subscribers
A simple way to boost your sales and customer retention is by encouraging customers to share their experiences with others. There are various ways you can do so, but one of my favorite ideas is creating a referral program.
You can start small by implementing a limited-time offer or discount on a product or service as an incentive. To do so, try using Facebook custom audiences or retargeting ads that showcase your promotion when you think users are most likely to make a purchase.
Encourage Referrals From Satisfied Customers
Customers love being appreciated. Many won’t hesitate to make a positive referral if they feel you’ve gone above and beyond in meeting their needs or providing top-notch service. After all, customers like doing business with other customers.
So what can you do? You could go out of your way to express appreciation on a personal level with every customer that walks through your door—but that’s simply not sustainable, especially as your customer base grows. Instead, use an automated email system that allows you to thank each customer personally after they make a purchase (and follow up again when they make their next one).
Many e-commerce platforms offer these types of tools at little or no cost. Some allow you to create customized messages, while others are more generic.
Collaborate with Other Businesses
For most businesses, there are two main ways of growing your store. The first is to increase traffic—new customers coming in who browse and buy products. The second way is by increasing the average order value—getting existing customers to spend more money on each visit. In both cases, you want to explore different avenues for reaching potential customers that can help drive business growth.
Collaborating with other businesses that serve similar target markets is a great way of doing so because it allows you to reach people in your area. This comes with a variety of advantages: repeat business from satisfied customers, access to new target markets, increased brand awareness and exposure through events or marketing materials, new product ideas, and inspiration among others.
For Example:- The collaboration of domino’s with pepsiCo
When considering a collaboration, consider the following factors:
- Whether or not this is an industry where you would like to be involved
- Your products should compliment each other not compete with each other
- How much time and effort the collaboration will take
- Whether this opportunity fits into your overall goals
- If the collaboration would meet the needs of one party while neglecting those of another party
- If the company’s values align with yours.
Run a Small Giveaway Competition on Social media Groups
Giveaways are a great way to increase visibility, and social media groups are an ideal place to run them. When you participate in these groups, you can often give out free products or other samples in exchange for feedback and reviews of your product.
It’s easy enough: Give a prize (or multiple prizes) away, then ask customers to leave a review on their favorite social media site.
That could be Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram; whichever you choose depends on your niche. The goal here is simple: Collect as many reviews as possible without devoting any time or money toward advertising—and gather valuable data along the way.
If all goes well, one giveaway will lead to more visibility down the road through word-of-mouth advertising.
Final Thought
A lot of business owners are afraid of positioning, perhaps because it sounds like sales and marketing stuff, but in reality, positioning is a fairly easy process that can help you improve your store’s customer base. Start by thinking about what positioning means in terms of your store and then think about how you want customers to perceive your online store.
Make sure everything—from your logo and brand colors down to each item you sell—works together toward one goal: drawing more traffic into your online store so that you get more repeat visitors who keep coming back.