Editor’s Note: Here at Dispatches, we are always looking for ways to help our readers do things. For some of our readers, that means helping navigate the working world, for others, it means assisting in the ever challenging question, “what’s for dinner?” For still others, it means figuring out how to balance family life with everything else. In an effort to aid in all of these endeavors, we have collaborated on this article written specifically for our readers.
Are you the type of entrepreneur who is struggling under their own weight? You’re not alone, every startup and even fully established companies are struggling to keep afloat now. There are, of course, many different reasons for this, but when you are in an ecommerce industry, competition is fierce. If you’re going to stay in the black, you need to develop an ecommerce campaign that is direct, premeditated and effective?
Personalization
The user experience is key to developing that bond with the customer, but if you have an ecommerce platform that is not particularly user-friendly, it’s time to make this the first thin you update. You need to make sure that your user experience stays away from the click bait questionnaire boxes, but you should also work with website designers and marketers to create an online personality that your customers want to visit.
Diverse Platforms
If you haven’t spread out your operation to cover as many different platforms as possible, this should be step two. The user experience has morphed into something more sophisticated than the standard laptop and mobile experience. It’s now social media, Instagram photos, YouTube clips and an entirely seamless experience across platforms. Creating a comprehensive, thoroughly diverse plan for each channel that emphasizes your brand.
Product Review Aggregation
Yes, various services specialize in ecommerce data, but providing aggregation of product reviews helps customers to see the bigger picture. Customers can do their own research online when it comes to shopping for products that suit their needs. While it’s not always possible to provide all of the reviews in one handy place so your customer can make a guided judgement, you can use third-party solutions, so the customer service experience is greatly improved.
Improve Your Analytics
As customers are savvy when it comes to finding the best prices, you need to be ahead of the game in this respect. Using big data and analytics to stand out from the crowd helps you to provide competitive pricing. This becomes a commonplace procedure in ecommerce, so this is something to implement now so that you can get a better idea of where you are in the market, but also where your customers are going if they’re not coming to you.
The virtual shopping experience is improving with every passing day, and while we are about to see the user experience changed forever with the introduction of virtual reality, right now the ecommerce platforms we use are important to retain and maintain relationships with our customers. Startup companies may not be able to afford sophisticated tech, but they can afford to cement solid relationships with new and current customers. This is the key to surviving in 2018 before the market changes into something we all don’t recognize. Being ahead of the curve is a full-time task, and in the ecommerce industry, where competition is considerably tough, always think about your options and how important your customer is to you.