3 Tips to Make Your E-Commerce Growth More Sustainable

Online retail has changed the world of trading forever. With the right product, the right marketing approach, and a bit of luck, anyone can build a brand that would go worldwide. You don’t have to rely on local customers and local means of promotion anymore, which gives you a world of new opportunities to grow your business in ways that were unthinkable just a few decades ago. However, your competition has these resources at their disposal as well and once you establish a reputable and successful business, sustaining it can be quite a challenge.

Obviously, you’ll need to take your business to a whole new level in general, in terms of procurement, managing the stocks, communication with the employees (if you have any), and the overall level of organization in order to maintain the quality of your product. This is something you probably know best and the rules of doing this properly normally depend on the type and nature of your enterprise. On the other hand, there are some tricks concerning promotion and relation to your customers that work for pretty much all businesses and that you need to know. Let’s take a look at three most important factors in this respect.

Build a community:

One of the golden rules of any type of marketing that has long-term goals is that it’s not just about selling and making money, but about building relationships. Naturally, most business owners are not too happy about this – budgets are tight and time is always running out, so investing money in something that doesn’t bring immediate income seems unreasonable. Nevertheless, if your aim is success in the long run, you need to have more than a good product that is decently visible across different media – you need to have a story, to promote values people will share, and build connections with customers on a basis much wider than the mere consumerist desire to buy.

There are many ways you can do this, especially in the era of digital marketing. Social media are a great tool you should employ to achieve this goal. Use these channels to offer people something that will make them intrigued and to show them that you’re competent and familiar with the ins and outs of your industry. Make them trust you and build a narrative around your brand that your audience can relate to. Another advantage of Social Media is that they’re integrated with most e-commerce platforms, which cuts the route to conversions to just a click or two. In any event, the key to drawing people into your community is not to annoy them with constant reminders to buy or subscribe, but to provide high-quality content relevant to them on your social networks as well as your website. For building community you can also use Email Marketing & Automation and build own community, this will help to communicate with right set of audience whom you can convert later into customer through automation. Consider using quality media monitoring since that’s a good way to see if your efforts are making a difference and whether you should change your strategy.

User experience:

A fast, responsive and simple website is not just an indication that you care about your customers, it’s also a matter of mere profit. With every additional second your website takes to load, 7 percent of people leave it, probably for good. Moreover, don’t underestimate the power of a pleasantly-looking website or webpage, as people will often rely on mere looks and visual appearance when deciding what to buy. Hence, top-quality design can make a difference between you and your many competitors. Also, user experience is important for your Search Engine Optimisation. User experience-related metrics are widely used by search engines when ranking websites, so this will affect your general visibility.

Having all this in mind, it’s clear that you have to make your website as visually appealing and optimized as possible. Turning to a professional e-commerce web designer with experience and a decent bag of tricks might be the best idea.

Customer service:

Sharing interesting and relevant info on your social networks regularly and having an easy-to-use website doesn’t mean you’re done with nurturing the relationships with your customers. If you have an e-commerce business, you have to be there for them every day, not just for the sake of being polite but also for purely commercial reasons. According to a study, you are four times more likely to lose a customer because of poor customer service than because of low-quality products or high prices. Therefore, investing in excellent customer service is not a waste of money – on the contrary, not investing it would mean losing money in the long run. Being quick and accurate with your delivery is an absolute must.

The slightest mistake in this respect could make people turn to your competition. Furthermore, never underestimate the importance of communication and resolving your customer’s problems on the go. As much as 48 percent of people expect to receive assistance with resolving their online shopping issues within five minutes or otherwise they will give up on the purchase. You’ll also need to listen to the feedback and adapt your future services accordingly – your customers can easily do without you, but you can’t survive without them.

All in all, always take care not just of what you’re selling but also of those to whom you’re selling. Don’t get too complacent because you know you have a good product and you’re doing well at the time being. In order for your business to become and remain truly successful and to keep your customers from being snatched by your competition, nurturing relationships with them and showing that you care is vital.

Guest Post By: Jolene Rutherford.