Setting up an eCommerce business is simple, but growing it can be challenging. In today’s fast-paced digital climate, eCommerce sites must use the latest digital marketing strategies and resources to keep their business on the rise.
Apart from digital marketing, eCommerce sites can also employ 3PLs to streamline their order fulfilment process and improve customer satisfaction. Here are some key tips for growing your eCommerce business.
The Importance of Growing Your eCommerce Business
For any eCommerce store, achieving positive growth is a crucial goal. Once you level up with business, you can attract more customers and enjoy a higher revenue while supplying customers with quality service they can rely on.
The global eCommerce market is expected to reach $6.8 trillion in 2023, which shows that business owners have a lot of space to make their mark in the digital business industry. With the right strategies and careful planning, they can maximise the efficiency of their eCommerce and build a solid consumer base.
Use A Powerful Digital Marketing Strategy
Creating a solid digital marketing strategy is one of the best ways to grow your business. Since eCommerce lives in the digital landscape, you must implement a specific plan that targets online shoppers.
As of 2023, there are 2.64 billion online buyers, which means there’s a major opportunity for growth for eCommerce stores. Here are some elements you should focus on.
Identify Your Audience
As we’ve mentioned, there are billions of people online ready to purchase; however, not all of these buyers might be interested in what you’re selling. Identifying your audience is the best way to find your ideal customer base.
You can start by identifying consumers who are already interested or need your product or service. Initially, you might have a list of existing customers, which can help expand your customer base.
Check for relevant keywords that people use in organic searches and see how they link back to your product/service. Digital marketing strategy and research will help you find relevant customer data, such as their demographics, interests and pain points, to help you create a marketing persona.
You can design and shape your digital marketing strategy with a well-detailed marketing persona. This tool will help you implement a marketing plan that will speak directly to your customers.
Use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Identifying key works can help you find your target audience. Simultaneously, it can help your business rank higher on search engines for organic growth. Ranking your eCommerce business on top of a search engine results page (SERP) is another crucial marketing strategy.
While paid rankings might seem tempting, they’re not sustainable for long-term marketing. The best way to grow your business is by doing it organically. This means letting users find your page naturally without the help of paid ads. Focusing on SEO will help you reach this goal and sustain it for a long time.
To use SEO the right way, you should:
- Use Product/Service-related Keywords: Use keyword mining tools to find the correct terms that make ranking higher easy. Also, focus on key terms relevant to your brand.
- Create Backlinks: Blog posts are a great way to create quality backlinks to your eCommerce site. By recommending reliable and authentic resources, you can generate traffic on your platform.
- Improve Product Description: Unique product descriptions that use a call to action can generate business growth.
Take Advantage of Social Media Marketing
Social media is a great way to market your product/service, allowing you to reach audiences far and wide. The best way to take advantage of social media’s reach is by creating a foolproof marketing strategy that fits your overall marketing campaign.
There are two common methods of utilising social media for growth purposes. These include user-generated content and influencer marketing.
These methods are perfect for showcasing your products/services and building trust with your audience. Let’s take a closer look at how they work.
User-Generated Content
User-generated content is a great marketing strategy for building your brand’s authenticity. Consumers are more likely to trust your products when other customers vouch for them. This way, you can increase your consumer base while growing your business.
User-generated content can be created in two ways. First, you can hire a dedicated content creator to develop media showing how to use your product/service in a real-life setting.
However, this option can be expensive, especially for small-sized eCommerce companies. Don’t worry; you can opt for user-generated content to make your brand reliable.
Encourage clients to upload images or videos with a specific hashtag and use them as a part of your eCommerce social media strategy. Your customers will feel like a community, and you’ll have access to authentic marketing.
Influencer Marketing
Social media influencers have become a significant part of marketing strategies. This method can encourage long-term growth and increase brand awareness for eCommerce platforms.
Influencer marketing can also increase website traffic and help achieve better purchase conversions. Here are a few ways you can use influencers to improve your eCommerce growth:
- Product Awareness: Since influencers are part of the content-creating world, they know how to bring attention to your products. Consumers often consider influencers more trustworthy than brands. This will allow you to launch authentic product marketing campaigns through reviews or unboxing.
- Boost Sales: You can target specific customer demographics with tailor-made content. Create sales-boosting campaigns by having influencers share affiliate links and promo codes.
- Higher Conversions: If a customer shows hesitancy during their purchasing journey, influencer marketing can speak directly to them, influencing their online shopping decision.
Optimise Your eCommerce Website
Once you’ve got more eyes on your eCommerce site, you need to convert this awareness into sales. With the right website design and layout, customers are more likely to purchase. Let’s look at some solid website optimisation practices.
Easy To Navigate Interface
Imagine walking into a store only to be met with a confusing and disorganised layout. Not only will you abandon your purchase, but you probably won’t visit the store again.
Similarly, you should ensure that your eCommerce website is easy to navigate so that customers face little to no hurdles during their purchasing journey. There are several ways to improve the user interface of your eCommerce site. These include:
- Keep the design and navigation simple. Adding too many things to your website will make it harder for customers to find what they want.
- Create a straightforward menu with appropriate sections. This will provide a proper breakdown of your products, services and other relevant information on the site.
- Add a search bar with suitable filters. While a regular search is great for helping customers find exactly what they’re looking for, adding a filter to this feature can give online shoppers a more personalised experience.
- Provide a clear call to action on each page. This will allow you to keep the customer’s attention and achieve higher sales conversion.
Create Compelling Product Pages
A compelling product description can do wonders for customer engagement. Adding story-driven details can influence purchasing decisions, leading to better sales conversions.
For eCommerce businesses, you must weave a story around your product or service to make it more desirable to customers. This helps you distinguish your brand from other customers.
You can add high-quality visual aids, such as photos and videos, to accompany product descriptions. These pictures should let customers know what your product is, its uniqueness and how it will benefit their lives.
Go beyond ordinary descriptions and tell your customers what they really want to know. For instance, an eco-conscious buyer prefers to know more about a product’s sustainability than its measurement. Use customer research to appeal to their values and write product descriptions accordingly.
Simplify The Checkout Process
Always make sure to offer customers a simple checkout process. Minimise the steps needed for a buyer to purchase their item by removing the registration option.
While customer registration is excellent for customer growth, the lengthy checkout might turn first-time shoppers away.
Make sure to offer a guest checkout option to make it easier for people to get their products. Add secure payment gateways and provide clear return policies to build customer trust. With these features, you can easily retain new customers and ensure they revisit your site.
Provide High-Quality Customer Support
Excellent customer support is another important facet of growing your eCommerce business. This will help you maintain customer satisfaction and guarantee repeat business. Consider these strategies to enhance your customer support.
Use Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are a great way of building confidence and reliability with your client base. Most importantly, your customer service reps should always engage with reviews to better connect with consumers and quickly solve any queries they might have.
Responding to and resolving customer concerns is a major part of proactive customer service. This means you fulfil a customer’s needs before they bring it to your team.
Proactive customer service is excellent for growing confidence in your eCommerce business and retaining client loyalty. When you acknowledge both good and bad reviews, it makes your consumers feel like they’re being heard.
Provide an FAQ Section
Another great practice eCommerce businesses should use is adding an FAQ section to their website. With this feature, online shoppers can quickly solve their problems independently without contacting a customer service representative.
Make sure that your FAQ section provides comprehensive knowledge on basics and common questions some online buyers might have.
Employ A Personal Approach
Personalisation is key to creating strong customer service for your eCommerce business. To build trust and reliability, you can tailor your responses based on the customer you’re interacting with. Use purchase history and customer data to offer clients the right advice.
Using A 3PL to Grow Your eCommerce Business
Partnering with a third-party logistics (3PL) company is an excellent way of growing your eCommerce business. Such companies are designed to help with order fulfilment so you can reduce the additional worry that comes with shipping logistics.
A 3PL is excellent for businesses that require a dedicated packaging service to handle order fulfilment. Fulfilment services also hold all your inventory in one place through a detailed system, so you’re always aware of what’s coming and going.
3PL companies offer everything from tracking inventory to handling returns and shipping logistics. This complete package of services ensures your business keeps running smoothly.
A reliable 3PL will keep your order and shipping running smoothly, even during peak seasons and launches. Even though order fulfilment seems straightforward, it involves a lot of strategic planning to ensure the workflow remains streamlined with minimal errors.
Benefits of Using a 3PL Service
- Efficient Process: 3PLs can streamline the order fulfilment process using various automation tools. These tools target picking, packing and delivery to customers. You can also add a robust tracking and return processing system for added benefits.
- Risk Assessment: 3PLs are dedicated to providing a smooth fulfilment service. This means they can handle and mitigate any risk before it becomes a significant problem.
- Multiple Selling Modes: High volume makes it difficult to give proper attention to multiple sales channels. Parenting with a reliable 3PL will help alleviate these problems. Such companies possess the equipment and expert knowledge to handle numerous selling modes without disrupting shipping. Many 3PLs offer multi-channel packaging fulfilment to avoid order backups and customer complaints.
- Order Volume: One of the biggest issues during peak season shipping is the volume of orders. Due to major sales, customers are more likely to make more purchases during holiday orders. Often, these orders can build up and become overwhelming to ship out. A quality 3PL service will help you keep track of your inventory and provide accurate logistics that help you map out deliveries. These features are crucial to stay on top of high-volume orders.
- Handle Customer Returns: Online shoppers are far more likely to return items; over 70% of online shoppers returned their merchandise in 2020. If several customers return various items, you’ll require a robust management system to keep up. A dedicated 3PL with returns space and a high-tech returns management system will ensure items are catalogued properly. Such features will allow you to keep track of any problems according to the stores’ SKUs.
Partner with Meteor Space to Grow Your eCommerce Business
Quality order fulfilment is crucial for creating a lasting impact on customers. If you’re looking for a high-quality 3PL service, choose Meteor Space.
We offer many features to help eCommerce stores through all packaging and shipping needs. Meteor’s expert team members use their knowledge to get you through peak sales seasons without losing efficiency.
Our technology-based services provide excellent management and organisation programs to help you stay on top of your inventory. You can also access Meteor’s easy-to-use web portal, fast shipping, efficient pick and pack and much more.
Meteor always uses a customer-first approach, so we understand the importance of top-quality customer service. Here’s a look at some great features you can avail of at Meteor Space.
Flexible Storage Space Options
Depending on your order volume, Meteor’s storage space offering can be scaled down or up to meet your demands. Our warehouse boasts over 200,000 square feet of storage space to ensure ample room for any inventory.
No matter the size of your eCommerce stores, Meteor 3PL can provide enough space for any client. We can adjust and adapt to your requirements, help you grow overall sales, and offer your customers a great shopping experience.
Better Inventory Logistics
Successful order fulfilment relies heavily on inventory management and logistics. With a technology-based 3PL like Meteor Space, we provide accurate data and management software that helps you stay organised.
With our state-of-the-art warehouse management system, you can keep track of all your inventory and make sure it goes out on time. You can access precise inventory projections based on the type of order you’re sending out.
We also handle all deliveries and shipments, refilling your inventory and more. With Meteor Space as your 3PL partner, you never have to worry about delays in packaging fulfilment services.
Knowledgable and Friendly Experts
The order fulfilment landscape might seem overwhelming if you’re new to eCommerce packing and shipping. Our team members provide quality order fulfilment services and expert advice to help navigate retail packing and shipping.
Our highly trained and knowledgeable team is always available to offer a helping hand when it comes to logistics and inventory.
At Meteor, you will find transparency and full knowledge of everything that goes behind the scenes to get your order processed. Our experts are available 24/7 to help you manage packaging fulfilment for business growth while maintaining customer satisfaction.
