E-commerce businesses are in a unique situation right now. They are facing record-breaking levels of demand but also higher customer expectations and an extremely unpredictable market.
Best practices are more critical than ever. Knowing what tools to apply and how to use them will be essential for companies to secure a competitive advantage. These are eight of the most critical best practices e-commerce businesses should use when trying to get ahead of the competition.
1. Optimize Your Business Website
The business website is typically the hub of an online marketing strategy. If it isn’t good enough, it could bring down other digital advertising efforts — like email or content marketing.
Putting web design best practices into place will help you lay the foundation for excellent online marketing. Decluttering your website, optimizing for mobile and streamlining site navigation are all great places to start. Finding ways to reduce load time and minimize bounce rate will also help.
2. Don’t Require Account Creation at Checkout
Many customers will abandon their carts if they have to create an account to purchase a product. Offering a guest checkout and account creation option provides people with choices.
Highlight the benefits of creating an account— like rewards and saveable site preferences. This is preferable to mandating one.
3. Minimize Store Clutter
Clutter is distracting and makes navigating a site more difficult. Cutting out unnecessary design elements will make it easier for customers to browse and find the products they want to buy. Minimalism isn’t necessary, but choices like a limited color palette and focused design can help a business streamline site navigation.
4. Add Smart Filters and Search Options
Streamlining search is a great way to minimize friction for your shoppers. Implementing smart filters, new search options and other best practices can make it much easier for your customers to find what they’re looking for. This reduces the time it takes to add the items they want to their cart and check out.
5. Know When to Outsource
Small-business owners can be tempted to do everything themselves — or keep as much work in-house as possible. This isn’t always the best strategy and can result in workers spending time on tasks outside of their skill set rather than what they specialize in.
Outsourcing work can mean losing direct access and control over processes. However, it also has significant benefits. For example, sending logistics to a third party often means saving money and gaining access to professionals with years of experience in shipping and transportation.
6. Be Ready to Support Customers After a Sale
The buyer’s journey doesn’t always end when a customer commits to a purchase. Delayed items, products that arrive broken and standard questions about product function mean a business often needs to support customers after each sale.
Consistent and quality customer service is one of the best ways to secure repeat buyers. Because these shoppers provide the bulk of revenue for most businesses, it’s important to have a customer service team that can support people before and after a purchase.
7. Leverage SEO to Drive Traffic
Content and product descriptions that take advantage of search engine optimization will help to draw in traffic to a site or storefront. Researching keywords and writing with SEO good practices in mind will help a business ensure its written content is optimized for traffic generation.
8. Generate Hype With Exclusivity
Time-locked deals, special offers and seasonal events — an air of exclusivity is a great way to build excitement for your business. When possible, generating hype using these sales tactics can convince consumers who were on the fence about shopping with your brand.
Key Techniques for E-commerce Success
The online shopping market is likely to remain volatile in the near future. These best practices can help provide an e-commerce business with stability and a foundation as it adapts to a changing environment.
