As the new year approaches, many eCommerce business owners and marketers will pause to give some thought to what’s coming next. What are the new technologies, innovations, and trends that are going to influence or even change the way we do business?
The good news is, this year, eCommerce sales are expected to reach more than $4.5 trillion on a global level, which represents an increase of over 245%! So, if you want to get a piece of the pie, you need to adapt and update your growth strategy.
Here are five additions we think you should include in your eCommerce growth strategy in order to achieve success in the year ahead.
1. Build a Mobile App
It’s the 21st century and nobody wants to waste their time going to brick-and-mortar stores for shopping. Today, people are using digital devices and gadgets to make every aspect of their life easier and more enjoyable. They’re glued to their handy mobile device that they take and use everywhere.
If you want to stay ahead of the competition and continue growing, you should consider building a mobile app. A mobile app will provide recurring benefits to your eCommerce business while at the same time reducing your expenses and efforts.
But how can you create an app that will help you boost your eCommerce business? Easy, all you need is an app maker that allows you to design a mobile app without any coding experience. Whether you are a pro or a beginner, you can use an app maker to create a mobile app that will help you increase conversion rates, improve customer loyalty, and give you an edge over your competitors.
2. Automate Your Marketing Efforts
Automating your marketing efforts enables you to save time while at the same time improving your engagement and customer experience. Using automation tools allows you to convert users into prospects much faster by streamlining your marketing processes at every level.
When it comes to social media, automation allows you to schedule posts ahead of time or republish popular articles. Automating social media management, publication, and engagement reduces the hours spent on growing and maintaining your brand accounts.
Automated email marketing, on the other hand, is important to re-engage prospects and customers by sending out relevant product news, deals, and promotions. Having an automation tool will make the whole process easier by enabling you to send thousands of emails at once, allowing you to merge with data from Google Sheets, personalize emails based on name and email address, track opens, and more.
Another big upside of automation is customer segmentation. Automated tracking allows you to group your mobile app or site users into specific segments based on their behavior, characteristics, or level of brand awareness, and obtain valuable insights about each segment’s expectations and preferences. This knowledge will help you apply appropriate cross-selling and upselling tactics, allowing you to boost profits without having to expand your customer base.
3. Personalize Everything
eCommerce business owners are well aware that the only way to stay afloat when competing with big players like Amazon and Walmart is to offer users customized products or services.
Personalized offers are one of the most effective ways to engage customers. According to research, when you tailor your discounts and special offers to each individual user, customers are nearly 90% more likely to choose you rather than a competitor that uses generic offers.
The best way to pull this off is by implementing AI-based tools like chatbots. eCommerce businesses deal with customers on a day-to-day basis, facing consistent questions or issues. Chatbots interact in an individual, personalized way with an understanding of who they’re connecting with based on live chat history. Building a chatbot is a great way to streamline this interaction by providing information faster and in a more efficient way.
4. Leverage Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing campaigns can be a great addition for eCommerce businesses that are just starting out as they allow you to establish a solid reputation and start providing outstanding customer experience from day one.
Well-established influencers have audiences that trust what they say, so including them in your marketing strategy is a great way to accelerate the process of brand promotion. The idea is to partner up with one or more social media bloggers whose existing audience matches the profile of your customers. These influencers will promote your products and brand to their audience, helping you raise brand awareness.
Experts suggest that startups and small companies should recruit micro-influencers with under 100,000 followers, as they enjoy a higher level of confidence, greater engagement rates, and a larger number of users that are actually willing to make purchases based on their recommendations.
5. Create High-Quality Content
Content remains one of the most important elements in eCommerce as it is the best way for customers to learn about your products. Online shoppers don’t have the opportunity to touch the product or try it on, so content is the element that provides them with a shopping experience that resembles in-store shopping as much as possible.
Besides high-quality images and well-thought product descriptions, you should also consider adding videos of your products since about 60% of shoppers prefer watching videos rather than reading descriptions. Moreover, they are 85% more likely to make a purchase after watching the video.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to the future of eCommerce, there’s much to be excited about. There might be a few challenges you’ll need to overcome, but if you have a solid growth strategy in place, your eCommerce business will be ready to experience significant growth.
