E-commerce has a rosy future, as more and more consumers discover the many benefits that online shopping brings and if you are thinking of selling products online, we have some amazing tips for you. Follow this guide and you will smash your sales targets and enjoy steady growth.
- Finding the right products – The very foundation of your organisation is the line of products you sell; do some serious market research to establish adequate demand and play devil’s advocate and look for reasons why the product might not sell. Does the product have a future? Many experts would say a niche market is easier to penetrate and if you have a passion for something, this could be the basis for your choice. At the end of the day, you need to offer something that other suppliers are not, which could be price-based or a service that is second to none.
- Invest in SEO – Search engine optimisation is the best way to drive organic traffic to your e-store; talk to a leading Australian SEO agency and they have the ability to put you on page 1 of search results, which is exactly where you want to be. Millions of consumers use Google to source products and services and if you focus your marketing efforts on SEO, you won’t regret it. Aside from online marketing, you can spread the word with bumper stickers and other marketing aids.
- Single shop for all your IT needs – There are companies that design, build, host and manage e-store websites, which means you are dealing with a single provider for all your web needs. From design concept to daily management, your IT partner ensures that you never go offline. They also handle cyber-security, which is essential when you are accepting payment online; an unsecure site does not establish customer trust; you need a valid SSL Certificate, which is denoted by the web address, ‘https’.
- Third party logistics – Logistics is an integral part of e-commerce and you should join forces with one of the top 3PL companies that service Australian e-commerce platforms. We don’t recommend that you handle order fulfilment any other way; a logistics warehouse uses automated picking and packing, while same-day delivery within Australia is important. Deliver your product range and packing to their warehouse and forward all orders via email and that’s all you need to do.
- Focus on improving the customer experience – The buying experience should be smooth and with several digital payment gateways, the customer has choices. Ask for feedback and make sure that your site pages load fast and it is all-device compatible. Listen to complaints and take action where appropriate and always put the customer experience at the top of your list of things to focus on.
Once you register your business with the Australian government and the site is ready to go online, you can start SEO and aim for that coveted page 1 of Google search results.