“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.” – Bill Gates
In today’s competitive world is essential for you to reach out to people. Countless small traders go out of business each day cause of a lack of promotion and execution.
The promotion and execution relationship is particularly important when your business is of retail nature. There are approximately 110,000 e-commerce websites in the US alone.
More than 12 percent of the 100,000 highest-traffic websites is that of e-commerce. And with every piece of technology coming out the competition to stand out is getting tougher for small businesses.
Statistics suggest that by the end of 2019, e-commerce sales are expected to account for 13.7 percent of total retail sales worldwide. So, if you are a small business owner and want to expand your business, here is a step by step guide of how you can start your own e-commerce business in 2019.
1. Secure your domain name
Did you know that nearly half of American small businesses don’t have a website? Having a website is particularly important cause a website promotes and sales in one place. The hurdle you might face while building your website is choosing your domain name.
A domain, as defined by Wikipedia is “a distinct subset of the Internet with addresses sharing a common suffix or under the control of a particular organization or individual.” In other words, a domain is an identity by which your business will be known on the web.
A domain should be by your business name or something that closely resembles your business. A closely resembling domain will be eye-catching and easy for the people visiting your site to remember.
2.Register your domain
Once you secure your domain name, you need to register it through any trusted domain registrar. Sites like GoDaddy, Wix, and Bigrock are popular domain registrar.
The process of registering your domain is not rocket science. You need to provide your details such as name, address, email, phone number, etc. you will then receive a confirmation mail that your site is ready to be launched.
You then need to select a preferable plan that suits your requirements. After you pay for the domain, the site is yours to claim
3.Choose Your E commerce Platform
Choosing your ecommerce platform is significant. It matters, where you decide to sell your product. If your business is in retail you can take aid from Shopify or Woocommerce.
These e-commerce solution providers, take care of everything. From marketing, payments to secure checkouts and shipping, Shopify is trusted by over a million happy customers.
You can also promote using WordPress. Woocommerce is a plug-in for WordPress which offers reliable services to thousands of merchants worldwide.
These two work as great platform for any beginners.
4. Design your website
Choosing the correct design and layout for your website is also important. Your website is the metaphysical representation of your business. Like the business has separate legal identity than its owner, your business also has its own personality. Your site is the representation of that personality. If you are a florist then your site might have soft images and calm but bright colors. On the other hand, if you have a motorcycle shop then you may add dark shades with strong and bold imagery.
5. Define your sales cycle
Every Youtuber’s main target is to know their demographics, demographics are the target audience that views your content. Much like that, you must also know your sales cycle.
When you create your site, with proper promotion, hoards of the customer will start visiting your site. Knowing your sales cycle is the process of understanding which products are popular and which are not. Through this, you can target your products towards a specific population, run discounts and strategize your next business move.
Understanding your sales cycle will also develop your customer relationship which is a major problem in incorporeal retail.
6. Optimize your checkout process
Did you know that 85 percent of the consumers conduct online research before making a purchase online?
Optimizing your checkout process is as important as providing optimal services throughout. Making the process of checkout as smooth as the entire shopping experience will reduce cart abandonment. Cart abandonment is when a shopper picks up items to purchase, and adds them to cart but chooses to abandon it and not make the purchase ultimately. This step is often neglected by businesses, even by big shots. Making the entire shopping process more enjoyable will turn tides your way.
7.Retarget:
Retargeting is the process of recapturing the audience that felt with just browsing. Stats say that 98% of first-time visitors, to your site, do not convert. You can employ a very effective e-commerce strategy in this case.
Companies like Amazon or Etsy, even the smaller companies provide ads in following browsing websites. The entire process works like if you have browsed away from a site and started visiting another site, you might see ads of the products that you were browsing through in that website; pretty sick, right? You can also leave emails to people who have abandoned their carts to convince them to come back and make the purchase
8. Social Media Marketing:
The most cost-effective method of marketing is through social media. You may make your accounts on Instagram and Facebook, but just doing that and posting regularly won't give do you any good in this era of competitiveness. Running a social media advertising campaign is a good solution.
The best platform to run this campaign would be Facebook as it helps you target a wider audience who are accessible quite easily. Apps like Ecart.Chat can help you organize your marketing campaign, maximizes e-commerce sales through messenger marketing and can recapture abandoned carts and convert them into sales
As the world goes ahead, we wish you all the luck for your enterprise. Following these simple tricks will bring you immediate success for your woo. However, the most important trick for success which no marketing lesson can teach is a virtue. Small businesses are reputed to be thugs. Stand out as an example and rise above all. Good Luck!