While e-commerce may never eclipse in-store retail sales, e-commerce is a giant that continues to grow. Currently, about 14% of all retail sales are done online while by 2022, that number is expected to increase to 20%. That’s 1 in every 5 purchases will be made online!

Many people are choosing to jump onto the ecommerce ship for their new business or existing one. It’s simply another way to build up the business, attract new customers, and increase sales over time. 

Below, we’re going to outline five different ways that you can build up your ecommerce business in order to make sure you’re here for the long run.

Optimize Your Online Presence

After deciding on the type of business you want to be in and what you’re going to be selling, you need to figure out what your online presence is going to be. You are, after all, in the electronic commerce business.

The first step is purchasing your domain. You can't sell anything online if you’re not online to being with!

Having your website is a solid start, but you’re going to need to do more so people will be able to find you. If you’re planning on working locally, your next big step is to register your business with Google My Business, or GMB. 

GMB helps boost up your local rankings. Many consider a GMB page like an online business card, as it’s going to be linked to your website, have your store hours, contact information, and more. From here, you can also respond to reviews and post updates about store closings or a new schedule.

Another important part of optimizing your online presence is by making sure your headers and meta descriptions are relevant.

Look at #1 in the above image. That is your meta description. It’s a short description about your business that search engine crawlers will comb over first. It should be relevant to your business and what you do. It will also give web users a quick rundown on what you can offer them.

#2 is an example of your header. The main head is at the top next to SMERGERS, where it says “Business for sale, Investors and Franchise…”

The headers and meta description make great use of keywords that are relevant to the business. It will direct consumers and web crawlers to your page when searching for similar businesses.

Branch Out on Social Media

Social media is one of the world’s greatest tools, as it allows you to put your business in front of thousands of people with limited expenses. While many businesses may opt for traditional advertising, social media advertising is cheaper and more efficient. 

Social media also offers you plenty of areas to connect with customers, provide content updates, receive reviews, and more.

Content updates are perhaps the most important part of your social media, as you’ll want to make sure and keep your accounts active. Nowadays, people may come by your social media page and see you haven’t updated in two years. That may lead people to think you’re out of business.

Focus on Retaining Customers

Anyone in sales will already be familiar with the sales funnel, but just for a reminder: 

Awareness is where a general consumer is aware your product or business exists. That could be anything from seeing an advertisement to hearing about it from a friend. Action is where you make your money: the potential customer becomes a paying customer.

Too often, e-commerce businesses put too much emphasis on trying to attract new customers instead of trying to keep their existing ones. It’s much easier to have a customer return instead of trying to convince a new customer to buy.

One way you can retain customers is by following up on purchases via emails or offering promotions for being loyal. People like to know they’re feeling appreciated. Focusing on customer retention is much more valuable than focusing on customer acquisition. 

Use Upselling to Your Advantage

Over time, you’ll begin to notice people gravitating towards a certain product or products. This is where 879you can look and try to bring in other products in a package deal, which is called upselling. 

Your customers will be exposed to new products to see what else is in your marketplace. It may also help you sell certain products that have had a slow launch.

The most important takeaway is that customers will start leaving reviews on different products, giving them more exposure for other customers that are passing by.

Embrace Reviews and Testimonials

Despite hundreds or marketing techniques out there, none of them can beat word of mouth marketing. Even though X company may have fantastic commercials and a great ad campaign, they still pale in comparison to having your friend endorse a certain product.

While not all your customers may be friends, reviews and testimonials are a great way to add a bit of trust and confidence to new customers. 

When you’re adding testimonials to your website, make sure and include the person’s picture and a quote that’s a few lines. You want other people to know that real humans have used your products or services and benefited greatly from them.