There are plenty of ecommerce benefits for small business owners, especially a low entry cost. Building an ecommerce business requires many similar principles as a typical brick and mortar establishment. There are several considerations making ecommerce different, yet at the end of the day customer service and a selection of products people love helps the business succeed.
Develop Buyer Profiles
Every business has an idea of who their target customer is. Develop these profiles not just to be age/gender/income/race but create stories about the people. For example, two customers could be quite similar demographically but their origin stories inform how they interact with products. Marketing is about finding the buttons to push, and limiting a buyer profile to what is essentially census data robs an ecommerce business of valuable marketing tools.
Upsell/Cross-Sell
Anyone who’s purchased a warranty or spend time on a supermarket checkout line understands the principles of upselling and cross-selling. Large ecommerce stores including Amazon upsell and cross-sell as well. The key is identifying products to pair with what’s in the customer’s cart. For example, if someone is looking at tail lights for their car it’s wise to upsell directional lights, head lights, and even wiring harnesses. Because car parts require the year, make, and model of the car, cross-selling involves plenty of different accessories as well. The bottom line is selling just one product doesn’t do much unless the product is paired with others.
Simplify the Checkout Process
There are two reasons behind making the checkout process simple: reduction in abandoned carts and improved customer experience. Customers don’t want to spend time going through several windows to check out. The Amazon “Buy Now” button is a great example of simplification because it uses information on file to complete purchases. Abandoned carts happen not because customers don’t want products, but because the checkout process is too cumbersome.
Continue Good Customer Service Practices
Just because ecommerce is the focus of the business doesn’t mean customer service changes. Maintain proper customer service principles. Ecommerce means there’s little if any face-to-face interaction. That’s why it’s important to be courteous and listen to customer concerns. Keep these practices at the forefront and that’s the best way of attracting and maintaining customer relationships.
There are plenty of ecommerce tools helping you build a vibrant small business. Preveer consultants are well-versed in ecommerce solutions and can help small business owners get started. Build the ecommerce store of your dreams today.
