4 eCommerce Opportunities to Grow your Business.

4 eCommerce Opportunities to Grow Your Business.

While we all know there are a great many challenges as it relates to ecommerce we’re going to be talking about some of the more common challenges and how to overcome them to make your online business more successful than it ever has been.

We’ve all seen them, those sites that drive you away as opposed to bringing you in. No matter how great the product or service your site must be representative of what’s being sold as well as your entire brand. So let’s focus on a handful of areas where small changes can yield significant positive results.

Number 1 – Keep it Simple!

Often there is a feeling to put as much on a site as possible and bombard the customer with different opportunities. As a rule of thumb for small and medium sized businesses the best approach to all online operations, especially ecommerce is to use the “KISS” method of “keep it simple stupid”. Avoid bogging down the site with bells and whistles that take away from your initial offering. If you’re working on ecommerce, your goal is to get the user to pay for the product or service you’re offering, not necessarily getting them to read your blog, look at your partners or anything else other than to see your product in the light of desire. Solution – remove anything from your site that is not critical. Especially on your front page, if it’s not obtaining customer information for a future sale or driving the customer to an immediate sale, take it off or put it somewhere else on the site.

Number 2 – Instill Trust!

I don’t know about you but with all the news reports about credit card information being compromised online I’m not likely to buy from a site that does not at least look like I can trust them. Many sites are thrown up quickly and with minimal care taken as it relates to the prospective customer. Remove as many hurtles as possible between them and the buy now button. Start with telling customers that you secure their payment information and follow up with any trust badges you can find such as those offered by many gateways, PCI organizations and payment companies. By taking this minor step you’ll be giving your customer something very valuable – peace of mind.

Number 3 – Let them Pay You!

Ecommerce has a singular purpose to provide your customer with substantial enough value resulting in them wanting to pay you. So while your customers are at the critical step of submitting their payment information, make it as easy as possible. Minimize the number of steps needed to complete the transaction. It’s best to have multiple payment options as not everyone has a credit or debit card. Also provide an ACH (payment via the bank account) option or even PayPal. This become even more important as your ecommerce business expands into international markets, but that’s a conversation for another time.

Number 4 – Call Customers to Action!

Never, ever… ever assume that customers will know what to do or how to do it. Many ecommerce websites and online businesses fail to succeed because there is an assumption that the users will know what to do at each step. By creating a few (refer to number 2) clear and concise calls to action you’ll greatly increase your website conversions and return on marketing investment. Remember though, each page of your site, especially the shopping cart area should funnel users to the next page