The majority of brick-and-mortar stores have reopened their doors to the public, but online shops continue to thrive. The e-commerce industry has been growing fast since 2020, and it will account for 24.5% of all global retail sales by 2025, an increase from 19.6% from 2021, according to data on Fit Small Business. Setting up an online store is cheaper, easy to scale, and customize the customer experience, and there are zero time restrictions, meaning you can sell to customers anywhere, 24/7. However, to grow an ecommerce business that brings in significant revenue, you need a solid growth strategy.
Like many entrepreneurs, you’ll want to focus on marketing for online business only. But marketing alone can’t drive growth, so you’ll need to integrate other growth strategies to ensure your business stands out. Read on to learn a few tips for boosting e-commerce business growth.
Contents
Know Your Customers
Many entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and money reaching the wrong audience and end up failing. The key to expanding an e-commerce business is understanding your target audience. Find out who your ideal buyer is and what they want in a product or service. Examine how your potential customers search for products, what they lack currently, and how they compare product options.
There are reliable sources where you can collect customer data. But if you don’t have access to them, you can conduct market research by yourself. Talk to potential customers to understand their expectations and pain points. Using this information, create buyer personas and create targeted marketing campaigns.
Run Promotions
Running promotions is one of the most effective ways to attract customers and drive sales upwards in your online store. There are several tactics to run a successful promotion like volume discounts where customers pay less for buying more goods. You can opt for simple sales discounts that entail price reductions by 10-30%, or bundled product discounts, and buy one get one free discount model.
Whatever discount model you choose, consider using a customer relationship management system. A CRM gives you information on which customers have responded to high-value discounts before. It also helps you target the right customers for special offers based on their shopping history. With a CRM like Salesforce, you can even personalize price quotations for special offers dedicated to customers who buy in bulk. When you create quotes in Salesforce, you ensure that the product cost is less than the market retail price, so consumers can order bulk. Creating quotations using a CRM paves the way for negotiations, leading to a win-win situation for both sellers and buyers.
Market Throughout the Buying Process
Before consumers make a purchasing decision, they go through different stages in the buying process. For this reason, create a marketing strategy for the entire buying process, from problem recognition, information search, evaluation of options, purchase decision, and purchase. By marketing across all buying phases, you interact with customers and win their trust. For example, marketing at the problem recognition phase using content marketing strategies helps you to share facts and testimonials about the solutions your product and services offer. When prospects interact with your content, they realize they have a need and make a purchase.
There’s potential for growth in the ecommerce industry as more consumers choose to shop online. As an entrepreneur, your primary goal is to ensure your online store thrives and stays ahead of the competition. To achieve the best outcomes, identify your customers and focus on targeted marketing. Also, run promotions to boost sales and market across the entire buying process.
