5 Tips for E-commerce Business Owners

What are the most important things to know before starting an e-commerce business? If you want to create a lucrative online store or improve your current one, you must know some tips for e-commerce business owners to help you achieve it. Let’s find out all that you need to do in order for your online shop to go from average to an entirely successful one. 

How Do I Get Good at E-Commerce? Our Amazing Tips for E-Commerce Business Can Help You Reach Your Goals

According to the Office of National Statistics, online sales represented 27.7% of total retail sales in the UK in December 2021. That means that almost a third of all purchases are connected to the online market. Covid-related lockdowns, social distancing rules, and stay-at-home orders had made online purchasing more popular than ever before - and it’s stayed that way. 

With more than 80% of all Britons buying online, many businesses opted for selling online. But is e-commerce a profitable business? It can’t be so without putting your time and effort into becoming successful. If you have no idea where to start, don’t worry. Our tips can help you become an e-commerce expert. 

#1 Focus on One Reliable Niche at the Beginning and Expand the Product Base Later

It’s not a smart idea to establish your online shop on a product or products that are popular at the moment. If you want long-term success, pick a stable niche that has withstood the test of time. Of course, whenever a new trend comes up inside of a chosen niche, you can always add it to the list of products you sell. The logic is simple - you can never know which trend will stick. 

Here is a list of some steady and profit-making products for online businesses in the UK: 

• Clothes (especially sports clothing),
• Shoes,
• Accessorize, 
• Books, 
• Cosmetics,
• Furniture, 
• Electronics, 
• Children toys, 
• Pet equipment, and the like.

The same tip can also imply if you use a multi-vendor marketplace platform to list your items or cross-post on e-commerce platforms. Customers tend to put more trust in sellers whose products belong to one niche than those who list a little bit of everything. It's a great way to make a vintage clothing online store successful, or any other type of e-commerce you focus on.

Create More Product-Related Content and Interact With New Buyers

Digital marketing is necessary for any successful online shop, so creating quality copy and content material is essential. Although blogs can provide you with a great ranking in search engines, they should not be your only source of product-related content. Creating podcasts is also an excellent way of reaching wider audiences. 

One more great tool that will undoubtedly help you acquire more purchases is a product video. Not many brands utilize this marketing strategy, so ensure to make use of it. If you wish to know how you can make a great product video, make sure to watch the video below:

#2 Think About the Customer Experience (and All the Ways of Making It Better)

Good customer experience is essential for repeated purchases, so you must invest some time in researching and trying out different strategies. There are numerous ways to sell used items online and maximize the profits. Here are examples of some techniques that can convince buyers to purchase and return to your website or online store:

• Bring in the discount sales - seasonal discounts, sales based on the volume bought, promotional discounts, and many similar tactics are excellent for attracting customers. 
• Make a mobile-friendly website - almost 50% of all online purchases in the UK are made over the phone. The more your online store is optimized for mobile use, the more buyers you’ll attract and keep. 
• Consider free shipping - people tend to trust more and are more likely to finish their purchase if a free delivery option is available.
• Facilitate the check-out process - that way, you’ll reduce cart abandonment, which is a big issue in the online world. Use a simpler interface for your online store or provide an option for a potential buyer to check out as a guest.

Provide Good Customer Support - One of the Best E-Commerce Tips You Can Use

Brick and mortar businesses can easily rely on social interaction. In online stores, it’s much more difficult. However, with appropriate customer support, an excellent customer experience is guaranteed. There are several different ways you can achieve it, like picking the best customer support tool, adding live chats, FAQ pages, chatbots, and so on. All you have to do is decide which option suits your store. 

#3 Work on Positive Reviews and Recommendations

How often have you checked online reviews of some service before opting for it? The same will happen with your website, as well, so you must make sure satisfied buyers leave their recommendations. Good marketing can do very much for you, but it can all be for nothing if your reviews are bad. 

Therefore, it would be good to encourage new satisfied customers to leave an honest review. Personalized messages in which you kindly ask your buyers to leave a recommendation if they are happy with the service may just do the trick. 

#4 Use Social Media Marketing to Boost Your Profit Growth 

Selling on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and other social media has become an imperative. They have not only become an essential part of our lives but have become necessary for business survival. They can help you grow a customer base and save up on costly ads. Remember that you shouldn’t focus on just one platform - share your content on as many as you can (at least three or four). 

Don’t Forget About Emails - They Should Still Be an Essential Part of Your Marketing Strategy 

Although some think email marketing is outdated, it can be a useful tool for further promoting your brand. The trick is convincing the customers to open it once they receive it. The best way of doing so is to attract buyers with a catchy subject title. 

Emphasize something that can interest them plenty (discounts, VIP offers, and the like). As for attracting new buyers to even subscribe to an email list, make sure you serve a pop-up so that buyers can see it before they want to leave your website. 

#5 List Your Items on Multiple Online Selling Platforms 

If you’re selling the products at some of the best online selling platforms in the UK, the same rule goes as with social media - the more, the merrier. After you figure out how to sell on Vinted or any other platform with success, you should focus on growing further. There are also many different websites where you can sell used items online. But will selling online with Shopify, for example, negatively affect successful selling on Depop or influence your sales on Vinted?

Managing your items, inventory, and pricing on more than one online marketplace platform can get complicated. Still, it’s easily fixed if you consider using multichannel listing software. With the help of the right cross-posting app, you’ll have more profit and fewer unsatisfied buyers.

How Can I Succeed in E-Commerce 2022? ZipSale May Be the Solution You've Been Looking for 

ZipSale is a cross-posting software for selling online designed to help you manage listings on multiple platforms. With this cross-posting tool, your products can reach more buyers without you having to waste too much time and energy on it. Sign up now and let your profits go up in no time.