An e-commerce store is a great way to reach a wider audience and grow your business digitally and internationally. However, this can only happen if it is done correctly. A lot of new e-commerce store owners tend to rush the process and jump right into selling. We understand that it may be a tedious process at first, but it truly is all worth it if you want to see great results. It is always better to put out a quality website initially compared to releasing a rushed website.
Your website is the first impression that people will have of your company, and you want it to be a good one. Today we will be talking about some of the do’s and don’ts for every e-commerce website, setting you up for success.
Do – Thoroughly research your products
As a seller, you always want to be well informed on the products you are selling. This requires taking some time and doing some research. It’s also important to know which products in your niche are selling, or in high demand, and which are not. You also want to research your target audience to know which products are geared more towards them. This means analyzing the product and asking yourself questions such as who would use this? What is the purpose of this product? What problem can this product fix? Once you can answer questions like these, you will have a much better idea of how to attack marketing and promote your products.
New e-commerce shop owners sometimes get overexcited and purchase a lot of stock without doing much research. This is bad because then you may very well be stuck with a large amount of product that will not sell, which is money lost for you. That is why it is important to stay up to date on which products are selling well within your niche and selling them yourself. With that being said, you also want to avoid selling products that are extremely over-saturated because the competition is great. Once you find the happy medium, you will know it and it will pay off.
Do – Have high-quality photos
High-quality photos are crucial to selling products online. You could have amazing products on your site, but if they have bad photos they are far less likely to sell. A photo is one of the main selling points for products online, and if they aren’t sold on your presentation then they will move to another e-commerce site with better photos.
Quality product photos show professionalism and make people want to shop from your store even more. It is well worth it to invest in a professional photographer who specializes in product photos to take pictures of your store’s merchandise.
Do – Niche down
It may seem tempting to sell as many different products from as many different niches and areas as you can. For example, this could look like selling kitchen supplies, children’s toys, computers, and girls’ clothing. This type of approach rarely ever works as it is a lot of work and can become both overwhelming to the owner and confusing to the consumers.
Instead, it is best to focus on a specific niche for at least the beginning of your store. This will allow you to focus more on the quality of your work and get a feel for owning an e-commerce store. If it goes well, down the line you can slowly introduce more products.
Do – Allow for easy website navigation
The goal is for your website to be as user-friendly as possible. This will encourage people to shop on your site and easily be able to find what they are looking for. One great tool to achieve this is Expertec, a search bar that quickly loads in all search results, allowing your customers to find what they are looking for much faster and more conveniently.
Having higher speeds on your website will increase the retention rate of your customers as they easily are able to navigate your store, bringing them back time and time again.
Don’t – Neglect the power of marketing
A lot of e-commerce store owners make the mistake of spending a lot of their budget on the website itself, decking it out to the max. Yes, a well-designed and functional website is important, but within reason. Instead, it is important to focus more on the marketing aspect in the beginning stages.
Marketing is one of the most important investments you will make for your business because it is what gets you customers. Without customers, there is no money which means there is no business. Aside from paid marketing companies that specialize in e-commerce stores, social media is a great way to promote your company and reach new people. Once you have a good idea of who exactly your target audience is, you can then choose which platforms would be best for you to be active on.
Don’t – Neglect your website and let it sit
This is another common mistake that new e-commerce store owners make. They often get complacent once they upload their products and then they let the website sit and wonder why traffic is not generating.
E-commerce stores are not a one-and-done type of deal. Instead, they require frequent updates. This can include listing new products, updating photos, updating product descriptions, and more. A frequently updated site with relevant information will always perform better than a site that just sits there, unchanged.
Conclusion
Starting an e-commerce store may seem confusing in the beginning and it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Remember, great things take time and your store is no exception. It is definitely a learning process, but by following these do’s and don’ts, educating yourself, and trial and error, you will quickly find your store gaining more and more traffic.
We hope that this article helped you out and gave you some ideas on things to improve and things to avoid. It’s time to create a great e-commerce store!
