Know your target customer. What products or services do your target customers want and need? How do they search for products?
Select the right products. Your products must be wanted by consumers. The products also must be differentiated from your competitors in some way. Variables include quality, price, availability, and presentation, as well as content about the products, such as user reviews and social commentary.
Make it easy for find your products. This can be challenging for a new ecommerce business. Earning search engine rankings takes time and perseverance. Search ads are expensive, but almost mandatory today. Social marketing is important, but it only gets you so far. Affiliate marketing is now essential for most ecommerce businesses.
Differentiate your offer. Differentiate your products and your business from competitors. Define your value proposition and reflect that throughout the customer’s experience on your site and all marketing channels. Create campaigns and promotions that have value to your customer, not just a 20-percent-off sale or free shipping.
Understand your business model. I’m not a proponent of a 50-page business plan. But it’s essential to understand the economics of your business. What are your expected revenue, costs, required investment, gross margins, and overall profitability? What are your risks?
Find the right help. Whether you are a solo entrepreneur or one with 20 employees, make sure you have experience and knowledge helping you. Hire smart, innovative people with digital marketing and ecommerce experience.
Use off-the-shelf platforms and tools. Ecommerce platforms are now almost all SaaS-based. If you sell to consumers, save much time and money and choose a leading SaaS platform. Focus on your value-added content, not on building new designs or custom features, at least initially.
Launch, learn, and improve. You will never launch a “perfect” site. There will always be room for improvement. Get your storefront going. Start engaging with your target customers. Monitor your analytics and key performance indicators — every day.
Have more cash than you think you need. Having available cash on hand to take advantage of new opportunities is critical.
Be prepared to pivot. For every great ecommerce idea, there are probably four failures. Change course if your initial approach is not working.
Courtesy of PracticalEcommerce
