How to successfully run an eCommerce business in a competitive market?
15 Tips on how to successfully run an eCommerce business

The online marketplace is becoming more crowded as the years go by. However, there's always room for new players in the market. A major challenge any online business owner will face is to make their eCommerce store stand out in an increasingly crowded space. Running an eCommerce business is hard. There are many things to consider, like how you're going to attract traffic, what kind of products you should sell and how to keep your customers coming back for more.

You want your store to stand out from the crowd, but it can be not easy to know where to start. This guide will help you get started with some tried-and-true strategies that have worked well for other businesses just like yours! If you're looking for ways to make your eCommerce business grow, then this article is perfect for you. We've compiled a list of 15 tips that we think will help any online retailer succeed in their niche market!

How can you make your eCommerce business stand out?

In his blog post, “The 7 Pillars Of Exceptional eCommerce Stores", Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke outlines seven pillars that will help you build a successful eCommerce business. Below are some of his recommendations, along with my thoughts:

1- Use emotion to motivate action

Emotions drive people to take action, and your product should be no different. Using pathos in marketing is a time-tested technique and can help people relate to your product emotionally.

2- Know and understand your audience

Knowing who you are selling to will go a long way toward helping you build the right store for them. Finding common ground with your customer base makes it easier for you to provide products that meet their needs.

3- Make everything simple

According to Lütke, "eCommerce stores fail when they try to do too much." Your site should be as simple as possible so that customers aren't overwhelmed. One of the reasons Amazon is so successful is its one-click checkout option, which streamlines online shopping.

4- Be where the audience is

In the past, you had to be on your desktop computer to shop online. Today, people are shopping across many different devices, and products should work just as well, if not better, on a mobile phone as they do on a desktop computer.

5- Personalization makes shoppers feel more comfortable

Personalizing elements of your site can help customers feel more at home and increase conversion rates. For example, it makes sense to offer a quick view function for each product page so that customers can get an idea of how it will fit them before adding it to their cart or buying it outright.

6- Trust is key

Your site has to have trust for customers to buy from you. You can do this by providing guarantees that go beyond the average industry standards. For example, if you sell furniture online, you could warrant your products for residential use (instead of commercial use).

7- Have a strong call-to-action

A call-to-action is simply one or more words designed to persuade people to take action. An effective call-to-action has several things going for it: simplicity, specificity, and clarity. It tells customers exactly what they should do next and why they should do it right now according to RemoteDBA.com experts.

8- Stay on top of trends

If you're not staying on top of eCommerce trends, then you will be left behind. Keeping up with new developments in your industry is key to success. What better way to do this than by reading industry blogs and listening to eCommerce podcasts?

9- Post frequently

If you're going to be in business for the long haul, you need to establish yourself as a thought leader within your industry. One of the best ways to do this is through creating and sharing content regularly (e.g., daily, weekly, or even monthly). In his post " Content Shock, "Ryan Deiss outlines why blog posts are one of the most important elements of building an audience.

10- Optimize mobile shopping

According to Business Insider: "Mobile shopping will make up 21% of all online retail spending in 2013, compared to 15% in 2012." With that in mind, it makes sense for mobile optimization to become a priority.

11- Use social proof

According to research by Nielsen, "88% of consumers find social media reviews helpful when making a purchase decisions." As such, you should integrate your site with many different reviews and sharing apps like Yotpo.

12- Keep it simple

Customers today are flooded with information coming at them from all formats. It is why simplicity is important. When customers come to your site, they want to be able to find what they came for quickly and easily without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed. Do not try to do too much on one single page.

13- Test, test, and re-test

Testing different elements of your site (pictures, copy, etc.) will help optimize conversion rates. If you're not testing, then you're already behind. In our post " Which is the Best Ecommerce Website Builder? ", we outline some of the best eCommerce software out there and how they can be used to increase conversion rates.

14- Personalize on all levels

According to a study published by Google, personalized search results get clicked on 9% more than non-personalized ones. Because of this, it makes sense for personalization to become part of everything that you do online. It means segmenting your audience so that you can provide them with relevant offers at the right time and the right place.

15- Create a strong call to action

You need to create urgency if you want your customers to take immediate action. A good way of doing this is by creating a sense of scarcity with time-sensitive offers (e.g., limited offers, seasonal offers, etc.). In his post “Why does scarcity work? “ Derek Halpern outlines how this tactic can be used as part of an overall marketing strategy.

If you're an eCommerce business that wants to stand out from the pack, it's going to take a lot of time and effort. We've provided just 15 ways for your company to get ahead in this competitive market. Will these tips be enough? Probably not, but they'll give you a good start on what it takes to succeed online!