Want to know how to beat the competition when running an Ecommerce business? How to stay ahead in the game in a way that they can’t even reach your feet and how to make sure of higher customer retention and customer acquisition? Here are 10 fantastic techniques you can use, to do just that.
Better product offers
Have better offers than your competition in every way. As this factor alone could be a major deal-maker or deal breaker. Have the best price, best product combos, higher discounts, free coupons and merchandise, etc. Use every technique to make your product offer an offer they can’t refuse and keep an eye on your competition’s pricing and offer strategies.
If they want to start a price war, don’t hesitate to jump in as it won’t last long and with persistence, in the long run it creates a good impression on the customer. In short, make the customer think that what they are getting on your site is the best offer they can get anywhere else.
Better site experience
Have better website experience than your competition. This comes as the second most important factor to make your customer buy from your website than your competition’s after having a better product offer. It’s all about making the site navigation and purchase experience a delight for the customer.
Look for ways a customer could have a bad buying experience on your Ecommerce website and how it could lead to customer never coming back to your site ever again. Then eliminate them from your Ecommerce site’s buying experience. This way, you are giving your customer a memorable, easy and delightful purchase preparing him for his next purchase.
Better advertising campaign
Both you and your competitors are advertising, however which advertising campaign wins the customer’s heart depends on the quality, enjoyably, sublime message, subconscious conviction and some other factors. What you should do is not just inform your customers about your business however convey them to buy precisely from you.
Show them the reasons and benefits of buying from you through your advertisement complaints. Convey them. What if both you and your competition are running excellent advertisement campaigns at the same time? One up the game and let the customers choose the winner.
Fix false or negative publicity
Every once in a while, a negative comment, rumour or news could be spread about you. It’s a fact of life for people running an Ecommerce business, I’m afraid. It could be generated by some misunderstanding of the media, related parties or the customers, or it could have been artificially generated by your competitors.
Yes, to get ahead in the game, your competitors could start lying about you, denounce you, make your customers lose trust from you and use other unethical techniques to break your business when they aren’t able to get ahead of you in legitimate ways.
Negative news spreads fast and impacts deeply and that’s why it requires an immediate reaction. Keep an eye on such false/negative publicity spreading about you and stop them before it spreads more. And for the damage which is done mend them by assuring comments, newsletter or in other ways telling the truth.
More sellers, more products
You are selling products and services. That’s your business and more the products and services are there in your inventory more customers could compare and choose the right product without ever needing to leave your site. Everything is available at one place. That trust makes any online buyer come to your site first.
Having more sellers means competitive prices. Customers get a huge benefit from such sellers’ competition. They get discounted prices, better combos and product offers. This method goes along with the first method on the list.
Have exclusive products
Having exclusive products on your site firstly sets a certain reputation in the customer’s mind being a premium seller with huge reach. Your regular customers love this while online buyers who don’t buy from you will come to your site and you get the chance to snatch customers from your competitors by providing an excellent buying experience.
Always try to get more and more exclusive products on your site and sell them with special treatment sending a firm message to everyone about the product being available only on your website. This is the easiest way to get new customers and make the regular customers love your brand even more.
Building community
You should build an online community to elevate Brand Awareness, Brand Recognition, to build loyal customer base, information assessment and for active communication with current and prospective customers. You can build followers on social sites or encourage site visitors to participate in newsletters or for email subscriptions, whilst you are running an Ecommerce business.
These groups are your loyal customers wanting every news and update from you and you treat them accordingly. The more followers you have, the better impression it spreads generally. Also, a larger community than your competition sends a certain message to everyone.
Adapting new technologies
From time to time, there comes a new technology or trend in online space. It could be a fad or a permanent change. You should accept all those technologies which can help you sell more and win customer’s trust and happiness. These technologies make things easier, optimises the site experience or makes the whole site closer to the current fashion.
Whether it is omnichannel marketing, connected smart packaging driven by branded QR codes with logos, or proximity marketing for enabling online-offline customer experiences, eCommerce companies must adopt technologies that consumers in the market want and will appreciate.
All these directly or indirectly results in more sales and satisfied customers. So, when you are running an Ecommerce business, you should look out for new technologies and adapt them before your competitor does.
Incorporate various selling techniques
There are many selling techniques that significantly increase the number of sales. These techniques encourage the visitor to make a purchase or suggest a buyer to buy another product related to the product they are already buying. Such persuasions are called Up-selling and Cross-selling which have an important role in the successful Ecommerce sites.
All these selling techniques are encouraging the customer to buy something. You should apply them on your site if only changing words could make a great conversion difference.
Always have enough stock
After going through the whole process of buying online, if “Out of Stock” sign shows up, customers hate it from the heart. They have their product in front of their eyes (product page), they have their money ready and yet they can’t buy it from you. In that case, they are forced to find alternative Ecommerce websites.
That means losing a customer and giving your competitors a chance to take your customer away. Predict the demand based on reports and calculations and have sufficient stock. If you use the Drop Shipping technique to sell things, tell your sellers what predictions you have made depending on your reports. This will less likely result in an untimely “Out Of Stock” situation and will successfully retain your customers from the competition.
Keep these things in mind and you will surely stay ahead of your competition when running an Ecommerce business.
