As a small business owner, growing your eCommerce business online can be a challenging task, but it’s essential for success in today’s digital age and with the right approach, you can take your business to the next level.
We look at five criteria that can build or break businesses as they begin to venture online.
1. Build a rapport on social media
Social media is a powerful tool for reaching out to potential customers and building relationships with existing ones. It’s essential to choose the right social media platforms that your target audience uses and create engaging content that resonates with them. Testing which platforms work best for your eCommerce business is a good approach, so you can focus on the ones that benefit you most.
By engaging with your audience through social media, you’ll be able to increase loyalty and gather precious feedback with ease in a personable way. Social media is also great for brand awareness. Over half the world’s population uses social media, so you can imagine how much it can increase a business’ visibility.
2. Wow your customers
Providing an excellent online customer experience is crucial to building trust and loyalty. A rising shopper base is now making inquiries and complaints on social media/email; responding to them promptly can help you go above and beyond to satisfy their needs. In addition to having a user-friendly website, having chat support available can also help address urgent queries and show customers you’re on top of their requirements. The advantage of a strong online presence can be tremendous for small businesses, enabling greater loyalty, brand awareness, engagement and business growth.
3. Stay ahead with a fulfilment partner
A dedicated fulfilment partner can help you grow your small business in many ways, while taking off some of the pressure. Having some help from a fulfilment partner can really catapult business growth and providing an excellent customer experience, which is essential to customer loyalty. Look at how Sarah Edmonds Illustration managed to turn around their business growth.
A thorough process, from goods in and storage, to packing and shipping, can ensure products reach their destinations on time and efficiently. Logistics and fulfilment challenges can hinder growth due to complexity – so removing the added time and expense of investing in your own warehouse staff and technology can be a welcome weight off your shoulders.
4. Offer a variety of shipping options
40% of abandoned carts are due to a lack of convenient delivery options [1]. It’s clear that when it comes to online delivery, customers want choice and flexibility. For instance, some customers want to have the convenience of being able to pick up a parcel delivery after work, and some may need it delivered to a home address. By offering a range of shipping options such as next-day delivery, standard delivery, and international shipping, as well as click & collect and parcel lockers, you can meet the demands of your customers and increase your business’ reach.
5. Offer clarity on parcel tracking and delivery
Increased transparency can build trust with your customers. Offering tracking gives customers clarity to monitor their package journey from the moment it leaves your warehouse to its final destination. Delivery confirmation can help provide proof of delivery and prevent disputes over lost or missing packages. Ensure you have the right tracking systems in place internally, so you can offer a better customer experience and reduce risk during last mile delivery, which is a critical part of any shopper’s purchase experience.
Growing a small business online requires dedication, and strategic planning. By focusing on building a strong online presence, well-designed website, continual social media engagement and excellent customer service.
With 69% of customers not choosing to repeat purchase if their parcel hasn’t arrived within two days of the expected arrival time [2], partnering with a reliable fulfilment and shipping partner who can take pressure off the complete fulfilment journey from pick, pack and despatch, right up to the customer’s door, will give your business the support it needs to grow and scale.
