Since late 2019, life for most people has been quite the rollercoaster ride. Major changes took place as everything came to a standstill due to the Coronavirus. Each aspect of life was disrupted as most countries went into lockdown hence, accelerating digital transformation for most businesses. Even businesses that had no plans of going digital started to see e-commerce as a viable option to continue operations.
Apart from goods typically purchased online such as appliances, apparel, and beauty products, items like large furniture and even groceries joined the e-commerce bubble. As a result, studies have predicted that e-commerce retail sales will grow up to $6.54 trillion in 2022. Why not think about getting yourself a share in that growth? But how do you do that, you ask? You may want to consider these top e-commerce strategies in 2021 for your store today.
Customer experience is key to having a successful e-commerce business. Your customer’s level of satisfaction will determine whether they will come back and potentially be converted to loyal customers or not. If a customer visits your site and is overwhelmed by all the irrelevant options, they may be put off and never return to purchase anything. That’s where personalization comes into play. By offering your customers a personalized shopping experience, you help them find what they need and when they need it. Observe and analyze data on customer-specific site behavior, purchase history, and cart items to help you create dynamic offers, discounts, and emails.
Having a functional site does not end after creating an account and posting your products. You have to take a step further to ensure that your site ranks well on search engine results. To make this happen, you need to optimize your website’s performance and how products are displayed to the consumers. Start by first understanding your audience and what terminologies they may use in their searches on your website. Then, use those words to optimize your products.
Moreover, you can use unique product descriptions, describing their shape, size, color, and use attractive images. Ensure your keywords are in order by including title tags, meta description, and short URL. You can even take a step further by including your customers’ reviews as this will help generate keywords naturally.
Don’t just stick to one type of marketing. Diversify your marketing strategies and incorporate other forms such as social media, referral marketing, and paid advertising. Don’t be afraid to hop on the latest trends to keep your business thriving in this digital age. If you haven’t already, we highly recommend creating social media accounts for your business. Platforms you should prioritize are Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok which gained immense popularity during the pandemic.
But before you get into a social media marketing craze, study your audience to know what the right platform is to promote your business. Once you establish what works best for you, make sure to actively share posts and campaigns, and engage your followers as much as possible. Ideally, you would want to work with influencers to market your business, which is a rising field.
The next big thing in e-commerce is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR). Over the years, online shopping has yet to cater to customers who wish to try or physically see a product before purchasing it. I’m sure we have all seen at least one review online of an unhappy customer showing pictures of the product they received looking nothing like what they ordered.
With AI and AR, customers will be able to experience the product as much as is digitally possible to get a better grasp of how the product is like in reality. Take IKEA, for example, which allows you to see how a piece of furniture fits in a room. Aside from this, AI will play a crucial role in customer experience by offering smarter virtual assistants, chatbots, and e-learning.
By incorporating these e-commerce strategies, you will help enhance your business’s presence in the digital space. While doing this, your next move should be to upgrade your site to offer your customers an unforgettable user experience. And to do this, you may want to acquire the services of a web developer or company. At the end of the day, your business strategies can only bear fruit in time when you nurture your business to do so.