Has your business trading completely stopped because of COVID-19?  Or are you looking for new opportunities to double, triple your revenue?

Perhaps you have never thought of opening an ecommerce store before COVID19?  Well, the world has changed and so too your business will need to evolve to play a part in this new way of doing business.

Ecommerce won’t be a waste of time, if you do it properly from the start.  It will open up a whole new world of customers that you never thought your retail store could ever possibly attract.

We have all read in the press how some businesses are flourishing in these dark times.  However, some ecommerce businesses are out of control and managed their online business completely wrong and not in the best interests of their customers – we’re looking at you KMART!

Ecommerce can be a powerful strategy for your business.

1.      It can open a new channel for your business

Whether your business has a physical retail shop or your business is no longer relevant in these days of COVID 19, ecommerce could open up a whole new world of customers that you never thought your business could ever possibly attract.  Your retail store may have been limited by passing traffic local audience, online can open you up to a whole new audience.

Perhaps you may need to make a slight shift in your product offerings to get them perfect for online sales.  Or this may be the time to move your business to a more profitable area.  Whatever, ecommerce can be a new channel for your business that will help spread your risk and take advantage of the changing face of business.

2.       It can add a revenue stream to your business

While bricks and mortar have brought you a successful business to date, there are limitations and elements beyond your control which we have just witnessed, and some of which we would never have dreamed of before. 

Ecommerce allows you to sell to whoever has a computer or mobile, not just somebody who visits your store.  So now your customer base is limitless, you can sell across town, nationally and internationally.

Your retail store becomes so much more than a shop front – it is a warehouse for your online store.  Double whammy and future proof your business!

3.      It allows your business to be more responsive to market movements

A website is an ever-evolving element of your business.  As you know your website can change easily – add new content or change the content, its easy with a digital website.  

With ecommerce, if a product isn’t selling well or market changes make the product redundant, well move on to a different product by updating the ecommerce site.  Easy to change and let your customers know. 

See an opportunity in a new product, quickly add it to your ecommerce site and let your customers know.

Not so sure about a new product? Test your market. 

Why ecommerce?

Ecommerce enable you to measure tangible results, to see the effect on your bottom line.  You can easily measure the number of visitors to your site, what products they looked at, what products they abandoned in their cart or perhaps you can measure how many products and dollars they spend with your business.

I attended a webinar this week on setting up an ecommerce business.  Ben Barin from TBSTdigital and Ricky Blacker, a wordpress evangelist from WP Engine were amazing at the technical side of setting up an ecommerce website, but also gave their wisdom and shortcuts with setting up a ecommerce website.  As I witnessed, setting up an ecommerce website can be a big endeavour, but it can also be financial rewarding.

 Before you jump right in and setup your ecommerce website, have a think about the following -

1.      Be informed before you start

Ecommerce won’t be a waste of time, if you do it properly from the start. 

Whether you have created an ecommerce business or not, it is wise to be fully informed at the start.

Ecommerce websites are time consuming, involved and require constant monitoring and updating to ensure their relevance to your audience.  Not to mention the marketing that is required to target your audience, and ensuring your audience can find your website and that they buy from you.

But if you are willing to put this time and effort into the setup and administration of your ecommerce website, the rewards and payoff can be amazing.

Do lots of research to learn the ins and outs of ecommerce sites, the mistakes people have made and go to ecommerce websites and check out how they have done it.  Have you bought anything online lately?  Can you remember the process, was it arduous and confusing, or was it slick and quick?  What did you like about the process and the website? 

This will open your eyes to the world of ecommerce, something you may not have paid much attention in the past.

2.      Planning and understanding

You need to ask yourself what is your business and your products?  What do you want to achieve?  What does your business future look like?

Will it replace your retail store eventually?  What kinds of products do you want to sell?  The products you sell now may be limited, so you may want to expand it to different products.

This is the time to pull out your business plan and have a read to see where ecommerce can fit into your plans.  You may need to completely rewrite your business and marketing plan (always recommended). This will give you the blueprint for all future decisions with your new ecommerce business and stops you from always being on the hop when important choices and money needs to be invested in your business.

This is also the time to set goals and targets for your ecommerce store – make them achievable and easy to measure – X number of sales per month, $X sales in product Y.  You need goals to keep it in check, and ensure you are spending time and money in the right areas of your business.

3.      Keep things simple

Start off slow and go from there, especially if you are not tech savvy.  Start with a few products and set-up them up on the ecommerce site.  Learn how to sell these first with tight branding, and establishing tight marketing and sales processes.  Think about what your customers would search if they wanted a product that you were selling. 

Then when you have a handle on these products and how the ecommerce site works you can move to the more creative side of the site.

If you have decided to set up an ecommerce store I highly recommend you hire a good web developer, if your budget allows. If you need help with the content side of your new website that’s where I can come in and can help you. As a copywriter I can assess the keywords you need to target and create content that get your customers clicking your BUY NOW button. Contact me now to get started!

You may like to read ‘my tips for writing good product descriptions that actually drive sales’ blog. It gives you good ideas on the type of content you should be including in your product descriptions.