Hi lovelies,
Building an online shop in 2022 is easy but that doesn’t make it easily successful. A lot of time, energy, and money are often spent to build a financially thriving eCommerce store. Not everyone has the ability to do this, depending on their time and skills at hand. However, it’s not impossible to achieve with the right knowledge and know-how.
This guide will bring a little more insight into creating a successful online shop for any and all those wishing to start one.
Appearance is key
First impressions count and it’s what customers see once they reach the webpage. With that said, it’s worth asking the question - does the site’s design help sell products? If the answer is ‘no’ or ‘unsure’, then it’s important to change the appearance to make it a ‘yes’.
In fact, 59% of people prefer browsing ‘beautiful and well-designed’ sites to basic ones, according to Adobe.
Designing an eCommerce site is all about creating a site that the user will want to explore. Not only that but it's designed and laid out in such a way that it helps influence the customer to purchase something.
Understand what customers want and need
Many online shops will fail to sell because they’ve not thought about what their customers need. Every online store is going to be different from the next, depending on the type of products or services being offered.
For example, if it’s an online store selling physical products such as clothing, it’s important to focus on what type of clothing you’re selling. The type of clothing may only attribute to certain demographics or to a vast market of shoppers.
With virtual products, like a type of software or program, it may be worth conducting market research to see which businesses or individuals it would be best suited for. All of these will need to be marketed accordingly when it comes to selling the products or services.
Make checkout easy for customers
Making the checkout process easy and straightforward is essential. With that being said, using the right host for your checkout is critical. A customized online payment page is going to perform much better than one that’s basic and doesn’t encourage the shopper to move forward with their purchase.
The easier the checkout process is made, the better the experience the customer has. This is essential for encouraging previous customers to shop again.
Created a personalized experience
Personalization is important, especially as it adds value to the customer’s experience in general. When they see similar items they’re interested in pop up, or their name is shown on their customer profile dashboard, it all makes for a more personable experience.
Try to add these little nuggets of personalization, where you can.
Don’t become part of the majority that fails to succeed
There are many online stores that don’t get to succeed past their first few months, let alone the first year. With these tips, you’ve got the foundations required to create an eCommerce platform that will thrive this year.