The "big three" of ecommerce - part 1

When we sign up a new major customer these days they generally already have an online presence. I read a statistic the other day that stated more than 7 out of 10 businesses have a website today. I would argue this figure is higher for retailers. This means that we are no longer selling the concept of "getting online", we are converting customers from existing platforms.

To convert a customer we need to prove that we can provide a greater return from their website than they currently receive. As many retailers originally launched online with free software, old software or self built solutions we can almost always offer some form of uplift. After 10 years of providing ecommerce services we have learned a thing or two.

The biggest areas that retailers seek to improve can be summarized into 3 distinct categories: More traffic, better conversion and greater efficiency. I have worked with a number of retailers where the web channel was originally less profitable than the bricks and mortar high street outlet. In extreme cases this leads to retailers either dumping their website or letting it go to rack and ruin. One huge misconception is that selling online is easy. It isn't.

Over the next week I'll be covering the big 3 ways we seek to improve an ecommerce business. The first category is:

Increasing site traffic

One of the greatest mistakes retailers make is something we call The Field of Dreams Theory. This translates (obviously to those who know the fine work of Kevin Costner) as "if we build [a website] they will come". Of course this isn't true. Additionally many retailers rely on old school marketing like brand campaigns and press offers to drive traffic. This just doesn't work.

Best practice for driving site traffic to an ecommerce site means you need to learn to manipulate a number of different traffic sources:

By optimizing the channels available online, essentially by spreading your web footprint, you increase the chances of "finger fall" (that is footfall but online – what a great buzz word). By creating legitimate references to your products in all the places that your customer demographic might visit you can capture more site traffic. You only have to look at the sophisticated tools Amazon and eBay use to market themselves online to imagine what best practice might look like.

If you have any thoughts on the subject above, you can always comment below. For more detail watch this space or contact us at info@shopcreator.com