In the world of ecommerce today, there are plenty of creative ways to scale. Some businesses focus on expensive items, others focus on specific items they can dominate. Neither strategy is considered better than the other.
I talked to 11 ecommerce entrepreneurs who were willing to give me their tips and tricks regarding what consumers want from ecommerce websites. Here they are!
Think from the customer’s point of view
My friend Melissa is an expert in ecommerce who drop ships most of her products and always has an eye out for great and attractive designs.
She told me that you need to think like the consumer. It doesn’t matter what you want, it is all about what your consumers will like. She also notes that it is important to stock things that are selling rather than things that aren’t to avoid unfulfilled orders.
For ecommerce businesses using Shopify, Melissa recommends using Hurry—a great Shopify plug-in that develops a sense of urgency for visitors.
Use email and social accounts effectively
The man behind Online Dimes, Frank Hatchett, is a great resource for ecommerce strategies. Frank also has a large Facebook group of over 20,000 people, Online Samurais. This group explores all areas of online marketing.
His favorite tip to give new ecommerce entrepreneurs is to cross-target using email and Facebook. When you use social media and email together, it is much easier to achieve a high conversion rate and keep customers coming back. For example, when you target cold traffic on social media it is important to have retargeting set up so viewers can get familiar with your brand.
Frank suggests that entrepreneurs use Connection to help automate Facebook ads in an effective manner.
Learn from mistakes
Richard Lazazzera, a member of the previous Shopify Growth team who now runs A Better Lemonade Stand—a great resource for ecommerce entrepreneurs—has some great advice. He also teaches an ecommerce program, Builds Launch Grow.
Richard puts a strong emphasis on learning through trial and error. Plenty of entrepreneurs thinks too much when they could be doing. Learning through failure is much more effective than learning by watching.
To make manufacturing easy, he recommended Sourcify.
Use email to convert readers into buyers
An experienced entrepreneur who has learned by doing, Susan Bradley, taught an ecommerce program called The Social Sales Girls
Susan says that emails are a great way to get more customers. Every email strategy relies on lead generation. To give your email list a nice boost, you need to use lead magnets.
She says that Infusion soft is a great automation tool for smaller businesses.
Use a funnel approach to get the most out of visitors
A friend of mine named Dan who runs the ecommerce store Leafwood also runs a Shopify group on Facebook with over 10,000 members.
Dan also runs the great ecommerce resource, Ecom Dudes. He owns multiple ecommerce stores of his own and has coached over 4,000 students.
Dan recommends a funnel approach to get the most out of every customer, while offering them the most value at the same time.
