More and more people are testing the waters of E-commerce. It’s not hard to see why. You gain most of the benefits of a brick and mortar business without the rental costs, overheads, bills and need to employ multiple permanent staff.
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What’s more? You can work from the comfort of your own home. What’s not to love? But making a success of an online business is a little more complex than merely setting up a site with products or services and seeing the profits roll in.
Here are a few tips and tricks for setting up the perfect E-commerce site that will rise above your competitors.
Know Your Audience
The first key to succeeding in any business, physical or online, is to know and understand your audience. You need to have a good idea of who you intend to sell to. This will be able to help you with targeted web design, marketing, and advertising which are key to making a profit.
Conduct effective market research to pinpoint your buyers’ age, gender, interests, geographical location, budget and the competitor brands who they currently buy from. Once you know your audience you can start to make your aesthetic appeal to them.
Bring in the help of professionals like www.pixelchefs.com to help make your site catch their eye.
People are much more likely to buy from a site that appeals to their tastes and which they feel that they can identify with.
This includes color scheme, fonts, logos and ease of use.
Offer Alternative Products
Whenever you offer a product, you should ensure that you have an alternative ready and waiting should it not suit your customer’s needs perfectly.
Try to make sure there are two similar products for each item you sell. One should be slightly cheaper, one should be more expensive. This encourages buyers to opt for the middle option. They don’t want the basics, but they feel they are saving money in comparison to the deluxe version.
This secures more sales of your original product, with the added bonus of the occasional sale of one of the higher budget items.
Ensure Your Payment Methods are Secure
People want to feel safe and secure when buying online. Especially considering the recent rise of cybercrime.
Most people will have heard tales of people buying items online, only to find that their identities and card details have been stolen by a fraudster and their bank accounts have been drained the next day.
Use services like www.paypal.com to ensure that customers and their details are well protected.
Make Use of Banners and Pop Ups
Nobody wants multiple pop-ups during their shopping experience. But one on the front page for new users can see an increase in subscriptions to your mailing list.
Let new users know that if they sign up to newsletters, they will be contacted with discounts, offers, information on sales and details of special events.
You will then have their contact information and permission to contact them, which can prove extremely useful.
Banners can also help highlight deals without intruding on customers’ shopping experience.
