Profitability first’ is the philosophy behind the world’s most successful eCommerce brands. It is easy to get carried away by revenues and orders received, but expenses add up even with eCommerce’s limited overhead. Operation costs can drive your business into the red zone if you don’t think profitability is important.
Making an eCommerce business profitable involves keeping expenses low while every process, decision, and element is designed with profitability in mind. Let’s learn more about the best strategies.
Have an Amazing eCommerce Website
A weak website will sink you. Your online shopping store should have well-written text, high-quality photos and videos, and user-friendly, intuitive navigation. Add features and extensions that suit your brand. Make your site as simple to use as you can.
Incorporate CTAs where you can. Provide share buttons on social media. eCommerce profitability relies on website quality, perhaps more than anything else.
Related Post: 05 Best Website Ideas for Ecommerce Businesses
Invest in Reliable eCommerce Fulfillment Services
Keeping up with orders can be costly for businesses. Hiring eCommerce fulfillment services can help you offer 24/7 support, arrange shipping and delivery, handle returns and exchanges, and issue refunds.
These services take care of all of this, and it’s less to worry about the day-to-day. Fulfillment centers also offer same-day and guaranteed delivery dates unlike average business owners. They can save a brand a lot of money in the long term.
Have Strong Social Media Outreach
Social media is the major marketing channel for generating new leads and conversions. Invest your time and effort in outreach, featuring products, starting conversations, and branding.
If you market well enough, many shoppers will also buy directly from your social media pages, so be prepared to receive and process those orders promptly. Social media provides the best marketing ROI in eCommerce and is a key component of every online shopping business.
Target Your Product to What the Customer Wants
Choose niche product categories that stand out to customers. Assuming you have a product that appeals to your customers, when taking photos, writing product descriptions, and putting together eCommerce marketing, ensure everything’s targeted to the customer’s needs.
The key takeaway is to research regularly to understand your target audience’s wants. Deliver it to them with the right products marketed correctly.
Focus On The Long Game With Customers
Plug your leads into different sales funnels. Some will sign up for email updates, for example, but do not purchase anything until six months later. You will have returning customers, abandoned carts, and first-time customers who have jumped on with a coupon code.
When someone buys a product from you or shares their email, set them up on a communication plan that does not do the ‘hard sell.’ Play the long game. Cultivate your leads. Treat them like more than a number.
Market According to the Time of Year And Be Trendy
Jump on trends, seasons, and demand throughout the year with your marketing. If certain products are summer-only, start hyping them in late spring. If the post-holiday season is a down period, back off your marketing spending at that time.
In the ramp-up to the holidays, which is the most profitable time of year for eCommerce brands, increase marketing spending and prepare for increased demand.
Invest the Time in Reading Your Website Analytics
Your website produces real-time data through platforms like Google Analytics, Shopify, and others. Take the time to look at it. See which products sell and which aren’t. See your cart abandonment rate, bounce rate, average sales, and more.
Learn more about how your site works and what you can do to convert more leads, reduce cart abandonment, and increase the average sale.
Also Read: Here’s How You Can Improve the Conversion Rate in Your eCommerce Store
Stay Lean and Keep Expenditures Low
We mentioned it earlier, but you can’t have a profitable eCommerce brand without control over expenditures for long. While you need to spend a certain amount to make money, always have a reason to spend where you do. Consider how to maximize every dollar. Eliminate unnecessary costs.
Focus on marketing the right products at the right time of year. Know your revenues vs. expenses, and work hard to keep that gap as large as possible.
Make Sure Your Website’s Checkout is Secure
Secure checkout is the key to an eCommerce business. Ensure payment methods are available and private information is kept safe. The checkout process itself should not be long. Advertise openly what security measures you use to keep payment information secure.
The more reassuring a potential customer is that you are a safe, legitimate website, the more likely they are to click and buy the product(s) in their cart.
