You don’t have to be a large business to have a successful e-commerce platform. There are many ways you can sell products online in a way that is cost effective and provides a high ROI as long as you do things the right way.
Here are some questions to ask yourself before you start.
Good things take time to build and it’s important to take the time to do e-commerce the right way. You will definitely reap what you sow. It is important to take the time to do things the right way to maximize your results.
The bar is a lot higher than it used to be since we saw a huge surge in online shopping since 2020, so if you want to get into the game, or want to improve your current e-commerce store, here are a few things to consider.
Spend the time to import all items.
A lot of retailers will only offer a small handful of products online. While this definitely allows the process of going online to be faster, it really limits your growth. If you don’t take the time on the front end to import all or the vast majority of your items, then someone who shops with you and wants that obscure item that you didn’t think to upload, may decide to shop elsewhere so they can have a one-stop-shop experience.
Depending on what platform you use, this can be a rather seamless process depending on how your e-commerce platform speaks to your POS. But most platforms will allow for a data import of some kind to speed up the process.
Be sure that you are including detailed product descriptions for each item, but make sure you are being DSHEA compliant!
Make it easy to shop.
Clearly label your categories and have a very visible and easy to use search bar. Make sure you have multiple keywords and factor in for common misspellings of brand names or products.
Get into the minds of your customers and really think about what searches they may want to conduct on your platform to identify those possible keywords.
Pro tip: If your e-commerce platform allows for customer reviews, this is a great way to build confidence in your potential customers that the products work.
Have multiple images, especially supplement/nutrition facts.
This is key, especially with supplements! You want people to be able to know what is in the products they are purchasing and having the supplement/nutrition facts is essential. Make sure your photos are clear and high resolution to make it easy for your customers to see.
Most manufacturers have Dropbox files of their product images to make this easy for you. Also, be sure to associate the correct supplement facts with the product and make sure the serving sizes match!
Be mobile friendly.
Most e-commerce platforms are designed to be mobile friendly, but just be sure when you are looking into different providers what their mobile set up is and that it is super user friendly.
Be price competitive!
If you’re going to sell products online, you need to be competitive with other e-commerce platforms. MAP is the new MSRP online so it’s critical to be price competitive.
Someone can pull up that exact same product with just a few clicks on a competitor’s online store and if you’re not close in price, you will lose that customer.
If you’re wanting to have a successful online store, it may require you to evaluate your in-store pricing as well. If you want more information on that, click here.
