The Essential Steps to Launching a Thriving Ecommerce Business

Have you ever spent a few minutes on YouTube only to be hounded by video ads telling you how easy it is to launch a thriving ecommerce business? Judging by the advertisers, establishing a six-figure ecommerce business is easier than ordering an item from Amazon. Of course, the truth is that establishing a thriving ecommerce business is no cake walk; it will require careful preparation, dedication, and trial and error. And knowing when it’s best to establish an online store can be difficult.

That said, now is a good time to launch an ecommerce business. According to a report published by Statista, nearly $120 million worth of items were sold by ecommerce businesses in the fourth quarter of 2017. If past trends are any indication, ecommerce sales are only going to increase in 2018 and beyond.

After you’ve created a business name using a business name generator, you’ll be ready to launch any ecommerce business. Whether you’re selling piano lessons or turkey basters, this article will help you get your ecommerce business off the ground.

Choose a well-known category

It will come as no surprise that ecommerce business owners tend to sell more when they are focusing on valuable and well-known categories. That’s because shoppers don’t need to be educated in order to search for a solution for their problem; instead, the fact that cell phone accessories or home decor exist is widely known.

That means ecommerce sellers simply need to capitalize on existing intent through a variety of marketing techniques, rather than having to first educate the market about the category in which your store specializes.

For example, according to a report in Marketing Charts, the fastest growing ecommerce categories are jewelry (which is growing at 39 percent) and home furnishings (which is growing at 26 percent). Choosing to focus on one of these categories is a great way to ensure you’re participating in a lucrative ecommerce sector.

Sell both on Amazon and your own ecommerce website

Amazon’s market cap is over $760 billion, and the company is growing quickly. As a result, ecommerce business owners will be able to quickly tap into a large potential customer base by selling products on Amazon.

Thanks to helpful features like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Amazon ads, it’s never been easier for ecommerce entrepreneurs to quickly connect with consumers who trust and rely on Amazon to purchase a variety of items.

At the same time, selling exclusively on Amazon is not without risks. Amazon is focused on ensuring consumers have an outstanding experience, and as such, they have developed policies that significantly curtail what Amazon sellers can do to connect with customers.

For example, according to Amazon’s guidelines, it’s against the rules to send customers you’ve earned via Amazon marketing materials. It is also impossible to serve visitors to an Amazon webpage retargeting ads in order to improve page visitor to customer conversion rates.

That’s why building a stand-alone ecommerce website through a platform like Shopify or Bigcommerce is a good idea. Maintaining a presence both on Amazon and independently is a hedge against relying on a single modality to sell products online.

Develop a marketing automation strategy

Speaking of connecting with customers and prospective customers, marketing automation is a fantastic way for ecommerce business owners to engage contacts. According to a report cited in CMO.com, over 90 percent of marketers said automation is vital to the success of their overall marketing strategy.

Using tools like Marketo, Hubspot or Autopilot, business owners can create workflows that nurture contacts via a series of triggered emails, display ads, social media posts, and smart content to provide your contacts with relevant and timely information. In so doing, you can turn contacts into customers, and customers into repeat customers.

Accelerate growth with digital advertising

According to Recode, 2017 marked the first time in history where spend on digital ads outstripped spend on television ads. This trend is likely to continue as more and more people turn away from television and look instead to digital platforms for entertainment.

Creating a creative digital advertising campaign on platforms like Facebook, Google Display Network, or Adwords is a great way to capture the attention of your target audience.

Of late, the platforms mentioned in this section have improved their advertiser user interface and targeting abilities, making it simple for solopreneurs to set up effective digital ad campaigns without needing to rely on agencies or freelancers to get the ball rolling.

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Conclusion

Contrary to popular belief, launching an ecommerce business isn’t as simple as flipping a switch and watching the orders roll in. Instead, business owners will need to invest time and money in developing products that appeal to a particular demographic.

Using marketing automation and advertising to drive orders on Amazon and your own store can be a great way to quickly drive sales.

What other advice do you have for ecommerce business owners? Let readers know by leaving a comment below!

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