E-commerce or electronic commerce refers to any business transaction conducted online. The most frequently used example is online shopping, which is buying and selling goods online or via any internet devices. E-commerce can also be depicted by other activities like online auctions, payment gateways, online ticketing and internet banking. It is a fast-growing business (nearly 23% every year). eCommerce is the fastest-growing retail market projected to hit $4.135 trillion in sales in 2020. Mobile commerce or m-commerce is a new venture that is a fast-growing new avenue in e-commerce. It primarily focuses on expanding the market and influence of smartphones and millennial’s comfort of shopping online. In 2018, m-commerce enjoyed a 39.1% increase in sales. There are different models of e-commerce which includes B2B (business to business), B2C(business to consumer) and C2C(consumer to consumer). The best example of E-commerce is the online transaction that you make on Flipkart.
Ecommerce marketing and digital marketing are not mutually exclusive. They both are interdependent. E-commerce websites usually employ digital marketing strategies like social media marketing, content marketing, video marketing and numerous other ways. The eCommerce digital strategy varies from website to website and helps to capture a vast market.
Let Us Now See The Various eCommerce Digital Marketing
Strategies :
Increasing Product Visuals :
Consumers tend to search for every bit of information before buying different products online. Not only that, they expect it to be visually appealing. The first and foremost thing that people look before purchasing any product is how it looks like. The features and aesthetics come later. Using exceptional visualization of the product helps you to quickly and effortlessly show off your products so that your potential consumers could notice the details rather than reading about it. 3D technology allows people to zoom in the products, making the website more engaging.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) :
SEO is an essential and necessary tool for e-commerce business. It is one of the best ways of reaching your target audience. SEO helps to increase the volume of traffic to your website. Several companies have realized the importance of SEO and are implementing different tactics to increase their profit. When you produce a lot of content and keep posting it frequently, you are opening a gateway for the consumers to reach you. Various methods of SEO are product promotion via promotional activities and giveaways. Good content with the right amount of keywords will optimize your website and help you reach your target audience. The blogs help to get better ROI( return on investment).
Adding Relevant Videos :
Nearly 81% of the people prefer buying products after seeing the video. Video helps the products to gain better attention and provide them with confidence in purchasing the product. The actions that it performs helps the consumer know the product better and get enthralled by it. Not all the products would require video, but the ones who do should be creative and engaging. This also helps the consumers to know the basic working of the product and to buy it without scrolling down for the content.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) :
It is paid technique that allows visibility, hence increasing the organic traffic. This will enable you to increase your traffic in a shorter period. The results don’t get delayed in a small-time frame. In SEM, there are paid ad campaigns that are implemented to promote business. One of the most effective SEM platforms is GoogleAdwords which generated a greater profit than the rest of the modules. The long-tailed keyword is preferred over short ones as they tend to have lesser competition and are not chosen often. SEM brings about an increase in the click-through rate, driving better conversions and better ROI.
Usage of AI ( Artificial intelligence) For Maximum Efficiency :
AI can make a significant impact on your e-commerce business. It can be used to collect information and use it accurately to predict how the customer will react based on past behaviour. Measurable metrics like conversion rates, bounce rates and engagement rates provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your site. AI offers benefits like higher customer satisfaction. Algorithms predict what the product return visitors might want to purchase from your website. AI can also be used to improve the back end logistics for better customer satisfaction after the purchase.
Email Marketing :
This is an essential aspect of digital marketing as it is a tried and tested method of improving the quality of service that you provide at your website. The effective usage of email marketing is essential as it helps your e-commerce business to rectify the shortcomings and provide a better service. It ensures that the customers are enjoying the shopping experience. When you place an order in any e-commerce store, the e-commerce website automatically sends you a confirmation email which is like a follow-up mail for your purchase. You can also strategize email campaigns which can start by a welcoming mail – several e-commerce stores like Amazon who have been sending the product suggestions to their consumers based on their purchase and even browsing history.
Cutting-Edge Product Filtering :
Offering a lot of products is a tedious job and needs to be managed carefully. Product filtering is a requirement. No one has time to search your site based on a convoluted inventory plan that doesn’t make sense to them. The consumers need to find their products quickly, and this acts as a better tool for it. It is estimated that nearly 42% of major e-commerce websites don’t use advanced filtering. You can use this tool at your disposal so that the consumers can find their ideal products quickly. The more attributes and tools you offer, the easier it gets for people to shop on your website.
Social Media Marketing (SMM) :
Social media trends play an essential part in e-commerce. You need to follow the recent growing wave in social media to sustain in the market. It would be the easiest method to reach the target consumers as almost everyone uses social media. Also, to stay in touch with your customers, you can think of numerous ways, including building communities for your consumers. This will help to enhance consumer engagement. Social media marketing will help to improve the traffic to your e-commerce website, by threefold. When e-commerce digital marketing strategies are aligned well, they will provide exposure to start-ups to grow and expand in a market. You can find several digital marketing tools, including Google keywords, SEM, SM, Analytics and email marketing, which will help you to accomplish your digital marketing goals with ease.
Using Chatbots :
This is an AI, but it needs to have a different strategy. It requires a different and unique approach so that it could be implemented effectively. Chatbots can be the first point of contact between you and your consumer. It can either make you or break you. This tool can help you resolve issues quickly. These friendly bots make it easy for the e-commerce website to interact and also act as a salesperson. A chatbot is merely a computer program that fundamentally simulates human conversations. It allows a form of interaction between a human and a machine the communication, which happens via messages or voice command. A chatbot is programmed to work independently from a human operator. You can process it according to your requirements.
Hire Digital Marketing Firms To Do Your work :
If you are a well-established e-commerce site, then you can hire top firms to get you the necessary leads and in turn boosting your profit. It is essential to keep in mind that you have to do firm background research before dispatching your business to a firm. Ask them their marketing channels and consult them if they give you a better ROI. it’s always ok to ask for help in these matters. This is one of the best eCommerce digital strategies if you run out of options.
Flexible Delivery :
It is estimated that 45% of online customers have abandoned their shopping carts if they find out that the delivery options don’t meet their needs. The most excellent way to overcome this situation is by limiting the delivery options. Consumers want their products delivered quickly. They might also want to know that they might not need their orders now so that they might pay less for the delivery. This just means that you have to be efficient with delivery and be reasonable with the prices—price and time matter most in e-commerce business.
Reducing Cart Abandonment :
As we have already discussed earlier that consumers usually abandon their carts if they don’t find a suitable delivery option. More than 69% of the time it is related to the additional delivery charges. Other reasons include the overly complicated checkout process and poor website performance such as slow loading and crashing. The eCommerce digital marketing strategies focus on increasing the efficiency of the brand, so it is essential to not let the website lag. One of the best ways to overcome this is to introduce an email recovery strategy. When someone abandons the cart, you can send the consumers a series of emails to remind them that they have left the cart. According to the sales cycle, close to half of the recovery emails are opened, and about one-third of them have completed purchases.
The Importance Of Wishlist :
What is a wish list? Wishlist allows any user to store any particular item in his cart, which he/she may buy later by returning to the E-commerce website. This saves his/her valuable time because the person doesn’t have to search for the product next time he visits the website. This is a gold mine for your website as it has so much information stored about the consumers buying specificity. You can leverage this and send them personalized emails to encourage them to purchase the product. Emails can include sales notice, clearance warnings, or low inventory counts to create urgency.
Persuade User-Generated Content (UGC) :
Nothing sells a product better than a happy customer. UGC provides a hand-on experience from past customers who have been using your products. 54% of customers are more likely to trust a fellow consumer over your marketing, according to salesforce. The best way to use UGC is to use proper hashtags on social platforms like Instagram or Twitter. The other way is to provide an easy way for the customer to post reviews.
Mobile-friendly Website :
According to the outer box, 7% of mobile users had made an online purchase using their mobile phones within the last six months, before the survey. Your website must be mobile-friendly. Some of the essential elements are
1. Shopping carts that scroll with the customers, so that they don’t have to scroll up to find it and
2. Add-to-cart button that is easy to find According to Google, 73% of consumers will leave an unfriendly mobile site to use a site that is designed for mobile use—being aware of how the customer’s shop gives you an edge over your competitors.
Enhance The Checkout Option :
An intricate check-out option leads to slow purchases and frustration in consumers. Making the check-out option simple reduces cart abandonment and makes the transactions easier for the consumers. Making the entire purchase process in a few pages is the best option. Having a highly visible progress bar will help in this case.
Encourage social buying- Last but not least, encourage your buyers to buy your products from their social feed. Instead of compelling them to buy it from your site, let them buy different products from their Instagram or Facebook feed.
There are the top digital marketing strategies for e-commerce businesses who are looking to globalize their products using effective strategy. E-Commerce digital marketing strategies are essential to generate more traffic to your site and encourage a large number of purchases. These strategies will help you with lead generation as well as enhance the visibility of your site across different search engine platforms like Google and Yahoo. Customers are the king, so make sure to create a secure and accessible way for them to purchase products from your website.
