Growing Your Online Business
Like all things, it is very easy to start an online business. The trick is in locating your customers and proving yourself of constant value. Companies like Wix, Shopify, eBay and Etsy have made E-commerce the easiest thing to hack. You simply sign-up for an account, upload brand assets in some cases or images of the product or service you’re selling and that’s it! You’re a business owner.
But does it stop there?
Having an online business is not restricted to product images and a nice looking website. They count, but they should not be the end and be-all of your eCommerce store. Just like running a brick-and-mortar store, other elements contribute to making your business successful. Focusing solely on the digital aspect of your eCommerce store is not sustainable in the long run.
Imagine your online business as though you interacted with customers physically. What aspects of your product or service, would you be hyper-aware of? What would you want to highlight, how would you handle situations differently? These are valid questions every eCommerce store owner should ask and also take into consideration in the day to day running of their online business.
At Solv, we’ve put together 3 tips to make sure that your online business is growing.
1. Provide Value To Your Customers
Before taking that leap into eCommerce, before creating a product/ service to sell, the first thing you did was to identify a need in the market. In this case, you thought your product or service would be of value to people and you confirmed by doing some research into the various ways people struggled without the product. Research does not stop after the product has been made. You need to perpetually find ways your product can be made better.
Conduct surveys if you have to, take out the time to get feedback from your clientele to make sure that your product is in a constant state of value, improving brand loyalty. There is no such thing as the perfect product because as soon as you think you might have made/invented one, another comes into the market and provides even more value than yours.
2. Develop and Protect your Brand
You need a voice. You need something that your clients can relate to. It might seem like a lot of work in the beginning but it will help you out in the long run. You need to put together a list of things your brand speaks for and what you would like your brand to be associated with. This is the starting point of your brand persona. Let this translate into the copy for your website, the content for your blog, videos and social media. Don’t be afraid to be the face of your brand, but also know when it’s time to step down.
Make sure to spend an equal amount of time on also protecting your brand. Online business is made or broken by reputation. Since you would have already developed an identity for your brand, make sure the guidelines are adhered to.
3. Customer Service
Most people have worked some form of customer service position at an earlier stage in life. You would have also been taught the retail mantra that the customer is always right, which for the most part is not the most truthful. As the entity offering a service/ product, you should be an expert in your field. You should always be right, you should always have the answers to any questions in your line of business and if you don’t, you should always be the one offering to do the research.
Customer service for an online business ensures client satisfaction. This can be done by the ways you put together FAQs and resources for your customers and how accessible those are. How you interact with your clients, on social media or through email. It is in the kind of support you offer your clients after an unpleasant experience. You might not be able to offer discounts to every single customer but as long as they can trust that you will do everything in your power to ensure their satisfaction this can checked-off on your list.