Ecommerce is a great opportunity for businesses of all sizes. Whether you are a specialist B2B publisher or sell professional services, ecommerce is a great way to build an audience. Plus, modern tech now makes ecommerce storefronts a lot easier to create!
Ecommerce isn’t just for physical products either: use it for paid portals, online learning, memberships, and content subscriptions and licenses. A lot of our customers are embracing the flexible nature of ecommerce, and publishers are making the most of modern marketing opportunities such as AI.
Here are some great reasons to try ecommerce and some practical advice on how to turn online sales into a thriving business opportunity for your business.
Read our ecommerce tips for publishers here.
New customer experiences?
An online customer experience is not intrinsically better or worse than an offline one, but you have the option to create new experiences for your customers when going online.
Probably one of the main benefits of ecommerce is the ability to personalise and offer custom experiences to your customers. Creating a membership portal, offering shareable wishlists, or allowing users to organise material into their own libraries are all great ways to create a customer community. Think about how web technology can make their lives easier.
Word of warning: Ecommerce can actually be detrimental to your brand and business if not properly handled. Slow checkout processes and misconfigured websites will frustrate and annoy people, so only expect results from ecommerce if your tech and customer experience is up to scratch.
Expand your reach and launch in new markets
Ecommerce is a smart expansion strategy, but you will have to be intentional about how you approach online commerce for your brand.
- Internationalisation can help you reach new global markets. Opening an online store doesn’t guarantee immediate global sales, but it can make selling abroad easier. You can translate your store and localise content to appeal to local markets, but balance localisation results with the constant need to maintain translated content.
- Reach a new generation of loyal customers by going online. Remember that selling through social media (social commerce) is another facet of modern ecommerce. Being available and present is key to ecommerce success, so be prepared to devote time and resources to community management, video content storytelling etc.
- Integrate and sell on other platforms as well as your own store. There are many professional and industry platforms out there besides the obvious ones (Amazon, Etsy, Ebay etc).
- Brand partnerships can also be a great way to expand and scale. Associations, organisations, and certifications can be a great way to grow your brand and showcase your values e.g sustainability.
Operational changes can make you sleeker & more agile
Ecommerce can reduce the need for retail units and can help you keep overheads low. But keep in mind that selling successfully online requires a lot of work and hours in terms of marketing, content production etc.
- Invest in ecommerce software that you can easily maintain and have a clear technical workflow for when you need changes or upgrades. As you scale and grow, bring your ecommerce technology with you, and invest in its longevity.
- Automation is a great asset for ecommerce brands. You can automate processing, inventory, customer service, and even your marketing stack will allow you to create automated marketing workflows. Integrating your inventory/back-end software, your CRM (customer relationship management) software, and your customer service stack to your ecommerce technology will help you be even more efficient. Here is our guide to integrations and business operations.
Better marketing opportunities
Digital marketing will be an important component for boosting your online sales, but it can be hard to know exactly where to invest your efforts (and budgets).
- Mix paid with organic marketing for the best results. Use your organic SEO results to inform your PPC bidding and keyword strategies. Paying to play on social media is part of the mix, so don’t just throw budget at good-looking videos: be ready to boost them too.
- Email is probably your best ally in ecommerce. Send frequent emails and automate any easy ones along the sales journey e.g. abandoned carts etc.
- Marketing journeys should be reflective of your sales cycles. Follow up with trial users or lapsed customers.
Customer data and segmentation
One of the best things about ecommerce is the ability to collect and use data.
Data can help your business in many ways. From predictive analytics, smoothing out operations using inventory management, and making smarter business decisions, save money with data!
- Create granular customer segmentation lists so that you can send better emails and do better marketing. Data is power, so create customer segments that allow you to serve your loyal customers better.
- Loyalty and VIP programs can help create “super-user” customer groups. Involve them in product testing and offer them generous discounts.
- Cross-market and promote your other products and keep people abreast of product launches.
Agility and innovation
Ecommerce can help your business move fast and make changes to your brand. Use your ecommerce operations to test out new ideas and develop new product concepts. Could you digitise elements of your business?
- Product iterations can be easier to achieve when you are dealing with digital products and delivery.
- The culture of continuous improvement in tech means that you are always developing. Embrace agility.
- Ecommerce is a great playground for creativity so use this as your chance to innovate.
As you grow, security and compliance will be an increasingly big feature of your future ecommerce plans. You can’t do great (compliant) digital marketing without understanding personal data laws and practices, so be informed on them. If you need specialist ecommerce services for publishers, get in touch!
