With ecommerce growing every year it’s tempting to get into the space with your own company. Worldwide ecommerce sales accounted for 14.1% of all sales in 2021, with researchers predicting eCommerce sales will account for 23% of global sales worldwide.
With nearly a 10% jump in sales predicted for eCommerce, it’s a smart move to create an ecommerce company. However, that’s if you know what you’re doing. It’s estimated that somewhere between 80% and 90% of ecommerce sites fail within their first year. That means the success rate for ecommerce companies is less than 20%.
Ecommerce is thriving more than ever but the success rate for ecommerce companies is rather low. That’s because most people who begin an ecommerce site don’t know what they’re doing, let alone how to make it successful. Making mistakes in the development and production stages of your ecommerce company will almost guarantee you aren’t part of the 20% that make it within the ecommerce space.
It’s important to acknowledge what you don’t know and find ways to improve upon that or get people involved who know more than you. Below we go through 5 ways you can ensure the ecommerce company you create is successful.
Find a Great Wholesale Company
A good relationship with a reliable wholesale company is pertinent to the success of an ecommerce company. Wholesalers are businesses that buy products from manufacturers and then sell them to individual businesses for their inventory. Their prices are fair and affordable, helping you yield a profit on your ecommerce site.
Having a reliable wholesale company can make all the difference, as they provide what you’ll be selling to your customers. Whether you want to sell the best wholesale jewelry or wholesale phone cases, there’s almost always numerous wholesalers to choose from.
If their delivery is delayed, customers can’t purchase items, shipments are delayed, it causes a mess for your company. Look into local wholesale companies with positive reviews. Ask around at other small businesses or on ecommerce chat rooms to find out opinions on wholesalers.
Define Your Niche
A niche is a specific hole or spot in the market your company is within that your business is going to fill. So say you sell energy drinks, what’s so different about your energy drinks that someone should buy it over someone else’s, maybe you add antioxidants, caffeine, or CBD.
You should highlight and create a marketing strategy around those different ingredients to help customers see why your company is the best choice. Finding your niche will help ensure you have a steady stream of revenue as well as a loyal customer base.
Focus on Design
The design of your ecommerce company’s website should be the main focus during your developmental stages. Once you’ve figured out your niche, which aligns with your overall brand, it’s time to start putting those ideas into the design of your website. Make sure your landing page is clean, crisp, and offers clear directions to your customers.
Think about how you can create a cohesive look over all your social media profiles, as your company should have a presence on those to gather a larger audience. Ecommerce host platforms such as Shopify, Wix, and 3dcart have pre-designed websites that you can edit to your liking with different fonts, colors, backgrounds, etc.
If you aren’t comfortable with your website design skills, you can always hire a service for web developers to help build out a website for you, but this can be more expensive.
Know Your Target Audience
Knowing your target audience is as important as knowing your niche. Your target audiences are the customers and consumers you know are interested in your product. You can create a database of profiles from the data you receive when people visit your website. You can include pop-ups that encourage customers to add their emails and phone numbers to encourage communication with eager consumers.
Pick The Best Distribution Channels
Successful ecommerce companies find a way to use the best distribution channels for their product. If you can manage to get your item to the top of the search results on large online distribution sites like Amazon or eBay you’ll be reaching one of the largest audiences you could ask for. You can also optimize your SEO to ensure your target audience is being reached, but this can take weeks to months to have a large impact on your sales. However, it’s still best to utilize both ways of distribution because you’ll still reach an even larger audience.
