How to Choose the Right E-Commerce Business to Automate Sales
It is estimated that by the end of 2018, about 47% of internet users will have shopped online and sales from e-commerce will top off at around $3 billion.
With more and more people going online all around the world, the marketability of an e-commerce business model is now higher than ever before. Even though e-commerce websites look like a completely automated business model where sales are automatically generated, it is not true.
Like any business model, e-commerce comes with its own challenges. Among all the challenges, choosing the right e-commerce business is important for improving sales.
What Are Popular E-commerce Business Models?
Most e-commerce websites follow any one of the popular 3 models:
- Single Product Model: As the name suggests, a website following the single product model focuses on a single product rather than diversifying their offerings. The product offered might be a unique product or service, which will give a distinct recognition for the website. In order to keep building sales, e-commerce websites following the single product model need to have a product that has less market competition, high market demand and are capable of spreading the word about the product.Most of the time when e-commerce startups try to begin with a single product listing, they then add on multiple products within the same category as per customer demands.
- Single Category Model: Single category model refers to websites that sell only a certain type of products. This model can be really effective only if you pick a category that is not complex, has enough market, and gives a unique value for the site. A single category of products gives the advantage of selling a variety of products to a very targeted audience.Defining a single category for an e-commerce website is not easy, and given a chance, most of us would pick a category that can be further divided into different sections, which dilutes the website and makes the product listing complex. A great example of a single category e-commerce business is Dbrand Skins. They sell Smartphone cases for different Smartphones that fit perfectly.
- Multi-category model: Multi-category model refers to websites that sell multiple products under different categories. Setting up a multi-category e-commerce website from scratch can be a bad idea as there is no dedicated target audience for the website. However, established single category e-commerce websites can easily widen their product range to include multiple categories without losing the existing target customers.The best example of a single category e-commerce website that later expanded to multiple categories is Amazon.com. They started by selling books and today they sell almost everything in all popular categories that range from tungsten rings to lawnmowers and even groceries.
How to Automate Sales in an E-Commerce Website?
The different models of e-commerce business above will surely help pick a niche or products for your e-commerce website. But that is not at all enough to automate sales for an e-commerce website.
Below are few of the other things you should know to create an e-commerce business that can generate automated sales.
- Keep Customers Happy
Happy customers are the most influential mode of marketing, and if satisfied with the experience on your e-commerce website, they will return to make purchases in the future as well.
However, keeping customers is not an easy task. Anything from being forced to sign up to the e-commerce website to a bad user interface can leave customers disappointed and will keep them away from recommending your e-commerce business to others.
- Focus on Product Reviews and Descriptions
The first impression is the best impression, right?
Then, focus on giving the best first impression of the products on your e-commerce site to your customers.
But how can you do that?
By listing the products perfectly.
Product descriptions and product pictures play an important role in generating a good product impression.
The product description should answer some common questions potential buyers will have in mind and should build a trust on the product. Also, pictures of the product are also really important and should be bright, clear, and cover the product from all angles.
Product reviews is another aspect that is very important and helps potential customers instantly decide whether a product is worth their money or not. In order to make sure reviews are available, prompt the customers (but don’t annoy them) by notifying them about the product review via email, via the delivery packing etc, and you can even try offering rewards for customers who write a review.
- Use Social Media Platforms to Generate Sales
With millions of active users out there, social media is a great place to generate automated sales.
Creating social media pages and showcasing your popular products by using correct keywords and hashtags is one of the best ways to generate e-commerce sales via social media.
Social media advertisements are another way to directly reach target customers and generate sales with less investment and effort.
Final Words
With a growing worldwide market, the e-commerce space is getting competitive each day. Therefore, it is important to make sure your e-commerce business offers something unique to customers in order to stand out from the competition and generate automated sales.
We hope the tips above helped you to have a better understanding of how to generate automated sales from an e-commerce business. In case you wish to add your personal experience in the e-commerce space, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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