Global ecommerce sales are steadily increasing, which means that every single month new companies are launching within the ecommerce space.

As a company that works within that field of business, you are most probably wondering what it takes to achieve the success that you have always dreamed of. With more and more businesses launching, you may feel that everyday success gets further and further away. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. 

The ecommerce industry is expected to grow significantly over the next 10 years, which means that it’s far too easy to feel overwhelmed and unable to achieve success within the sector.

The fact is that there is still plenty of potential for success, it’s just a case of knowing what steps you need to take to position your ecommerce company in line to achieve success. 

Whether you have already launched your ecommerce business or you are in the process of launching, the tips and pieces of advice below are worth taking the time to read.

It might seem like achieving success within the ecommerce sector is almost impossible, but the fact is that isn’t the case. Achieving success requires hard work and lots of time and effort, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not doable. 

Keen to learn what steps you should consider taking to ensure that your ecommerce business is as successful as possible? Have a read of the useful guide below! 

Don’t rush the launch 

If you’ve already launched your ecommerce business, then you can skip this step. However, if you’re yet to launch, it’s something that is worth thinking about. Did you know that one of the biggest mistakes failed ecommerce businesses tend to make it rushing the launch process?

You do only get one chance to launch, don’t you - so it’s worth taking the time to properly think things through when it comes to launching your ecommerce business. 

While it’s perfectly fine to choose a business name, buy a domain, set up social media channels, and create a ‘coming soon’ website page, you don’t want to rush any other aspect of launching your business.

You will only launch your business once, so it’s essential that you get it right the first time. If you want your business to be a success, you need to make sure that you get your launch right. 

Focus on user experience

One of the biggest failures of unsuccessful ecommerce businesses is failing to focus on user experience. Which is why it’s so important that when it comes to your business, that you make user experience a priority.

The best way to do that is to actually let your customers see, touch and feel your product range before you start to sell. If you want to make sure that your business - whatever it may sell - offers a fantastic user experience, you need to actually do some in-depth consumer research. 

A great way to gain feedback on your business as a whole and a range of individual product ranges is to hold focus groups.

These groups offer a great way to receive feedback on your business or products that you plan on offering, giving you the opportunity to make amendments where needed before you actually launch or start selling a new product range. 

Test everything 

If you want to give your business the very best chance of success, it’s essential that you make regular testing a priority. You need to make sure that every aspect of your business, from your website to the products themselves, work seamlessly.

And the key to ensuring that is the case is regular testing - you need to be scheduling testing in for every single new product that you choose to launch. 

The best strategy for business testing is to think like the customer and determine how well a product or service works, and what benefit it offers. AB testing can be a good strategy to have in place when it comes to testing. 

Make social a priority 

While a large number of businesses choose to outsource their social media strategy or hire an in-house specialist, when it comes to running a successful ecommerce business, it’s important that you make social a priority and learn to manage it yourself.

For an ecommerce business, a solid social media strategy is at the heart of your success. Whoever runs your social media strategy gets a fantastic look at your business’ customers, which is why running it yourself can be worth considering. 

What better way to understand your customers than to actively monitor how they interact with your brand on a constant basis?

Of course, if you’re not a skilled digital marketer, the concept of running your brand’s social media strategy can seem somewhat daunting, but the good news is that there is plenty of support available, as well as a number of simple training courses that you could choose to undertake to hone your social media skills.

Go mobile 

It is vital that when it comes to your ecommerce business that you ensure you are setup to be mobile-friendly.

This is because today, 85% of internet users access the internet via their smartphones or tablets, and when a website isn’t mobile-friendly, it loses visitors as a result. So it’s essential that you ensure that your ecommerce site is designed to be mobile-friendly. 

Be mindful of shipping

Naturally, you want to ensure that your customers have the very best experience when it comes to purchasing through you. Because, if they don’t have a positive experience, then the chances are that they are less likely to order with you again in the future.

It’s for this reason that you need to make sure that you take the shipping process that is in place, seriously from the get-go, both in regards to receiving your orders and sending out orders for your customers. 

If you plan on creating the products that you sell yourself, you also need to be mindful of the ins and outs of shipping materials. For instance, if you’re shipping hazardous materials, then you may need to look into hazmat training for your team members dealing with the shipping side of things.

Or, if you’re working with another company to ship your products, then you should ensure that they are properly trained to handle every product you’re shipping, regardless of whether they’re fragile or hazardous. 

Listen to your customers 

When it comes to achieving business success in any sector, listening to your customers is crucial. Don’t make the mistake of failing to listen to what your customers want and need from your brand.

Instead, make sure to take customer feedback seriously. Of course, getting customer feedback is not always an easy task, which is why you may need to get creative with your approach. 

A great way to gain feedback from your customers, allowing you to access vital insights about your business and its products, is to offer an incentive. If you choose to offer an incentive for sharing feedback, you encourage your customers to share their thoughts with you.

The incentive could be that you enter every customer who fills in a feedback form into a prize draw or that every customer who shares their feedback receives a discount on their next order. It doesn’t matter what the incentive is, just as long as there is one in place. 

Achieving success as one of many ecommerce businesses is not easy. The fact is that every day new companies launch. However, if you take note of the tips above and implement them in how you run your business, you can significantly increase your chances of success.