8 Useful Tips On Growing Your eCommerce Business In A Down Economy

Recent economic conditions mean that we’re closer to recession and farther from an economic boom. Although the emphasis for most of the discussions of the last few months have been about businesses adopting a remote working model. It is quite evident that many brands have been affected by the recent economic downturn. Many eCommerce businesses have seen their supply chains affected significantly, and they’ve faced a reduction in their product sales as customers are cash-strapped and focusing on their necessities. 

The economic downturn likely has a long-lasting effect over some time. This will open the eCommerce industry to new changes that might serve as a potential stumbling block to their growth or a huge opportunity to grow massively. 

Any business aims to continue to grow irrespective of the economic condition that they find itself in. For the force to continue to grow even in a down economy, there are strategies that they have to put in place to ensure that they minimize risks, continue scaling, and succeed. 

Have a strong market strategy and build your brand on it

The foundation for everything that you build is a strong brand. Irrespective of how bad an economy is, there will always be companies that perform well. This is because they can communicate their unique selling point effectively more than their competition. They have an identity that is strong and easily identifiable, and this helps them develop some emotional connections with their customers. 

There are some parts of your message that you may need to change through proofreading to reflect immediate events. However, it would help if you never deviated from the identity of your eCommerce business. You still have to show that your services and products beat your competitors, whether it’s the product quality, price, or other things that are different.

Satisfy the customers’ needs 

The reason why most eCommerce businesses fail is that they choose to be product-oriented instead of being customer-oriented. Entrepreneurs these days think of great ideas for their products before they start to look for the market. In reality, entrepreneurs should first see a need in the market and create a product to satisfy their needs. That’s how to stay afloat even in a down economy. While you might find a market for your product idea, you will do much better if there’s a need you’re meeting first. 

Evaluate your market ideas 

Once you already have a product that meets the customers’ needs, the next step is to evaluate the product further, considering factors such as the market, competition, market trends, product criteria, and potential. You can use Buzzsumo or a similar tool to search for the market potential of the product. Look for articles around the topic and check their comments and shares, etc. 

Is the topic popular in the market? Do you have a reason to be optimistic? It will help if you also consider the manufacturing of the product, how it is shipped, priced, marketed, etc. The chance of your business succeeding depends on how thorough you are with these analyses. 

Develop your website

The design and development of your website are critical to the success of your eCommerce company. Your site also represents your brand. Humans have an attention span average between 6-8 seconds. This gives you less time for convincing. Make sure the site is clean, fast, and well-designed to attract the customers. As your business continues to grow, focus on the website’s user experience, and improve on it regularly. Make sure it’s customer-friendly.  

Write a great copy

Your website copy is also as important as your website to the success of your eCommerce. The best way to articulate your product’s benefits and convince people to buy is with onsite content. Your copy must be compelling and attention-grabbing; however, informative and descriptive of the product’s benefits. 

The headline is the first part of writing a good copy. This is the first thing they see on your webpage. According to college-paper.org reviews, if you’re not convincing with it, they’ll likely not read it. So, it’s essential to have a good headline written with some sense of urgency. 

Use offsite and onsite SEO

Marketing your eCommerce store is necessary to make sales, like with a brick-and-mortar store. The best way to do this is with SEO. Be sure to create product descriptions that are unique for your items with variations in sizes and colors. As you create relevant and unique content on your site, your products will have a higher likelihood of searching queries. 

Apart from the content, you have to plan strategically to get backlinks to your website through testimonials, guest posting, PR outreach, internal links, etc. Use your chosen method to benefit from SEO.

Use email marketing

Email marketing is one of the most effective and consistent digital marketing strategies to grow your customer base. As important as social media is, it is more active to have an active email list than a massive social media following. Emails are personal and put you in direct contact with your target audience. It also has a high ROI. You will see tremendous results if you’re able to use email marketing correctly. 

Customizing your emails is essential, and this highlights the role of segmentation in growing your email lists. Collect all the information that you’ll need during the signup process.

Make checkout easy 

One of the best experiences to give your customers on your website is to make it easy to checkout. It’s usually a problem point for many eCommerce websites, and the customers end up leaving the page without completing the transaction – the business’s loss. 

Here are some ways to improve the checkout process:

• Make your website both compatible with both mobile and desktop.
• Avoid asking for a customer’s account.
• Make the cheapest option the default option.
• Ask for the most minimal information and include auto-fill.
• Save important information that needs multiple inputs.
• Have different payment options. 

Conclusion  

With eCommerce, entrepreneurs have a lot of growth opportunities. Even within a down economy, it is possible to start and grow an eCommerce business. All you need to do is follow the steps discussed in this article.