You’re not imagining it. Almost every retail business owner out there has decided to shift into eCommerce. While the pandemic may have had a hand in the rising trend of eCommerce businesses, the industry has achieved steady and rapid growth in the last 10 years.
Last year, eCommerce sales hit about $15.7 trillion worldwide and that figure is projected to grow by 45% over the next couple of years. At Growth Hackers, we see entering eCommerce like joining a massive stadium of competitors: you need the right spotlight to get noticed.
The figures don’t lie, it’s no wonder that many businesses are choosing to go online. However, breaking through such a competitive space means you have to work extra hard to get noticed.
The 4 Differences Between Online and Offline Clients
If you’re shifting from a traditional brick-and-mortar to eCommerce, it’s not only the medium that will change, but your customers’ behavior may change too. If you want to reach a whole new audience and maintain a loyal following, it’s important to get inside the head of an online shopper.
1. Online shoppers are less loyal
The internet and social media make it extremely easy for customers to shop around and consider other options. Unlike brick-and-mortar stores where you can easily capture a market because of great location, on the internet, there’s no such thing as a prime spot.
Your eCommerce customers can easily compare prices and product photos between shops before deciding on one. With this in mind, you have to give customers a good reason to choose your shop over another that sells similar products.
2. Online shoppers are less patient
People choose to shop online because it promises instant gratification. With a few clicks of a button, their items should be on their way. At Growth Hackers, we’ve helped an eCommerce client streamline their shopping experiences, reducing cart abandonment by 36% through faster interactions and intuitive design.
If you can’t provide an excellent shopping experience (from the way your products are listed to the availability of different payment methods) then potential customers can quickly abandon their carts.
Compared to in-store experiences where staff can quickly explain the reason behind a long line or assist customers with questions, there’s no friendly face to pacify a frustrated eCommerce customer. To provide instant gratification on your eCommerce store, you can use interactive animations to offer immediate feedback and improve the overall customer experience.
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3. Online shoppers are more warry
54% of online shoppers will read at least four reviews before buying a product. Because your customers can’t sample or try on your products before purchase, it’s only natural to rely on reviews to determine the quality of your items.
Customers will most likely have questions especially if you sell high-end or big-ticket items such as gadgets. In a brick-and-mortar store, you have staff for that task. As an eCommerce store, you will have to find a way to meet that requirement.
4. Online shoppers feel less pressure to buy
Customers who are inside a physical store may feel more pressure to buy an item compared to someone who is browsing online. This is because someone shopping online can simply go back to the item with a tap of a button.
Because online shoppers can easily browse for items any time they want, eCommerce brands have to work harder to convince customers that there’s no better time to purchase than now.
5 Steps on How to Get eCommerce Clients
Now that you understand the differences in behavior between online and offline clients, here are some tips to help you compete in the eCommerce space and get more clients:
1. Focus on your online storefront
Unlike offline retailers who can capture a customer through their various senses (maybe a great in-store scent or playlist), online, you have nothing to rely on but the visuals. Your feed is your virtual storefront. It’s the window to your store and what will potentially reel people in.
If your main channel is Instagram for example, it’s not just about posting engaging and creative content. You also have to make sure that:
- Your products are appropriately tagged on each post
- Your product descriptions and prices are updated on your Instagram shop
- It’s regularly updated through feed and story posts
- Each and every question in your comments section is answered (optics are everything!)
People will judge you from what they see on your social media page: if it’s not pretty then they probably won’t bother clicking the link in your bio. At Growth Hackers, we once helped a fashion client overhaul their shoppable feed on Instagram, from tagging products to answering every comment, and their traffic from social media jumped 24% in just 10 weeks.
Pro-tip: Use photo and video editing apps to help you create a shoppable feed that stands out in just a few taps.
2. Narrow down your audience
New businesses might be tempted to target a large audience, but that can do you more harm than good.
Having a more specific persona and target audience can help you create a more focused message that will resonate with them. Not to mention, having a smaller audience means that you spend less on ads.
Aside from filling up standard demographic information such as age, location, gender, and interests, it’s also important to create a clearer picture of your customer. This can be done through market research or interviews where you can find out:
- What industry they’re part of
- What motivates them
- What social media channels do they frequent
- What other websites/blogs do they visit
At Growth Hackers, we’ve seen countless eCommerce stores shift from trying to appeal to everyone to targeting a specific audience, turning scattered efforts into campaigns that engage more effectively. With a more specific audience, it will be easier for you to start conversations and create a brand identity that’s truly impactful. After all, no product is really “for everyone”.
3. Take charge of your different customer touchpoints
A customer touchpoint is any interaction between a customer and your brand whether it be through a review on google pre-purchase or a thank you email after they’ve bought an item from your website.
Customer touchpoints can influence how people view your company, and each touchpoint is an opportunity to bring your customers lower into your sales funnel.
Most of the time, especially for smaller brands, customer touchpoints are in their control. These are your social media channels, email marketing, paid ads, and your brand website. Make sure that you communicate with your customers throughout their buyer journey. The main focus should be on developing a website, because that’s where the customer reaches through advertising.
For example:
After you’ve captured a potential customer through paid ads (touchpoint 1), your website should provide enough information about your products (touchpoint 2). Then, after buying a product, your customer should receive an email thanking them for the purchase (touchpoint 3). After receiving the product, you can invite the customer to make a review of the product in exchange for a reward (touchpoint 4), which will then encourage them to become repeat customers.
There are also other external touchpoints such as blog reviews and X/Twitter threads that are out of your control. It’s important to track these external touchpoints to make sure you can steer the conversation in the right direction.
At Growth Hackers, we once mapped all touchpoints for a skincare client, from ads to follow-up emails, and by optimizing each interaction, their customer retention climbed 42% in just 8 months.
Pro-tip: You can use listening tools to help you track conversations about your brand.
It’s important to take charge of these different touchpoints to ensure that each interaction is relevant to your customer and positive for your brand. Having an experienced eCommerce copywriter in your team can help you craft a good story and write compelling copy that converts.
4. Build up your reputation with your current clients
Before you seek out more customers, nurture your current ones. According to research by McKinsey, a new eCommerce customer will spend an average of $28.50, while a repeat customer will spend more than double at $62.50. Not only that but increasing your customer retention rates by just at least 5% can boost your sales up to 95%!
If these data aren’t convincing enough, nurturing your relationship with your current clients will also boost your chances of word-of-mouth recommendations and positive reviews. A happy customer will be your best brand ambassador, and a lot of them will do it for free as long as you treat them right.
Plus, with more loyal customers, you get more user-generated content (UGC) which you can use on your social media pages to boost your credibility. At Growth Hackers, we’ve helped a Shopify store double their average order value (AOV) by focusing on existing customers, increasing repeat purchases by over 60% through personalized engagement.
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5. Be famous for one thing (aside from your products)
Aside from your products, what value can you offer your customers? This one thing can help you stand out from the competition. For example, can you provide same-day delivery? Do you offer more payment options than your typical eCommerce store? Or can you offer 24-hour customer assistance?
Be known for that one thing to keep you top of mind. Remember that the mindset of an online shopper is instant gratification. Ask yourself how you can provide that without literally having to deliver your product right after you receive payment.
In such a crowded industry, it can be quite challenging to stand out with just your products alone. Focusing on UX can be an effective way to leverage growth hacking for eCommerce. Think of one aspect of the eCommerce experience that you can do excellently and keep that promise. This way, you have one leg up from the competition.
At Growth Hackers, we’ve seen times and times again brands go from blending in with competitors to dominating their market by focusing on one unforgettable service. So, don’t blend in but find something that none of your competitors offer. A great way to do so is by looking at what’s trending on other industries but didn’t pick up yet in yours.
The Bottom Line of How To Get e-Commerce Clients
No matter how good your products are, eCommerce shoppers want nothing short of a convenient experience. As long as you can provide that for them, everything else can be worked on.
It’s important to note that today’s customers care more about who their brands are rather than what products they offer. It’s crucial to deliver value to your customers and invest in building a relationship with them.
With these tips in hand you can get shoppers to choose your brand again and again.
Growth Hackers is an award-winning eCommerce SEO agency helping businesses from all over the world grow. There is no fluff with Growth Hackers. We help entrepreneurs and business owners get more e-Commerce clients, increase their productivity, generate qualified leads, optimize their conversion rate, gather and analyze data analytics, acquire and retain users and increase sales.
We go further than brand awareness and exposure. We make sure that the strategies we implement move the needle so your business grow, strive and succeed. If you too want your business to reach new heights, contact Growth Hackers today so we can discuss about your brand and create a custom growth plan for you. You’re just one click away to skyrocket your business.
