The term eCommerce refers to the practice of buying and selling online and includes online shopping and online trading. Many Australian small businesses participate in eCommerce by selling their products and services online via web stores and on social media platforms.
There are many benefits to starting an eCommerce business. With online shopping on the rise, investing in an online business presence can help you reach more customers and boost your brand’s reputation.
As outlined by business.gov.au, eCommerce can:
Ready to connect with online shoppers? Or just want to increase your online presence? Keep reading for tips to start, and evolve, your eCommerce business to help you stay competitive in the online marketplace.
Just because online shoppers are looking for products and services online, it doesn’t mean you should rush into your eCommerce journey. So, the first step is to write a business plan.
According to HubSpot, a strong eCommerce business plan includes:
The realm of online business can help connect you to customers in more places. According to business.gov.au, some of the options for doing business online are:
Your website is a digital portal to your business, allowing online shoppers and potential clients to engage with you anytime, from anywhere. In addition to introducing customers to who are you are and what you offer, your website can also help you make sales online.
A well-designed, accessible web store will allow your customers to buy your products and services. To help increase customer engagement and online sales, make sure you include the following website design elements when creating your online store.
Never underestimate the power of well-written descriptions for your products and services. In lieu of a sales representative serving your customer in-person, your website content is responsible for “closing the sale” so to speak.
Think a video may promote your products and services better? Consider creating custom videos for your website.
When you accept the payment methods that your customers prefer, it can help to boost business. To help the success of your eCommerce business, make sure you offer online shoppers a range of payment methods.
Popular online payment methods in Australia include:
To learn more, visit Discover the payment methods your customers want.
According to marketing platform Omnisend, designing your eCommerce site to be fully accessible to all online shoppers, regardless of their digital ability, is key to providing the best user experience.
To improve the accessibility of your checkout, remember to:
Nowadays, most customers want (and expect) a seamless online shopping experience. To meet this demand on your website, it helps to create an intuitive shopping cart process. This process begins once your customer has added everything they want to their cart and is ready to place their order.
The following techniques can help improve your shopping cart flow:
To deliver great customer service online, it’s important to keep customers informed. In the world of eCommerce, online shoppers will almost always want to know delivery and shipping information. So, to pre-empt these frequently asked questions, include a page on your website the clearly outlines delivery and shipping information.
To learn more about creating a delivery strategy, visit How to manage your eCommerce supply chain as an online business.
You can still benefit from eCommerce even if you don’t have a website. In fact, many Australian small businesses thrive by selling their products and services via social media.
Selling on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook is also referred to as 'in-app' purchasing, a popular choice among brands that embrace digital marketing for business by investing in social media advertising campaigns.
Creating an eCommerce business plan takes time, but collaborating with digital experts can help speed up the process. We can help you reach customers online by helping with:
'You can’t wait for customers to come to you,’ Paul Graham, co-founder of startup accelerator Y Combinator, once said. ‘You have to figure out where they are, go there and bring them back to your store'
All businesses, big and small, now have the power to attract customers in this way online thanks to the world of eCommerce.
Whether you need a website or a complete digital marketing strategy, we can help your business to thrive online.
Discover how you can use tech to help evolve your digital marketing strategies and meet your customers’ changing expectations.
