How To Get You Share Of 5billion Go Ecommerce!

Despite an overall fall in adjusted retail sales figures this month, statistics to show that

online sales continue to buck the trend by showing continual growth. Retail specialists

KamCity reported (April 2011) the strongest online sales growth for 3 years:



As the high street reports the worst drop in sales for 15 years, the latest figures from the IMRG

Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal that online sales are bucking the trend by recording continued

growth. In March, shoppers in the UK spent a total of 5.1bn online, 14% more than March 2010 and

equivalent to 82 per person. Significantly, the Index has seen 18% growth during Q1 compared with

the same period last year, which confirms it as the strongest first quarter performance in three years.



So for retailers the message is clear creating, developing and investing in an online

presence can boost your sales figures. This is especially true of specialist, niche

retailers looking to expand their customer base. Free and open-source ecommerce

platforms such as Magento enable these retailers to create an online shop easily and

the increasing importance of social media in search engine performance offers the

best chance yet to achieve online recognition and build sales.



For retailers about to take the plunge here are 7 tips to successful online sales:



1. Know what your customers are looking for



Key to any business is understanding your customers. Online retailers need to know

what search terms their potential customers are using in order for the website to be

found. Sometimes the search terms that retailers think are important terms are not

searched at all. A powerful free tool like Googles keyword tool will instantly report

on number of monthly searches and suggest other, related keywords and phrases.



2. Be seen by your customers



Now you have some keywords, use them! When putting together the content of the

web pages, product descriptions on your ecommerce pages or writing your blogs

and articles, the use of these keywords is critical. There is plenty of free advice on

how to and especially how not to use these keywords on your website. Following

Googles advice is always a good place to start.



3. Be competitive



While the internet is great for delivering new customers, it also gives them the

freedom to compare your goods and services and especially prices. Every business

needs to know its competitors prices, and that is an ongoing requirement. Set time

aside every week to find out what your competition is doing in terms of products,

services, special offers and prices. If you offer a superior product/service at a higher

price, you need to clearly justify this on your website.



4. Create a winning website



When a customer goes into a shop, the owner has several opportunities to establish

a relationship through the look and feel of the place, by the quality of the goods

for sale and by talking to the customer; finding out what the customer wants whilst

establishing a reputation for honesty, excellent service, great product knowledge

etc. With ecommerce, the website has to do all of these things too. It needs to

communicate not just what is for sale but the reasons why the customer should buy

from the retailer. Of course if you are 20% cheaper, that may be reason enough but

even then a customer will want to know that you are reliable, honest and trustworthy.

Such basics as prices, customer service, returns policy and dispatch costs need to

clearly indicated.



5. Keep it simple



Although you have lots to say, keep everything simple. The beauty of a website is that

you can always add extra pages to cover new products, information or special offers.

However, your Home Page needs to make basic information very clearly to customers

how to order, how to pay, how to get in touch if things go wrong. Navigation needs

to be easy otherwise customers get lost and give up. The website pages need to load

quickly and payment portals need to be clear and trustworthy. If you have added lots

to your website, get some honest friends and family to go online and report back on

how the experience was and make sure you act on what they say.



6. Trust me, Im a retailer



Your customers need to trust you and this happens across lots of levels. From

a security point of view, they will want online payments to be done on a secure

site with appropriate certification. But more generally they will want to know that

they will receive EXACTLY what they order and receive it when they expect to

receive it. They will want to know they can return it if it is not working or wrongly

described. The website needs to clearly reassure them on all this. One great way to

improve trust is to feature customer feedback either directly on to the website or

indirectly through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Customers are

increasingly looking at these sites to gain insight into retailers large or small, new or

old.



7. Make an effort



To be successful in retail takes imagination, hard work and good judgement. Plenty

of online retailers think the quality or price of the goods effectively sell themselves

but plenty of High Street retailers also believed that to their cost. Online retailers

need keep their website updated so customers can see the business is vibrant and

fresh. They need to think about how to keep talking to their customers using

email newsletters, social media etc. and how to encourage customers to sign up for

this. Pricing, special offers and loyalty incentives are other areas that needs regular

thought.



Nothing can take away the need for effort and imagination but ecommerce software

can increasingly help with the how to, from keyword tools, smart analytics showing

how customers behave on the website, to newsletter and sign up tools. Such platforms

as Magento offer sophisticated yet easy to use tools to build and develop a successful

online business, although you will most likely need some ecommerce design and

ongoing marketing expertise. If needed, a Magento designer can help from setting

up the software to longer-term management.