Understanding the eCommerce business marketplace landscape can be confusing. Using a fulfillment center like Shipfusion helps take care of several details many business owners overlook. Below are some tips and insights on little things you can do to boost sales and stand apart from the competition.
eCommerce Business Best Practices
For many, starting an eCommerce business or being their own boss is the first step towards their dream, and it’s a milestone achievement by itself but, being an entrepreneur is no easy feat. Did you know that 1 in 12 businesses shut down every year? As a small business owner in this economy, the resources are limited, the productivity is expected to be higher, and there are other sets of challenges – big and small – waiting to be tackled. If you own a small business or planning to start one, here are a few challenges you can relate to:
Client Acquisition: Whether you own an eCommerce business or provide services, you must aim to have a diverse set of clients. If your income comes largely through one client, it becomes risky to plan your financials based on it, particularly in the long run.
Work-Life Balance: Running an eCommerce business means cutting down your social time with friends and family and dedicating most of it towards the business. According to a study conducted by Fundera, over 19% of small business owners work more than 60 hours a week, and 89% of them work during weekends.
Facing the Competition: With the presence of online stores, a small business owner is always on the lookout for ways to be different, especially when their product or service is not a niche. Getting those initial customers are slightly easier than retaining them in this competitive world.
Building a Reliable Team: For a new entrepreneur, trusting another person and letting go of operations can be quite a gamble but with the right team, the payoffs are higher, and the turnover increases. Finding the right person involves spending time with that person to find out if they share the same passion.
Financials: The inflow of the cash is usually lesser than the expenditure, at least during the initial stages. Having a good money management plan is very crucial for emergency expenses, paying for the team, or even for marketing purposes.
Marketing: Whether it is running a social media campaign, enrolling at a trade show, or selling at a pop-up shop, everything requires a minimum investment. A lot of eCommerce business owners often struggle to conclude on proceeding with this.
Tackling Business Marketing
Imagine this – when you cross these hurdles, your business could be 4 in 100 businesses that touch the 10-year mark. This means, not just working harder, but working smarter and using technological advancements and other ideas available to boost your eCommerce business.
For example, installing a chatbot, like one from our friends at Heyday.ai to your website or app. If you are thinking, it is only to be used by giants like Amazon or Google, then you are mistaken. In fact, it is more purposeful towards your smaller company than those giants. Chatbots cut down your marketing investment by covering the job of a salesperson, customer support, and product specialist.
There are two types of chatbots available, namely the script based and AI-powered ones. The AI-powered chatbot draws from previous browsing/buying history and has a conversation just like a human. The script-based one is perfect for customer service.
Nowadays, people who shop online don’t want to spend hours searching for a specific product– Instead, they ping in the chat window for assistance, in such instances, chatbots come in handy. You can also run your ads, promote offers, discounts, holiday promotions, etc. with this window. It is also an excellent way to tackle the abandoned cart to convert them into sales. The instant replies help customers gain a lot of trust and help you stand different from your competitors.
Another excellent way to tackle both the financial and marketing problem is by providing a personalized experience. According to the Zion Market Research report, the personalized packaging market is expected to touch 35 million by 2024.
Custom packaging also helps put your brand out there with your logo, tagline, and help differentiates from other boring packages. It can also have other marketing content like social media pages and promo codes for the next purchase. It saves money on shipping because of the correct dimensions used.
The advantages of custom packaging do not stop there. The design of these packages can be tailored to the smallest of details. These can also be eco-friendly and have a lesser carbon footprint. Sustainability is a huge trend now, and people are conscious of what they shop for. Most importantly, these packages make excellent unboxing video content.
But how do you create such an unboxing experience? Our partners at Arka can solve that for you. Arka offers custom shipping boxes to subscription box business owners just like you. They are known for having a fast turnaround time! What more? All their products are eco-friendly and everything is manufactured in the US. This is the perfect pairing to Shipfusion's lighting-fast subscription box fulfillment services.
Unboxing videos are a trend that caught every brand by surprise. Over 90,000 people search for the term ‘unboxing’ on YouTube, every month. This is because unboxing videos strike with the sentiment of people who always love opening presents. It’s also addictive because it is real. There’s no editing, photoshop, lighting, etc. Millennials also make their buying decisions based on these unboxing videos.
These small things, although it seems fairly simple, add up to the whole experience from the customer’s point of view. This also helps you stand out from your competitors and grow exponentially.
Shipfusion sets your business on autopilot and combines flexible, reliable fulfillment with powerful, real-time technology. Shipfusion has multiple fulfillment centers across the US and Canada– making it easy to manage your eCommerce business. For more information on how to set your business on autopilot, contact one of our fulfillment specialists today.
