If you’ve decided that it’s time to expand your business and reach out to a new audience, then e-commerce will be for you. More and more consumers are shopping online due to Covid-19, and these new shopping habits are likely to have a long-lasting effect. If you want to give eCommerce ago, have a read on finding out where to start!
Find Your Niche
The internet is saturated with furniture companies, so you need to identify your unique selling point and highlight that whenever you can. For example, if you specialize in designer furniture, you could have blog posts on your website discussing the newest trends or exciting upcoming designers. On your ‘about us’ page, introduce yourself and where your passion came from to remind your customers that there is an ardent person behind the business. To make yourself stand out, express your passion for what you do, and show people how you are different.
Create a Website
Now that you know what you’ll be focusing on when it comes to your content, it’s time to set up a website. Unless you’re an experienced website developer, this isn’t something you’ll be able to do on your own. Shop around online and look for the best website builder possible. It might be a significant investment. However, the power you will have once you’ve got a fantastic website is phenomenal.
If you have a poor looking website or slow, customers will go somewhere else. So, aim to have a professional and approachable website that loads quickly and works well on mobile devices. This will dramatically decrease the bounce rate you experience (people who come onto your website and quickly leave), thus improving your chance of converting that person into a customer.
Prepare Your Supply Chain
With a brand new website, you have the potential to reach a huge new audience, which could, in turn, result in increased demand. You need to make sure that you can meet the demand by making alterations within your supply chain. The first step would be to significantly limit the amount of stock available on the site until you know that you can meet the new demand.
From here, make adjustments as and when you need to and have a plan in place to execute if you are in a position where you need to expand. Having an influx of orders is, of course, fantastic for your profits; however, if you can’t honor those orders by providing quick and professional delivery, then you will lose potential return customers.
Branch Out Into Social Media
Now that you have your website and you can deal with an increase in orders, it’s time to branch out into the world of social media. Sharing your business on various social media sites has the potential to help with business growth, customer loyalty, and improved customer service. Start with deciding which social media site will be most effective for your business. If you’re selling a product, perhaps you’ll opt for Facebook or Instagram.
For those of you offering a service through their business, LinkedIn might be the way to go. Maybe Twitter is the best choice if you run a news company. Your options are endless, but once you’ve selected the right website, the next steps will be much easier. Look at what your competitors are doing well or badly and use that to make your social media content the best in the business. Social media also offers a great opportunity to run competitions to generate interest in the business and build your social media following.
Summary
Taking your business into a completely new realm can be extremely daunting, so try following these simple steps to simplify the process. Online success won’t be immediate; however, if you are patient and consistently update your website and social media to stay relevant, you have every chance of being a successful online business.
