Shift4Shop eCommerce Blog | eCommerce Marketing

The eCommerce industry continues to grow rapidly. And while it’s an enormous market, it’s also very competitive, so you must ensure you approach your marketing with the right tactics. 

Losing customers can be critical for companies, not to mention costly. In fact, statistics show that the cost of acquiring new customers is five times higher than retaining existing ones. 

Small businesses have always been a cornerstone of the American economy, and with the growth of eCommerce due to the digitalization of consumer society, they’re now more important than ever.

The digital marketing landscape is constantly changing, especially as it gets intertwined with social media. Trends move swiftly on social media, creating a lot of potential for marketers willing to keep on.

As a business owner, you understand that marketing campaigns must constantly evolve. However, few stop to consider that their methodology or platform may be the issue. This is the case with those who cling to traditional advertising rather than trying to adapt to the digital age.

Many of us are accustomed to online shopping — browsing a website and buying a product in just a few clicks. More recently, businesses have been taking a step further and offering customers the choice of virtual shopping, which enables customers to purchase products through videos or VR (virtual reality) without physically going to the store.

One of the key elements that business owners transitioning from physical to online retail notice is the simplicity of expanding their product offerings. Unlike traditional retail, where each SKU is an added overhead in retail space, eCommerce makes it extremely easy to list thousands of products at once.

Businesses are constantly looking for new ways to connect with their target audience, especially when we are talking about B2C companies.

Social media campaigns, influencer marketing strategies, and strong brand identity are all ways eCommerce businesses try to get on their audience’s radar and stay there for good. Or at least until they persuade people to buy their product or service.

Every eCommerce business has a unique story. Maybe they started their business in home kitchens and managed to expand their empire internationally. Perhaps they started by providing their products to community members in need. Regardless, an engaging narrative can be a massive boon to any business when it’s told right. 

In the past, retail brands had to choose between brick-and-mortar, eCommerce, or multi-channel retail. Today, customers’ expectations have increased — they demand a unified, omnichannel experience.

The eCommerce world presents numerous options for products and services. Everyone has an online platform that sells one thing or another.

The impact? This makes marketing harder, forcing online businesses to find creative ways to remain relevant.

That’s where personalized eCommerce visual content can help.

How many channels are you using to advertise your online business? If you’re only using one, you may be missing out on conversions. Let’s take a look at the numbers.

“Omnichannel” and “Multi-channel” retailing; if you work in marketing, you may hear these terms frequently. Without context, they seem like the same thing. But in fact, they are different from each other and are both viable approaches to sales and service.

As the eCommerce marketplace gets competitive, customers look for better products personalized to their needs. In this pursuit, they run a Google search, look for referrals and actively search for a solution to their problems. When you're looking to tap into this active need, your eCommerce store needs to be positioned to attract customers at all stages of the customer journey. You need a content strategy that attracts and retains customers for conversions.

Although setting up an eCommerce store can be an uphill battle — identifying your niche, collecting all the paperwork for registering your business, setting up a website, etc. — that’s actually the easy part. You now have to start attracting audiences and keeping your eCommerce store afloat, and that’s only possible with a well thought-out marketing plan.

Today there is no longer discussion about whether your online store should or shouldn’t offer discounts. This is because the best discount strategies can help you increase your conversions and retention rates. However, poorly implemented discount strategies can destroy your business in the long run.

Are you struggling to bring in traffic and boost conversions on your website? The issue may not be your website, and instead what you’re neglecting: other channels. Now that internet users are switching between multiple devices before converting, they’re browsing on more channels too. Managing your website alone won’t cut it anymore.

In today’s market, companies that get ahead are the ones that can figure out how to publish quality and helpful content at scale. It may be easy to forego quality, but it’s crucial to make sure that you have a plan to keep quality.

How important is it to scale your content creation process?

When customers choose a business to shop with, they don’t just compare prices or browse product selections. They also want to see responsible social practices.

In this ever-changing economic landscape, small businesses are in constant search of better ways to scale. But it’s all about getting the timing right. Scaling too early can crush your eCommerce startup while scaling too late can leave it in the lurch.

With Big Data initiatives, you can create smarter, profitable improvements to optimize your eCommerce marketing strategy. eCommerce businesses can also experiment with new strategies in cycles before implementing them on a larger scale — this is[...]