The success of Amazon and other ecommerce shopping platforms has been well-documented in recent years. According to the retail sales numbers from the Department of Commerce, $284 billion was spent online during the third quarter of 2023. That’s 15.6% of total retail sales, and that percentage only increases during the holiday shopping season.
There are several online platforms you can use to build an ecommerce site. Each offers a suite of tools to promote and sell your offerings. In this article, we’ll explain how to build a successful ecommerce business and why you want to do it. We’ll also lay out the must-haves that you need for an ecommerce website and a few tips on how to boost your online sales.
What is ecommerce?
Simply put, ecommerce is online shopping. The internet has provided us with incredible opportunities. Consumers no longer need to go to the mall to do their shopping. They can buy online instead, and retailers have even more ways to sell their products.
Ecommerce is a growth industry. Sales were up 2.3% in Q3 of 2023. Since 2014, ecommerce sales have gone from 6% to nearly 16% of total retail sales. According to Statista, total ecommerce revenue should top $3 billion in 2023. The annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next five years is 10.06%. That translates to a projected annual revenue of $4.9 billion by 2028.
Why you should have an ecommerce presence
Consumers want an ecommerce option. Your business should take advantage of the opportunity. Online sales don’t take away from brick-and-mortar revenue—they complement it. Some consumers just prefer to shop online. If you don’t offer that option, they’ll go elsewhere. Here are some other reasons why you should have an ecommerce presence.
Diversify your customer channels
Think of an ecommerce site as a new location for your business. It’s an opportunity to do business with consumers you’ve never reached. That diversity should boost your revenue.
Increase profits through online sales
There are two ways to look at this. Ecommerce sites attract new customers. They’re also cheaper to maintain than brick-and-mortar locations, so the profit margin on ecommerce sales is higher.
Gather data from digital purchases
Customers on an ecommerce site can’t anonymously pay cash and walk away without you knowing anything about them. The site allows you to track their movements and save their purchase data for analysis.
Cultivate an online presence
Your business needs an online presence if it’s going to be successful in the next decade. Establish your brand on social media and promote your website across multiple channels.
3 must-haves for a successful ecommerce website
Ecommerce can seem overwhelming if you’re a longstanding brick-and-mortar business that’s creating an online store for the first time. Here are three “must-haves” for a successful ecommerce website.
1. The right domain/site name
Your domain name should accurately reflect what your business is offering. For example, a site that sells comic books should have the words “comic books” in the domain. The domain name should also be short enough for easy promotion. Think “KevinsComicBooks.com.”
2. Enticing product images and descriptions
According to recent studies, the average human attention span is 8.25 seconds. That’s enough time to see an image and possibly read a short description. Make sure the images and descriptions on your ecommerce site accurately depict the item you’re trying to sell and communicate the critical information clearly.
3. Smooth customer experience
Your ecommerce site should be easy to navigate so your customers don’t get confused and can complete transactions easily. The checkout experience should be frictionless. Many people shop on their phones now, so prioritize using responsive design for desktop and mobile users so the experience is seamless.
How to increase ecommerce sales
The most important thing to remember about ecommerce is that everyone engages with your site on a different device. Some may use a laptop or desktop, but many shop using mobile devices. Is your ecommerce website optimized for iPhones and Androids? If your customers can’t see your website, they can’t buy your products.
Other tips for boosting your online sales include growing your social media presence to increase traffic and highlighting your top products to give visitors an incentive to buy them. You’ll get better at doing each of these things as time passes, and you can expand your team to help focus on your marketing efforts. You’ll also pick up customer testimonials that you can use to entice other online shoppers to buy your products.
Should you create a store or sell on a marketplace?
A “self-hosted” ecommerce site is one that you’ll need to build from scratch. “Hosted” sites come prebuilt with a suite of tools you can use for adding and tracking products.
Another common term you’ll see is “marketplace.” A marketplace is an ecommerce site that hosts more than one business, like Amazon or eBay. Marketplaces get good traffic, but you lose some of the direct customer interaction you’d get from building your own store. Stores also give you more flexibility in how you display your products and design the checkout experience.
Should you create a store or sell on a marketplace? The answer depends on your knowledge and abilities with ecommerce technology. If you’re uncomfortable building and managing a website—including every aspect of the checkout process—a hosted site or marketplace might be a better fit for you than a self-hosted site.
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