Successful e-commerce business operators are extremely organized, and they’re diligent about controlling costs. They recognize the importance of well-executed marketing campaigns, stellar site management, and excellent customer service. To put your e-commerce company on a course for long-term success, utilize proven tactics that have helped other entrepreneurs expand their operations and grow their earnings.
Optimize Shipping Processes
Keeping up with online shoppers’ expectations is tough. The largest, most profitable megacorporations have set the bar for the e-commerce industry. Smaller enterprises that operate at a much smaller scale than their goliath competitors need to be able to deliver comparable customer experiences and perks in order to win people’s business.
Without a doubt, fast and free delivery times have been a huge factor in these large merchants’ success. Online shoppers love the convenience of having just about anything that they might possibly want delivered straight to their door, but few are willing to pay a high premium for it. In fact, recent online shopping statistics compiled from surveys have indicated that the majority of shoppers consider shipping fees to be a dealbreaker.
Since you don’t have the same amount of resources at your disposal as the Amazons and Walmarts of the e-commerce world, you have to be strategic about how you manage your order fulfillment and shipping processes. Being able to offer free shipping options and deliver orders quickly is crucial to meeting customers’ expectations, but going about it the wrong way could have costly consequences. If your shipping solutions are too expensive or unreliable, it’s almost certainly going to put a damper on your net profits and also compromise customer experiences.
Utilize a shipping API solution that makes it easy to manage and track all of your shipments. Ideally, you’d like to be able to centralize your delivery management processes rather than having to coordinate information across multiple platforms. Also, be sure to partner with a provider that has forged a network of relationships with carriers that will facilitate access to competitive, real-time shipping rates.
Offer Live Support
Enhancing your website with live support options is an impactful way to take your customer service provision to the next level. Live support shows site visitors that you’re ready to assist them with anything that they need.
These features can do more for you than troubleshot service problems like order delays or product defects. They can also play a key role in prompting customers who are on the fence about a purchase to finalize their transactions. On-demand assistance equips online shoppers to resolve questions or concerns about a product. Speaking with an agent can also keep people engaged in their shopping experience, which may make them less likely to stray from your site to check out product information on a competitor’s website.
To make live support affordable for your site, outsourcing this function might be more cost-effective than having in-house staff handle it. You can anticipate that getting started with a third-party customer service company will require a fair amount of work on your in-house team’s behalf. Once a company gets up to speed with your business’ policies and products, the agents working on your half will have a strong command of everything that they need to do in order to meet your standards and provide consistent, first-rate service to your customers.
Make Repeat Business an Ongoing Priority
Managing to close your first sale with a new customer could be the start of a longstanding relationship and many more orders in the future. Practicing good follow-up after people have received their orders is a good way to show them that their satisfaction is important to you. Ask people for ratings, and offer them a savings incentive for making their next order or referring someone else to make a purchase from your site. Stay relevant to their customers by sending them notifications about new products that they might be interested in or special sales offers.
To maximize your e-commerce business’ profits, you have to manage your operations with the utmost care. Be judicious about spending and mitigating financial risk exposure, but be prepared to make smart expenditures geared towards improving order management, customer service, and sales processes.
