How to Build a Successful Ecommerce Business

Building an eCommerce business and securing long-term success requires a significant amount of time and commitment. With the fast and substantial evolution of the business industry, establishing a business and propelling it to an upward trajectory can be very promising and exciting.

While it is true that there are no surefire ways on how we build an eCommerce business from scratch, there are actionable steps and tips that businesses can follow in order to gain stability in the long run. After reading this article, you will be acquainted with the best ways on how to kick-start your virtual shop and learn how to build your own eCommerce business with short yet

What do I need to start E-commerce business?

Over the past few years, e-commerce has become an integral part of the entirety of the global retail framework. The presence of the internet has brought fruitful frontier to both established and aspiring entrepreneurs. Also, due to the ongoing pandemic, online shopping has become the up and coming norm in the present setup of our social space where safety is the priority. In 2019, retail eCommerce sales have reached a staggering amount of 3.53 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenue is expected to grow to 6.54 trillion US dollars by 2022.

From an entrepreneur’s perspective, the process of building an eCommerce business is not as simple as ordering an item from their shop.

That said, below is a quick breakdown of the best ways to build an eCommerce website that will help you survive the ever-evolving trends in the online retail space.

1. Know Your Niche

This is the very first factor that you should take into account when you plan to build an online store. Knowing your target niche is an optimal way to penetrate a wider range of prospective clients. But, you must also know the fundamental aspects of how to establish your target niche. There are several ways to do that, with the most common and very effective one being picking a niche that you are very passionate about.

You can use your passion as a reference for your niche. For example, if you are into swimming and underwater-related activities, then you could build an eCommerce storefront that specializes in providing swimming gears and apparels such as diving suits, goggles, and snorkelers. This way, you will know what customers will expect since you know what the best type of items you should sell will attract buyers.

To ensure your venture’s success, conduct intensive research to find out what customers really expect in a particular product (in this case, swimming gears). Try maximizing the use of all social media platforms and customer reviews from other websites with the same niche. This will enable you to fully understand their demands and gain a head’s up for a better marketing approach.

2. Know Your Competitors

Once you finally settle into your desired niche, it is time to get familiarized with its setup. Indeed, the online retail industry can be very competitive, but there are still areas that are either left untapped or unexplored for it to be profitable at all.

Take note that not all niches have the presence of a fierce competitor. Zero competition means that your chosen niche is not profitable enough for you to choose or it is too difficult to uphold in the long run. Conversely, if there is an obvious competition, that means the majority of brands in this particular niche are making loads of money. This is the part where you should gather in-depth knowledge of who you are battling against. Doing so will also give a proper estimate that will answer the question, “how much does it cost to start an ecommerce business?”

Learning about competing businesses is not limited to knowing the name of your competitors. Rather, it must focus on knowing what’s in it for their customers as well. Identifying your competitors helps trace their strengths and weaknesses which you can use to come up with a better strategy on how to stay aligned with your chosen niche.

3. Don’t Rush Your Launching Date

Launching your online brand takes just as much time and consideration as when you strategize how to start your own ecommerce business. In that sense, rushing is one of the most common reasons why entrepreneurs fail at building an eCommerce business. Remember, you will not be able to do a second day to formally introduce your brand, so you need to make sure that when you pull off your launch, every essential factor is in place and ready to go.

Also, it is important to test everything even after your launch. Try putting your feet into the shoes of your target shoppers. Do an in-depth analysis to help you identify how well your strategy performs and know the things that require refurbishing to ensure 100% efficiency of your services.

4. Maximize Social Media

Social media serves as an extension of your network as it helps continuously connect with your prospective consumers online. With an estimated 3.6 billion active users globally, and with the steadily increasing number of people buying online each year, it is safe to say that social media plays a crucial role in propelling your business towards success.

Incorporating social media into your eCommerce business comes with tons of advantages that can help you boost marketing efforts. Presently, some of the possible benefits when you start your own ecommerce business is the result of maximizing different social media channels. These advantages include the following:

• Build brand awareness
• Expanded audience reach
• Easy and casual customer engagement
• Easily pinpoint your target market
• Increased referral rate
• Generate leads and online sales

Navigating social media is made easier by hiring a PPC specialist or social media manager to handle all your marketing resources. Otherwise, dedicating more time and attention on your social media presence and online community is likewise an effective way to reinforce your digital branding efforts.

5. Build A Website That Kills

Just like opening a brick-and-mortar shop, a well-designed website sets a lasting impression on your users and online visitors.

Make sure that your website design meets client expectations as this will serve as the defining factor between success and failure. Take note that an outstanding website is not limited to the design but also to its functionalities. And in order for you to do that, you need to have enough knowledge of the things to consider when it comes to designing your website. To make things easier especially when you are starting an eCommerce business from scratch, here are some pointers to consider to have a blockbuster website:

• Your website should provide ease of access to your visitors.
• Navigation and call-to-action buttons are responsive.
• The design and layout should be user-friendly.
• The font style used should be consistent and easy-to-read.
• Pick a colour scheme that is soft to the eye and suits your products and services.
• Stick with a simple, clutter-free UI. This will help your website not look spammy.

If you don’t have the talent for designing, the most optimal way to achieve this is to hire a professional graphic and website designer to handle all your website design requirements and execute your ideas and concise supervision.

6. Embrace SEO

The faster the economy grows, the more competitive the landscape gets. In response, more and more brands will emerge, and soon the online retail space will be bustling with big and small companies. Meaning, you need to stay on top of SEO more than ever. SEO is an essential tool for business owners in search of the best way to build an ecommerce business. It allows you to stay on top of your game and keep up with trends in online marketing.

Completely embracing SEO for your eCommerce business is one of the most vital components to propel your brand on top of all search results. With the increasing availability of services on the internet, hiring both in-house and remote SEO personnel became easier. Employing a highly skilled personnel for search engine optimization will help hone your strategic approach and maintain a long-term competitive edge.

7. Protect Your Brand Reputation

The internet provides a multitude of advantages especially when you are trying to start a successful eCommerce business. However, as the retail space starts to get crowded with different brands, proving that your brand is reputable becomes challenging. The internet is prolific — that’s a fact. But at the same time, there are certain threats that can damage your online reputation and eventually leave a huge impact on the overall credibility of your brand. Some of these threats come in the form of user-generated content with hostile and damaging intent.

Losing your brand reputation means losing your customers’ trust, and if there is hardly any person that supports your services, your business eventually meets its own demise.

In order to prevent this from happening, setting up a content moderation system to protect all your website and social media content from harmful user-generated content is the most practical solution. Moderation protects not only your brand reputation but also your genuine customers from abusive, gory, malicious, offensive, sexual-related, and other content depicting hostility. If SEO and social media serve as the framework and starting point for how to build an ecommerce business, moderation is the lifeblood that secures all the hard work and effort you’ve put into establishing your brand.

Chekkee provides reliable eCommerce moderation services for all types of online business platforms. From website protection to social media pages to community forums, we got it all covered. Our Chekkee moderators ensure that your online platform is protected 24/7 with a moderation system powered by both human and artificial intelligence to secure maximum efficiency.

8. Be Ever-Growing

Even after everything is settled, never stop at where you are or with what you have attained. Allow yourself to learn and grow continuously . Adapt to this dynamic ecosystem as this will help you gain stability and it will keep you from losing your competitive momentum.

You’re Almost There!

Starting an eCommerce business is both daunting and rewarding. It requires a clear plan in order for you to be successful. There are still several ways to help kick-start the business of your dreams, but employing these tips to build an eCommerce business as stepping stones helps you progress in this dynamic online retail sphere.

Merlene Leano

Director of Marketing