When running a business, there are a number
of different factors that you must take into account in order to make your
business both a short and long term success. Out of all these factors, one
which is continually overlooked is the functionality of your website, not only
though a desktop computer, but also via mobile devices such as phones and
tablets.
In the early stages of a business, many
tend to focus on just getting the site up and running as soon as possible,
rather than looking to optimise integral aspects that are going to make your
business a success. This can result in you not only losing out on some initial
sales, but also damaging your brand image. An early hit to your brand could
cause irreparable damage that may be difficult to come back from.
Mobile
Commerce
Previously you would have created a
website, checked to make sure it worked correctly in all desktop browsers and
then put it out there for customers to visit. With the changes in technology
comes a need to also enhance your website. Due to the influx of people using
their mobile phones and tablets to browse the internet, it’s important to cater
for these individuals when they visit your site. When running an ecommerce
store you will usually find that around one-third of people visiting your
website are doing so via one of these mobile devices. If you do not have a
mobile friendly website, it will significantly reduce the chances of turning
these visitors into customers.
If your website displays the same on a
mobile device as it would on a desktop, it means that customer is going to have
to scroll and zoom in order to click on the necessary buttons. This is a much
more time consuming process and one which is probably going to annoy the user
long before they reach the end stage.
A mobile friendly website has a much
simpler display, using larger buttons as well as a much more efficient process,
allowing customers to select their products and checkout with ease. Once
implemented, you will quickly begin to see a rise in the number of completed
transactions through mobile devices.
Layout
When someone lands on any website, they
will make up their minds within the first few seconds whether they like the
site or not. Particularly if they are searching across a number of different
sites for particular products or services, a customer leaving your site at this
tender stage will most likely result in them never coming back.
While the layout will vary depending on
what you sell and what your brand image is, there are a number of aspects that
should always be carried out no matter what.
While your home page is seen as the first port of call for most visiting
customers, a lot of them will enter your site through various other landing
pages. This stresses the importance for you to ensure that not only your home
page, but all landing pages, have enticing images and informative text that is
going to compel a customer to continue their journey through your website.
Although you want to provide visitors with
as much information as you can, too much information is going to make your
website looking cramped and unprofessional. Placing too much information on a
page is just going to counteract your original intentions, making it difficult
for customers to pick out key information they need. To make your website as
appealing as possible, you should look to keep your website clean, spacing out
your products and information accordingly, using as little text as possible.
Banners
They say pictures paint a thousand words
and this phrase is never truer than when it comes to ecommerce. In addition to
a strong, professional layout they provide, images are the key components in
enticing customers to certain pages and products. A banner image allows you to
provide your customers with a plethora of information without taking up the
sort of space that text would require. However, the strength of the banner
images comes not in the lack of text, but the instant exposure it provides. The
trouble with text based information is that to be fully exposed, a customer is
going to have to sit there and take the time to read all the necessary details.
Image banners allow a customer to instantly take in information in a matter of
seconds that would have taken minutes via text.
When selecting banners for your website,
you should look at aspects that a customer is going to be interested in. For
most customers, this comes in the form of new products, offers and other
promotions you are running.
Checkout
Process
While all other aspects of your website are
designed to bring a customer to this process, how efficiently your customers
can checkout is going to be the deciding factor as to whether you make the
sale.
The quicker you can make the checkout
process the happier the customer is going to be. While you generally need to
take in as much information as possible for the purposes of taking payment and
delivery, many websites offer an express checkout process allowing customers to
instantly checkout much quicker. Rather than taking in a large amount of
information, through an express checkout you would only require the key
information such as address and card details, rather than other more
miscellaneous details.
This efficiency in the checkout process not
only benefits first time customers, but also repeat business. As a customer
would have previously purchased from you, all of their account details should
already be saved on your system. This means that when they next come to make a
purchase, you are going to be able to automatically populate all of their
details, saving them a large amount of time.
In order to cater for a wide customer base,
you should look to try and be as flexible as your business can allow. In terms
of the checkout process, this comes in the form of payment and delivery options.
The more options you provide visiting customers, the happier they are going to
be.
Social
Commerce
The success of a business comes in not only
being able to entice customers to purchase a product, but also providing a
platform by which these customers can then promote their purchase. None do this
better than social commerce. If a customer comes across a product they like on
your website, you should look to have social sharing buttons on each of your
product pages. This then allows the customer to share the product on their own
profile pages or Facebook, Twitter
and other key social media platforms.
The benefit of social commerce comes in the
ability to promote your products and brand to a wider audience, while also
increasing the opportunity for you to generate traffic and sales. If a customer
shares a product on their wall, it means that your product has then been
exposed to their followers. These are people you have reached with your brand
and product that you may not have reached via other marketing methods. What’s
more, this exposure has come at no cost for you in terms of money or time as
this has been shared entirely by the customer.
As a purchasing customer generally has
similar interests and tastes to their friends, if they share a product on their
social media accounts, there is a possibility that one of their friends may
also like the product and follow in their friend’s footsteps by purchasing the
item. This is a sale you would never have achieved had you not had the social
commerce function implemented.
Retention
Though a large part of a business’ success
comes in being able to bring those first time buyers through to your website,
the real long term success becomes in being able to retain those individual to
become repeat purchasers. As your customers are a diverse group, it is going to
take different strategies to constantly engage them all.
Retaining customers can come in a number of
different forms such as social media engagement, email marketing, as well as
newsletters and other content. Creating this engagement allows you constantly
expose past customers to new products and offers, enabling you to entice them
to your website.
However, this retention not only comes in
reaching past customers, but also turning people with an interest in your site
into first time buyers. Often, a number of people will visit your store as part
of a research process looking for the best price for a particular product. While they are on your site, you should look to
try and engage them through a number of different methods such as an enquiry
form or newsletter sign up section. This not only allows them to engage with
you, but also gives you their personal details, particularly their email
address. Now that you have this information you can look to help them through
answering their question or sending promotional content to their subscribed
email address with hope of helping to transition them into a buyer.
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