Cream of the Crop: Business Strategies That Will Beat Your Online Competition
The online business world is incredibly competitive. The internet is home to hundreds and thousands of businesses vying for the same set of customers. Given how fierce the competition is in the e-commerce space, you need the right strategies to dominate your competitors, bump up your sales and build a loyal customer base.
Here are five tactics to help you supercharge your virtual storefront and leave your competition in the dust:
Know Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
The USP of your business is what sets you apart from other companies offering products or services similar to yours. If you’re selling computers, for instance, your unique selling proposition could be to offer a free laptop cooling pad when a customer buys their first laptop from your online store. Your USP, therefore, is something that will help you win the e-commerce space.;
If you’re not sure what your USP is, ask yourself these guide questions:
- What does your target market care about?
- Why should customers purchase from your store and not from other business establishments in the area?
- Is there something unique that you can bring to the table?
- What is that one thing you could do differently?
Once you’ve figured out your unique selling proposition, highlight it on locations that can catch your customers’ attention, such as ad copies and your website.
Study Your Online Competitors
Take a page from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” by knowing the strengths and weakness of your opponent. This will enable you to discover your competitive advantage and integrate that into your digital marketing strategy.
An effective way to study your competition is to perform competitor analysis. This involves identifying and analysing your top online competitors, conducting keyword research, auditing other companies’ social media and content and developing a strategy to rise to the top of the pack. You could hire a reliable agency that offers SEO services for e-commerce to help you with this process.
Provide More Payment Options
Offering several modes of payment allows you to cater to a wide range of customers. Shoppers will have an easy time buying from your online store when you have more payment options on the table.
When adding payment options to your store, keep these tips in mind:
- Allow customers to pay without requiring an account. Give shoppers the option to sign up after checkout instead of requiring them to set up a new username and password.
- Be mindful of your shoppers’ preferences when thinking about the payment options to add to your virtual storefront. Some want to pay using their debit or credit cards, while others are ok with using digital wallets, such as PayPal and Apple Pay. Make sure you have payment options available for these customers.
- Offer reassurances on privacy and security. Always go out of your way to highlight the security measures of your e-commerce website. Providing secure transactions shows your shoppers how much you value their personal and financial data.
Make Your Deliveries More Attractive
This isn’t just about offering free shipping, which is something that many online stores provide already. If you want to outdo your competitors, you have to throw in something that will make shoppers look forward to the arrival of their ordered product.
You could, for instance, add a small thank-you gift or trinket to your regular online shoppers. The freebie doesn’t need to be extravagant or expensive. It’s just a little something to show your appreciation to your valued customers. If your customer buys a dozen t-shirts, for example, add an extra one free of charge.
Engage Your Customers
Another way to set yourself apart from other online businesses is to build solid, long-term and authentic relationships with both prospective and existing customers. You can engage and interact with customers by doing the following:
- Launch an Event – Organize product launches and other public gatherings to build interest around your business. During the event, offer incentives and prizes to event attendees and shoppers. Also, encourage everyone to promote and talk about your event on social media.
- Create a Blog – Use your blog as a way to share valuable content and product updates to your target market.
- Use Social Media – Interact with customers in real-time using well-known social networking platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. Create polls, run contests and add relevant hashtags to your posts to increase your brand awareness and engagement.
Go beyond dominating the competition. Position your online store for long-term success by using these tactics to your advantage. And don’t be afraid to change your strategy to outperform your competitors.;
