5 Resources That'll Make You Better at B2C Ecommerce

Ecommerce, in many ways, has changed the face of business. It is currently one of the most competitive industries with an increasingly demanding customer base. Which is why simply throwing up an online store (and expecting the orders to come flooding in) won’t be enough. You need to constantly learn, measure, test, and optimize.

Companies that learn from analytics are generally good at optimizing for better conversions besides improving their sales funnels and perfecting the user experience, therefore giving their business a competitive advantage while selling directly to B2C consumers.

Now, where a simple optimization could be as easy as changing the colour of a call-to-action button on your website, substantial changes could take weeks or even months. More often than not, the easiest and most efficient route is to identify certain resources that will make you better at Business to Consumer commerce and implement them to help you gain a competitive edge over the market. 

5 Essential resources that every marketer should consider to offer an amazing user experience via your ecommerce website

1. Next-Generation Technology

Had it not been for technology, our multi-billion dollar electronic commerce industry would not have existed? Even now as we speak, brands are iterating and refining their digital strategies to improve customer satisfaction. Below are some such strategies you too should consider using for the betterment of your online store.

• The world is moving in a mobile-first direction. That’s why mobile responsiveness and design should be at the forefront of a mobile-first strategy. Have an expertly designed B2C mobile site, one that will help increase traffic and maximize mobile conversions. Or you can go for a mobile-only app. These offer great personalization besides offering an added layer of security and privacy

• Do you know what’s so cool about customization? It offers your customers a unique and personalized experience that is entirely their own. How? It allows you to customize your website as per their needs, from the content to fully unique colour schemes. Thanks to technology, your customers can now purchase a product that is tailored specifically to their need and style

• People like fast ecommerce sites. You have to accept it. And so does Google, so much so that it has started moving all its sites to ‘mobile-first index. ’Don’t know where to begin? Start with building your website with a trusted platform provider, with a reputation to uphold for offering faster sites, one that uses API technology with CDN cache for better performances

• Omnichannel commerce, also a by-product of next-generation ecommerce technology, one that allows you to offer a consistent buying experience across channels, both online and offline

The lines between digital and physical shopping experiences are constantly blurring. We need to ensure to be agile and responsive to customer needs with branded touchpoints across all parts of the B2C buying journey.

2. Sourcing Right Suppliers

Sourcing the right suppliers is of utmost importance for your business needs. It not only ensures that you deliver your products and services on time but also at the right price, and in compliance with your quality standards.

Suppliers are like your business partners where the right one can easily set you up for success, the wrong one can easily jeopardise your business, even faster.

Your ecommerce business model will play a huge role in deciding what type of supplier will be right for your business. There are many who offer multiple services such as wholesale, dropshipping etc. though you might have a hard time finding them.

Our advice is, don’t settle for a mediocre supplier when you can source out the ones that fit perfectly well with your business model. Implement the supplier’s selection criteria (such as one mentioned below), in order to identify companies that will work with you to meet the demands of your customers.

• To begin with, you can source products from local manufacturers. The upside is, you can easily visit the factory and inspect the goods before committing to an order. The downside, you may not find a wide range of B2C products in your area

• Which gives you the option to look overseas for product manufacturers and wholesalers

• Or, you can browse popular online marketplaces for finding manufacturers selling specific products that you are interested in

• Another option is trade shows organized by different industries to display their latest products

These places will help you source the right suppliers for your business. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. 

Do not come across the suppliers as a newbie (even if you are). Project confidence and experience using clear, concise communication. And always prefer calling suppliers over sending emails. lastly, contact at least a few suppliers before settling in on any. You will get the best possible deal besides learning things about your ecommerce business.

3. Relying on Best Courier Partners

When it comes to selling online, having the best courier service at your disposal can be one of the most important aspects of your online business. And the key to your success. 

Because once your customers are content with the delivery of their items, you will witness an increase in repeat sales. This, in turn, will help you build a better online reputation leading to more first-time sales.

So, what sort of qualities should you be looking for in B2C delivery companies and how do you compare them? Let’s find out-

• The first essential factor is the speed of delivery. Look for the courier partner that delivers in the shortest time possible

• Check whether your courier service has the means to handle big, fragile or perishable items or not. And how much you need to pay extra for delivering large items

• Look for a shipping partner that gives you the freedom to optimize your shipping cost besides minimizing returns

• Ask the courier service to provide you with proof of delivery so you can be certain the products are going where they need to be and are there on time

• Customer service offered by the delivery companies is another important quality you need to look out for

• Are you getting cost to value through your ecommerce website? Check it out through the customer reviews or by sending out a quick survey to see how happy they are with the shipping experience provided to them

• Accidents always happen. Which is why you need courier insurance so as to alleviate the worry of your products not being shipped or delivered as expected

This courier comparison checklist will help you find the right shipping solution to support the growth of your B2C business. Finding the best courier partner may seem like a challenging task but it certainly is a worthwhile investment of your time.

4. Social Proof

If you have ever talked yourself into purchasing something you never thought you’d end up buying, then cheer up, you are not alone.

It doesn’t matter if you are among those blog readers that are 200% more likely to convert as a result of reading a recommendation from a trusted source. Or if you are part of 92% of consumers that convert listening to online recommendations. In either or both of the cases, you are a victim of your buying habits. Now, this psychological phenomenon is what we call social proof.

Nowadays, social proof is an even more potent tool for the millennial than ever before. The only problem is, how to leverage social proof on your ecommerce site?

Below are few such ecommerce areas where you will see the applications of principles of social proof

• Product-specific ratings and reviews- these include text summaries, thumbs up/down, star ratings etc., basically anything that answers what other people think about this purchase

• Testimonials- these are users’ general feedback on a product or their experience that serve as a powerful content marketing strategy. Their effectiveness has resulted in 380% higher conversion rates for expensive products and 190% for less expensive items

• Photos and videos- a picture is worth a thousand words, mix them both and you have a much better chance of B2C conversion you can imagine what a powerful presentation it will be to see a product in action

• Influencer marketing- a celebrity advertising a product means instant trust and authority, don’t you agree? Imagine, authentic voices having conversations about your brand, can your voice alone ever match the intensity? That’s the power of influencer marketing

• With an ever-increasing arsenal of user reviews and a powerful online reputation to demonstrate your value, it won’t take long for your marketing efforts and social media strategy to fall in place

5. Multi-Channel Branding

Things have changed a lot for the ecommerce industry over the last few years. What we are looking today are ever-evolving channels of communications. And businesses too are not far behind in leveraging multichannel branding opportunities. 

However, not all channels reach the same audience. That’s why it is incredibly challenging to create a unified voice that can speak to all audiences. 

So with all these challenges, how can you maintain a consistent brand experience with good results? Here’s how-

• Create one view of the customer in each channel by having a sense of how your B2C customers act in each channel besides understanding what kind of value each one will bring to you and your company. This understanding can be reached with the help of acquired data through the above-mentioned points

• Establish a platform for multi-channel marketing. It will help you not only with campaign management (creation and execution of campaigns) and advanced analytics (campaign optimization and predictive data) but also with digital marketing (access to multiple channels) and response attribution (optimization, scenario planning)

• Keep customer experiences consistent throughout all the ecommerce channels. The thing is, customers, think of a brand as a complete whole. If they experience a good time at one channel and a bad time at another, what do you think their reaction would be? Deep down, every customer wants to feel special. Make it happen

With the continuous rise of customer expectations and the evolution of technology, more and more customers will want a seamless experience, and that experience has to be across multiple platforms. This seamlessness or consistency is what will make you better at B2C commerce.

Conclusion

Being able to stay on top by evolving as per the need of your customers is essential to your ability to remain relevant in today’s competitive ecommerce world. 

Wow, that’s a lot of words to take in.

There are many ways to accomplish what we just said above. The important thing to remember here is that you remain knowledgeable about what’s going on in the B2C industry besides being flexible in your business approach. 

Do not be afraid to go the extra mile to offer something exclusive to your customers. It will help you win their trust and business long-term. Rather than reinventing the wheel, make use of the above-mentioned Business to Consumer ecommerce resources to focus on the areas that need your immediate attention.

Rest will be taken care of by itself. But of course, you will need the support of a reliable ecommerce partner to make it all work. A partner such as StoreHippo that offers some incredible features including an easy to use interface, along with a full plethora of features needed to build and run a successful online store. So, don’t wait,

Visit our website today and book a free demo today!