7 KEY STRATEGIES FOR E-COMMERCE SUCCESS IN 2022

7 KEY STRATEGIES FOR E-COMMERCE SUCCESS IN 2022
A study carried out by a leading consulting and accounting firm in June 2021 reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has led people to strongly shift to online shopping. Initially, they opted for e-shopping as they had to remain confined to their homes. Even after that many of them pursue it as they’re continuing their work from home. 

There have been changes in digital consumption patterns such as picking healthier options, finding the best price, and going eco-friendly by shopping locally wherever possible. One more vital finding presented by this report is that consumers think of continuing shopping online for their needs even after the pandemic is over.

Here are seven key strategies that e-commerce businesses should follow to succeed in 2022.

 

7 Key Strategies for Ecommerce Success in 2022

  • Optimize your website

The most basic strategy to be successful in your e-commerce business in 2022 is optimizing your website. Start by evaluating it. Here is a checklist.

  • Design: Appoint an expert outside your firm to make sure that your site’s design is user-friendly and intuitive.
  • SEO: You need to rank on Google to be findable by people looking for the products you’re selling. So, work on your content, link building, loading speed, and navigation. 
  • Chatbot: Nowadays, it’s a must for e-commerce stores to have a chatbot incorporated into their site.  This will facilitate customers to get their queries answered instantly. And this will boost your revenue generation. 
  • Appointment Scheduling: Incorporate an appointment scheduling functionality into your website. In case a visitor wants to know more about your product, it’ll provide them with a way to set an appointment with you.

 

  • Make your e-store mobile-friendly

Today many people use their mobile devices and smartphones to shop online. This makes it essential to make your eCommerce store mobile-friendly. Ensure that you provide the best possible mobile experience with smooth transactions and no hang-ups.  Here are other things you need to consider.

  • Responsiveness: Ensure that your mobile e-store is responsive. That is, it can be accessed through tablets, smartphones, and smartwatches.
  • User-friendliness: Your mobile e-store should be user-friendly. Users should be able to click through clickable elements like posts, pages, links, etc. with ease. They should be able to clearly view the images and videos on your site. 
  • Content: You can’t have a lot of text content on your mobile e-store just as you have on your website. So, reduce some of the content while ensuring that all necessary information that buyers look for is preserved.
  • Design: Your mobile e-store’s design should be attractive and consistent with your brand. 

 

  • Make use of social media

Most people online are spending their time on social media. This makes it a powerful channel to create brand awareness, tell your story, and gather a following. So, have a social media marketing strategy in place. Here are the things that should go into your strategy-

  • Choose your platforms: There are several social media networking platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc. You need to find out those platforms where most of your audiences are available and then target them through those.
  • Gather a following: You need to focus on gathering a social media following and increasing those numbers. Direct your efforts toward building a community of followers with genuine customers.  
  • Employ tactics: Employ tactics such as social media chatbots, live streaming, in-app purchases, paid advertisements, etc. to convert ‘ready-to-purchase’ customers. 

 

  • Create content

The old technique of churning out 500-word blogs every couple of days has worn out. Today you need an all-inclusive content strategy that combines blogs, articles, videos, paid ads, press releases, and podcasts to engage customers and prospects. 

You need to find out what your customers are looking for and come up with the content of that sort. You can identify this by-

  • Learning from your competitors: This doesn’t mean you need to be a copycat doing whatever your competitors do. However, your successful competitors are great resources to derive inspiration from. 
  • Survey your customer base: Asking your customers about their content preferences is a sure-fire technique to understand their needs better. So, just ask using readymade web survey templates.
  • Derive inspirations from your experiences: You know your products better than anyone else. So, just take some time to ponder over what your customers need to know about those and come up with content based on those concepts. 

 

  • Utilize augmented reality

One of the top digital marketing trends for e-commerce in 2022 will be Augmented Reality (AR). E-stores are increasingly employing AR to facilitate shopping experiences that simulate actual life. That is, letting shoppers visualize how your products will look on them, in their home, or in their real life.

For instance, the beauty store Sephora is using 3D modeling to let their customers try their makeup products on a still selfie of theirs. The brand is taking efforts to soon implement an update where users can view themselves in real-time with the digital makeup. 

 

Businesses are also live-streaming their shopping events. This acts as an opportunity to take users to their factory, connect them with experts, and tell them how to use their products. Some e-stores are also providing virtual shopping sessions where the customer has to book his session with the store in advance. 

 

  • Take advantage of last year’s learnings

E-commerce businesses have made a good business during and post the pandemic. So, it’d be wise to take advantage of the yester-years’ learnings. Here are some action plans to derive therefrom.

  • Timing: Gather data on best sales times and seasons. Research these to know when you should start making your pre-Christmas promotions, announcing weekend offers, and more. This will also help you stay cautious that your site is up and functional during these times.
  • Promotions: Study your data to understand which offers (discounts, free shipping, promo codes, etc.) of yours performed the best, which kind of promotions generated the best results, and more. This will help you know your customer behaviour better and target them with relevant and timely offers. 
  • Channels: Look into your data to know which channels performed the best. This will help you focus more on best-performing channels and eliminate advertising costs spent on non-profitable channels. 

 

  • Personalize the shopping experience

The advancements in technology have heightened customer expectations. Reports say that over 80% of customers today seek personalized experiences. So, combine Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and marketing automation to deliver a unique experience to each customer based on where he/she is in the buyer’s journey. 

You should use your marketing automation software to offer interactions, offers, and seasonal promotions based on-

  • Where your visitor comes from (campaign URL or traffic source)
  • The number of times he/she has been on your site
  • The country he/she is from
  • What page he/she is on
  • The exact spot he/she is on your page
  • His/her shopping basket value

This will also help you focus on high-value leads efficiently and at the right time. For, it opens up opportunities for cross-selling relevant products and up-selling higher-value products to your customers. 

 

Wrapping up

The pandemic has drastically changed the shopping behavior of online buyers. Many have resorted to shopping online for all their needs. It’s an ideal time for e-commerce businesses to strengthen themselves and tap into this wonderful opportunity. The seven key strategies that we’ve discussed in the blog can help get ahead of your competitors and set you on the path to success in 2022. 

 

Author Bio

Shivani is a content writer at NotifyVisitors

Shivani is a content writer at NotifyVisitors, which provides customer engagement software that allows marketers to plan, coordinate, manage, and measure their marketing campaigns performance.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: