Online retail sales are projected to reach approximately $1 trillion this year, and given the projected growth, e-commerce will only continue to increase in the near future. Even price leading companies such as Wal-Mart and Target are investing in user-friendly online retail sites to drive sales and build retention for customers lost to amazon.com or ebay.com. These retail companies are following the statistics and using techniques that many small, entrepreneurial businesses can also follow in order to drive traffic and convert potential customers into sale prospects.
If you are interested in building your online business or if you are interested in the newest trends for the e-commerce phenomenon then stick around – I have 5 staggering e-commerce statistics that will help build your e-commerce business and move your marketing efforts in the right direction.
5 Important Statistics and What They Mean For Your Online Business
15% More People Will Shop Online in the Next Two Years – People are moving their shopping online more and more each year, making remote shopping the new norm. If you’re interested in opening your potential customer base to a worldwide market, developing an online point of sale for your product is essential, not only for extra revenue but your survival in the future. As consumers begin to feel more comfortable purchasing online, online purchases will surpass traditional selling techniques in almost every industry. In addition, mobile applications will help streamline point of sale and develop excellent exposure to potential customers who shop-on-the-go.
Go Social with your marketing – Online sales from social media are expected to grow exponentially (93% per year) in the next couple of years. People don’t shop like they use to, and old traditional marketing models do not work without large capital investments. People want advice from friends and family and seem to make more decisions based on the influence of other consumers. Building a social network with your business will help develop what e-commerce businesses call “loyal stakeholders.” These consumers are frequent buyers and help sell your brand without unnecessary advertising and marketing costs. Social media marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to build a brand and transfer marketing information instantly – ultimately helping to build brands quickly and organically if done properly.
Make Shipping Free or Fixed – 73% of consumers claimed in various surveys that “free shipping” was critical to online consumption. This is one of the oldest tactics in the online marketing community because of the psychological factors of behavioural economics. Many eBay sellers will slightly increase the cost of the product and offer free shipping to attract more interest in the potential sale. People look at free shipping as a deal and providing free freighting will put you above your competitors in convertible sales via online browsing. This tactic will get more customers buying rather than abandoning their shopping cart after seeing shipping costs.
Make It Fast and Simple – Consumers have many options online and don’t want a hassle when attempting to purchase. Particularly with new businesses or online ventures, fast and easy points of sale pages are important in converting potential customers to firm sales. In fact, around 10% of consumers state that lengthy checkout processes caused abandonment within their shopping experience. One of the worst things you could do is lose a customer during checkout because this reflects that consumers are interested in your product or service but don’t want to deal with your online portal.
Have Reminders and Retain Customers – Studies show that approximately 40% of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts because they are not ready to make a buying decision right away. They may want to buy, but at the current point of sale, they may get distracted or lose interest from external factors. Amazon.com does an excellent job of retaining customers by avoiding this loss. They have the notorious “wish list” and save your shopping carts for future potential purchase. In addition, they link similar purchases to the browsing options you’ve shown in the past on their site. This is very powerful in obtaining and retaining loyal customers who may have short attention spans.
Matthew Hall ran his own eCommerce business before turning to the world of freelance writing, and was highly successful at it thanks to services provided at http://fastspring.com.
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay