How To Optimize Your E-Commerce Business in 7 Steps

Step 1: Choose an eCommerce Platform 

The first step is choosing an ideal e-commerce platform. E-commerce platforms play a vital role by helping you manage your business website. Thanks to a reliable eCommerce platform, you don't have to worry about hiring a software developer or developing your technology. This is because an e-commerce platform comes with a website builder that gives you various pre-made templates. With these platforms, you can actualize your business idea at a cheaper rate and with less hassle. Remember that there are different types of e-commerce platforms, and you need to choose the right one for your business. 

Here are tips to help you choose the perfect e-commerce platform.

• Consider your business size: How big is your business? If your business is still a startup, you should use an eCommerce platform with basic features. 
• Know your budget: Choose a platform that fits your business budget. Platforms have different costs depending on their features and ability to scale up your business. If you are running on a low budget, go for a simple and affordable platform.
• Evaluate features: Every platform has its unique features. Therefore, go for one whose features match the needs of your business. 

‍Step 2: Optimize Your Sales Funnel

We all know that the sales funnel is an illustrated representation of a customer journey. It has 4 stages: 

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Purchase 
• Retention 

Your objective is to help your customer slide through the funnel as fast as possible. Ideally, you want them to become a brand advocate.

Depending on your business model your sales funnel will vary, but the basic pipeline anatomy stays the same. If you sell items that are generally more on the high-end side like jewelry or cars your funnel is going to be longer. Alternatively, if you are selling low-cost items your funnel will be much shorter. Because the cost is the barrier to purchase. 

‍

Here are some things you can do to optimize your eCommerce sales funnel. 

‍

Start by establishing a clear path to purchase. Your business website's navigation is a vital aspect of that, so you need to build user-friendly menus that your customers will enjoy using. This feature impacts how customers browse your site and shop for products. If a site has faulty and disorganized navigation, users may not proceed to make any purchases. The site shouldn't have inaccessible pages or pages that take too long to load. Also, make sure that you optimize your site search box so that your users find what they’re looking for.

Next thing is to make it easy to purchase: create an easy checkout process, and eliminate unexpected shipping and handling costs. Plus offer your customers multiple payment options. 

‍

Try to erase barriers to purchasing as much as possible. Most of the visitors will add items to the cart and abandon them. Try to offer free shipping and easy returns. If the reason is the lack of trust in your shop, display security badges in a prominent location. Also, make sure to welcome each customer to provide them with the best buying experience. Utilize all the communication channels such as chatbot, email, and calls. Having a well-functioning website and effective communication channels are two keys that play a great role in improving customer retention rates.

Step 3: Focus on Your Category Pages

There is no doubt that products are the most important part of your eCommerce business. Building a great product is the first step when starting your company. However, when it comes to your website, category pages are a crucial part of e-commerce website optimization. Organize your products into categories that make it easy for users to find what they like. For efficiency and easier organization, you can use broad headings. Generally, customers use product categories and listings to find what they are looking for on your site. From the SEO perspective, category pages are more important than product pages themselves. Without well-organized category pages, customers will not be encouraged to shop from your business. Make sure that you optimize your product images, so that they are high quality, but not too big that they slow down your website. Low-quality images are one of the many reasons why shoppers are not moving forward with their purchases.

‍

Step 4: Define Your Branding and the Look of Your Website

Your overall visual branding is another aspect to think about when it comes to e-commerce optimization. The brand image is what potential customers will use to identify your business across various channels. Some aspects of branding include your business name, logo design, website design, product packaging, social media platforms, and taglines among others. Pay attention to every detail regarding the brand image— go for colours that best present your image and eye-catching fonts that are easy to read. 

Another essential factor to consider is the look and feel of your website: ensure it is appropriate for the target audience. For instance, you shouldn't use pink colours on the site if your products target a male audience. Similarly, you can use bright colours for a children's toy company. You must be cautious when branding your business for the target audience. 

‍

Step 5: Think About the Mobile Experience

Delivering a positive mobile experience is another crucial part of e-commerce retail marketing. With a majority of consumers shopping on smartphones, you must ensure that your site delivers a positive experience. Thankfully, you can still improve a site's mobile compatibility by integrating a responsive design. 

Thanks to such designs, your e-commerce website will automatically adapt to whatever device a person uses, whether it is a smartphone or a tablet. The site will adjust to fit the screen of whichever device a customer is using, giving them the best browsing experience. Such tactics will increase conversion rates as the user will stay engaged on your site longer. Therefore, you must ensure that your e-commerce website is mobile-friendly. 

‍

Step 6: Set Up Your Checkout, Shopping Cart, and Wish List

You should also set up your shopping cart, checkout, and wish list options on the site. These are essential aspects of the shopping process and could significantly influence the customer's experience. Therefore, ensure these features are available and working smoothly. One way to implement it is by not forcing customers to create accounts or follow too many steps when checking out. These disruptions can discourage them from completing the purchase. They also result in high cases of abandoned shopping carts.

‍

Step 7: Optimize Your Pricing

Lastly, you need to optimize your pricing. Getting your pricing right is crucial for the success of your e-commerce business. Without it, no one will want to buy your products. There are many tactics you can apply to earn more from your website. Here are a few that can have significant impacts. 

• A clear CTA: A clear call to action will help mobilize people to buy more. Simply put, if you want people to buy your products, you must tell them to do so. A clear CTA is the best way you can give them this message. 
• Compare two products: Putting two products side by side will increase sales for the lower-priced one. Therefore, in your product catalogue, you should compare two products by placing them next. People will be encouraged to buy the cheaper one. 
• Reduce analysis paralysis: Don't have too many options on offer because it can sometimes overwhelm visitors. Use e-commerce optimization to organize products understandably.
• Charm pricing: This is a lucrative way of optimizing your prices. It helps increase sales as product prices will appear to seem "lower". One way you can do so is by using numbers ending in 9 when pricing products.

‍

Sum Up

E-commerce optimization is vital if you want to improve user experience on your site. It is also key if you want to increase your business's revenue. Follow the seven steps discussed above for a lucrative and efficient e-commerce business.

‍