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How To Get Your eCommerce Site To Rise Above The Competition

Today, eCommerce retailers are present in every niche, so standing out can be really tough. Customers have a plethora of options and high expectations, which means you need to stay on top of trends and find a unique way to get people to buy from you and foster customer loyalty.

One option is to hire a professional Shopify development company that will finish the job for you in no time and optimize your site to cater to your customers’ demands. However, if you can’t afford this, the following 6 tips will help you distinguish your online store from the competitors and make sure it gets noticed.

 

1.  Highlight Your Unique Aspects

Considering the fact that your competitors are eCommerce giants like Amazon and eBay, competing on shipping or price is pretty much impossible. That’s why you need to focus on your branding and create a voice that others won’t be able to copy.

What’s unique about your brand? Do you offer handmade products or are you eco-friendly? Is your buyer persona unique in some way? Find a way to highlight these unique aspects. For instance, if your ideal customer persona is quirky, consider creating copy that contains a dose of humor. Or, if you’re selling original handmade products, maybe you could use custom packaging as an additional selling point. The good thing about today’s packaging companies is that there are ones like Zenpack that can actually help you design your packaging and manufacture it for you, that way you don’t have to hire a separate designer and manufacturer. You can visit SupremeX, a reputable record sleeve manufacturer, that provides the perfect packaging solution for safeguarding your products.

 

2.  Put a Loyalty Program in Place

More and more companies are adding loyalty programs and for a good reason: the average number of loyalty programs consumers enroll in has grown to 14 (back in 2014, this number was 11)! That’s why more than 55% of brands automatically enroll consumers into their loyalty programs once they sign up for a customer account.

eCommerce companies have also recognized the benefits of rewarding their customers. But in order to create a loyalty program that keeps customers engaged, you need to show that you actually understand and care about your customers. In fact, more than 60% of customers want to know that your brand really cares. They expect a personalized experience that will help build a strong relationship with your brand.

For instance, you can go for reciprocal loyalty, i.e. give to the customer first and they’ll give in return or, collect user feedback and use it to offer more unique rewards.

In other words, you need to build a loyalty program that’s about more than the freebie and that’s exactly what’s going to set you apart from the crowd.

 

3.  Showcase Your Products with Professional Photography

Do not underestimate the importance of high-quality images. Your goal is to evoke a feeling that makes people want to snatch your products through the screen and click on the “buy” button right away. That’s why showcasing your products as best as you can is crucial.

What does this mean for you? It means you should never ever use your smartphone to take pictures of your products. If you can’t afford a professional photographer, at least invest in a professional camera that will help increase the quality of your images. In addition, make sure that your photos showcase your products from multiple angles and demonstrate how they can be used in real life.

 

4.  Integrate with Social Platforms to Increase Exposure

Social media is not only a great way to connect with your audience but also a place where you can sell your products. The first thing you need to do is share links to your landing page in order to bring your social media followers to your eCommerce site.

Post engaging content on your accounts by sharing short videos, holiday gift ideas, makeup looks for different occasions, styling ideas, etc. Don’t forget to include clear CTAs in all your social posts to bring people back to your site and entice them to buy your products.

You can also share user-generated content from social media on your site to add credibility to your business and demonstrate how your products can be used.

 

5.  Create Instructional Videos to Engage Users

Unlike with brick-and-mortar stores, online shoppers can’t touch the product or try it on. So, the best way to provide answers to whatever questions they might have is through videos.

Always bear in mind that people are visual creatures and they always prefer watching a video rather than reading instructions. When done right, videos can be a very powerful marketing tool.

Tutorials and how-to videos are a great way to show customers how they can use your products and push them closer toward making a buying decision. Don’t forget to share your videos on your social media accounts to increase your exposure and keep users engaged.

 

 

6.  Use Social Proof to Boost Credibility

What better indicator of credibility than social proof? If a new website visitor is scanning your online store while thinking about buying something from you, social proof can be just enough to push them in the right direction.

You can leverage social proof in several different ways, such as:

• Customer reviews. Good reviews are awesome but you should also include bad ones to provide a balanced perspective for future buyers.
• Celebrity/influencer endorsement. If someone famous enjoys wearing or using your product, make sure to highlight them in your imagery.
• User-generated content. Ask customers to submit images of themselves wearing or using your product.

 

Final Thoughts

In the highly competitive eCommerce world, showcasing your unique personality is your best bet. Think about who you are exactly, what makes you different from the others, and make sure to emphasize it in your messaging and marketing.

 

Images: freepik.com