The Foundational, Customer-Facing E-Commerce Tools You Need to Run a Successful Biz - Part 1
There’s much more to e-commerce than just selling a great product. The truth is you can quickly lose sales to your competitors if you don’t streamline a process for your e-commerce business using the right platforms and organizational tools.
Instead of wasting your time, energy, and resources trying to find the right e-commerce tools, simply read this two-part blog!
In part one today, we’ll go through the customer-facing, or frontend, tools that will help you streamline the customer journey, save time, and maximize sales. (All three of which are KEY to your success!)
The Benefits of Using the Right E-Commerce Tools
Getting robust operational tools and business automations up and running will take your operations and sales to the next level, while maintaining your sanity. You’ll see so many advantages, like:
Better productivity
Increased customer satisfaction
Streamlined operations
Improved profits with larger shopping carts
Increased retention of employees and contractors
According to Shopify, only 17.8% of global sales in 2020 were made from online purchases. By the end of 2022, that number is expected to reach 21% and is estimated to hit 24.5% by 2025. If you want your e-commerce business to benefit from this upward trend, you’ve got to have the right operational tools and systems in place. Let’s review the frontend business automations you need for your website, product content, customer service, and email marketing.
Website and Supporting Platforms
You have tons of options for getting your website up and running. You can build one from scratch or pay someone to create one for you; you can create a design-intense site or a simple, product-centric one. Thankfully, there are many affordable options with awesome templates. Here are some of the most popular ones:
E-commerce for WordPress
E-commerce with Squarespace
Etsy
Woocommerce subscriptions
Shopify
Personally, I recommend Shopify because it’s a trusted leader in the e-commerce space and Shopify stores’ integrations make running your e-comm business easy. There are simple applications that can be easily applied to your site like customer and product reviews, marketing tools, Shopify dropshipping, and more.
No matter how you choose to build your website, these customer-friendly features are a must:
User-friendly interface, navigation, and search options
Call-to-action buttons to drive conversions
High-quality images
Product descriptions
Mobile-friendly design
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) section
Security features
Multiple payment options
Upsells
Subscription or bundle options
Loyalty programs
Alternative text for accessibility and SEO
Clearly stated return policy
Integrating applications within your Shopify store can add to the customer experience, too. With the right integrations, you can drive store conversions, increase average order sales, and build loyalty.
Product Content
Your customers put a lot of thought into purchasing a product. One of the biggest factors driving their decision? Your product content!
Product content includes product descriptions, photos, and videos. Just taking a quick photo or two of your product with your phone (no matter how advanced its camera is!) and writing up a basic description won’t make a sale. Your product content must tell a story – one that centers on the customer.
For product listing images, video is queen right now. (All hail!) Use a mix of brand photography, videos, and user-generated content to give customers a well-rounded look at your product. Seeing how a garment looks when the model moves or showing how your product betters a customer’s life might be just what they need to pull the trigger and choose your product over a competitor.
Your product descriptions should highlight the benefits and features of your product, including who it’s for, any points of difference between your product and your competitors, and how it can improve their lives or solve their problems. You can also include a list of FAQs or links to other helpful content on your website to help close the sale.
Customer Service
Customer service is what keeps you in business! If you answer questions quickly and offer a solution, you’ll bring in more profits, increase customer loyalty, and maintain a good reputation. Unfortunately, not every business can have full-time dedicated customer service representatives. But there are solutions!
Want to offer your customers 24/7 support? Here’s your ideal solution – meet the Chatbot!
An e-commerce Chatbot lets website visitors ask questions and get answers to common questions immediately, which can improve the overall shopping experience. Some Chatbot online services can also upsell and cross-sell. Chatbots are great solutions to improving the customer experience and providing a friendly, helpful, and personalized customer service experience – something that can help differentiate your online shopping experience.
Plus, with a Chatbot handling customer service, you get to focus on other aspects of your business!
Email and SMS Marketing Benefits and Tools
Email is one of the oldest and most effective marketing strategies, and the right email marketing tool will help you get the most bang for your buck.
With email marketing software, you can create, test, send, and optimize your marketing campaigns. Some even offer integrations with SMS text messaging. You’ll want an email tool that integrates with the lead generation forms on your website so you can capture and manage customer emails and send them targeted campaigns. Most email marketing software platforms provide templates, email campaign suggestions, and analytics, making campaign creation possible for all levels of experience.
Personally, Klaviyo is my favorite email marketing platform because you can:
Streamline a process for consistent messaging and more effective results
Seamlessly integrate with Shopify to better understand your customers’ purchase behavior
Separate customers and tailor messages for VIPs or anyone who’s purchased specific products
Strategically choose the promotions your customers receive
Create re-engagement campaigns for any subscribers who become inactive or forget to checkout
Remind customers to make a purchase with abandoned cart sequences, you can hopefully bring a customer back to your website to complete a purchase
Take advantage of email for marketing examples and templates
With the right email marketing tool like Klaviyo, you can also set up email sequences, which are a series of emails sent to your potential and existing customers based on predetermined criteria. You can build out your emails beforehand and set up an email marketing automation, so you can easily follow up with multiple clients and customers without having to physically click the “send” button over and over again.
Here are just a few more benefits of implementing email sequences:
Restoring lost revenue with email campaigns targeting cart abandonment
Increasing your landing page efficiency and conversion rate
Delivering better customer service
Getting a higher return on investment
Simplifying time-consuming tasks
Keeping customers engaged by tailoring emails driving them to take action
So, which email journeys do you need for your biz? I’ve got you covered. Download my free guide on the top sequences you need to implement as an e-commerce business owner.
Let’s Streamline a Process for Your Growth
Whether you’re just starting out, you've been in business for a while but feel like you can’t keep your head above water, or you’re looking for a way to streamline a process and automate your e-commerce business so you have more personal freedom, I can help! As your Virtual Sidekic, I’ll set up all your business automations, programs, and tools while you focus on doing what you do best.
Book a discovery call with me today, and let’s get started! Oh, and don’t forget to stay tuned for Part 2 of this series, all about the operational tools you need for the backend of your business!