6 Problems that Keep Ecommerce Managers up at Night and How to Solve them

As the challenges faced by ecommerce retailers greatly differ from those in physical retail, ecommerce managers everywhere have been forced to become extra vigilant, with their fingers on the trigger to react to competitor changes in their marketplace which for many is the difference between increased sales or going out of business. Even though similarities exist between online and offline retail commerce, today's consumer is more digitally engaged than at any point in history hence the increased digital focus by ambitious retailers to secure a piece of consumer attention.

While local and national retail operators still enjoy sales from consumers who prefer the physical shopping experience, these consumers are increasingly in the minority as online shopping has rapidly become the dominating channel in retail commerce so much so that 2017 delivered the most consumers that shopped online as opposed to shopping in store during Black Friday. As the retail market continues to reach new boundaries in terms of options available for retailers to meet consumer needs, Ecommerce managers now find themselves with several problems that remain front of mind as they strive to remain competitive in a firecely competitive global retail environment.

Number One: Customers Prefer to shop with their favorite retailers

According to a recent post by the wall street journal, 70% of online shoppers stated that they prefer to shop at their favorite online retailer. This minimizes the market for a great many smaller ecommerce sites. These means that retailers who cannot be seen, have to be seen. In order to drive online traffic to their online website, ecommerce managers should focus on achieving the best top ranking SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) they can. Consider focusing on increasing organic content with targeted keywords to boost SEO. This means ecommerce managers need to increase organic content across their website, pre-filled with targeted keywords. This could be within the blog and product pages on the website.

Everyone loves to get value for money and today's consumer is no different. Yes they may be loyal to their favourite brands but they are always on the lookout for the best deals which can only be offered after competitor prices are fully tracked and analysed. Wiser Competitive Pricing can be obtained through Price Monitoring Platforms, help ecommerce managers remain on the pulse of their competitive environment and intelligently manage the ultimate reseource for any professional ...... time.

Number Two: Customers don’t trust your security

When it comes to financial transactions, you must have security and present that security to your potential buyers. One way in which to do so is through security certificates and validation. No one wants to get a potential malware notice when they are visiting a website. It is quick way to ruin your business. SSL Certificates, SiteLock Website Security, and SAN certificates are the most common ways an ecommerce site can build trust on the security of their information.

Number Three: Your Social media presence is minimal

Social media is to the ecommerce world what billboards, radio, and television advertisement is to local business marketing. There are over 3.6 billion internet users in the world according to internet live stats. Out of these users there are nearly 500 million tweets, 3.5 billion videos posted, 40 million Instagram photos uploaded, and about 2 billion active Facebook users per day. The average person spends 116 minutes a day on social media alone, reports socialmediatoday.com. Ecommerce managers should hone into various social media sites and provide engaging content which can be easily shared and commented upon. Tradional advertising will always be relevant but retailers today need to offer content which educates and empowers (such as a blog on how to do .....).

Number Four: Your business is too singular in advertising

Ret which focus on one item or service are doing their business an injustice and greatly hindering their sales and growth potential. Multi-channeling your selection of goods benefits your business in at least two ways. First, your business has more diversity in the product leading to a broader target audience. This does not mean that you do not have a selected target, such as entrepreneur apparel for example, but rather that you have expounded upon this target niche by offering various means for the consumer to encounter your brand. Yes you need to have online marketing, but research from Deloitte has shown that Ecommerce managers which step outside of just online marketing and multichannel to their consumers have shoppers which spend 82% more than those which do not.

Number Five: Your ads are not seeing any activity when reviewing analytics

When reviewing your analytics or your click ads, if you find that you have lower activity than desired, it could be a result of your information. Consumers online are competitive in nature. They tend to look for the best deal on the market. Keep in mind that you are working on a global network and not just locally. If you are offering a deal of the day, but the merchandise that you offer is still more expensive than your competitors, the consumer is more than likely going to go with the other retailer. Retailers such as Amazon, also pose an issue based on their ability to offer lower prices than most of their competitors. Consider providing promotional offers that deliver real value to the target customer and well as engaging and empowerment.

Number Six: You do not understand Crowdsourcing

One of the keys to establishing a credible ecommerce presence that is unique to your business is through crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is leveraging consumer goodwill to drive various areas of the business. This could be in determining what new product to launch, what prices to charge, etc. The point is that when ecommerce managers listen to and involve consumer opinions as part of their growth strategy, opportunities to increase customer loyalty, sharing, and referrals are far greater. Customers know what they want and ecommerce managers wouldgreatly from paying closer attention to customer feedback,

Conclusion

While there are a number of issues which an ecommerce store will face, the main issues which need to be focused upon are the customer relationship, multi-channeling, and the automation of competitor analysis in order to maintain competitive prices and increase customer loyalty.