Are you struggling to get your ecommerce business up and running? Or maybe you’re considering getting into ecom but you’re not sure if it’s right for you. Well, before you throw in the towel, let me direct you to a neat little statistic. In 2017, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars and by 2021 those figures are expected to more than DOUBLE (Statista).

bar graph showing ecommerce increase from 2014-2021

This is only the beginning and the trend is only going to grow and grow over the next twenty years. Now is the time to get into ecommerce. This is the new gold rush and there’s plenty to go around.

Here are three tips to get you going for 2019.

1. Spend time on product presentation

nike roshe one mens shoe - an ecommerce example of good imagery

They say an image is worth a thousand words but not all images are equal. It’s extremely important to display your products with high resolution imagery. Lots of images of every angle with good lighting and no distractions. There are so many good tutorials around to help you achieve this.

But if they say an image is worth a thousand words, then how many words is 25 frames per second? A video is far better than an image and will increase sales dramatically. You no longer have to hire an expensive studio to shoot professional looking commercials. There are literally thousands of qualified people ready to shoot an ad for you, relatively cheaply at the click of a mouse.

For those with one foot in the future, there are now interactive ways to showcase your products such as 3D imaging and with virtual reality.

2. Create a personal ecommerce experience for your customers

While ecommerce stores are pioneering and breaking new ground every year, there’s one aspect of the online shopping experience that is difficult to compete with. The traditional brick and mortar store. I’m talking about customer service from an in-store assistant.

While technologies are developing and helping to close the distance by making online shopping a more interactive experience (see the third tip), there are other ways we can offer a little personalization.

In the US, an adult is 90% more likely to shop from a company offering a more personalized experience (Statista).

Apps and plug-ins can easily be added to your ecommerce store to welcome back visitors or to suggest products to customers who have bought similar items in the past. These all boost credibility and create a great experience for shoppers which in turn, leads to more sales.

3. Chatbots

Chatbots are gaining traction and it’s no wonder as they are revolutionizing the online customer experience which ultimately results in an upturn in sales.

There are so many uses for the Chatbot, each providing benefits that it’s only a matter of time before there’s a Chatbot on every store online. Until then, there’s a huge opportunity to get in front of this and steal an advantage on your competitors.

Here’s some things you can do with a Chatbot:

  • Direct people from a Facebook ad directly to a Chatbot, instead of a landing page. Your bot can then guide them through a process and immediately capture their personal details and even their picture.
  • Offer vouchers and discounts inside with the bot to incentivize sales.
  • Surveys. Learn more about your customers and improve your level of service.
  • Increase ROI. Once you’ve learned the customer variables, you can customize their shopping experience by showing them relevant offers that are more likelier to lead to a sale.
  • Purchase suggestion and upselling.
  • Cart abandonment recovery. Consumers abandon their cart around 70% of the time and reminders sent by messenger recover up to 20% of those back.

Here at ReyDesign, we help people startup ecommerce projects from start to finish.