Running a wildly successful eCommerce store.

eCommerce can be profitable if you have the right knowledge and digital tools. Here are some key factors to consider.

Susan: E-commerce is a massive opportunity for hundreds of thousands of Australian businesses. Australians spend more than 21 billion dollars online in 2017 and by 2020 it is predicted that will buy one in 10 products via digital websites and platforms. Major online sales events like Click Frenzy, Cyber Monday and Black Friday have been growing strongly adding to the momentum is the recent Australian launch of Amazon the world’s largest e-commerce site. So, the question is how do you get a slice of the action to start with. You need the right e-commerce platform. So, your online business can be adaptable and scalable.

As with many digital tools there are several platforms to choose from. Some are for free and paid options pairing over 500000 global businesses is Shopify making it one of the most known and most popular e-commerce platforms. One million customers spend over 46 billion dollars in Shopify virtual store fronts, every year. Big commerce is another powerhouse platform with zero transaction fees and a highly responsive design that competes directly with Shopify for a fully customizable and less technical solution that includes easy to use templates. Checkout Wix or Weebly that includes an all important abandoned card recovery feature.

Of course, running a successful online store takes a lot more than just putting up a site from a technology viewpoint. There are two key factors you need to research before deciding which way to go. Firstly load speed. Every second your online store takes to load on a P.C. or a mobile device can make or cost you money. The average load speed is three point three-nine seconds. Every second your store can load quicker can increase your conversions by 7 percent. Going slow online is a sure way to go out of business and secondly think mobile first mobile commerce is going 300 percent faster than overall e-commerce 82 percent of consumers use their mobile phones or tablets before making a purchase decision.

When evaluating your e-commerce platform you should check out its Google mobile user experience score its it scores better than the average of 85. You’re doing well. Finally, you need an Amazon strategy. Your brand may not be on Amazon but your customers are. Understand how your customers are interacting with Amazon. What are they looking at? What are they buying? Delve into the data to find out more. Doing so could be a game changer for your business. E-commerce is an exciting opportunity but as always, the best results will be enjoyed by the best prepared.