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Product Descriptions

Leveraging ChatGPT for Compelling Product Descriptions in Your Ecommerce Store

In the digital age, ecommerce stores are faced with the challenge of communicating product value in a way that resonates with potential buyers. One crucial element of this digital communication strategy involves crafting compelling product descriptions. With the rise of AI-powered tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, creating captivating and persuasive descriptions has never been easier. This article outlines how to use ChatGPT effectively to generate impactful product descriptions for your ecommerce store.

Understanding ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI, designed to generate human-like text based on given prompts. It’s been trained on vast amounts of data from the internet, allowing it to answer questions, write essays, summarize texts, and more. In the ecommerce sphere, it can be an invaluable tool for creating unique, engaging product descriptions.

Getting Started
To use ChatGPT for your ecommerce store, you first need access to the model. As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, this could be through OpenAI’s API, or potentially other services using the model. Next, the key to successful product description generation lies in crafting effective prompts. This step requires some understanding of your products, target audience, and SEO keywords.

Crafting Effective Prompts

Your prompts should provide enough detail to guide the AI but also leave room for it to generate unique content. For instance, if you’re selling handmade wooden tables, a good prompt might be: “Write a product description for a handcrafted, sustainably sourced oak dining table with a vintage finish, perfect for rustic-themed interiors.” This prompt contains key product details, the unique selling point (handcrafted and sustainably sourced), and potential customer preferences (rustic-themed interiors).

Incorporating SEO Keywords

When using ChatGPT, remember to include relevant SEO keywords in your prompts. These are words or phrases your potential customers might use when searching for products like yours. In the wooden table example, relevant keywords could be “handcrafted wooden table,” “sustainable furniture,” or “rustic dining table”. Including these in your prompt helps ensure the resulting description is SEO-optimized.

Review and Refine

While ChatGPT generates impressive human-like text, it’s crucial to review and refine the output. Ensure the descriptions accurately represent your products, check for consistency in brand voice, and tweak any awkward phrases. The AI is a tool to facilitate your work, not to replace the human touch completely.

Using ChatGPT at Scale

For larger ecommerce stores with a wide variety of products, ChatGPT can be a time-saving tool. You can generate descriptions for similar products by altering a few details in your prompts. For instance, if you sell different types of wooden furniture, you can replace “oak dining table” with “walnut coffee table” in the above prompt.

Exploring Advanced Techniques

For more experienced users, consider experimenting with control codes (like [emotional tone] or [style]) to give your descriptions a unique brand voice. You could instruct the AI to write in a “playful and fun tone” for a children’s toy store, or a “luxurious and sophisticated style” for a high-end jewelry boutique.

Capitalizing on User Reviews and Q&A

ChatGPT’s language model isn’t confined solely to writing product descriptions; it can also assist in compiling and generating responses to user reviews or frequently asked questions (FAQs). The input and output mechanism can be used to generate individualized, engaging responses. For example, you can provide a prompt like “Respond to a customer who loves the comfort of our product but wishes it came in more colors”, and ChatGPT can provide a suitable reply. The utility of the AI extends far beyond product descriptions, and understanding these additional applications can significantly enhance your customer engagement and brand reputation.

Customizing Descriptions for Different Platforms

Given the versatility of ChatGPT, it’s possible to customize product descriptions for different ecommerce platforms, whether that be Amazon, eBay, or your own branded online store. Each platform has a distinct audience demographic and product presentation style, and ChatGPT can adapt your product description to fit each context. For instance, “Describe a stylish, minimalist wristwatch suitable for a busy professional, in a style fitting for an eBay listing” could yield a distinct result from a prompt aimed at a high-end retail site.

ChatGPT and Multilingual Product Descriptions

If you’re running an international ecommerce store, you might be catering to customers from different linguistic backgrounds. ChatGPT supports multiple languages, which means it can help you create product descriptions in various languages, ensuring a broader reach and inclusivity. The prompts remain the same – you simply need to specify the desired output language.

ChatGPT for Email Marketing

ChatGPT’s prowess extends to the domain of email marketing, a critical component for many ecommerce stores. You can craft promotional emails or newsletters featuring your products, using prompts like “Write an email introducing our latest summer collection of sustainable wooden furniture to our loyal customers.” This opens up opportunities for cross-selling and upselling, ultimately contributing to an increase in sales.

Embracing the Future with ChatGPT

AI technologies are rapidly transforming the ecommerce landscape, and it’s essential for store owners to adapt and capitalize on these changes. ChatGPT is more than just a tool for generating compelling product descriptions – it can also serve as your assistant for customer service, marketing, and multilingual communication. By fully leveraging its potential, you can streamline operations, elevate customer engagement, and ultimately drive higher conversions for your ecommerce store.

Remember, it’s not about replacing the human touch but enhancing it. Combining the strength of AI with a deep understanding of your brand and audience can create an ecommerce experience that is as compelling as it is convenient. Welcome to the future of ecommerce, powered by ChatGPT.

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Dropshipping Basics Marketing Social Media

Best Tips for Running an eCommerce Ad

E-commerce businesses are excellent options for small business owners and start-up companies in today’s digital business environment. There are many innovative ways for businesses to effectively sell their products and services online and reach their target audience. Here are effective ways to promote your eCommerce store:

Reach Out To Clients On Social Media

Companies can promote straight to their target demographic via social media. Customers appreciate consistency online, so companies must provide high-quality content that reflects their brand and regularly promotes them as an asset to their target audience. Businesses should concentrate their efforts on the most popular social media sites, based on the platforms their clients use, and post relevant content at a convenient time.

Use PPC Marketing

Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing is an advertising method in which businesses pay marketing platforms when a user clicks on their advertisements. PPC marketing tactics may be used on search engines like Google and social networking sites like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Cost-per-impression and cost-per-click calculations are used to bill for ads that show across social media feeds and timelines.

You may tweak the campaign and try out fresh concepts as you go utilizing PPC advertising. Business owners must track the success of every ad and ensure that the yield on investment is worthwhile.

Improve Your Seo Strategy

Getting an SEO plan in place is a great approach to boost your eCommerce store’s online exposure, especially on search engines. Writing good content and incorporating keywords that your target audience frequently looks for into your articles will help you improve your SEO and increase traffic to your web page, leading to more sales.

Make A Blog.

Blogs could be an effective e-commerce marketing approach since they help drive traffic to your website, generate brand loyalty, and establish yourself as a reliable information resource for your customers. The type of material you produce is up to you and your audience, but it must attract people to visit your website again and again. Content could range from instructive videos to blog entries that address common problems among your target audience.

Master Your Content

Any listing is incomplete without content. Customers obtain their information from titles and descriptions; therefore, they must be clear and simple. When it comes to titles, try your best to put the most important and relevant information first. You may do the same thing with captions, but you also need to think about the layout and readability.

Encourage Product Reviews

Customers can get a feel of your products just by reading online reviews. Consumers rely on the opinions of past customers because they can’t personally inspect e-commerce products before buying. Reviews can persuade customers. Thus it’s critical to keep a favorable rating and a large number of high-quality ratings.

Host Giveaways

The easiest way to generate your brand’s attention and increase sales is to have a giveaway contest on social media. You can effectively attract customers to buy more from you by providing them with a chance to win free items.

Freebies and giveaways aim to establish a relationship with customers and encourage them to interact with you more.

Final Thoughts

Creating the ideal eCommerce advertising plan is a never-ending task. You’ll need to be quite familiar with your company’s target market and its purchasing habits. Even then, you’ll have to adapt, tweak, and update your marketing plan regularly to stay up with the ever-changing industry. However, if you follow these suggestions, the returns would be well worth your time and effort, as you will see your brand rewarded for your efforts.

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Product Descriptions

How to Promote your E-commerce Business

After you have built and set up your online store, the next step is to promote your products to your target audience. Traffic and conversion are two important things when it comes to e-commerce marketing.

You need to attract people to come to your website and provide them with an excellent shopping experience. Promoting your e-commerce business includes building brand awareness, spreading your message, increasing sales, and building brand loyalty.

In online business, there is no, “build it and they will come” scenario. Let’s look at the best tactics that successful online entrepreneurs use to sell their products effectively.

1. Upsell and Cross-sell your Products

When done effectively, upselling and cross-selling can help you acquire new customers. In this approach, you are giving options to your customers by comparing price points and additional value.

For example, if you are selling handbags, you will emphasize their differences from each other. Which one has a unique feature? Do they differ in leather material? Are there some handmade components, etc.?

In cross-selling, you are upgrading the product with additional accessories. For example, if you’re selling cell phones, you may offer earphones or phone cases at an additional cost.

2. Focus on Site Speed

Imagine going to a physical store and no staff is there to assist your inquiry. Surely, you will leave with disappointment. The same happens online. When people visit your store and it takes years for your product page to load, they will likely leave your site and find another store – your competitors.

Poor site performance creates unhappy customers. When a customer clicks through your store, and ends up waiting for the products and information to appear, you will lose the potential sale.

Plus, site speed impacts SEO. Google doesn’t like slow websites. This will lead your online shop to drop in desktop and mobile ranking. It will get buried deep in search pages and people won’t know that your business exists.

3. Social media

We use social media not just to communicate but also to look for products and services. In today’s world, establishing an online presence in social media networks is a must.

In an e-commerce business, you can display your ads and content on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok. Show off your products with good imagery and drive attention to your store.

Paid Ads

Paid Ads allow you to place advertisements in front of your target audience. Be careful in ad spending though. Start small and test different ad campaigns. Utilize photos and videos and adjust your tactics based on how well it performs and what results you get.

Organic

Organic is about social media activity that does not involve any paid promotion. Build an online following and drive engagements by interacting with your audience. Run contests and giveaways, optimize your social media profiles, and use hashtags strategically.

4. Use Videos

Videos can be more time-consuming to make than posting images and texts. But if you really want to boost your online presence and leverage your social media, videos are extremely important.

Short and engaging visual content converts better than static images. Share a demo of your product by highlighting its features, how to use it, and what value it gives to your customers.

5. Tap into Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is one of the social media tactics that can garner attention and bring more sales. In this strategy, you connect with an influencer (celebrity, model, community) to promote or recommend your product to their audience.

These influencers have a huge following and can influence the audience’s purchasing behaviour. Make sure that you work with the right influencer and your brand aligns with their values. If you are selling cosmetics, tap beauty influencers and not food enthusiasts. Reach out to them and make a good deal – either paying them per Ad or offering a commission for every sale.

6. Building an email list

Most online entrepreneurs forget the value of email marketing. It’s very cost-effective and holds a specific value. Create email marketing campaigns for your existing customers and prospective buyers. Send a “welcome” or “thank you” email when a customer makes a purchase. Solicit feedback from your web visitors who doesn’t make a purchase and ask them how can you improve their experience.

Send regular newsletters to your subscribers and keep them updated with your latest products, promos, product tips, or giveaways. Build a drip campaign that is segmented according to your buyer’s interest and purchasing behaviour. By sending emails, you are building trust and making your customers know that you care for them.

7. Blog Posts

If you are managing an online furniture store, writing blog posts about “how to decorate your living room” can attract web visitors who are planning to improve their homes. Articles about your products make you more credible, making the visitors more engaged. Write unique blogs and target keywords in your niche. Blogs are great for SEO and they will help your website to get found in online searches.

Conclusion

Selling online without a marketing plan put into place is a recipe for failure. In this competitive online world, you must develop strategies to reach your audience and build a customer base. Stay consistent, be patient, and learn how to test and tweak marketing campaigns.

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Dropshipping Basics Marketing Social Media

Influencer marketing work for e-commerce: How it Works

Have you ever seen celebrities or famous personalities promoting a product to their audience? That is called influencer marketing. Just like a TV commercial that uses actors/actresses to advertise a product, influencer marketing makes use of public figures (who have a huge following) to promote products on social media.

Social proof and social approval matter. In e-commerce marketing, bear in mind that people buy from people they know and trust. When your target customer sees someone who he follows patronize your products, he will likely do the same. His purchasing decision gets influenced by a more recognizable person. 

This is why most e-commerce store owners use the power of influencer marketing. By reaching out to celebrities, public figures, models, and industry leaders, you are building brand awareness and boosting sales.

What is a social media influencer?

An influencer is a person who has established a reputation and credibility ins a specific industry. They use social media platforms to spread their message and influence their audience. Influencers can be Youtube vloggers, podcasters, Facebook personalities, or Instagram famous.

Influencers make their names known by regularly posting content and sharing their knowledge and expertise about a certain topic. For example, a beauty influencer talks about makeup, skincare tips, beauty products, etc.

Level of Influencers

There are different levels of influencers and it is based on how huge are their following. 

  • Mega-influencers

These people are already famous before they take on their social media networks. Some of them are television stars, musicians, sportspeople, chefs, and movie stars. They have more than 1 million followers on their social media platforms. 

Since you are just a small to medium-sized brand, it is not ideal to reach out to mega-influencers unless you have a million-dollar to pay per post. Major brands like Coca-cola, Nike, and Adidas use mega-influencers.

  • Macro- influencers

Macro-influencers have between 50,000 – 1 million followers. They are very good at raising awareness and educating people in their chosen niche. They are either small celebrities, photographers, models, online experts, or content creators who worked hard to gain a wider audience.

Before reaching out to macro-influencers, find out the quality of their followers as some are bots and can be easily purchased. 

  • Micro-influencers

These are ordinary people who become known because of their interesting vibe and the knowledge they share about a specific niche. Some examples include fitness enthusiasts, teachers, yoga instructors, and just normal persons. 

Although they have followers ranging from 1,000  to 40,000, average people can trust them the most. This is because they can build relationships and interactions with the micro-influencers. 

Micro-influencers are the popular choice among e-commerce business owners since the pay-per-promotion is manageable. Depending on the agreement, micro-influencers can demand a fixed price or a % commission for each sale.

How to Work with Influencers

Don’t make rush decisions when finding an influencer for your brand. An ideal influencer should be aligned with your brand’s mission and target market. For example, if you are selling fitness products, you would want to connect with fitness trainers. 

Don’t be pushy and obvious

Not because you’re using influencers, the majority of the audience will make a purchase. It is not about posting content with “Buy this now” or “check them out” captions. 

Instead, create content that delivers value to the audience. What is your product all about? What are the benefits that it gives? What problem does it solve?

Create content that entertains

Create meaningful content that entertains and educates your customers. A good way to do this is through storytelling. Relate to your audiences’ pain points and problems and share how your product can solve them. You can also utilize product reviews and testimonials to draw attention and trust. 

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Dropshipping Basics Marketing

Best E-commerce Niches in 2022

Not everyone who started an online store succeeded. Without enough research and effective ways of selling the products, failure is inevitable. This is why it’s important to study the market and find out what the consumers are likely to buy.

Is this the right time to sell fashion items despite the Covid-19 restrictions? Is jewelry a perfect product to market in today’s world where many are unemployed and saving funds?

Every product is a good product when you market it at the right time. You need to be flexible in your chosen niche. The niche should not only interest you but also your target customers.

Don’t niche down too much because you can miss a ton of opportunities to make sales. Select a niche that you can market throughout the year, not seasonal products. 

Here are the best niches to keep an eye on this 2022.

1. Natural Beauty Products

With a lot of cosmetic options on the internet, more and more people are becoming conscious of the products they buy. Consumers don’t just buy impulsively but also research the products they apply to their bodies. 

These informed buyers prefer toxin-free products rather than chemical-based products which can compromise their health. People always want to look beautiful and young-looking. Therefore, beauty products are a stable and promising niche. 

Makeup, haircare, skincare, and other beauty products amount to $483 billion of global sales in 2020 and are projected to grow in the coming years.

2. Home Gym Equipment

In the health and fitness industry, gym equipment is becoming more popular. People want to keep themselves in good shape and stay healthy. Gym and workout equipment help everyone to get fit and healthy. With the Covid-19 pandemic, people can’t go outside to go to the gym. Instead, they shop online to keep up with their workout and daily routine.

Since the Covid hit, home gym equipment is on an upward trajectory. You can start selling gym sets for beginners, home gym products, and add protein powder, weight loss products, and other supplements. 

3. Kitchen Appliances

Household items may seem generic but you can pick a highly marketable niche. People (especially women) love and enjoy cooking at home. This is why kitchen items are always on the top searches online.

From vegetable cutters, hanger hooks, bag sealers, and utensils organizers, to portable trash bins and towel holders – you name it. People are interested to buy these essential items to make a convenient kitchen and dining experience.

4. Pet Products

A lot of pet owners love their furry friends. In the US, about 90.5 million people own a pet. This means that there is a great existing market for pet products. Though general pet products such as dog bowls, treats, and toys are performing well, you can add new products to make pet owners shop more.

You can add cat toothbrushes, dog beds, blankets, and more. The pet care industry is booming and the number of pet owners shopping on the internet is increasing. 

5. Print on Demand (P.O.D.)

Personalized products are on the rise. Print on Demand (POD) is a low-risk business model. You don’t need to work with suppliers because you are creating your own product. There’s also no need to invest in inventory because you only print the products after the orders are placed.

Man Printing Image On T-Shirt In Workshop

If you are good at creating unique designs and marketing, you can attract a huge market and make your business thrive. Carefully research your target market and create an irresistible offer to your customers. POD is not limited to just t-shirts. From towels, mugs, hoodies to tote bags, and face masks, there’s a lot of room for creativity. Research the trend, identify your market and unleash your design skills. 

Conclusion

If the niche you pick is not included in the list above, that is okay. There are many e-commerce niches to explore in the market and you have to find the one which you are most comfortable selling. Don’t sell products that you are not interested in. Choose a niche that is aligned with your passion and goals.  

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Dropshipping Basics Marketing

Dropshipping Pricing Strategy: How to Price Smarter

If you are a dropshipper or online seller, one of the common problems you may have is pricing. Perhaps, you may be asking, “What price should I put on my products?” or “Am I overpricing or underpricing my products?”

Your price can determine the success and failure of your business. Depending on the products you are selling, you should have a flexible pricing strategy. Your approach can vary as it involves testing what works better and what’s not. 

Your pricing strategy should be aligned with your customer’s purchasing behavior and your desired profit margin. In this blog post, let us look at the best strategies on how to price your products correctly so that you can achieve optimum success.

1. Fixed Dollar Markup vs Fixed Percentage Markup

The first step is to determine the average costs of your products. Assuming that your products cost around $12, adding a 15% percentage markup, that would be $1.8 per product. 

On the other side, if you are using a fixed dollar markup of $3 or $5 per item, you are earning more profit. This pricing strategy is ideal if you are selling low-cost products.

2. Tiered Markup on Cost

This approach uses a combination of markups of both lower and higher-priced products. The idea is to have an edge over your competitors particularly if you have similar products.

Most sellers use a set tier markup to save time but it’s better to have varied pricing.

For example, both of you are selling computers and accessories.

Let’s assume the computer costs $600 and the accessories cost $250.

Your competitor used a set tier of 30% markup. 

$600 (30%) = $780   Profit: $180

$250 (30%) = $325   Profit: $75

You use a tiered markup where you put 25% markup on a computer and 40% markup on accessories. 

$600 (25%) = $750   Profit: $150

$250 (45%) = $362   Profit: $112

This simple change can significantly affect your sales. When a customer looking for a computer, visits different stores and compares prices, he will likely purchase from your store because you have a lesser markup. And even if he has to spend slightly higher on accessories, the customer is still happy because he gets the computer at a cheaper price than other stores.

The idea is to add a lower markup on higher products and a higher markup on lower products. These price levels attract customers to the shopping cart and make a purchase.

3. MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price)

If you want to avoid price wars, setting your price based on MSRP is an ideal choice. This allows you to be competitive and still maintain a decent profit. The main selling point here is the discount provided by the manufacturer. If the MSRP is $100 and you have a 15% discount, it will not be very difficult for you to sell. You are still making a profit while ensuring that consumers are paying the price they expect. 

4. Psychological Pricing

Perhaps, you have seen a $9.99 price shown in convenience stores instead of $10. This cent difference plays a trick to make customers believe that they’re getting a lower price. This pricing method is known as “odd-pricing” where you use cents with 5,7, or 9 ending values. Rather than selling your product at $10, you can price it at $9.99, $9.97, or $9.95. You can see this approach in most e-commerce stores. The few cents difference can give you an edge over the competition.

5. Discount pricing

It is a pricing method where you price your products high and use discounts to attract buyers, making it seem that they are getting the best deal. For example, you mark-up a product at 50% and offer a special coupon or discount sale at 25%, you are still getting a 25% profit. 

When offering discounts, make sure that you start with higher prices so that you still have a wiggle room to be flexible with your prices. If you start at the lowest price you can sell it, then you will not get enough profit if you sell it at a discounted price.

6. Shipping Markup vs Price Markup

Since you need to sell a product at a competitive price, you are taking into consideration of your competitor’s prices as well. Store owners don’t want to overprice their products as it can turn the customers away. With this, sellers lower the cost of the product and add a hidden charge on shipping costs.

Others offer a free shipping promotion by pricing the products high enough to also cover the shipping costs. Both are good methods but you need to study the market and customer behavior. Are they preferring lower pricing or want to save shipping costs? Conduct a survey and base your pricing strategy on the results.

Wrapping Up

There is no best pricing strategy. Different products have their most appropriate pricing methods. To be successful, you need to constantly study your competitors and your target audience. Don’t be afraid to change your price approach. Sometimes it needs a few tweaks to find the right price that will attract your customers to click the add to cart button. 

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Dropshipping Basics Marketing Social Media

How to Improve Customer Service in your E-commerce Store

E-commerce is not just about selling a product to a customer. It’s also about providing assistance to your customers in their purchasing decisions and resolving any issues and concerns. 

Since e-commerce is not a face-to-face interaction between a customer, you need to develop a system that provides them with a seamless shopping experience. Customer service directly impacts brand loyalty. If you are not paying attention and properly engaging with your customers, you can lose potential sales and build a bad reputation. 

Here are some effective ways to ensure superior customer service.

1. Get Organized 

If you are just handling your online business alone, chances are you’ll get bombarded with a lot of tasks and inquiries. Organize the buyer’s journey and the processing of orders. 

If you have a dedicated team, equip them with tools that will help them handle customer service efficiently. Communication and collaboration are important to solve customers’ requests and purchases.

2. Offer Live Chat Support

A typical website has a contact form but that can be boring. Instead, offer a more interactive option which is a live chat or a toll-free number to call. Live chat gives you a ton of advantages from proactive selling, answering inquiries, up to post-sales support. Create pre-written transcripts to handle common questions and timely responses. 

3. Utilize FAQs

It can be tiring and time-consuming to answer the same question again and again. This is why it’s recommended to have an FAQ section on your e-commerce website. Put the frequently asked questions and the corresponding replies in them. 

Through this, your customers can just hover to your webpage and get the information they need. This keeps them informed about your products and policies; helping them find quick answers and stay on your website longer.

4. Offer Phone Support

Offering messaging options to your customers enhances a shopping experience. While some can leave a message on the contact form, others prefer text messaging especially when they are shopping through their mobile phones. 

You can send them a response to their order confirmation or requests via SMS. This makes customer service fast and convenient. You can easily connect with them about the product details they need, answer urgent questions, solve complaints, and increase shopping cart conversion. 

5. Social Media Messaging

Social media enables your customers to get in touch with you without going to your website. Integrate social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter into your online store. Establish a strong social media presence and use these platforms to boost brand awareness and enhance customer support. 

Social media can highlight your brand and reach a broader audience. It’s a great channel to start conversations and share customer reviews.

Final Thoughts

Customer service is a vital part of your e-commerce business. In the competitive e-commerce landscape, managing customers’ feedback and expectation is a deciding factor for success. Invest in tools and systems to improve your customers’ shopping experience. This will help your business retain and acquire more customers, and build long-term loyalty.  

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Dropshipping Basics Marketing Social Media

How to Boost Brand Loyalty for your Dropshipping Business

With growing competition in the e-commerce space, businesses need to focus on building customer loyalty. The cost of retaining a customer is lower than customer acquisition. This means that remarketing to your current and existing customers costs lower advertising spend than creating new Ads for potential customers.

Are your customers coming back to your store or are they just happy with their one-time purchase?

What is Customer Loyalty?

Customer loyalty means that your customers are willing to engage with your business and repeatedly purchase your products. These returning customers do not easily switch to your competitors and choose your business’ offerings based on certain positive factors.

How do you make your customers not switch from site to site and stick to your store? 

By knowing how to create long-lasting relationships and implementing the right client retention approach, you can create lifetime value and generate more sales from your current customers. 

1. Improve your customer experience

The way you treat your customers has a huge impact on your business. Customers who are treated poorly will likely leave your store and jump to your competitors. Customer service matters. Your business should invest in customer service to enhance customers’ experiences online. 

Show patience, clear communication, and empathy to your customers. Pay attention to their inquiries and guide them through the buying journey. The last thing you want is to give them a bad experience. The negative encounter can be easily spread to a wider audience and can ruin your business reputation. 

2. Offer multiple channels for communication

Customers have different preferences regarding communication channels. You need to adapt methods to reach your customers better. The easier for your customers to communicate with you, the better brand experience they’ll get. 

The popular communication channels that e-commerce stores should utilise are email, social media, and phone. Customers who don’t spend much time on social media can be reached through email inboxes while social media users can be reached on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. 

Messaging apps like Webchat offer chatbot feature to provide helpful resources to help answer customers’ frequently asked questions. A phone call option is also a good way to reach customers directly whenever they feel stuck with automated prompts. 

3. Give exclusive perks and offers

To encourage repeat purchases, you need to make your customers excited about your brand. Offer customers with discount codes, free shipping vouchers, and other exciting perks. This encourages target customers to consider shopping in your store because of the value you provide.

However, don’t offer discounts often as this can hurt your branding. You want your customers to constantly check your products and get excited with your latest offerings. 

4. Develop a customer loyalty program

One of the best ways to encourage your new customers to make their next purchase is to reward them with incentives. You can kickstart a customer loyalty program and offer interesting perks and irresistible gifts to your customers. 

Many brands implement a point-system customer loyalty program where a customer earns points for every purchase they make. Then, they can use the accumulated points as credit for their next purchase or get an exclusive item as a reward when the target points are met. 

5. Add more Payment Options

One reason why customer abandons their carts is due to your store not offering quick payment options. Add multiple payment methods to your Shopify store to accommodate customers’ different payment preferences. Allowing customers to conveniently purchase your products electronically will make them happy. 

Putting limited and complicated payment options can be annoying to the customers as they have to sign up to a new payment platform and enter into a tiring process.

Wrapping Up 

According to e-commerce studies, a repeat customer is 9 times more likely to convert than a first-time customer. This is why businesses should exert effort in customer retention. A 5-10% increase in customer retention can boost profits by 25-30%. With a proper remarketing strategy and customer loyalty program, you can double and triple your sales and become a successful online entrepreneur. 

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Dropshipping Basics Marketing Product Research

How Many Products Should you have to Start a Dropshipping Store?

“I want to start dropshipping but I have no idea how many products I need to put in my store”. That is the common question that people are asking. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to build a dropshipping store, you probably asked the same question. 

Dropshipping is a business model which does not require you to have huge initial capital. This retail fulfillment method uses third-party suppliers to ship the products directly to your customers, without the need for you to stock inventory.

Start with 5-20 Items.

Even though you don’t need to spend much on operating costs, it is better to start slowly. Avoid being an aggressive seller who wants to sell every trending product. You can start with 5-20 items and focus on having a niche store. Selling too many items without a “focus niche” is a bad idea because you will have a broad audience. In dropshipping, it is vital to have a targeted audience.

Indeed, you don’t need any prior experience to start a dropshipping business but it is highly important to learn the basics. What products are you interested in selling? Who is your target audience? Are you passionate and knowledgeable about these products or are you selling them just because they are trendy?

Dropshipping is Easy to Setup and Scalable.

The statement above is true but without a proper marketing strategy, you won’t get any success. Start with a few items and test your products. Pick a niche that you can confidently sell. 

For example, if you love cooking, you can sell kitchen items and accessories. If you love technology, you can sell gadgets like earphones, electronic items, and other tools. If you are a fitness guy, try dropshipping yoga and gym equipment or health products. 

Of course, you can sell other items but selling products that you are knowledgeable of gives you an advantage. 

Start little, then expand.

The problem with selling too many products at the start is you won’t know what to focus on. You will have to deal with multiple suppliers and go crazy with marketing your products. 

Instead of bombarding yourself with many product categories, focus on your target niche. Don’t worry about other potential products to sell. You can always add them. The most important thing after setting up your store is to build credibility and customer reviews.

Once you got a few sales and good reviews, then you can start adding new products. When adding products, try to make them relevant or complementary to your existing products as much as possible. For example, if you have good sales on lipsticks and cosmetics, you can add fashion jewelry, bags, hairdryers, and other beauty products.

Now, if you want to add yoga mats, leggings, and fitness items, put that under a new product category. 2-3 product categories are good. Adding a ton of product niches will make your store a general niche store which can negatively affect your marketing strategy, advertising budget, and business operation.

Wrapping Up

In every business venture, it is a must to test the waters first. You don’t want to jump in there, build a store, and put a lot of products without an idea of what the market is. If you want to be successful in dropshipping, learn from the experts, study your competitors, do a ton of research, and start slow. Try selling a few products and grow from there. 

Now that you know how many items you need to start your dropshipping store, it is time for you to learn about dropshipping mistakes and advertising tips. These are important so you know what pitfalls to avoid and absorb marketing tactics to increase sales.

Here are some helpful resources:

Top 10 Dropshipping Mistakes

Best E-commerce Advertising Tips to Drive More Sales

Start small and grow BIG! 

Categories
Dropshipping Basics Marketing

How to Use Email Marketing for your E-commerce Business

Email marketing is one of the most underrated online marketing methods. In e-commerce businesses, it is not sustainable enough to just rely on your website and social media.

Unlike social media in which you are presenting your message to a broad audience, email marketing offers you one-on-one communication with your audience. Email messaging, when done right, will help you retain existing customers, and generate new ones.

Important Tip:

Before crafting your email marketing campaign, you need to have a thorough understanding of what a sales funnel is. A sales funnel is your lead magnet where you capture customer info to build your email list.

It can be in a form of sign-ups, free gifts, discounts, contact form submission, abandoned carts, purchases, and more. 

TYPES OF EMAILS

  1. Welcome Emails

Keeping your online visitors engaged with your brand is vital for e-commerce success. Welcome emails provide the first impression that you care for your customers.

Once someone signs up or agrees to be part of your mailing list or newsletter, you should send out a welcome email thanking them for taking action. Make your first email memorable.

Instead of bombarding them about your products and services, try to keep the message more personalized. Focus on giving value so that the recipients will not lose interest. Offer a freebie, discount code, or some extra incentive whenever possible.

  1. Abandoned Cart Emails

Every abandoned cart is a potential loss in sales. If you don’t have an email strategy for it, you cannot expect to recover sales from your potential shoppers.

Shoot them an email within the first hour of cart abandonment. Set up a campaign trigger that re-engages your shoppers who do not complete the checkout. Time is the essence here. The slower you send the email, the lesser chance for lead recovery. 

You can offer free shipping, discount codes, or any promotional offer in the email. Depending on the number of clicks and results, you can determine the reason for cart abandonment. This data will help you strategize better and create offers more aligned to your customer’s purchasing behavior. 

  1. Post-Purchase Emails

Marketing does not stop after a customer makes a purchase. The goal is to make them repeat buyers. With this, you craft a post-purchase email thanking them for the products they bought. 

Saying “thank you for your purchase” can increase your customer’s trust. By nurturing your new customers, you are giving them lifetime value. Acquiring new customers is less expensive than retaining existing customers. Never forget to thank your customers for every made purchase. 

  1. Engagement Emails

Engagement emails are important to keep in touch with your customers. The idea is to make customers love your brand without being too pushy. 

You can also send email updates about your new product offerings or a link to a blog post. This will help build traffic to your website and re-engage your customers with your content and products.

  1. Promotional Emails

This is a type of email where you grab the customer’s attention by announcing new products, events, or special sales. According to statistics, sending “price decrease” leads to a higher click-to-conversion rate when doing promotional emails.

Send out emails for new products, sales, discounts, and holiday promotions. Spread the word to all your customers and let them know about your promotions and offers.