When we’re consulting our merchants, we provided a lot of insights into marketing strategies, product pricing, SEO…etc. However, the time we spent the most on researching is – competitor analysis.
Whatever industry you’re in, developing a competitor analysis is a top priority for all business owners. By researching your competitors, you get insights on their strengths and weaknesses, which could help you overtake the competition in online shopping.
Did you emphasize on why should visitors purchase from you?
Shoppers these days are savvy, and people are widely using price comparison sites for their online shopping to save money; also, reviews have become an important factor for people to make decisions. Business owners have to think about their unique value proposition, and what is their strength to draw customer interest and attention.
Deliver clear messages to your shoppers, and grab their attention in the beginning
A visitor could decide if your website is worth browsing in 3 seconds, if you fail to catch the visitor’s attention right in the beginning, then you have lost half of the game. Showcase your advantages in visible areas on your homepage. Of course, the website also needs to establish from the beginning that you have a high-quality or service.
Especially if your an online select shop, to be honest, if your shop does not carry exclusive products that visitors can only purchase from you, it’s going to be hard to stand out from the crowd. They only way is to offer additional services that people can’t find from other merchants, such as free delivery, or more.
Often times, promotions and discounts are the best strategies to arouse people’s interest in your shop.
Take J.Crew’s seasonal sales for reference, the promotion message was loud, clear, and appealing.
These promotional messages can be categorized into two groups:
- Seasonal and Holiday Sales: Clothing brands can capitalize on the change of seasons and promote the latest style, and put off-season clothes on sale. Likewise, other retail sectors can adopt discount strategies for driving traffic and sales in holiday seasons.
- Discounts: Providing discounts irregularly is also a great way to boost sales, merchants can try free delivery, buy one get one free, and other discount types to test the water, and review which method works best for your shop.
Give solid reasons on why your visitors should buy from you
Sometimes people don’t buy the product you create, they buy the stories you tell. Here are 3 actionable strategies you take away and apply to your online shop.
1. Appealing product photos
Shopping is a highly visual activity, over 75% of e-Commerce shoppers say product pictures are very influential when they’re deciding whether they want to buy a product online. In addition, shoppers say that the ability to what they are buying enables them to make better purchasing decisions.
2. Copy that could actually reach your target audience
It’s important to speak in the same language as your target audience. Build rich client profiles to encapsulate your client’s needs, behaviors, and ways they want to interact with you.
3. Call to actions
CTA buttons are essential for converting visitors that land on your website, and entice them to complete an action, from adding products to a cart to making purchases. Just as your website design and products give your website character, the words you choose for you CTA can give your site an edge.
Let’s recap
- Deliver clear messages to your shoppers, grab their attention in the beginning
- Give solid reasons on why your visitors should buy from you
Although these two steps seem easy, most of the online stores failed to deliver these values and limited themselves at the stage of describing products and self-promoting, but in reality, they are not communicating with the shoppers and not delivering the value that the audience is anticipating.
Take careful consideration into every step you take from product packaging, visuals, to copywriting. Create the brand ambiance and shopping experience your audience craves for. If done correctly, not only do you attract new customers but could easily retain the old, and make them think of you instantly.
Marketing Associate at SHOPLINE. A digital marketing nerd and a podcast fan. You can find her out in the woods once in a while but most of the times she’s glued to her laptop screen indoors.