What Should eCommerce Startups Do in Times of Crisis

The past two years have been a challenging time for eCommerce startups. The industry is experiencing unprecedented competition, and many businesses are struggling to scale their customer acquisition efforts.

As a result, the average startup has much more difficulty turning a profit than just a few years ago. This trend is unlikely to change any time soon. So how does an entrepreneur respond when times are tough?

This is the question that many founders are facing today, and it’s a difficult one to answer. There is no magic formula for success in eCommerce, but there are specific strategies that can help you stay afloat during times of crisis.

In this post, we’ll explore some of the most effective ways to keep your business afloat during a tough time.

Start by figuring out your audience’s current needs.

To thrive in an eCommerce environment, you need to know your audience. This means more than just putting out a great product; it also means understanding what your customers want and how they expect to use it.

If you can figure this out, then you can tailor your marketing message in such a way that it resonates with them on an emotional level.

After that, do these things:

1. Adjust your forecast (and do it several times).

The first step is to adjust your forecast. The best way to do this is by creating a customer segmentation model, which will help you determine how many customers you should target and how much you’ll need to spend on each.

You can build segments based on demographics like age, income level, and even location, but if those aren’t available, consider using psychographics (like lifestyle interests or hobbies).

2. If you want to get sales, don’t try to sell

It’s a known psychological fact that people don’t want to be sold to and will always resist it. Instead, focus on helping people solve their problems by giving them solutions they didn’t even know they wanted.

You’ll find that people are much more willing to buy something when they feel like it’s a gift instead of a forced transaction.

3. Positioning: quality before price

This is a common mistake many businesses make. Instead of positioning their products as the best value for the price, they try to compete on price alone. The problem with this approach is that it doesn’t consider any other factors besides the price (like quality or reputation).

This can result in losing customers willing to pay more if they feel like they’re getting something better than what they see around them.

4. Launch sales-boosting offers

A sale-boosting offer is an incentive you give to customers to convince them to make a purchase. This can include discounts, gifts, or something along those lines. 

The key here is that these offers need to be carefully planned out and executed so that they don’t detract from the quality of your brand or create bad associations with it.

You could do more harm than good if you don’t plan or test the offer.

5. Fostering loyalty is more important than ever.

With so many brands competing for your customer’s attention, fostering loyalty is more important than ever. You can offer special discounts or gifts to customers who register for your mailing list or sign up for a rewards program.

This will help you build a database of people who are interested in what you offer and reward them for their loyalty with exclusive offers that they won’t find anywhere else.

6. Make the purchasing process as simple as possible.

To increase sales, you must make the purchasing process as simple as possible. This means you should:

• Simplify your checkout: If your checkout process is complicated or confusing, you will lose sales. Make sure it’s easy for customers to complete their orders and avoid any unnecessary steps that could cause them to abandon their cart before checking out.
• Offer credit terms: You’re likely to get more sales if you offer credit terms. This is because customers are less likely to abandon their cart if they know there’s no payment required until after the order is delivered.
• Avoid hidden shipping costs: If you have hidden shipping costs, customers will likely leave before they realize how much their order will cost. Instead, ensure your shipping costs are displayed on the product page so customers know what they’re getting into before placing an order.

7. Optimize your user experience

Your website user experience (UX) is one of the essential factors in conversion rate optimization. If your site isn’t easy for customers, they will likely leave without making a purchase.

Try these things:

• Optimize your page for usability: Make sure your ecommerce design website is easy for customers to use by optimizing it for usability. This means hiring an ecommerce web design company to design your website with clear calls to action and navigation, eliminating distractions and unnecessary pages, and ensuring the page load time is fast enough.
• Incorporate a (good) search engine: If you have an extensive product catalog, you should consider adding a search engine. A search engine allows customers to quickly find what they’re looking for—saving them time and helping you close more sales.
• Optimize your product cards: Product cards are a great way to showcase your products. You can optimize them by ensuring the images are clear and high-quality and display all the information customers need, like price, size, and color options.

8. Analyze changes in trends

Tracking trends and understanding how they affect your sales is essential to improving your business’s performance. You can do this in two ways:

• Google Trends: Google Trends is a free tool that allows you to track how often people search for specific terms and topics. You can use this information to see what people are searching for on Google and gain insight into the products or services they’re looking for.
• Your own internal search engine: Many ecommerce platforms have their own internal search engines that allow you to track how often customers are searching for specific terms. This can be a great way to discover what people are looking for, which will help you improve your product offerings.

Conclusion:

Having an eCommerce startup in times of crisis can be difficult, especially if you don’t have the right tools to help you. To stay afloat, it’s essential to have a solid marketing strategy in place that can help you reach new customers and keep existing ones coming back for more.