From its creation to the loyalty of your customers, your online store is a real business! For this, it is essential to develop and implement the rules of marketing and communication specific to e-commerce. In this post, discover 10 essential tips to develop your online store, gain visibility and sales!

develop your online store

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1. Publish perfect product descriptions

On your online store, the product sheets are the communication tools that are directly visible to Internet users. They must be perfectly worked, correctly written, and sufficiently engaging to encourage the act of purchase.

To be effective, the description of each product you offer on your online store must be relevant, clear, and useful to your visitors. Without using an overly technical aspect to describe your products, you can perfectly write simple texts, but which contain enough arguments to convince your customers to buy the product.

The ideal way to publish impeccable product sheets is to respect the natural referencing rules imposed by Google’s algorithms. You can then call upon a https://tidd.ly/3DxK1Cf to write your descriptions. In any case, the main thing is to use a language that perfectly reflects the state of mind of your store, but also that of your customers.

2. Display pictures of your products

On a website in general and on an online store in particular, the visual is very important. Not only does it attract the attention of visitors to your site, but it also makes them want to stay there! Therefore, the photos, pictograms, and images you publish on your online store must be absolutely perfect. Choose photos that are attractive for your products, that make people want to buy, and that are professionally designed.

In order for the consumer to have all the information about your products, make sure that the details are clearly visible. For example, you can use a tool that allows visitors to view the product in 3D. Or, video presentations are also very appreciated by Internet users, provided that they are relevant enough to trigger the act of purchase.

The same goes for the rest of your store, such as the logo of your brand, all the images you will use in the newsletters sent to your customers, as well as the photos of your products published on social networks. Because relevant and good quality photos will enhance the credibility of your online store!

3. Categorize the products of your online store

Internet users who land on your online store are of 2 types: either they have searched for a specific product offered by your site from the Google search bar, or their search is more general. In the latter case, it is crucial that your website is perfectly categorized.

The categorization of your online store’s products is essential, as it makes it easier for Internet users to navigate. It is therefore necessary to make sure that the classification you propose is in a logic understandable by all! And for this, the only rule is to make it as simple as possible!

For example, if you have an online store that offers food products, the categorization can be done as follows: sweet, salty, or cookies, cakes, chocolates, etc. If it is, for example, a store that offers clothing, the categorization can be done on several levels. In this case, the first level will be to differentiate between men’s, women’s and children’s clothing. Then, the second level of categorization of your products will be based on the type of clothing: pants, T-shirts, dresses, underwear, etc.

Also, it is important that the Internet user can easily move from one category to another. Indeed, the navigation of your customers must be logical, but also fluid.

4. Develop a real communication plan

In order to develop your online store and get a real business, the choice of communication strategy plays an important role. First of all, it is essential to keep in mind that your goal is to make yourself known. And for that, you have to communicate with your potential customers, but also with your loyal customers. On the Internet, there are many communication channels that allow you to get in direct contact with Internet users.

For example, by developing your presence on other social networks, you considerably promote the development of your online store. It is therefore necessary to establish a visibility, traffic and sales plan in your marketing strategy. You can then broadcast on the most influential networks such as YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, or even Instagram and Tik Tok.

However, for your development strategy on social networks to be effective, it is imperative to maintain the regularity of your publications. Ideally, you should publish several news items per week, while maintaining a proximity with the Internet users who contact your customer service.

5. Collaborate with influential bloggers

Viral information is the secret to developing an online store! Especially if your e-commerce site is brand new, and you want to sell handmade products of your own design. Your goal is to gain visibility and therefore audience. It is then necessary to develop a good and loyal community, likely to relay their user experience.

For this, contact directly bloggers who can have an influence on the virality of your products. You can then create a solid partnership with these people who regularly communicate with their audience. Indirectly you will inevitably increase the traffic of your online store, and consequently your turnover.

To choose the influencers you want to collaborate with, take the time to analyze their audience. Study their environment, their communication methods, but also their interaction with their audience. All these elements are extremely important, because they can have a real impact on your brand image. Indeed, it is much more interesting for you to work with an influencer who naturally conveys the spirit of your brand!

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6. Run effective e-mail marketing campaigns

Among the effective customer acquisition channels, e-mail marketing campaigns rank first. The objective of this mode of communication is to persuade your loyal customers to engage with your online store. In other words, your goal is to draw their attention to the existence of your products, and more specifically to your online store. Why draw attention to your online store specifically? Simply because, regardless of the type of product you sell, if you want to keep your customers coming back, your customers have to be completely in tune with the spirit of your store!

First, you need to create a very targeted mailing list. To do this, you can use several tools: creating a lead generation campaign, integrating a newsletter registration form on your online store, or even organizing contests on social networks.

Then take care of your e-mail marketing methods. Indeed, make sure you make a distinction between relational e-mails and transactional campaigns. When the first ones allow you to answer a question asked by your customers on your store, the second ones are precise information on a registration confirmation, a welcome message, or the confirmation of an order made on your online store.

The e-mail marketing campaign, on the other hand, requires a good knowledge of your target audience. You need to make well-informed guesses by collecting information about their consumption habits, tastes, budget, etc. This information will be very useful for creating a new campaign. This information will be very useful when creating the design of your campaigns. As such, it is highly recommended to experiment with several e-mail marketing prototypes before launching to the public. This will allow you to adjust certain details in order to correctly deliver your advertising message.

7. Offer an perfect customer service

Attracting customers to your online store is great. To succeed in engaging Internet users until the finalization of their order, it is perfect. On the other hand, offering an irreproachable customer service is crucial, even vital!

Indeed, your customer’s journey continues beyond the validation of the payment of his order! If the customer wishes to contact the after-sales service, the response must be technically clear, simple and constructive. To do this, you must establish an organization beforehand. For example, you must foresee the conditions of return, the time limits of retractation, the conditions of refunding, or the conditions of guarantee of the products that you sell. It is also important to build a guideline for the commercial discourse of your customer service. Indeed, the customers’ requests are almost similar. It is therefore important that all the answers provided by your customer service are consistent.

8. Accompany customers throughout the purchasing process

The way to access your customer service should be explicitly available throughout the user journey. This means that at any time, customers browsing your online store should know how to contact you: by phone? By email? By virtual chat? In this way, they feel accompanied throughout their journey and will have more confidence to go through to the finalization of their order, that is to say, to the payment of their order.

9. Create a trustworthy relationship with a brand

Collaboration with another brand, or co-branding, is an effective development strategy for your online store. The principle is simple. You create a network of partners who can promote your products. This allows you to position yourself comfortably in your niche, but also to expand your marketing communication.

For example, if your online store sells products especially dedicated to sportsmen, in this case, create a solid collaboration with a fitness brand. Or, build a collaboration with an independent designer, in order to develop a capsule collection in your store. For example, this designer can offer 3 or 4 sweatshirt models of his signature. You can even take advantage of this collaboration to create a new unique product!

The idea of co-branding in your online store allows you to remain proactive. However, in order to implement this marketing strategy, a thorough study is essential. Indeed, if you collaborate with another brand, the latter must also find its interest in it! You must therefore have similar values, around the same culture, and sell products intended for customers with the same profile.

10. Work on your communication plan

For your online store to grow, you need to generate traffic. And this requires the establishment of a robust communication plan. First, think about how you want to communicate with your customers, in what tone, at what pace, using what types of graphics.

Next, establish a sales calendar. Regardless of the type of product you sell in your online store, respecting the seasonality of your customer’s behaviors allows you to better understand their buying act. Thus, plan, from the beginning of the year, specific sales for periods such as winter sales, summer sales, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, etc. Not to mention promotional days such as Black Friday, or French Days.

By planning your sales calendar, you can anticipate the newsletters you will send to your customers. You can also plan promotional offers that can build customer loyalty and attract new prospects. Because, when you publish on social networks the seasonal promotions that you do online, it is also an opportunity for Internet users to discover your store!

Why should your online store offer delivery tracking?

When an online store offers delivery tracking, it increases its reliability and credibility. Customers who have ordered on your website expect all promises to be kept: delivery times, transport conditions, return and refund conditions.

By offering a delivery tracking, you continue to accompany your customer until he receives his product. Moreover, it is also interesting to stay in contact with buyers, well beyond the act of purchase. For example, by sending a satisfaction survey email following the reception of the package, or a thank you email following the purchase made on your online store!

Bottom line

The development of an online store requires a solid marketing and communication strategy. With anticipation, clear information, and delivery tracking, you offer your customers real arguments to order from your e-commerce site! And, by offering them innovative products, either through their favorite influencer or by using co-branding, you considerably optimize the development of your online store!

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