If you take a moment to think about how e-commerce has become such a big part of any business operation today, you will soon realize that a real revolution has taken place right before your eyes.
Perhaps more than any other single factor, smartphones have changed the face of the way the commercial world operates and yet still their widespread use is less than a decade old.
More people are choosing their phone as the method of choice for going online. The impact of digital sales for both products and services has seen the emphasis shift away from providers firmly into the hands of customers.
The end results of these changes are that consumer behavior now leads the way, and any business that wants to survive, let alone thrive, has to do all it can to keep one step ahead of the ever-evolving E-commerce environment.
Retail sea change
There has been a true sea change in the world of retail. Whereas the customer’s dollar has always been king, the difference today is that consumers are also dictating the ground rules for how and when they want to shop.
The advent of online sales effectively meant that store opening times no longer really mattered. When you can buy pretty much any item you like online from wherever you are at any time of day, the opening and closing hours of a physical store location become less and less important.
Therefore, whereas in the past a prime main street location may have been the make or break factor for a retail business, today a high ranking in a search engine result and an easy to navigate website can be far more essential.
Digital realities
Knowing how to direct traffic to your retail website is only the first stage of the battle to win custom.
With search engines such as Google now so important in terms of how potential customers find products,
using the right techniques to ensure visibility in rankings is not only good business sense, but it is also big business in itself.
However, no matter how much work you put into directing traffic to your site if a customer finds it too difficult to use they will simply take their money elsewhere.
Different channels
Having a retail website (best domains can be brought at domain brokerage companies like 8RV.com when you can get short four letter domains )that is easy to use in an intuitive way is essential for converting visits into sales. Even more than that, understanding your target market’s behavior is vital in order to target your online presence in the right way.
The massive uptake in use of mobile devices is a perfect case in point. Having a website design that is optimized for smaller screens is a must for any business serious about having a successful E-commerce operation.
Not only that, but the whole area of ‘mobile friendliness’ also plays an important role in achieving high rankings in Google searches, and there is even a simple online tool that you can use to check your site.
However, even the most effective online marketing needs to be used in conjunction with traditional marketing channels in order to gain a full 360-degree approach to the current commercial world.
Online offline
A strong link between your offline and online branding is needed, and a perfect example of how this can be done well is As Seen on TV.
They have adapted to online methods of retail in order to bring their newest and most popular products to customers at the best price. When you buy from them, you’re buying direct and, therefore, are guaranteed to get the genuine brand you want.
In essence, the company’s approach is a perfect mix of old and new marketing, using online, TV and physical channels together in one seamless package.
Future trends
Obviously, anyone who could accurately predict future consumer behavior would be the start-up billionaires of tomorrow, but trends that are more general can be ascertained quite easily and then be used to make a real difference to your business.
That’s essentially the secret to how the growth of E-commerce has changed the way products are marketed – it’s all about keeping up with how customers look for the things they want to buy and adapting your business accordingly.
With mobile devices certain to become even more fully featured and more popular than ever, the proportion of online sales that are made via them will definitely continue to increase.
That’s great news for businesses because it means true 24-hour trading around the clock and around the world. However, to be on with a chance of getting you fair share of sales you need to make sure your E-commerce marketing is up to date and doesn’t get left behind by competitors.
