How To
11 Ecommerce Shortcuts For Drinkpreneurs In 2018
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As we all know, the drinks industry has seen a complete turnaround in the last 10 years. Generic black coffee has been replaced with a non-dairy, almond milk vanilla lattes with extra foam, and a simple OJ has transformed into a cold-pressed beet and kale juice with ginger and ginseng extract. And emerging markets like China have opened up a whole new range of money-saving and business-boosting opportunities.
Now every drink has its own unique niche market, and that’s why ecommerce is so useful for drink entrepreneurs, as it allows you to reach your target audience and serve your customers exactly what they need.
But are you taking full advantage of everything the world of ecommerce has to offer, and what do customers really want when making their online purchases? Here are 11 brilliant ecommerce shortcuts you need to be taking advantage of right now:
1. Improve your SEO visibility
It goes without saying that in 2018 every brand needs an online presence if it is to be noticed and taken seriously by customers. But there’s more to it than simply having a webpage – it needs to be performing as well as it possibly can – because by ranking well on all the major search engines you can attract new interest and grow as a business too. Take time to update your original content and focus on your SEO and you’ll find those new customers come pouring in. Updating old content
2. Find shipping that works for you
If your business relies on sending physical products to customers (as it usually does with drinkpreneurs) your profit is, of course, linked to shipping costs. Companies like Amazon have raised customers expectations when it comes to tracking and delivery costs, so every ecommerce business needs to up their game, and offer better deals to customers.
Think about the best approach for you. Maybe you want to offer free delivery, but with exceptions (i.e. on international orders) or perhaps offering a flat-rate delivery charge to encourage customers to buy more (as they’ll be paying the same no matter the size of their delivery) would work best for you. Tweaking and changing these processes can make a big difference to profit margins, and allow you to offer the best possible solution for your customers.
3. Partnerships, co-marketing and sponsors
In the world of ecommerce, customers rely on word-of-mouth and recommendations to ensure they have made the correct purchasing decision, so hunting out an influencer to partner with and promote your brand can do wonders for your business.
In fact, a Bloglovin’ survey revealed that, 54% of female consumers purchased a product after seeing it being recommended by an influencer – proof that these partnerships can be a great way to get stuff moving fast and increase your visibility by reaching out to new customers through sponsors.
4. Smart tools and automation
Above all else, ecommerce businesses really need to take advantage of the many useful online business tools that will help your business to run more smoothly. Here are some key things you need to be aware of:
- Build an integrated inventory so you can keep track of your product and build up more knowledge about how to improve your business.
- Make your point of sale as easy to use as possible (customers hate having to jump through lots of hoops and will quickly be put off if they do). If possible make it a one-click shopping experience.
- Make the most of your marketing tools. Send trigger emails based on user behavior, encourage customer reviews and serve personalized content based on visitor behavior.
- Having trouble with web development or building your store? Did you know that you can actually buy readymade stores and cut down on some of the initial set up time? There are plenty of relevant ones for sale, so it’s worth checking out.
5. Get analyzing
Online businesses offer so much more than just a platform to sell your products. They offer amazing insight into what’s selling, what’s not, when customers are dropping out of purchases, most searched for items and when customers are buying. Regularly check-in with your data to see if there are tweaks or improvements you can make to the way your run things and tailor your marketing strategy around your findings.
Photo by Kaizen Nguyen on Unsplash.com
6. Dynamic pricing
A more specific area of analytics is dynamic pricing. With the growth of online price comparison websites, Black Friday deals and seasonal sales, customers are comfortable with the idea that online prices fluctuate – something that may be worth $100 one day, may well be $75 the next. Make the most of seasonal commerce online by adjusting your pricing accordingly – not only do customers expect it, but they relish the chance to grab a bargain too!
7. Happy customers help you sell
Customer reviews are shown to given customers confidence in their purchase and help narrow down their search, in fact 90% of customers say their buying decisions are directly influenced by reviews. Implement reviews and testimonials on your site and use them to to attract new customers and assure their buying decision.
8. Show off your bestsellers
In the world of ecommerce, customers are looking for honesty and products they can trust above anything else. Make your bestsellers a prominent point on your website and you’ll find more and more users flock to these tried and tested products.
9. Pay attention to social
Looking for content ideas for your drinkpreneur site, or ways to improve your customer service? Check out your social channels to find out what your customers really care about – and ask them what they want more of. Use this information to create the best content on the market for less.
10. Ditch email for chatbots
One of the main things your customers are looking for is an easy shopping experience and chatbots could be the answer. If a customer has queries a chatbot can answer questions live and assist their purchase. In a survey by Hubspot, 48% of customers said they would rather use live chat than any other means of contact.
Chatbots are also able to store information about your customers and can follower up purchases with personalised recommended buys increase sales for you and are actually useful for your customer too – what’s not to love?!
11. Be ready when your customers are
Convenience and ease is one of the main reasons we shop online and it is imperative that you are available when your customers. Find out when your site is at its most busy and drive your marketing messages and other customer communications then.
The world of ecommerce offers so much more than just another platform to sell your products. By taking advantage of the various tools and shortcuts the online world has to offer you can improve profit margins, optimise your business processes, increase your reach and visibility and greatly improve your customer experience. Just a few tiny tweaks is all take takes to optimise your beverage business and increase sales instantly – so what are you waiting for?
