What I love about e-commerce is that I've been working in e-commerce for more than 15 years (soon to be 20 even), both for brands, for distributors, and in firms. e-commerce consulting, as an E-merchant or even website developer with Shopify and Shopify Plus and yet I am far from having seen everything.
99 essential e-commerce tips
It is a field that changes regularly and brings technical innovations, uses, customer behaviors, ways of doing things, e-commerce tools and E-commerce CMS almost every day.
What would be your top e-commerce tips or things to know about e-commerce?
In short, even if the sector changes strongly and always evolves very quickly, each time I meet someone, I am often asked for e-commerce advice .
It's nice and it makes me very happy, I'm a talker both in writing, you can read all my articles on Pikka's e-commerce blog, and orally. Make an appointment and you will see that it is true.
Anyway, while chatting with a friend the other day, he said to me “By dint of giving advice, what would be your top e-commerce advice or things to know about e-commerce?”
List of the best E-commerce tips
And I thought it would make a very good article that I share with you below with my 99 tips or things to know about e-commerce .
Please note, these are just tips from my own experience in e-commerce. You have every right to disagree, feel free to use the comments to give your opinion or share your experience. If you are particularly interested in one of the points then do not hesitate to mention it in the comments and I will write a more detailed article on the subject.
Summary
To save you time, here are links to each "bundle" of E-commerce advice
1) E-commerce is not free
You will have to invest to hope to earn in return. This represents a risk of time or money or both. Don't go there if you are not ready to take that risk. nothing is guaranteed and it will not be free. On the other hand, it will be extremely formative.
2) You need to be an expert on your products
The real difference between one merchant and another is above all their product knowledge. You will find all the skills in the world for marketing and technology. For products, it is up to you, the merchant, to be the leader in your catalog. This is the key to your site.
3) E-commerce is expensive
The initial costs in e-commerce can be quite significant: cost of building the e-commerce site , marketing budget, stock, time spent, etc.
Underestimating all these costs and leaving with a budget of a few hundred euros at the start will slow you down and handicap you to develop. Try to find a starting budget of several thousand or tens of thousands of euros if possible. Don't worry, it's not essential but just easier. Otherwise, it will take you ten to a hundred times more effort to get started.
4) The life of an e-merchant is busy
You will run out of time. The days of an e-merchant are extremely busy and you will not see the time passing. Beware of family life, time-consuming activities such as e-commerce can cause you to lose your sense of priorities. set yours.
5) You have to like selling
An e-commerce site is there to sell. If you are not comfortable with the idea of making sales, margins, optimizing costs, then it may be complicated for you.
Selling is selling with a profit, the margin, it's capitalism, in the sense of using capital and in the sense of capitalizing, it's business. It does not mean becoming a caricature of the businessman ready for anything. It just means that if this point is bothering you then do something else.
6) Money is not your most important resource
Even if you start out self-financing, without a lot of budget, you will quickly realize that money is not your main problem. It is often a more or less important brake but your main problem is likely to be that of the organization. How to do everything you need in just eight to ten hours a day.
7) Creating an e-commerce site is the first step
Sometimes, one has the impression that the creation of the site is an end in itself. Rather, I see it as the starting point of a great adventure. The creation of your merchant site, especially if it is the first, must be as quick and simple as possible. In any case, this is our vision at Pikka
8) Browse your site as often as possible
This is the No. 1 mistake of beginners in E-commerce. Surfing on competitors' sites instead of surfing on your own site on desktop, mobile, with little network, on public transport, etc. You must be the most loyal visitor to your site and you must want to buy your products. Otherwise you will never convince anyone.
9) Optimize your costs
Be careful not to add web and e-commerce tools one after the other and let your cost structure go. E-commerce is a business of management and grocer. Controlling costs at all levels is essential to remain profitable all year round.
10) E-commerce is great
It's definitely the greatest adventure you can start from your couch without asking anyone's permission. E-commerce is egalitarian because it doesn't care about your diplomas or your social status. Anyone can get started and has a real chance of succeeding. That doesn't mean it's easy, just that it's possible.
11) Create a brand, not just a site
launch an e-commerce site called shoe.monsite which sells shoes and another. Transforming a site into a brand is, in my opinion, much more interesting. The brand makes it possible to charge more, attract customers and build loyalty. Do Branding and think “brand creation” every time you carry out a webmarketing action to take advantage of it.
12) Read e-commerce books
Even after more than 15 years of working in e-commerce, I still learn so much from the books published each year on e-commerce.
This is in my opinion the best value for money in terms of training and it will save you dozens of weeks in productivity in most cases.
13) Call on an E-commerce expert
If you don't know anything about E-commerce then try to contact an e-commerce expert and take an hour of consulting. Even at €200 an hour, and provided you prepare well for the meeting, you can benefit from decades of experience in a nutshell.
14) Measure, Measure, Measure
On the web we can measure everything, do not deprive yourself of it. Even if you don't use all the data today, you can build on it tomorrow. However, try as much as possible to build your e-commerce business on data from day one. The products on the homepage must be chosen with the data (Google Trends for example?)
15) Let go!
You are an entrepreneur. It's up to you to create your voice, your tone and your theme. You don't have to be serious, rigid and sad. The best example of this is “Thank you Handy“
16) Sell more
As often as possible, try to grab margin points right and left on your products by monitoring your competitors who have run out of stock or who have raised their prices.
17) E-commerce is accessible to everyone
No need to be part of an insider circle, to know the right people or to have gone to the right school. E-commerce is a vector of integration and openness. Make sales and no one will ask you for your diploma.
18) We read anything on the internet. Test
This article is the proof, I wrote it on my experience of more than 15 years in E-commerce. But I don't know everything. And some things in this article are wrong in your specific case. I am obliged to synthesize, to summarize, I have a limited time to write this long article. You can read everything and its opposite on the Internet, Don't take everything for granted, especially if it's too good to be true and test. Form your own opinion based on data.
19) Don't invest too much in stock
The stock is your best enemy: essential for a good story but a poison in high doses. You must solve the squaring of the circle permanently: How to deliver your customers as quickly as possible in maintenance the stock and the ruptures at a minimum. Clearly one of the most hardcore points in e-commerce.
20) Use good tools
There are thousands of tools to do anything and everything in E-commerce. Do not use a hammer to cut boards. Build up your own little library of favorite tools, don't hesitate to pay a little for a tool that saves you time or is really essential. If the tool is fundamental to your business, contact the developer and be sure to tell them that you love their tool. It would be silly for him to abandon development thinking that no one likes his tool. Do not laugh it has already happened to more than one e-merchant that I know.
21) Train yourself in as many things as possible
You will run out of time, but train yourself at least to understand the objectives, ins and outs of technical and marketing developments. No need to be a Tik Tok Ads expert. But if you know the main lines, you will make more precise, more qualitative briefs and the agencies and service providers will be more eager to work with you. In short, you will be a big winner.
22) Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
As you don't have time to do everything: delegate as many things as possible: to automated tools, to external people: shopify agencies , experts, marketing agencies, PR agency, e-commerce freelancers, handlers, logisticians…. The list of competent people in E-commerce in France is long. On the other hand, no one can direct the evolution of your site except you.
23) Make a Google business listing
Simple, fast and free. Why do without it? Collect your first customer reviews with your Google business listing and take the opportunity to post a few blog articles or photos that highlight you. You can consult our article " How to create your Google My Business listing "
24) Choose the right KPIs
A KPI, for key performance indicator, allows you to put a number on an important element for you: turnover, number of packages shipped, etc.
But depending on your activity, it can also be: the number of after-sales service requests, the number of late parcels, the return rate, the margin / order .. There are thousands of them. The most important thing is to choose the right ones and not to choose too many. We are talking about 10 indicators / E-commerce dashboard.
25) You can get rich with e-commerce
That's what's great about e-commerce. It is that even if it is not easy to become rich, it is possible. Many people have already seen their lives changed thanks to e-commerce. We can think of course in France of the Charle Brothers with Cdiscount, the founders of Rueducommerce, the founder of Vente Privée etc… The list is very long in the end! Internationally, the name of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon is obviously to be mentioned, he is indeed the richest man in the world.
26) The race for turnover is not always beneficial
Do you need more turnover or more margin? Not easy to answer this question. And yet, in my opinion, the race for turnover is lost in advance. Growing to buy better is Cdicount's strategy and despite the support of the Casino group, they are struggling to be profitable. Profitability is therefore to be created upstream, very early in the life of the e-commerce site to have growth based on solid fundamentals.
27) The technique is at the service of the customer, not the other way around
If you invest in technology (more servers, more software, more functionalities, etc.), this must be done with a single objective: to be at the service of the customer. If one of the features or investments does not go in this direction, then possibly re-prioritize it.
28) Merchandise
Merchandising is basically the equivalent of placements in in-store distribution. Your showcase (homepage) must be adapted to the season and to customer expectations. But each category page too! it's a "gondola head". It's up to you to put the right products at the top of the page and the less relevant ones on page 2 or 3. And if your e-commerce solution does not allow you to do this from the back office, then migrate to Shopify immediately.
29) Test payment methods
For a long time, the “CB payment / Paypal” couple was favored by e-merchants, but that is about to change. There are many other means of payment but also many service providers. No need to get stuck with banks with payment solutions worthy of the 80s. See before.
30) Create a calendar of events for the year as early as January
Commercial operations (Christmas, sales, Valentine's Day, etc.) are prepared in advance. Think about the month of January to create your commercial operation schedule with a maximum of one event per month if you are alone.
31) Your priority is to sell
You certainly want to do marketing and get a whole lot of information about your client, but don't forget that your No. 1 objective is to sell. Always allow your customer to buy as soon as possible.
32) Web marketing is life
Web marketing is bringing people to your site. It's all traffic acquisition. The more traffic you have, the more sales you will have. This is the basic concept of e-commerce. Then do web marketing.
33) Don't get your priorities wrong
I see many e-merchants spending a lot of time on their design, on the speed of their pages, on the position or the color of such a button… and thus losing a lot of money. You have to work on the Acquisition strategy first, then conversion and finally loyalty, not the other way around. So unless you have several thousand visitors a day, continue to work on acquiring new customers as much as possible.
34) Limit your technical costs
Technology is at the service of e-commerce, not the other way around. Having beautiful, brand new, shiny servers will please the little geek in you, but not your wallet. Invest in technology to automate flows, marketing or your information system.
35) Ship as soon as possible
Shipping your products as quickly as possible should be a leitmotiv for all merchants. I still hear a lot of people say "it's ok, I already deliver in 48 hours". The rise of quick commerce shows the opposite. Your customers want the product the day before yesterday and can't stand the wait. If you make them wait, they will always prefer another site that makes them wait less.
36) Recruit Help
Many tasks don't need your skills and you will quickly run out of time. Your time, which is one of your most precious resources, must be used wisely: defining the strategy, developing the activity, etc. So quickly recruit someone to help you pack and ship them.
37) Limit the number of different colors on your site
Stick to a limited color palette in your graphic charter and always use the same ones. This will create continuity and consistency that will reassure the customer in his navigation. Also think about the meaning and psychology of colors to choose the right ones.
38) Watch out for paterns
The world is beautiful and full of interesting and caring people (you dear reader for example) but unfortunately sometimes a client can turn out to be trying to scam you.
Usually the best way to respond and pay it back with a smile. On the other hand, pay attention to “patterns”, that is to say repetitive patterns. Do you have many customer returns in the same city? Dig, they may have given the word to find a flaw in your site and abuse a promo code, an abusive refund or other.
Don't be paranoid, but keep an eye out.
39) Create packs
The creation of packs is a big potential for turnover. Group two or more products together and give it a “the perfect starter kit” theme. “Love” pack, Valentine's Day etc… Everything is an excuse to make a pack of your products. With or without reduction. And put them forward and add a little marketing and you will have a nice increase in the average basket.
40) Reassure your customers
Assume that your customers are hyper anxious. So reassure them as much as possible: friendly faces on the site, reassuring images, reassurance messages, logos, punchlines, ratings, opinions, reliability... nothing is enough to show that you are there for them.
41) Make a business plan and forecast
It's an exercise that many merchants don't like, but it's essential in my opinion. Make revenue forecasts for N+1, traffic, sales, conversion and check your forecasts month after month and adapt.
After a few years you will know the metrics by heart you will be able to predict your turnover from year to year with real reliability. But at first it's extremely difficult to get started writing a business plan and putting in figures, I know that.
42) Don't Go International
*Unless you have two million euros to spend or you are ready to start from scratch or you have a virtual monopoly on the French market. The other European markets are not France and very very rare are the companies to have succeeded in Europe before having locked the French market to ensure a base
43) Google Analytics is your friend
You will have to use Google Analytics (or any other web analysis tool) to improve your site and understand what is going on there. This is essential. And no, despite all the good things I think of the Shopify dashboard, it's not enough to manage all the data after a few months. Install Google Analytics as soon as possible and get trained.
44) Use your strengths wisely
If you are new to e-commerce, do not try to know everything before starting.
Are you a developer? so use your skills to have the most reliable and efficient platform possible quickly and automate everything.
Are you a marketer? Go for the marketing.
Don't know anything about UX? So don't spend hours there. It's not worth it in 99% of cases initially.
45) SEO is not everything
Many e-merchants love natural referencing because it's free (no it's not). Having a great SEO friendly site is great, but use this advantage to invest in other marketing channels, even if it's Google Ads . If one day Google no longer likes your site, you will have reduced your dependence on Google.
46) Customer loyalty is the key to profitability
Even if it is necessary to work on the acquisition of traffic first, the real key to the profitability of an e-commerce site comes from loyalty. Try to bet on the subscription, the complementary products, the consumables etc… to generate a second, even a third purchase from your customer. its acquisition cost will not change much but your profitability will increase.
47) Put your products in situation
The great classic of product images in E-commerce, it remains a packshot on a white background but it is not forbidden to do otherwise. A photo of atmosphere, a photo to realize the size, the texture, the setting in situation. There are plenty of possibilities to make your product photos interesting.
48) Use E-commerce tools
Automate as many things as you can. To do this, do not hesitate to use e-commerce tools to save time. There are some for almost everything and especially for anything. No need to pay thousands of dollars every month either, but feel free to test your favorite tools and see which ones save you time. Remove.bg can for example save hours of clipping for a few cents.
49) Your site is worth nothing under a million turnover
Looking to resell your site? This is the case for many entrepreneurs after a few years. You should know that below a million turnover, your site is virtually not worth much. Above a million turnover per year, you have good possibilities of finding a buyer ready to put a good price.
50) The 15% Rule
How much should you invest in marketing? It depends being a little too simple, I usually take a 15% customer acquisition fee rule. It's not an exact science but it allows you to come up with a first budget quickly. Do you want to achieve €100,000 in turnover over a period? It will cost around €15,000. Attention, it is an average, it is therefore false in many cases but in general, it is true and it can serve as a starting point for a business plan.
51) Design is important but not that much
Design is certainly the second passion of all e-merchants. And yet, without saying that it is useless, it is overvalued in 90% of cases. Focusing on the functional is enough in the vast majority of cases. Remember that unless it's your basic training, you don't know anything about design. So keep it simple, and it's hard enough not to overdo it.
52) Display your stock availability as clearly as possible
Even if you display a hundred times everywhere on your site that the products are in stock, the main question from your customers to your customer service will be "Do you have the product in stock" (Well that's not true, the main question is always “Where is my package”). On this, there is no miracle recipe apart from indicating the same information in several forms: guaranteed shipping date, pictogram "in stock", message "product in stock" etc... Repeat, repeat and repeat again but under different forms.
53) Put a small promo code in the package
It's almost the No. 1 rule of E-commerce: make the customer want to come back to you. A small promo code in the package on a flyer, accompanied by a small “thank you” is always a pleasure!
54) Use Paypal
Paypal is too expensive? Perhaps. But then add it to your marketing budget and you're done. Paypal represents 10 to 15% of purchases. And on a small site it can clearly make a difference at the start. You must do everything to earn the slightest additional order. And Paypal on Shopify installs in seconds.
55) Beware of the end-of-year rush
It's hard to realize the Christmas rush and end-of-year sales. You risk making between 2 and 3 months of equivalent turnover in 15 days / 3 weeks. Do not stay alone and ask for help upstream from friends or acquaintances to help you if necessary. Once under the intensive packing water, you won't have time to find resources so plan ahead!
56) Outsource as much as possible
Recruiting help is important, but so is marketing. Try to go through freelancers or agencies for a maximum of outsourced tasks. Many e-merchants think they are Google Adwords or Facebook Ads pros but struggle to make their campaigns profitable or spend too much time on them. If you think no one can do better than you, that's true in the first place. But the goal is to explain and / or train so that they can do much better than you later, while you work on another subject.
57) Do not seek to have only “top sellers”
Your goal is to sell, so you need top sellers. But you also need fun products to communicate on, in press relations for example, new products, “social” products that will generate discussions, curious products, “demo” products, must-haves, etc.
58) Get Organized
Note everything in a tool like Notion for example. Otherwise, you risk forgetting things. Thousands of different things are going to happen in your day as an e-merchant. It would be a shame to forget the most important point of the day just because you didn't write it down.
59) Meet other e-merchants
Don't sit in front of your computer all day without talking to anyone. Go out to an e-commerce, entrepreneur, web or other aperitif and chat. It will take you a little time that you don't think you have but it can only do you good.
60) Email is awesome
If you're not using email to communicate with your customers, you're definitely losing your most profitable acquisition channel. Send at least one email by me, even simple, to all your customers to keep the link and give your news.
61) Offer promo codes yourself!
Few merchants like coupon codes. After all, it's bad for the margin and you have to pay two people: the affiliate and the customer. So why not directly offer the promised codes yourself on your site? Some sites even have a dedicated page. It allows you to be well referenced on “Your brand + promo code” and then the promo code allows you to boost the conversion without having any additional affiliate costs. To test if the promo code is part of your strategy.
62) Source your products even further
Attention, not always further in China, always further in the chain of production. Go to the source directly. Go up the chain of your wholesalers, identify their suppliers, go up everything to go negotiate with a maximum of producers directly by eliminating the intermediaries.
63) List 3 bullet points for each product
Do you know your products by heart? Not your customers. Help them by highlighting 3 main bullet points (3 points) on each product.
Ex :
Waterproof
Indestructible
“Made in US” quality
64) Ask for explanations and ask questions
Do you work with freelancers, Shopify agencies or other? So ask questions and try to understand. and if it's not clear, then ask for further explanation. The most serious people can answer your questions about what they are doing or will do for your project.
65) Make videos
Even if you are not an editor, videographer or other, make videos of your products, even without sound and add them to your product sheets. This helps enormously to get a clearer idea of the product.
Afterwards, if you feel the soul of a youtubeur then do not hesitate to treat yourself!
66) Seek to understand your customers
Selling is psychology. Understand the needs of your customers and find ways to make them want to buy your products. If you don't like people, you may have a hard time selling.
67) Have expensive products in your catalog
I will always remember the remark of one of my former bosses when I worked as an employee: Benoit, if you don't have a product at 200 €, you have no chance of selling it.
If you only have 50 cent products, it will be very difficult for you to have a high average basket. It's up to you to build the catalog adapted to your objectives. In addition, it will make you benefit from a cognitive bias (the anchoring effect) which will, in appearance, make all your other products cheaper.
68) Set yourself one big goal per month
The management of an e-commerce site being quite time-consuming, having a big objective per month (for example reviewing the design of the product page, listing the products in stock but without sales during the last 6 months, etc.) This are “one-off” points that ensure the improvement or cleaning of your e-commerce site.
69) Set up an abandoned cart email
Simple to set up on any self-respecting e-commerce solution, a shopping cart abandonment reminder system is 10 to 15% more turnover for your online store and without forcing. Essential !
70) Fight the prejudices you have
You certainly have a lot of ideas in mind. Assume that your idea may be wrong and test the opposite of what you think in as many cases as possible. You will be surprised at the results. You should know that your imagination will be the first obstacle to the development of your site. After attention, dreams without an action plan can never come true. It is therefore up to you to destroy the own barriers that you have erected on your way.
71) Create a Dashboard
You will not be able to properly manage your business without a dashboard. And no, Google Analytics is not a dashboard. Neither does your Shopify dashboard. You will certainly find examples of e-commerce dashboards on the Internet, but my advice remains the same: create your own!
72) Make the most of the sales!
The sales are certainly the most important moment in e-commerce. Why? Because you are going to have customers ready to do anything to sniff out a good deal, a promotion and above all with a mad desire to spend money. Really, it's up to you to help them by preparing for this period carefully.
73) Offer to pay in installments
Payment in installments has revolutionized e-commerce in a short time. With payment providers like Alma, it is possible to secure its turnover while allowing the customer to pay in installments extremely easily. Do not deprive yourself of this great opportunity.
74) Always seek to optimize your site
Optimizing your site every day is the best way to increase your conversion rate. There is no miracle or ready-made recipe in e-commerce. So optimize, test, modify and measure if it increases your conversion well. If your site is well done, by an e-commerce agency or an e-commerce expert, it is much more relevant to improve by small touch than to change everything.
75) Correct errors that are reported to you
Do you have a spelling mistake on the site? A translation error ? An SEO tool gives you a list of errors to correct? Do it. It's a quality gain for you, one less worry and one task to do in your todo list. It's always a pleasure. It's the sum of all these small improvements that can make the difference after a few years.
76) Don't do a site redesign
Site redesign is certainly the most critical period for many projects. Changing e-commerce technology, design, making 301 redirects, etc. The list of technical operations to be carried out is long and can endanger your site and your business. We no longer count the migrations failed by a bad choice of agency (so choose the right E-commerce agency ), lack of skills in the project manager (internal or external) or simply due to the sometimes hallucinating delays of certain migrations . A site redesign can sometimes take years. Incomprehensible in a world that moves so fast.
Of course, it is still sometimes desirable to migrate or redesign the site, but the good reasons for doing so will be listed in a future article.
77) Create atmospheric photos to liven up your site
Having product pack shots is good, but beautiful atmospheric photos to illustrate your words, the theme, the merchandising or simply to make people want to buy your products, that's not bad! Rarely of course to do without taking out a “real” camera and taking quite a bit of time, atmospheric photos help break the “I have the same e-commerce site as everyone else” effect and give personality to your e-commerce.
78) Don't (stupidly) copy your competitors
The will to do like its competitors is often strong but it is, in my opinion, a very bad idea. For a simple and good reason: you don't know where they want to go. You believe, of course, that they are heading in the same direction as you. But that may not be the case.
By copying them, you risk going in the wrong direction or doing less well than them.
Be careful, it is of course important to steal from them the two/three good ideas they may have, but adapt them to your strategy!
79) Pay attention to the carriage paid by suppliers.
Many suppliers offer free shipping above a certain purchase volume. Do not overstock for this reason! Cash is your most valuable asset. Stock is a necessary evil. It is often tempting to indulge in increasing an order to benefit from free delivery, but be careful not to do so unless there is a real need and not automatically.
80) Automate as many things as possible
Automate everything possible and/or time-consuming. In a few days you can most certainly understand how to use Integromat or Zapier or Airtable. Otherwise, outsource it to a No-Code expert and get rid of anything repetitive. If you do it twice, don't do it a third time!
81) Create a pdf catalog, see paper!
The pdf file is a very little used and yet very powerful tool. Transforming a catalog into a PDF does not cost much if you have the right tool and you can send it to all your customers or even... print it and slip it into your parcels. If your target, or part of it at least, is over 40 years old, you can achieve up to 10 to 15% more of your turnover with this side a little less e-commerce and more catalog.
82) Offer gift cards
The gift card is a simple and effective way to create sales for all your visitors who do not feel concerned by your products. Let's say you sell video games. A grandmother may not buy an arcade cabinet. But the right gift that will please his grandson or his granddaughter, that's for sure.
83) Process
What could be more “large group” than a process? And yet, it is one of the keys to being able to outsource, to organize effectively and above all to ensure constant quality regardless of who makes up your team.
Do you have a repetitive or regular operation? So outline the process and explain it. The more you do this, the more you will be able to see or improve your service and the more efficiency you will gain.
84) Customer service takes time
Processing an email from a customer takes time. So you might as well aim for quality by personalizing the response as much as possible. And respond as soon as possible. If you can answer yes or no in a few seconds, do not deprive yourself. No customer has ever complained about getting too quick a response!
85) Work with influencers
Even if not everyone has a good reputation and it is sometimes difficult to find the right influencer(s), it remains a proven source of traffic, notoriety and orders, especially via Instagram. Don't spend crazy sums on it during your first operation, but I strongly urge you to test one or more operations to make up your own mind. There are influencers in every field, even the most unexpected.
86) Pay attention to the margin per order
The margin per order is for me one of the main indicators to follow to remain profitable. Between shipping costs, product purchase costs, marketing costs… It is not always easy to maintain a margin on all orders. With automation tools, it is even possible to calculate the margin of each order individually!
87) Simplify your messages as much as possible
We tend to make messages that are too complicated and too long. Your marketing messages should be short and impactful. Simplify everything you can. Remember that your customers only have a few minutes to spend on your site, and if they're surfing on mobile it might even be a few seconds before something interrupts them.
88) Bet on social proof
Do your customers love to leave comments, photos and videos? No, however, we will have to find a way to recover as much as possible. Don't hesitate to ask your first customers by email! Social proof is an extremely important lever to generate more conversion and trust on your site.
89) You won't make sales from twitter
Spending time on social networks to relax is a classic (and it's understandable, we all do it) but don't justify it by saying that you are working. Be aware, and own it, that it's a bit of procrastination. You will live it better and you will ultimately be more moderate in their consumption.
90) Be Cool
Don't get upset, ever. A client is dumb as his feet? A supplier is causing you concern? A service provider is not working as it should? Manage the problem but assume that there is a much greater chance that it is a misunderstanding, more or less big. The more upset you get, the less simple the solution will appear to you. A customer is always right, even when he is wrong.
91) You underestimate the amount of reasons to abandon a cart
Often, when talking about cart abandonment, merchants think that customers were scared or that something is missing from their site to complete the order. In most cases, a shopping cart abandonment is the "real world" taking over the customer: a cat asking for his kibble, a call for a meeting, a network cut, a friend passing by, the time that has passed, etc.
92) Your logo is very good (well probably)
E-merchants who surf their site regularly often suffer from a strange syndrome: that of wanting to redo the design of their site or their logo or their graphic charter every four mornings. Unless your logo was done haphazardly, it's probably fine for now. Arrived at 100 sales per day, you will be able to question the design but you will certainly be well surrounded to do so.
93) Watch out for burnout
E-commerce is a profession where you never stop. It's easy to fall into a downward spiral of work and always feel behind on your tasks. This can lead in some extreme cases to burnout or depression. Take care. You will not be able to complete all the tasks that you need to do every day. It is necessary, in my opinion, to manage to accept it as quickly as possible to detach from this obligation
94) Commerce and E-commerce: same fight
E-commerce and commerce are two sides of the same business. Do not deprive yourself of setting up a network of shops if you feel like it. Selling to customers, finding the right assortment, storing it in the right place at the right time and keeping margins, this can be done regardless of the medium.
95) Write real product descriptions
Your product sheets are the heart of your SEO and conversion strategy. Don't let them lapse. Take the time to write beautiful, attractive sales descriptions. If you find that it takes too much time compared to the potential turnover of the product, there are content writing automation solutions.
96) Use faces on your face to humanize it
It's a strategy that I see very little on e-commerce sites and yet its effectiveness is well established! Use human faces on your site that look towards your CTAs, play together, smile, etc.
As humans, we basically want to be part of a social group. Showing humans on an e-commerce site creates attachment and therefore conversion
97) Clearly state your telephone number
Why make your phone number visible? To show that you are indeed present. Don't forget that you also have the right to sell over the phone!
Each customer who contacts you is a business opportunity to be seized and transformed. You also have the right to collect customer opinions by telephone or to collect requests from your customers and improve your site accordingly.
Talking to customers directly is the most effective and fastest way to boost your merchant site .
98) Visually indicate the size of your products
On the packshots produced, it is very rare to have an indication of the size of the product. This can generate feedback and/or misunderstandings. Try to provide at least one situational or human-scale image if possible. Finally at least with a landmark.
99) Refund without discussion.
This advice generally annoys all my clients when I do e-commerce consulting. However, there is no point in arguing, the customer is always right. In any case, he thinks he is always right. How much time are you going to waste trying to convince him? What if he was right? In my view, there is no valid reason not to systematically reimburse the customer and to be reactive and generous. At worst, consider this expense marketing. And if you ever have a lot of them, then take out insurance.
Having the opposite attitude will bring you a bad reputation and immeasurable wasted time. In my opinion, it's a bigger loss than a few euros on an order.
100) Read Pikka's blog!
Because we are friendly, professional and give 100 E-commerce tips instead of 99, all of these are excellent reasons to subscribe to the pikka newsletter and to follow our agency's e-commerce blog .
Review of 100 E-commerce tips
I hope these 100 e-commerce tips will help you find inspiration to improve your store, start selling online or just give you a little boost if you need it.
Feel free to leave your advice in the comments or comment on mine! If it can be useful to other entrepreneurs then I'm delighted!
