Ecommerce

6 essential
tips to
selling
online
successfully

According to CEFRIO, 64% of Quebeckers were cyber consumers in 2018. That is a 6% increase over the previous year! This percentage has constantly grown since 2013. We can therefore imagine that this number will continue to increase over the next few years.

Online sales are rapidly becoming vital for Quebec businesses, across all business sectors. So how do you stand out among this multitude of online sellers that is constantly growing? Read on to discover 6 tips that will help you stand out and benefit from e-commerce.

01 Earn the trust of online consumers

You are thinking of launching into e-commerce, but you're wondering how to attract customers? The popularity of online stores is constantly growing, but some consumers are still skeptical.

If you were to retain just one of the numerous tips for earning your customers’ trust, this is it: Maintain a human approach and stick with the specific qualities and characteristics that make you a reference on the market.

02 Choose your online sales model

The typical business model of online stores is that of the business that has already existed for a few years and wants to expand by carving out a place on the online market.

But there is more than one way to sell online.

In addition to helping classic retail businesses to expand their potential market, e-commerce allows new business models to emerge.

Did you know that today many businesses only have online operations? There are even online stores that sell products directly from the supplier without keeping an inventory! Others are even more audacious by selling products that we would have not previously thought possible to sell online, like food products.

03 Show your products in their best light in your online store

You did it! You are jumping into the e-commerce adventure and are starting to build your web platform. Now you have to find a way to highlight your products and stand out from other existing sites to maximize your sales.

Product files are the presentation page for your products. When your customers shop on your site, they must be able to find a description, a representative photo and all relevant information on the same page.

The files that you create for the web are equivalent to the sales pitch that you would make if you were face-to-face with a customer. Files that are too generic do not inspire consumer confidence. You have to be specific and evocative and emphasize what is unique to your product.

04 Adapt your website to mobile

Did you know that a large part of your online customers use their mobile device to browse your site? A recent study has shown that, for 8 of the biggest retailers in Canada, 50 % of customers only use mobile to shop online.

For your potential customers to easily find what they are looking for and to ensure that their shopping experience is seamless and enjoyable, it is absolutely essential to adapt your platform to mobile even in a B2B context.

05 Optimize your e-commerce site for search engines

You have an attractive web store and nice products to sell? Perfect! Now, you have to bring your customers into the store. To do that, an important factor to consider is search engine optimization (SEO).

Ideally, you want your site to appear before that of your competitors in the result page of a Google search. There is no magic recipe to achieve this, but there are several SEO tactics you should know that will help reach the coveted top spot on the search results page.

06 Measure the indicators of your online business

After launching your online store, it is important to follow your progress and track various key performance indicators. These data are accessible using tools like Google Analytics, which allow you to learn more about the visits on your website, your transactions and revenues, your conversion rates, etc. The information that you collect will tell you a lot about your customers and their habits and will also help you to ensure the growth and success of your online store.

Take the challenge!

Launching an online store is a challenge that more and more businesses are deciding to meet to respond to growing consumer demand. Statistics show that online shopping is becoming an increasingly large part of Quebeckers consumption habits.

Is this the next step for you? To start out on the right foot and be able to apply the above tips, it's essential that you choose the right tools. Opt for a complete solution that will allow you to reach a new clientele and propel sales!

Contact our experts to discover how e-commerce for Acomba can contribute to your company's success.

Sources: CEFRIO, Le commerce électronique au Québec, Édition 2018
Strategy, Mobile outpacing desktop for online shopping, 2019