There are two people on a deserted island. One of them discovered 200 messages in bottles surrounding the island one morning. He then turned to his friend and said: “We must be on a mailing list!” Oversharing and constantly sending e-mails out to potential buyers can be counterproductive, as Reco Jefferson – a serial entrepreneur working in e-commerce, real estate, and model representation. For him, understanding the root of your business idea and communicating that to your potential customers is the recipe for success.
Knowing how and what to sell is a constant problem. Making these types of decisions on a trial end error basis requires capital. Still, in general, data could be gathered through different types of research. It’s essential to deeply understand how new eComm market entrants can be discouraged by seemingly saturated environments. However, there are a few critical points to understand what to avoid.
Don’t just copy the competition
Despite imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, it’s not that great being on the copying side of the coin. The most commonly seen practice in eComm would be mirroring the competition – finding a successful competitor with many reviews and trying to reproduce what they’re doing. However, that could prove unsuccessful in many cases, mainly due to the lack of value that approach brings to the table.
Jefferson points out that if the consumer is following someone else or the competition is creating a trend, new suppliers of the same thing cannot create loyalty – only by chance. When an industry leader notices imitators, turning to competitive advantages is only natural. Already having the upper hand and access to capital, it’s not hard for the leaders to create a new trend or shift market interest in a way that would disrupt the imitator.
Why do eCommerce businesses fail?
In that sense, following the competition can also bring about another big problem – not knowing your audience. Mirroring a competitor also lacks a deep understanding of your audience’s consumption trends. This is one of the reasons why most online businesses fail. According to the Marketo Engagement Gap report from 2020, 56% of consumers believe companies need to have a deeper understanding of their needs. Defining what is scarce in already provided value can be a great way to bypass the competition. Still, it requires time and an analytical approach.
Besides that, choosing the right platform is a big part of succeeding. Knowing where consumer traffic is going to is part of the research. Choosing the right one could help your business scale and help your brand grow, as per Reco. Mentoring and talking shop to other people in the business can make all the difference. The trap of not seeking feedback can lead to disengagement from actual trends and shut down a business really fast, Reco points out. The platform a new market entrant chooses, in the beginning, might not be the one they keep using forever – knowing if, how, and when to make the change is vital.
Recognizing market opportunities
One of the industry-leading eComm platforms, Shopify, states that the industry sales are expected to reach $5 trillion in 2022 with tendencies to grow. Today, there are an estimated 12-24 million online stores globally. However, as per Reco, the market size shouldn’t frighten anyone. If anything, it means that there is room for new entrants.
It’s essential to understand the psychology behind the craft. When purchasing a product, the choice is influenced by more factors than just finding the right product. Customers want to know the details of what they’re buying, what category it belongs to, delivery times and costs, return policies, what information they share with the shop, payment and security aspects of the transaction, etc.… The discrepancy between a great and not-so-great online shop is in the details. As per Jefferson, failing to provide them in an appealing way will not work out great in the long run.
But one factor distinguishes the best from the rest. Social proof is vital, whereas reviews mean a lot. 76% of consumers say they are less likely to purchase goods from a vendor without a history. As per Jefferson, this is why catering to a better customer experience is essential. He continues by saying that placement of social proof at visible aspects of the customer journey can’t be overlooked. Regardless of its type – be it a testimonial, a positive review, likes, or shares, social proof can make all the difference.
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