The monetary size of the e-commerce market is a trillion dollars. In the last couple years, it’s up 20%. The e-commerce market consists of 12-24 million online stores (the exact number is unknown).
In 2016, online retail volumes in Ukraine totaled $5.65 billion, although this amount is predicted to exceed $10 billion by the end of 2018 and grow to $25 billion by 2020. Impressive sums, aren’t they? The top ten leaders in online trade transactions in 2016 were China with $766.5 billion. Rounding out the top ten is Russia with $22.8 billion. The top ten represent 85.2% of global online transaction volume. Ukraine – in the remaining 14.8%.
In our country, e-commerce occupies only 3% of the retail market. But there is hope: the spread of the Internet and the popularity of wearable smart gadgets, as well as the development of logistics, make us believe that online commerce will soon get stronger. According to EVO, 22 million Ukrainians have access to the Internet, but only 31% make online purchases. The turnover of goods and services in e-commerce in 2018 will amount to 65 billion UAH. At the moment it amounts to UAH 50 billion.
The KOLORO team has specialists who will develop a strategy to promote your online store. Let’s improve the stats together!
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Online store development: where to start
When starting to develop a profitable turnkey online store, it is worth making sure that there is a buyer for your product. To do this, you need to do market research and find out your target audience. Clothing, shoes and accessories are popular in online shopping. Home and garden, health and beauty products tend to lead the way, but technology is no longer the flagship among online sales.
A great way to research is to monitor popular platforms, such as Prom.ua, Shafa.ua or Bigl.ua. This way it will be possible to find your competitors, who are also good to research. This is to identify the weaknesses and strengths of the business and to avoid repeating mistakes made by predecessors.
Running an online store has advantages over a physical store: there are no rental fees and you can reach millions of customers lounging comfortably on the couch. To build a successful business, you will need a great product, a user-friendly website, a solid marketing plan and an online store promotion strategy.
Read also: How to define your brand’s audience
What you need to open an online store
First and foremost, make a business plan for your online store, whether you plan to get external funding from investors or rely on your own money. This will help you plan the steps you need to take to realize a profitable business. In a business plan, you need to consider:
- production costs, whether you create the product yourself or contract with a manufacturer;
- the need for additional storage space for goods;
- Employee wages (if any);
- registration of a domain name, which should be short and easy to remember;
- web hosting fees.
In the business plan, also describe the plan for developing the online store and the steps that need to be taken to realize the plan.
Read also: Creating an online store
Engine for online store
The website engine is the backbone that makes an online store work. You can develop your own CMS online store, but then the price of development will be much higher than when using an existing free engine. The list of the most popular looks something like this:
- Magento.
- Bitrix.
- OpenCart.
- WordPress.
- Joomla.
- CS-Cart.
Template stores
Companies like Bigcommerce, Shopify, Goodsie, Jumpseller, Volusion allow you to develop the overall look and feel of a custom online store. They upload the product catalog, handle the setup of shopping carts for customers, securely accept payments, and monitor order fulfillment. These services host your online store on their servers.
E-commerce services require some basic work on your part. For example, with Shopify, you choose a store layout from a set of templates and customize your fonts, overall color scheme, and product image sizes. But such stores are no different in design.
Read also: Domain .ua: how to create
Creating an online store in Kiev: the main components
In the impenetrable jungle of business, the first few seconds on a website are all you need to make a good impression. Otherwise, visitors will quickly leave and find your competitor’s more user-friendly site.
- Design development of an online store. Web design is more about the visual presentation than the information it actually conveys. You can have the best product in your niche and the best customer service, but if the website is abysmal, the business’ online presence is doomed.
A good website is characterized by modern web design, full-size images and a minimum of text. The price of a customized online store design will be much higher than the cost of a website made from a template.
- Maximum information about yourself. You need to be clear about who you are, what you do, and most importantly, what you offer to customers. If visitors click through to the “About Us” page, it means they are already interested in you.
Your contact information should be clear and easy to find on the page and website. Include a contact email address, physical address, and social media pages.
- Partners. No one wants to trust an unseen, unheard of and unknown company, especially when it comes to parting with their money. If you don’t already have a solid reputation, show people how many other companies are working with you. They don’t have to be the scale of Coca-Cola or Apple. Even small companies will increase the credibility of the enterprise. Demonstrate to the prospective buyer the relationship you’ve already created.
- Online Support. Ideally, this is real-time support that is available 24/7/365. If a company doesn’t have the resources for something like this (or you have a small business that doesn’t need something like this), you still need a help desk to assist during business hours.
- Payment methods and money back guarantee. First, you need to list all possible payment methods. Second, talk about warranty responsibilities. Consumers should be assured that if they receive a product that does not suit them, they can get their money back.
- Frequently updated blog . The articles you publish should be of high quality. Know your audience and make sure the content meets their needs. Keep in mind that using the right keywords will help you improve your search engine rankings. And the fresher your content is, the better it is for Google. However, these are not the only reasons why you should blog. You can provide your customers with tips or fun content, offer a toolkit or tutorials related to your business. It’s also a great way to collaborate with other businesses by exchanging links, mentioning each other’s blog and getting traffic in return. 79% of companies that have a blog report that thanks to thematic articles, the conversion rate of the site has increased significantly, and the number of sales has increased accordingly.
- An offer that’s hard to refuse. To capture some potential customers before they abandon their cart without completing their purchase, add a pop-up with a specific offer on the cart page. For example, if a visitor adds something to their cart and then decides to leave the page, a popup will appear offering them a discount if they buy within the next 4 hours or 24 hours. You can set a percentage discount and time frame that fits your store.
Creating a beautiful website is a difficult process, but it pays off in the end. Order the creation of an online store in the branding agency KOLORO. Let’s bring brightness to the internet expanse!
Read also: Internet advertising or outdoor: who will win by the end of 2020?
Development and promotion of Internet sites
Online store strategy is an important part of the store development process. It consists of:
- determining the goals of SEO promotion;
- niche and market share definitions;
- of developing the right structure;
- collection of analytics using special services (Google Analytics, Serpstat, SimilarWeb, Yandex Metrica);
- semantic kernel compilation;
- competitor analysis;
- content strategy development;
- working with blogging and social media.
We’ve picked out a few features that will help increase your site’s conversion rate.
- When customers visit an online store, they need to see the products it offers. This means you need clear, high-resolution photos that showcase products in the best light. Do not use the manufacturer’s photos. It’s important to include multiple photos of each product so customers can see every side of the product. You can also include photos that show perspective by size or use 3D visualization.
- The names you give your products help customers find your store.Extravagant names can be used as a last resort. It is better to clearly state the name and add the maximum characteristic if possible.
You should also keep an eye on your own analytics and popular search queries related to your products. This will give you an idea of the keywords you should use in your titles or descriptions.
- Write your own descriptions, don’t use the manufacturer’s customizations or another store’s description. Product descriptions should be short, but with enough interesting details to keep customers interested.
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- Check out online reviews of similar products. You can get valuable insights from watching video reviews and reviews of products similar to yours.
- The site should load quickly and all content should fall into place instantly. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing a customer.
- Open dialog. On the page of the store must necessarily be sections on delivery and its cost, the possibility and conditions of returning the goods, as well as answers to frequently arising questions. Respond to all comments, even negative ones. You need to find a balance between what’s good for you and what’s good for your customers.
- Logistics. If you do your own shipping, you need to create a system that works like the movement of a Swiss watch. If you are relying on a logistics service provider company, you should be as confident in them as you are in yourself.
- In order for you to be recognized, you need to develop a marketing plan to promote your products and your store. Find out where your existing customers heard about you and advertise more actively on that platform.
- When a customer has made a purchase in the store, that’s not the end of the collaboration. You need to keep communicating with him via email or social media to remind you again and again. But don’t overdo it – the customer will get angry and block your messages and phone number.
- Stimulation. Consider offering a discount as a thank you for a first purchase or newsletter subscription.
Read also: List of distributors of Ukraine or who to let sell your product to
Methods of promoting an online store
If you don’t know how to market an online store, start with bloggers. Send samples of your product to well-known bloggers or websites that do video reviews of products. This will be your first low-cost advertising campaign.
Content marketing
Content marketing – creating articles, videos, photos, infographics, or any other form of “content” that attracts a targeted audience to increase website traffic and turn visitors into customers.
For example, you sell shoes and publish a blog post titled “The perfect outfit for a New Year’s Eve office party”.
In the article you list the dress, the jacket, the accessories and of course the shoes. You need to use good photos of the products you mention and make sure there is a link to the product page in the text.
So how does it attract traffic? Here’s the perfect scenario: a woman who’s into fashion is looking for an outfit for a corporate event. She turns to Google, where she finds your article. She clicks on the article and falls in love with what she sees, so she goes to the shoes page and explores the store. The most important aspect of optimizing your online store is understanding your target audience. What are their interests, ages, how can you be helpful?
Once you know who you’re targeting, you need to plan your messages. For example, a month before Valentine’s Day, you can publish an article titled “10 Stupid Valentine’s Day Gifts for Women.”
mailing list
Email marketing is the most powerful tool in a marketer’s arsenal. If you don’t use it effectively, you lose sales.
Gather contacts of your target audience. One of the best ways to do this is to use a box with a registration form, ideally offering something in exchange for an address. For example “Sign up and get 10% off your next order”.
You can also offer customers the option to join your mailing list during checkout.
Read also: Creating provocative ads: the agony of conscience vs. the chance for explosive sales
Social Media
Social media is one of the most powerful tools for e-commerce. You can create accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube, choose based on your target audience. What do you have to post? Like your mailing list, your social media strategy will be closely tied to your content marketing strategy. Make it so that only 20% of your content is promotional. Add video reviews, share the latest news, say happy holidays.
Going back to our shoe company, we can invite subscribers to post pictures in the original shoes on the store page. The great thing is that their followers and friends will see these posts, creating a viral effect that spreads the word about the brand.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is when you allow other people to sell your products in exchange for a percentage of sales. Affiliate marketing depends on the ability to track the source of a particular sale. Usually you provide a unique URL that marketers can use to promote your products. For example, a blogger posted a link on their site with an accompanying article about your company. When a person clicks on it, they will be redirected to your site. If he makes a purchase, the affiliate tracking software will attribute that sale to the blogger.
Branding agency KOLORO will create a turnkey online store for any sphere: from jewelry to children’s goods. Our office is located in Kiev. Come in – let’s discuss the details of the project.
