Hey all! I am Oliver Smith, a successful e-commerce start-up business owner. When I started the business of branded shoes, I had no idea that I will grow so fast. Initially, things were not good. While I was in the struggle to settle my business, people told me that it takes time to earn the profit. I may even face a considerable loss, as there are many competitors.
With all the fear and uncertainty, I started my business. It was all confusing, and a mess of a lot of work and responsibilities was there. You have to work like the one-man army when you have a start-up. I was making mistakes. From registration of the company to getting the suitable photographer for product pictures, nothing was perfect. Above all, I was always weak in budgeting.
I was not doing well on the front of business management. At a point, I even thought to close it and get back to my time tied job life, which I never liked. But I decided to give just one last try.
I realised a strategy is necessary
I was broken with a loss of considerable Pounds that I spent from my savings. But as I was determined to give one last try because previously, I was not following an organised approach. I had to accept that without a decided e-commerce business strategy, I can never get what I want. I made one and followed it flawlessly, and things started improving. Today I am here with a net profit of £2,50,000.
Prime pillars of my business plan
Here are the strong points that made my action plan stronger and earned me the pennies of prosperity.
Product presentation should be uncompromisingly good
The appearance of a product is the most important thing. Everything in this world that looks good gets attention. The buyers check everything at a later stage. Price, delivery date, shipping charges, etc., first, they behold the product. Charming and eye-catchy pictures help you increase the business sale.
The first thing I worked on was the appearance of my shoe brand. I replaced my old and unskilled photographer with the new one that is the expert of e-commerce photography. Now my products look fantastic on the mobile screen, and the background treatment is perfect now. That improved my sale by 15-20%. Now I believe in the saying – ‘the first impression is the last impression.’
Worked on an e-commerce marketing strategy
It is essential to get into the notice of your target market. The marketing skills are necessary to give a boost to your presence in the industry. As I had less money to spend due to the significant loss in my first effort of business, I wanted a cost-effective marketing plan.
I did the following things to promote my business, and all the methods are affordable.
- Search Engine Optimisation to improve the ranking
- Added reviews on the product page.
- Created social media accounts and posted regular posts
- Made the Instagram account shoppable (this gave a significant rise to sale)
The marketing strategy was responsible for a 75% increase in my business sale. Fortunately, I got an affordable deal with a digital marketing company that worked for my promotion at an affordable cost.
To-Fu strategy Works Well
As a new business, it was essential for me to keep a hold on the prospects and turn them into leads. For that, I had to work on an action plan to fulfil this purpose.
To-Fu strategy stands for Top-of-the-funnel leads, which are the buyers that show interest in your product through either a click or by taking a look at it. It usually is challenging to make them buy.
I used several ways to turn the prospects into buyers –
- Gathered information through quizzes
- Sent the personalised e-mail messages
- Offered gift guides
- Suggested shoe types and colours according to the age group
The task was indeed tricky, but I managed to get 10% sale through the To-Fu strategy.
Choose e-commerce platform with a few number of clicks required
If you want the victory to become a buyer of your product, make sure that he should not need to make many clicks. For that, the e-commerce site, which you choose to sell the products, must have proper cart functionality. The cart should be easily navigable.
Less number of clicks always gives a boost to the sale as there is less number of distractions. The buyers have countless options on e-commerce sites, and you have a short time to catch attention. Also, make sure that the website should be friendly to all devices.
My precise thought is …
The above steps earned me back the lost balance in business. Today, I have attained the financial capacity to extend my business. I am planning to buy an office space as I feel that I need more employees and fortunately I can afford it. I have talked to my online broker Shine Mortgages in the UK, which told me that due to my enormous business growth, I could even get no deposit mortgage that is available for first-time buyer loan requests.
Hard work and unshakable focus can do anything. Important is not to surrender until you give your 100%.
