How Can You Grow Revenue From Your Retail Ecommerce Business?

It’s been awhile since ecommerce platforms started to grow and have become increasingly popular in the retail industry, opening the doors to global online shopping and retail ecommerce sales. Many companies have left behind the traditional physical store to expand on the ecommerce market. Today, partly due to the COVID19 pandemic, online retail sales have become the preferred purchasing method for consumers. As brick and mortar stores temporarily closed their doors, buyers relied on ecommerce retailers to purchase everything, not only through websites, but also through social media, online marketplaces and apps. Retail ecommerce is an informative source with a lot of impact, and allows companies to get closer to their target audience.

This business model has been key for small companies in the supply chain to grow and access other markets, from Asia Pacific to  North America, Latin America or the United Kingdom, something very difficult to achieve with traditional retailers and physical stores. Not needing large infrastructures and being able to do this without limitations such as time, space or logistics, cross border ecommerce has been one of the main causes that have led to its expansion. But how can we take advantage of this technology and implement it in our ecommerce business and shopping experience?

Well, let’s get back to basics and remember that in the retail industry it’s all about the consumer. Delivering a unique and personalized customer experience (CX) is of vital importance for both B2B ecommerce and B2C ecommerce organizations. Those that adopt an ecommerce model with the best-in-class CX will boost loyalty and ensure long-term revenue growth.

Currently, the ecommerce market is booming, and the Covid19 pandemic has given it the final push. Here is some data that confirms the ecommerce growth over the past year:

• U.S. consumers spent $78 billion online in March, up 49% year-over- year, according to the latest Adobe Digital Economy Index.
• Nine out of the world’s 10 largest ecommerce companies experienced double-digit revenue growth during the pandemic year of 2020, according to a recent GlobalData analysis emailed to Retail Dive.
•  83.7% of consumers said that the pandemic has prompted them to use more Internet to buy compared to traditional commerce, according to the 2021 Annual Ecommerce Study of IEB School.

In a recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services survey, of nearly 1,100 executives, 42% expect the ecommerce leaders in their organizations to play a role when it comes to customer insight and sentiment analysis in the upcoming years.

Online sales are now part of the digital transformation of our everyday life, but still not optimized in many organizations. For an ecommerce system to be maintained over time, it is necessary to study the market situation, the viability of the project and have a team of people trained to carry out the processes. 

These are some focal points to keep in mind in order to carry out a successful ecommerce business:

• Create a business plan and investment feasibility for the ecommerce platform.
• Loyalty and digital marketing strategies.
• Choosing the right platform for creating an online store.
• Logistics and payment methods.
• Internationalization of the company to create a global ecommerce platform.
• Keep track of metrics to monitor social media.
• Study ecommerce trends such as Bockchain, Big Data and Machine Learning.

According to Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, leading retailers can study customers behavior online, via an app or other digital marketing channels, and determine with these technology advances if the CX is working or how it could be improved. Many companies have successfully broken down data using customer relationship management (CRM) systems for online shopping, internal communication tools, application programming interfaces, or cloud computing. For global retail ecommerce to be successful, retailers need the ability to see buyers’ interactions all in one place, whether they are in brick and mortar stores or online shopping.