5 Tips for Growing Your E-Commerce Business

Today, people are shopping online more than ever before. The reality is that many people just prefer the convenience of shopping from their mobile devices. To meet this demand, e-commerce has become widely accessible to entrepreneurs around the world thanks to Shopify. In fact, e-commerce sales are expected to grow 10.4 percent in 2023 alone, with the U.S. e-commerce market reaching a projected $1.1 trillion in sales this year.

Want to take advantage? No matter what you sell online, there are some practical tips and best practices you can follow to boost your online retail success this year and beyond:

1. Know your market.

You can't expect to successfully market your online brand if you don't understand your target audience. If you haven't done so already, it's time to sink some of your budget into audience research. This should include narrowing down your most common buyer segments based on factors like age, location, values, hobbies and interests. You'll also want to understand their pain points and specific needs when shopping on your site.

Once you have a better idea of who you're marketing to, you can begin building buyer personas, or representations of your target customers, that will help you better tailor your marketing efforts.

2. Take advantage of omnichannel opportunities.

Rather than focusing your marketing efforts on a customer's individual experiences across different channels, shift your focus to omnichannel marketing. In e-commerce, this is especially important because your potential customers can easily seek information from multiple sources before making a purchase. When you take advantage of omnichannel opportunities, you can provide your customer with a consistent and enjoyable shopping experience no matter where they're shopping from.

It doesn’t have to be difficult; take advantage of tools like mobile push notifications. Push notifications are one of the most powerful tools to boost customer engagement and retention. By leveraging push notifications along with SMS and email marketing, you can increase customer engagement and retention.

3. Ramp up your content marketing.

Content is king — and if you want to draw more customers to your e-commerce store, having a solid content marketing strategy in place is a must. In fact, research by the Content Marketing Institute finds that 70 percent of B2C businesses are already using content marketing to generate leads, improve conversions, and build a stronger brand reputation.

Not sure where to begin with your own content marketing plan? Check out our blog, which offers some practical tips for producing all kinds of quality content, from blog posts and social media posts to infographics, videos and more.

4. Stay genuine and authentic.

These days, having a genuine brand image is more important than ever. Your potential customers are more likely to buy from you if they feel that your brand is authentic and shares similar values. In fact, studies have shown that up to 86 percent of consumers take a brand's authenticity into account when making a buying decision.

When it comes to building a genuine brand image, consistency and honesty are key. Try connecting to your audience through stories and testimonials, and keep your messaging the same across all your marketing channels. Having a strong social presence where you're constantly engaging with your audience is also a good idea.

5. Focus on diversity and inclusion.

This may be something you've already thought about, but it bears repeating: Multiple studies have found that businesses with diverse teams are more likely to capture new markets and are 87 percent better at making decisions overall.

If you're looking to build a more diverse team, this should begin with your recruiting practices. If you run an e-commerce business, however, a lot of this will be "behind the scenes." You can showcase your brand's diversity and inclusion practices by making sure your website has a genuinely written DEI statement and by putting out content that's inclusive as well.

The Bottom Line on Running an E-Commerce Business

The e-commerce landscape is changing, slowly but surely. Today's online shoppers care more than ever about the values and image of the companies from which they're buying — and they're wanting to engage with their favorite brands on a personal level.

No matter what your e-commerce business sells, you can take advantage of this shift and bring in new leads by following these best practices.

Eric Netsch is the co-founder and CEO of Tapcart, a codeless mobile app builder that helps Shopify’s fastest-growing brands to create an owned marketing channel.