Ready with your business idea and need to take it to the next level? Many business owners make the mistake of simply getting into the pond of competition without having a proper strategy in their toolkit. But with the right formula, you can not only get your results faster but also will be able to grow your eCommerce retail business much more effectively.
Create an eCommerce Store
Let’s first see what you need in order to make your eCommerce store
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A reliable logistics partner
You will have to tie up with a logistics partner in order to complete the deliveries. Most courier partners work on a sharing basis where you pay a part of what you make. However, there are a few things that you must look for in logistics before finalizing one. Simply check out their delivery times and see if it matches your policies. You don’t make your customers wait forever for a parcel. Also checking whether they have features like tracking facility, COD, and return pickup will help you provide the best service to your customers.
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A stunning e-commerce website
You need easy navigation and a simple to use website that makes the shopping experience of your customers fun. Keep it classy and reduce the unwanted buttons. Just bring your customers to what they need. You can take expert help in creating a stunning eCommerce website by contacting an agency or a web development company. Check out other websites in your space to find out what features your website should have.
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A discounts partner
Customers would love to visit your website more if you are providing them with discounts and offers. Sign up with a discount partner and let your customers save on the products they buy from your website. Coupons company, GrabOn, has a range of eCommerce websites under its portfolio. You can partner up with them or companies alike and not only let your customers enjoy the discounts all at one place, but also enjoy better traffic directed to your website. It’s a win-win situation for all.
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Branding
Quite important for many types of businesses, branding, plays a major role in retail e-commerce as well. Picking a logo that stands for your nature of business and mixing it with a message that you want to convey will ultimately give you the identity that will help you stand out. From your social media pages to custom product packaging, using a consistent design matters in building stronger branding. Dedicate time and energy designing your logo and selecting a color palette, fonts, and other design elements that embody your brand.
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Payment gateway
You need the transaction of your customers to run smoothly. Thus you need to set up an efficient payment getaway with your website. Make sure you choose one which has a 100% uptime and can integrate easily with different modes of payment like bank cards, net banking, wallets, and UPI. Creating a faster and efficient experience for your users will help you attract more customers in the future.
Grow Your Retail Ecommerce Business
In order to grow your business, you need to set certain expectations and also track the same. A business without tracking metrics is a ship without the direction of the wind. It might reach its destination but you don’t know how much time it will take, where it will go from and what all it will encounter in the way. If things go well, nothing like it, but what if you meet with a pirate ship, what if you have an encounter with a storm, or simply run out of food.
Now, consider you have well-planned your business and have tracking metrics in place. You know where your business is heading and when it would reach its goal. You drive your business with an intention to reach a certain point at a certain time. That’s when your KPIs will come in handy.
The main intention of KPIs is to measure your business growth and help you optimize it to increase profits.
Now that we are clear about that, let us see what are the things that you need to know in order to achieve your dream as a business owner.
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Revenue
As a new business owner, you need to first decide where you want to take your business in the next set of years. Are you looking to make it a 6-figure business or less, or more? Once you decide that, you will be to get the right skill set and resources in place. Along the way, it will also help you determine how you are progressing in order to achieve the milestone. You can also identify what resources you need to get there, how you can improve your workflow process, and so on. Keeping a figure in mind will give you something to chase.
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Expenditure
Not just the income, how much you spend in order to run a business is also important. The rent, salaries, utility bills, equipment, and employee allowances are all things you should consider. At these consistent for months, increasing, or decreasing? They will also help you decide the value of your business later on. Knowing how much you spend is an important metric to track to run a company successfully.
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Value of your business
The next up is the value of the business itself. Your need to track how much your business’s value is. This will bring in the needed information to you which can help you to
- Avoid falling into debt
- Know if you can profitably sell your business
- Know when can you sell your business profitably
The value of your business is simply the difference between how much you make and how much you owe. The latter can include all your expenses plus the loan repayment amount if you had taken one. Trying to keep the value in the desired range and tracking the same can help you always run a profitable business making the business itself an asset for you.
Starting an online business is a big deal in 2021. Especially because the world is going online. On one side where you could enjoy the bounty of lakhs of customers showing interest in services that you offer, you could also come face to face with challenges along the way. Keeping your business strategy and monitoring it all time will help you get where you have imagined yourself in the next few years.
