E-Commerce changes as rapidly as the internet thanks to the changing demands of consumers who look for new brands and businesses to meet their needs. An eCommerce site will need to prepare for these demands and changes in order to upgrade their repertoire to meet consumer needs and expectations. This means new tools are needed to empower eCommerce marketers and professionals to meet the needs of an ever-changing industry. The best way to meet and exceed these expectations are through the following five tools to integrate into your existing framework to increase sales and improve customer retention.
1.) MailChimp
One of the most effective channels for growth and to drive sales is through email marketing. E-Commerce professionals know that one of the biggest returns on investment can be achieved through email marketing, and one of the best tools available is MailChimp. Although many have heard of MailChimp, or a similar email marketing tool, MailChimp is still one of the most effective and user-friendly tools available on the web. It is still considered the market leader when it comes to marketing software and has established itself as the best of the best: according to one survey conducted by MailChimp, 73% of its users are from the eCommerce industry.
Not only is it considered the elite email marketing tool, it is also allows users to send bulk emails and track orders that are generated through email campaigns. Because of this, users gain insights on email effectiveness, allowing users to improve campaigns and adjust their content strategy to meet their customers’ needs.
2.) Abandon Aid
We’ve all done it: it’s late, we’re shopping online, and decide to go to sleep before checking out. This is a major hurdle for online stores with roughly 67% of online shoppers abandoning their carts before checking out. There are many reasons that may have caused customers to logoff before checking out: could it be a technical error, like slow load times? Or is it due to the cost of the items in tow? To alleviate this loss of potential sales, Abandon Aid has developed a way to reel potential customers back in by sending automated emails to those who left their shopping carts to fend for themselves.
Abandon Aid’s emails are automated, so there is no need to deep-dive to find out which customers have yet to purchase your wares. These emails can be customized templates to remind customers of their orders and adds incentives to push for the sale, like discounts, special offers, or free shipping. You can even get reports to analyze and improve your metrics.
3.) BuzzSumo
Content marketing strategies can be one of the biggest challenges of online marketers, and to be successful is even more difficult. One of the best tools to improve your content strategy is through BuzzSumo. Based entirely on data analytics like social shares, likes, upvotes, and backlinks, BuzzSumo allows users to search keywords to find popular content. This allows content marketers to focus on topics that have been successful in other content campaigns and discover the most successful strategies with similar content. Once an e-marketer has discovered the most shared and clicked links on the web, they can then address how to improve their campaign.
With this information, content marketers can identify where these links are shared and reach out to power-user Twitter accounts to share links. BuzzSumo also allows users to organize lists of influencers to share their content, increasing readers for their eCommerce blog and in turn driving sales through their eCommerce site.
4.) Zendesk
Customer retention is the easiest, best, and most effective way to remain profitable, regardless of whether your are online or offline commerce. As your business expands, it will become more difficult to reach out to each customer inquiry and respond within a timely manner. If you are concerned about this feat or hiring a specialist, Zendesk can help enhance your support without burdensome costs. It has numerous tools to advance your customer service from resolving tickets, creating FAQs, responding with template emails, and tracking customer service performance.
It also collects how often an issue of question is raised by your customers and compiles it one place. This allwos eCommerce marketers to gain insight on areas of concern, resolve underlying issues, and implement corrective or preventive actions. This data also lets users create and send surveys to see how they can improve their service, and in turn, customer retention.
5.) Ecwid
Before needing to use the above tools, eCommerce professionals need to build their online store. The best tool to setup your online store is Ecwid, an eCommerce platform that creates friendly, sleek user interface. It also allows users to sell anywhere, whether online of in-person, making it perfect for small to medium-sized businesses. Ecwid has a forever free plan, doesn’t charge for setup, and has no transaction fees. It is also used by over a million vendors across 175 countries, making it easy to catapult your business from regional to international.
Ecwid acts as a shopping cart and can easily be integrated into your current website, business page on Facebook, WordPress blog, or mobile app. It syncs all of your storefronts and can be managed from one control panel. This makes it perfect for any business to function in the eCommerce marketplace. Further,
Ecwid will organize your products, track your orders, and accept credit card payments through its ultra-secure transaction process.
Even if you have a brick-and-mortar storefront, or sell at farmers’ markets or craft fairs, Ecwid is a reliable way to track your inventory and keep your products synchronized both online and offline. It can even be tied to your Square or Vend app, keeping everything organized and making you efficient (and profitable).
If you are in eCommerce, make sure that you build your storefront with Ecwid to maintain efficiencies and remain organized. From there, you can build your customer base, improve your customer service, and expand your reach with the other available tools.
