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E-commerce has grown to be a multi trillion company and is growing by the day. With the effect of the COVID pandemic there was a giant boost of online shopping and now that we are getting to the new normal the numbers are not going anywhere. Online is the future of retail. People have found that the ease and convenience of shopping in the comfort of their own home is the future. With the emergence of new online shops daily making sure that yours is seamlessly designed with the consumer in mind is going to ensure success. Here are some tips that you can use to make sure that you will beat your competition and increase your profitability.

Optimize the Buying Process

The first thing that you are going to need is a beautifully designed website that entices customers to shop. When you have an up to date website customers will have more confidence when shopping with you. A website can be pricey however so working through sites like wordpress will let you create your new website at a fraction of the cost of hiring a developer. Another thing that you can focus on is Optimizing your Checkout experience. When a checkout is not optimized there is a 21% chance that your consumer is going to go on to an alternative. We want to ensure that there is the least amount of shopping cart abandonment possible cause the bottom line is that it is lost revenue.

Delivery

Now that we live in the time with prime shipping, shipping time is crucial in ensuring consumer happiness. It is stated that 87% of customers feel that they take that into consideration when shopping for an item or when looking to reorder from a website. We all know that customer acquisition is a lot more expensive than keeping an already existing customer. We want to do everything in our power to ensure that the customer has a seamless experience and will be happy to come back and shop more. A good way to do this if you are a company is working with fulfillment centers. Companies like Complemar have multiple locations that are strategically located around the United States to ensure fast shipping times. They will also take out all of the grunt work of packaging and shipping them yourself. With all of that taken care of you can then focus on progressing your company more.

E-commerce is not going away anytime soon and it is only going to grow. If you have a brick and mortar location and do not have an online presence it is time to put a little work in. This will lead to increased revenue and being able to reach customers that were previously inaccessible. Customer satisfaction key in this whole process and if you implement some of the ideas that were mentioned in this blog you will no problem growing into a successful e-commerce company.

Content marketing is really the pinnacle of what marketing truly is. Content marketing is a strategy that is designed to generate revenue by creating and distributing value by creating content that attracts a defined and targeted audience. If done well this can create thousands in additional revenue and can move your business to the next level. Here are some ways you can generate revenue from content marketing!

Know Your Audience!

Knowing who your target demographic is for your item or service is crucial in having a successful campaign. This requires you to look at shopping habits and doing testing to make sure you are able to target the marketing with your products and services. At the start of every marketing campaign, there should be ample research so you know your customer inside and out. A good way to do this is to create customer personas. This is when you make a fictional character that is an ideal customer. This can help you think more like your customer so you will be able to make your marketing campaign through the lens of the consumer. This is all to ensure that you are going to be targeting the customers that are going to help you grow your company. An example of how this can be put into place is the language that is used in the content. The way you speak to a high-level executive in a B2B campaign differs significantly from if you create a B2C campaign where your target audience is teenagers. Doing research into these customers and knowing the lingo of the industry can help to ensure that the customers relate more to your content and have a more likely chance to convert into loyal and returning customers.

Unique Value Proposition

This is crucial when you are selling products because this will show the customer how you are better than the competition. It can be small things that will help solve their pain points, but it is always necessary when selling products to be able to describe why your product is innately better. You can do this through storytelling and doing research into your competitors and seeing what you do better. To get a loyal customer base it needs to be more than a great product they need to feel connected to the company. This can be through sponsorships or influencers. When someone sees their favorite celebrity endorse a product they are more likely to try it out and see if it is as good as they say. You can also tell a story through meaningful content on social media platforms where customers can see that you are actively trying to engage in the community. A great example of this is Wendy’s. Wendy’s has a very relatable way that they interact with the community on Twitter and because of that since starting up their new Twitter campaign their mentions have increased by 200%.

Research and Information

Every campaign is not going to be successful, but the important thing is that you can learn from the mistakes that you have learned and gained data. Having data on your audience will make sure that the next time you are running a campaign you will be able to better target your audience. So no matter what there is not a failed campaign because you can always learn as a company and keep the data, so you don’t repeat it. This can also be for the campaigns that are incredibly successful, you can see why it worked so well and replicate it. When a marketing campaign is based on research and statistics it is stated that they have a over 150% ROI, so it is crucial to do the dirty work before creating content.

Content marketing is not going away anytime soon, with more and more companies moving out of brick and mortar stores it makes it easily accessible for your customers to go onto your website or social media pages at a click of a button. It is crucial that you are active in content creation because even working on a small budget it can generate revenue and pull in potential leads and customers

With millions of people buying products online the thought of conversion rate is always at the forefront of your mind. A conversion is when a customer goes onto your website and does what you intend them to do, with this blog I am going to be talking about how you can get customers to buy your product at an increased rate. The fear of missing out is something that all shops have so here are some tips that you can implement to make sure that you are selling as many of your products as possible.

Limited Sales

The internet is a fast passed environment and you need to make sure that your customer is aware of that as well. They will be more likely to buy a product if they know that a sale is going to end soon or there is a limited amount of product. This is why you see large retailers run sales that may only last a few hours. This is to incentivize customers to buy their product when they first see it. This is called FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out. This will create a sense of urgency for the customers and make them more inclined to buy your product. A good example of this is to put a counter on your website that is counting down that tells the customer that the sale is going to end soon. Another way to achieve this is to have a banner underneath the product that states “10 items remaining”, even if you have thousands of products in inventory putting this under the product and having it countdown, then resetting it is a great way to make customers more likely to buy the product the moment they see them.

Social Media

Social media is a great and cheap way to sell your products, if utilized correctly the ROI on a campaign is extremely high. One way that you can do this is to link your website to your social media posts, so when a prospective customer sees an item that they like on Instagram for example, they can click on the post itself and it will send them directly to the page on your website where they can then buy the product. They will be more inclined to buy the product because on social media all of the information can be found under a post and maybe even reviews if other consumers have talked about it under the post. Another way that it can help is that they can visualize the item better and then in return feel more comfortable buying your product.

Accurate Images or Descriptions

When customers are reading a product description and viewing the images this is where you can sell your product. Having professionally taken images and an accurate description can win over most of your prospective customers because here is where they ultimately make their decision on if they need the item or not. Be transparent with your descriptions and make sure that the customer knows exactly what they are getting because they can’t see the item in person they need to get an image in their head if this is exactly what they need. Remember that putting in key descriptive information at the top of the page is ideal and if the customer wants to read more you can then add a description button under the product.

eCommerce is only going to be growing in the coming months as brick and mortar shops are becoming more obsolete. The tips above if implemented can rake in thousands of dollars in extra revenue if done properly. When running a company everyone wants to make sure that every customer that lands on their page are going to convert, so why not make sure you have the best opportunity to

The trends of the last few years have all been pushing out traditional brick-and-mortar stores, and more and more shopping is going digital. This was expedited by the pandemic. eCommerce is now a must-have no matter what your business is, With lower overhead and the ability to reach customers all over the world it is a no-brainer that now is the time to add eCommerce to your company. By doing so you may think that marketing expenditures are going to skyrocket. Paid advertising is a way to go, but there are more ways to drive traffic to your website. Here are 4 ways that you can get more traffic and conversions on your eCommerce website without spending a dime.

Reviews

This is a form of referral marketing and can do wonders for your business. It is stated that 81 percent of customers say that when hearing a good review from a friend or family member will heavily influence their decision to buy a product. A great way to get these reviews is to set up an automated email that is sent out to every consumer about two weeks after they have purchased your product. Then they can write an honest review. Another thing way that you can get referrals is to encourage them to post something on their social media using a specific hashtag to win a freebie. This could be a great way for you to get your name out there.

Upselling

This may not increase your traffic but it will increase your conversion and revenue. It was found that upselling can drive an increase of 4 percent per customer. That number may seem inconvenient on its on but multiplied by thousands, it can bring in more revenue than you’ve ever seen. A prime example of this is when Amazon started upselling on its website it saw a 35 percent increase in sales within the first year. Bundling things together is only going to help you in the long run. We all know it costs way more to get a new client than an existing one, so why not make sure that both parties are happy.

SEO

Search engine optimization is a free way to make sure that your website is optimized to show up as high as possible in an organic search. This is possible by having a website with relevant information, use of good keywords, backlinking, and a good URL. There are many other things that you can do to make sure that you are on the first page of a search, but it is a tedious and time-consuming task. It is recommended that you have a person dedicated to doing this for your company because it is ever-changing. There are certain tools that you can use however that may help you along the way. LinkedIn Learning is a great way to learn the basics before implementing and searching for keywords that are relevant to your company. You can also use Google Keyword Planner to make sure that all of the keywords that you want to use are relatable and optimized to your website.

With eCommerce growing at a rate that is unexplainable and showing no sign of slowing, there is no better time than right now to start your journey and create an online shop. The most valuable thing that you will be giving up is your time, but with the right guidance and research, the possibilities are endless.

3PL stands for third-party logistics and if you are in the eCommerce market you know how important they can be. There could be a multitude of reasons that you are shopping around to see what else is out there, they may have changed their pricing so they are no longer competitive, or you have just simply outgrown the provider and are looking for bigger and better. It is always hard to switch and to know when so here are some tips that you can look for that may tell you that it is time to start looking for a new 3PL provider.

Scaleability

When first looking to partner with a 3PL provider you are thinking about cost-effectiveness and accuracy, there is not much thought if they will be able to handle your capacity in the coming years. This is something that may become a problem if your eCommerce product becomes extremely popular, if you are working with a company that is not willing to work with you and is not growing with you they may end up holding you back. They may not have the technology or space to be able to handle your business and this will always end poorly. So it is always natural to feel as if you have outgrown a company and stepping away and looking for a new partner is a part of the business.

Lack of accuracy

When customers are constantly returning items or getting the wrong items it reflects poorly on your company and not necessarily the fulfillment provider. Your company is the front-facing company so when there is a problem they are most likely going to blame your company for the mistake. In a world where customer retention is the key to success, if lack of accuracy is a constant occurrence it could heavily affect your company. This could also lead to complaints about your products if they are getting shipped damaged or to the wrong addresses. It is stated that 92 percent of customers are more likely to trust their peers when doing research on a product, so if your fulfillment partner is doing a poor job and that is getting relayed into poor reviews, you will lose out on future customers and revenue

Overpriced

Lastly and most importantly, if the 3PL provider is charging an arm and a leg and there are more and more invisible costs every year. This may be a good hint that it may be time to start shopping around and seeing if you are paying a competitive rate. When first entering the market there may not have been many companies that were willing to work with you, so most likely you were going to pay a premium, but the more business that you bring the better rate that you can get. The best you can do is find a 3PL that works the best for you, sometimes the cheapest isn’t the best. One thing that you should make sure of is that the company that you are talking to has strong relationships with a carrier so that you can reap the benefits of the discounts that they get in shipping.

This may be a stressful time, but if you think about a long-term goal changing your 3PL provider may be one of the best decisions that you can make. The best thing you can do is take your time and chose a 3PL that is willing to grow with your company and has your best interest in mind. Not everyone is going to have the same result with a certain company, so it is important to do your research!

In this eCommerce boom, shipping time is getting more and more important. People are expecting their goods faster because of the Amazon effect. They do not like waiting a week for their products anymore. Most consumers will feel dissatisfied if they get the product after 4 days after purchase. Here are some tips and tricks that you might find to keep your customers coming back for more and having the most efficient shipping process you can have.

Software

It is easy to say that when you are running an eCommerce business that ships out items daily, it is crucial to know where all of your inventory is kept, so when an order is placed you can easily find it. When working with a third-party fulfillment company they will all have software that is put in place to make sure that when getting your items off of the floor they will be done in a timely manner. This is very important because this can ensure speed and accuracy, so customers will remain satisfied and coming back for more.

Address Suggestions

When in the shopping cart add address suggestions when the customer is checking out. We have all made that mistake where we mistyped our address because we are going too fast. If you add address suggestions it may stop the buyer from making these errors. If these errors are caught you will not have to worry about address corrections from the carriers.

Plan Shipping Carefully

When looking into which carrier would be the best for you. Research is always key. Finding out who has the lowest rates with the least hidden fees is going to save your company a lot of money. Another way to save money is if working with a third party company they often get discounted rates from shipping companies, so it may be the best economical decision to look into all of the options when your company has reached a certain capacity.

Location

Lastly, Location is extremely important, having a centralized location will make sure that all of your items will arrive to your customer as fast as possible. A good way to do this is to talk to a fulfillment company and hear their plan in making sure that they are going to be in a centralized location for your customers. You will need to collect data and find out where the majority of your sales are coming from so you can relay that information.

Shipping is a crucial part of the eCommerce system and can determine if your customers come back and buy more for you. No one likes waiting around for something that they have already paid for. Focusing on some of the points above and implementing them will increase your overall customer satisfaction and retention. If you are looking for a third-party logistics company to help you grow your company, contact Complemar and we will put all of the systems that were mentioned into place for you. Look on our website and contact us today for a free consultation.

Ecommerce has grown at an incredible rate this past year and going into quarter three there is no sign of it slowing down. This new growth may have forced your company to work overtime to meet the needs of your new customers. You may be overrun with orders that it has now become a full-time job to package and process all of your goods. Most people don’t think of fulfillment until they need to or it is too late. Everyone thinks of an amazing product, but most don’t think about the logistics of shipping or packaging the product. That is what outsourcing your fulfillment will help you to do. At a point, it becomes a business expense that is essential to the growth of your company. Here are some clues to look for so you know it is time that you need a fulfillment company!

Shipping is getting more and more expensive

When working with a fulfillment company you should be able to get more than just the benefit of peace of mind. An added benefit is that most companies that do specialize in outsourcing fulfillment usually have special deals with shipping companies so that you are guaranteed a discounted rate. Sitting down and adding up all of the costs that it takes for your company to do the shipping itself, it may be seen that it would be cost-effective if you getting someone else to do it. Looking at the invisible costs like the time that you spent packaging your products is something that you need to take into account when deciding if this is the best decision for your company.

Lacking speed and accuracy

When orders are starting to pile up you will be faced with the added stress that you are going to have to package and ship the items as fast as possible. This can lead to accuracy problems and unhappy customers. Lack of speed can also become an issue because you have one location that you are shipping from, when working with a fulfillment company they can direct you to centralized locations to make sure that your product is getting to the customer as fast as possible. With eCommerce getting faster and faster, mainly because of Amazon, most people are now expecting packages within 4 days of placing their order. This is crucial for you to keep your customers happy and not going to your competition.

Complex projects

It becomes hard when you start to offer complex items on your website like subscription boxes. When shipping just a singular thing a box it is very simple you just put the said item in the box and ship it out, but when kitting is involved it needs many items that may be at different locations in your shop. This can make you forget items or just take too long to assemble. When outsourcing they will be able to kit all of your packages in the most effective and cost-effective way.

Most people think that outsourcing fulfillment is just too expensive and that they could never do it, but with the right research, it can push your company to be more profitable than ever. Time value is a big invisible cost that you have to think about when running a company, wouldn’t your time be better spent working on marketing campaigns, or new items rather than packing up orders, you might even save money in shipping costs. So if you think that your company is that step, contact Complemar and we will set up a free consultation to see if our company is right for you!

Everyone knows that the trend of buying and selling online is a wave that none of us can stop. Slowly brick-and-mortar retailers are moving online to save on overhead and try their luck in the online market. All of us know of one company that hit the gold mine when they moved their business online and we have all lusted to be like them, and there is still a chance. The trend is not going away and your company can be the next company to hit the gold mine! Here are some tips that you can use to help grow or start an eCommerce company.

Products!

It all starts with your product, if you have a product that may not be desirable or is of poor quality it will never do well. Cutting corners will not get you customer retention and will not let your company succeed to the next level. So before starting an online business it is good to find a product that is going to get rid of niche customer’s pain points. If the product is going to benefit one customer’s life, there is a chance that there are going to be more like them that are willing to buy your product. The only way to find this is out is through extensive research and product testing.

Customer Service

We have all had companies that left us with a sour taste in our mouths. We want to offer our customers the best experience that they can have with our product and the motto “The customer is always right” is a great way to make sure they walk away happy. When dealing with problems that are bound to arise it is always best to look at it from the customer’s perspective and try to do anything in your power that both parties walk away happy. Some examples that you can use are flexible shipping, free returns, and communication. Having a speedy response time is key to make sure that the customers do not get frustrated, with that being said keep your information front and center so that customers can find where to contact you easily.

Product Transparency

This is key in making sure that your customers know what they are getting when they are purchasing your product. A good way to do this is having fantastic photography that captures your product in great detail and making sure that your descriptions are accurate. This will help customers digitize your business so they feel comfortable buying your product, we all have to remember that these customers have not seen your product in person so describing your product accurately and in an error-free manner will make you look reputable and professional.

Customer Reviews

Lastly, if you have done all of those things you will get customer reviews to back up your claims. Having these are crucial because customers are more likely to trust those reviews than ones that the company puts out themselves. If you put yourself into the customer’s shoes, we all read the reviews when shopping online to make sure that we are getting a quality product. Starting off with negative reviews will be bad for business and make you look dishonest.

The things on this list are a good start for you when looking into making an online eCommerce site. Just remember like everything it takes time, be patient. IF you have a good product and branding you are bound to succeed. 

Branding is one of the most used buzz words that are being thrown out in meetings, it is used for many things like personal brand, business branding, off-brand. It is a word that can be used to describe what your company or self is really about. You use this as a descriptor when you are explaining your identity, voice, and what you want your customers to perceive your company as. Here are some tips that you can use to make sure you brand your business in the most efficient and effective way possible.

 
Understand Your Audience

The best way when first trying to create a brand identity within your company is to understand your audience. The best way to do that is to create personas for your ideal customers. For example, I will create a primary and secondary target audience and from there I would create a fictional individual that will match the ideal person from each of the target audiences. You things that you will list are things like demographics, jobs, education, and hobbies that they might enjoy. Doing this will make you see things from the perspective of the customer, you will get an understanding of what they really want and from then on you will be able to market to them in the best way possible.

Utilize Social Media

It is stated that 79 percent of the U.S. population use some sort of social media weekly. Social media is the best way to differentiate yourself from other companies that offer almost the same item or service that you provide. Social media is also the cheapest form of advertising. It can have an astounding effect on company perceptions from an outside audience. A great example of this is Wendy’s. They have created a brand voice that is full of satire and comedy on all of their social media.

 
Make Customers Your Number One Priority

 You can never have a great brand if you have a bad reputation with your customers. You can save money on advertising and marketing because when you have the reputation of a great company word spreads. So focusing on customer service will always pay off in the long run. Thinking about this from a customer perspective, think about what you do when you are a first-time customer for a company. You look at their reviews and their reputation. This where you can brand yourself without marketing and advertising. Individuals will always trust the word of others way more than things that your company will put out.

When your business is growing at a rate that you can not sustain it is extremely stressful to think about the next step. At Complemar we specialize in fulfillment and e-commerce and want to help you every step of the way. When bringing on more people and employing a company to do your packing, kitting, or shipping it might be hard to find the company that is suitable for you. This is a big leap in your company and drastically changes how current operations are run, but at Complemar we think of you as a valued customer that we want to help grow and see succeed. Here are some things that we do that you could find beneficial.

Provide unlimited support to our clients

We are there to make your life easier and with just a call or email or dedicated staff is here to help you with all of the problems or questions that you may have. Another thing that we provide is a project manager assigned to each of our clients, so there will always be someone that is there to solve your problems. Complemar has an extensive Onboarding process that takes all of our clients through how we operate and specialize it for the company so that they are going to get examples and figures that they are going to be seeing on a daily or monthly basis. We are here to make sure that all of your concerns are taken care of to the best of our ability and will make sure that at the end of the day both parties are satisfied. Even though our company is growing steadily and has large clients, no matter the size we still give an individualized experience to each of the companies that work with us.

Multiple Fulfillment Locations

Location is crucial because, in the long run, this will save you money and maybe even get your product to the customer faster. Choosing a company that has multiple locations in optimal parts of the United States is important, Complemar has locations that are strategically placed across the United States to make sure that your packages get to where they need to go in the shortest amount of time possible. A centralized location can be helpful because studies say that if a customer waits more than 7 days for a package they expect the shipping to be free. When talking to us and figuring out where your clientele is, we will make sure that we will choose a location or multiple locations that will suit your company and make it the most efficient process possible.

Complemar has a proven track record over many years of customer retention along with being one of the best at what we do. Our state-of-the-art technology will make sure that at every step of the process you will know exactly what is going on. We are extremely transparent and at the end of the day, we are here to help you grow. So what are you waiting for? Visit our website today to talk to one of our fantastic account executives to see if we are a good fit for your company!