E-commerce is booming right now, the dream of all entrepreneurs who only have physical establishments and are looking to scale their businesses by entering the virtual market in order to sell to various places across the country. But, to pursue this path, does your company have a solid enough foundation to compete in this competitive arena?
In a highly globalized market, integrating your brand into this digital environment is a fundamental strategy for expanding sales reach, reaching more potential buyers, and consequently, prospecting corporate profits without geographical barriers. According to data released by BigDataCorp, as proof of this, of the more than 60 million companies registered in Brazil, approximately 36.35% of them (equivalent to approximately 22 million CNPJs) are already selling online.
The growth opportunities for a business in this universe are enormous – however, such brilliance can overshadow some important considerations that must be taken into account during this immersion. Consumers are increasingly demanding about who they buy from online, and given this high selectivity, certain missteps can cause brands to gradually lose potential customers.
According to another study by Opinion Box, there are five main causes that directly influence consumers abandoning online purchases: shipping costs, high prices, long delivery times, poor UX on the website or app, and finally, poor customer service on digital channels. These are seemingly simple points, but they will certainly make all the difference to the success or failure of an e-commerce business.
Considering this scenario, one of the most important points that entrepreneurs must keep in mind for their online business to truly generate enough revenue to pay for itself and achieve some initial profit for its owner is the creation of a strong enough foundation to structure the development of the online store and guide its journey. This is because the lack of such a foundation, even with good marketing efforts, can mean that, in certain market niches, potential customers arrive at the site through advertisements but do not complete their purchase.
Furthermore, payment terms, brand differentiation, competitor analysis, defined tone of voice and visual identity, as well as the target audience persona, cannot be left out of this process. This is because, even if just one of these points is misaligned, revenue could drop drastically, since, ultimately, every cog in the e-commerce machine must be precisely positioned to avoid problems in the first few months.
Those wishing to digitize their businesses should prioritize the points discussed above so that, in the event of any of these risks, they can address them in a timely manner, thus enabling them to venture into the world of e-commerce. This will not only avoid wasted investments by arriving empty-handed in this digital battlefield, but will also minimize the chances of their customers having a negative experience that damages their market image with partners and future buyers.
What we, as marketing professionals, should avoid is selling illusory ideas that are unattainable for our clients. After all, without client profit, who will pay for our services, right?
