The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the importance of online sales like never before. Consumers have also shifted towards online buying and make it the emerging trend in 2020. Most of the offline store owners have turned to e-commerce for survival. According to Wells Fargo Economics Group, the online sales trend makes the retail sales rise to 19%, compared to 12% from the past two years.
According to Episerver, a digital experience company, online traffic rose by 30% over a year, conversion rates were up by 22% over a year, and social media played a huge role by delivering 89% more traffic to retail sites. These numbers show the opportunity for retailers to evolve from window shopping trends into online shopping. There are so many technologies available that can help you to start with your e-commerce business, but sometimes too many options create confusion about what to pick up as per your needs.
Setting up e-commerce is costly, and it requires some advanced technologies to establish a smooth consumer experience. In this article, we will mention some must-have tech options that can help you in boosting your e-commerce business.
Merchant Account
Setting up smooth payment gateways is the most crucial component for better consumer experience. You can include multiple options like credit cards, debit cards, wallets, and more. But, first, you have to create a payment gateway and set up a merchant account with your bank. The merchant account can be used to keep the customer’s money until the bank approves it. Apart from banks, you can also set your merchant account through an independent source called “Independent Service Organization.”
Payment Gateway
After setting up your merchant account, you need to set a payment gateway for smooth transactions. Setting up a payment gateway allows your website to carry the transaction to a payment processing network. Small entrepreneurs can combine their merchant account with a payment gateway. There are plenty of payment gateway providers like Adyen, Stripe, PayPal, Amazon Pay, Sage Pay, and more. Some providers offer additional tools in their packages like a virtual terminal that allows phone-users to make payments through their phones.
Competitive Price
The payment gateway providers offer different packages as per your business requirements. Most of the providers charge a monthly fee as a percentage of the total sales you made. But in case your sales are exceeding, then you can also get customized packages as per your requirements.
Optimize your Website with Smart Search
For better conversion, you need to optimize your on-site search experience. Users who get results within an e-commerce search are most likely to end up purchasing that product. The optimized search results can help you in sorting the products based on the number of clicks, search queries, and add to cart options. It will also help you in choosing where to display relevant products to increase conversions.
Integrate E-commerce with ERP
As per Radial’s study, 70% of the average order value is used to fulfill the cost of an order. So, if you are getting more than 200 orders per day, you need to integrate your e-commerce store with a good ERP system.
ERP system can help your business by streamlining your operations and creating an end-to-end shopping experience for your customers. It helps you in reducing mistakes and saves admin overheads. All your back-office work can be automated with the help of an efficient ERP system, so you can focus on selling
.
Introduce Reward Programs
Improving your relationship with your customers is a crucial point to sustain in the e-commerce industry. Introducing a reward program for your consumers can help you boost your brand advocacy. You can create an engaging experience with referral and reward programs like VIP tiers, referral points, etc.
User-Generated Content
User-Generated Content in the form of customer reviews, shopper-submitted photos, and on-site Q&A can increase your engagement with your consumers and increase trustworthiness towards your brand. The on-site consumer content drives significant conversion rates. According to Yotpo’s reports, your customers are 161% more likely to purchase your product through user-generated content.
Email Marketing
Email marketing campaigns are a great tool to build a loyal community for your brand. But, nowadays everyone’s inbox is full of marketing and promotional emails. That allows you to stand out by sending personal and data-driven emails. You can use various automated email marketing tools to convert your one-time buyer into a loyal customer.
Artificial Intelligence for Better Customer Experiences
In today’s e-commerce industry, every shopper expects brands to understand and anticipate their needs and provide products as per their suitability. Artificial Intelligence can help you in delivering personalized experience to every consumer with essential data and insights.
Conclusion
Technology is the backbone of any e-commerce business. It connects sellers and customers on the web and enables the effective management of daily operations for a seller like customer orders, deliveries, payment, and more. With advanced technology, you can enhance your consumer’s experience with personalization and customization. The technology enables customers to purchase products in a fast and convenient way.
Mathew Anderson is a creative person who has been writing blogs and articles about cybersecurity. He writes about the latest updates regarding mcafee.com/activate and how it can improve the work experience of users. His articles have been published in many popular e-magazines, blogs, and websites.
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