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7 Steps to Create Good E-Commerce

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3pls, Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

7 Steps to Create Good E-Commerce

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In the midst of the recent release of the Best Online Shops 2021, Newsweek, DK Hardware CFO Art Goldman shares his thoughts on what it takes to build a solid and sustainable online sales strategy.

We call e-commerce a type of business that sells through an electronic store, either through an app or a website. When creating an electronic business, it is advisable that you follow these 7 steps to create good e-commerce.

Before starting, I have to warn you that -although it seems a simple and intuitive task- to be successful you must control many aspects and technical elements, as well as considering whether it is worth looking for an agency or business to help you or to do everything yourself. A good start is essential for the project to survive and continue in the following months and years. DK Hardware for instance was one of the first online retail stores in the United States and Canada back in 2008 and has continuously evolved to adapt to consumer needs and expectations.

The truth is that in order to be successful you must delegate many tasks to third parties; rarely can a person execute all the tasks alone. Hence, apart from these digital marketing tips, you should also take into account other legal advice and the different formulas that you can implement to associate yourself with the different professional elements that you require.

1) Analyze both internal and external elements that can harm your project

Logically, before starting any project, a good business plan must be made so that it has the success that we can expect from it. For this reason, the first step is to analyze both the internal and external elements that can harm your business. We already have a key piece that is choosing a good platform to manage the e-commerce or online retail perspective. In fact, if we do this analysis well, we can not only prevent some of those negative elements before they appear but also carry out future strategies so that if they arise, the team knows how to act against them before they escalate.

A) What is an internal analysis?

By internal analysis, we understand the observation of how the company is going to function and its financial resources. Here comes into play the work that legal consultants carry out in tax, labor, and financial law to advise entrepreneurs on how to optimize all these elements legally. However, you can also do it yourself, taking care of these aspects:

-Economic and financial situation of the company.
-Human resources and labor expenses.
-How to obtain financing.
-Structuring the distribution network to streamline expenses.
-How to formalize contracts with the different agents or subjects involved (employed, self-employed, subcontractors).

B) Analysis of external agents

This all about observing and analyzing the competition. It is especially important to have good tools that allow us to evaluate our main competitors in different aspects such as social networks and organic positioning in search engines.

On the other hand, from a legal point of view it is about analyzing the current legislation, being essential to observe the following normative aspects, which may vary in each state, country, and continent:

-Contractual law.
-Consumer protection laws.
-Data Protection law.
-Statute of the workers, the commercial and civil code to establish contractual labor relations.

2) Create a SWOT

From this list of steps to create good e-commerce, the next one I recommend is once we have analyzed our internal and external landscape, do a SWOT to synthesize the competitive advantages that we have; as well as the disadvantages, opportunities, and weaknesses.

Once we have the SWOT completed, it will be easier to identify our competitive advantage.

3) Identify the competitive advantage

The third step in creating e-commerce is to identify our competitive advantage. This must be maintained, expanded if possible, while always monitoring that the competition does not remove this differentiating element in the future. Hence, many entrepreneurs maintain that creativity must not only be maintained during the first stage of the business; but during throughout the endeavor.

Furthermore, if we identify the competitive advantage, it will be much easier to set prices.

4) Define the target audience

Once we have identified our competitive advantage, we must define our target audience. It is a difficult task on many occasions since it is not only about imagining it, but to try to find out who really buys those products and who is willing to buy them.

It is good to accompany it with interviews, prospecting techniques, surveys and focus groups.

5) Select a good e-commerce platform

Creating an electronic store is a difficult task which not only has to result in a functional platform with flawless user experience, but also be optimized for search engines and have all the appropriate psychological elements so that people who browse the website finally buy and acquire those products.

Therefore, there are many aspects and factors to take into account, like:

A) Choose a good domain.
B) Select the quantity of products that will be sold.
C) Hire a good hosting.
D) Select a technological platform.
E) Create an attractive and user-friendly design.
F) Use logistics and stock control software.

6) Communication strategy

Once the skeleton of the website has been configured and a coherent structure has been planned, you must create and design a solid online aligned communication message, led by professionals in the field. You can think of social media and public relations to convey your message initially and, if the budget allows, escalate that into aligned marketing campaigns with a traceable ROI. Google Ads and social media might surprise you with its efficiency and usual low costs for tailored advertisement.

7) Set product prices

Now that we have everything designed and that you have probably already executed each of the elements to create a good e-commerce environment, we will have to establish the prices for our products. It is good not only to have the advice of marketers on these prices; but also, from the tax consultant or financial advisor to help your company run properly and not have losses that endanger its validity.

To set prices on your online store, it is essential that you take into account the analysis of the situation that you did at the beginning of the project, both external and internal elements. Setting prices may sound quite easy, but in practice, a profoundly serious study is required to help you optimize each of the elements that make up the production and distribution chain of the company.

With this analysis we must enhance our strengths and create opportunities in our weaknesses, only when you know the profitable price of each product, you can later make discounts, promotions, offers, and bonuses on designated dates (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Black Friday, etc.).

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Featured in America’s Best Online Shops 2021 – Newsweek, DK Hardware is one of the largest online home improvement retailers for a variety of hardware manufacturers all over the United States and Canada.

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

How to Manage a Sustainable eCommerce Strategy After the Pandemic

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DK Hardware, online home improvement retail company, presents six reasons why it is essential to professionally manage an eCommerce platform, so that your business or entrepreneurship is consolidated according to the unwritten rules of the digital economy.

Understanding that the digital economy will continue to be one of the main economic engines in the post-COVID-19 stage, it is essential to ensure our business opportunities in the medium term. However, to achieve the previous, the development of skills to capitalize on it, as well as to face the challenges it entails, is key.

In the last quarter of 2020, the growth of eCommerce globally has been more than exponential. According to Statista, retail platforms have undergone a six percent global traffic increase between January and March 2020. Overall, retail websites generated 14.34 billion visits in March 2020, up from 12.81 billion global visits in January 2020. This is of course due to the global coronavirus pandemic which has forced millions of people to stay at home in order to stop the spread of the virus. How to continue with that sustainable success? DK Hardware shares six key thoughts.

1. Maximize investment. Digital commerce will be the area that will receive the most investment in the coming months (and therefore the most competitive), and these resources should be managed in an efficient and optimized way, since the sales process will be impacted from the pre-sale, the transaction, the after-sales, as well as the service and the customer experience.

2. The relationship with the client evolves. Customer consumption habits have changed and during the process e-commerce has won thousands of new consumers, so the evolution of online commerce management should represent an opportunity to resume direct relationships with consumers. Direct to consumer (D2C) solutions, such as CRMs, applications, custom quotes based on customer needs in regards to volume or project, and communication APIs will be unstoppable in the coming months, and you must understand what they are, how they work and what advantages they can bring to your project.

During the contingency, empathy and transparency played a leading role in customer service, and service was prioritized over sales. Learning to keep our commitments and manage the true needs of consumers in our favor will position us positively, and digitization will be a perfect ally to strengthen these new parameters and deliver true added value to our business or entrepreneurship.

3. New technologies in support of a contact-less society: Concepts such as voice assistants, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, mobile communication applications, omnichannel platforms, the Internet of Things, robotics and big data in real time, will be variables that must be included in the eCommerce strategy, and we must learn what are the advantages of each of these technologies to capitalize them according to our market segment, since it is intuited that the newly acquired habits will detonate in new needs and demands.

4. A new dimension of social commerce. Social networks are part of the daily life of consumers, and the growth in the use of these platforms during the pandemic has increased the relevance of the exchange of opinions, preferences, and recommendations, around brands, products, and services. The implementation of data analysis tools in real time, for example, that allow measuring customer sentiment, will be very suitable for the development of communication strategies and efficiency of digital campaigns, as well as an adequate conversion of sales interactions.

5. Logistics efficiency. Although the growth of eCommerce has become a great advantage, it also has challenges that are transforming the established foundations. If online sales have suffered from anything during this contingency, it is the lack of infrastructure and logistics to speed up the arrival of the product in the hands of the customer. Learning to digitize and automate delivery and delivery routes in the most efficient way for the good performance of our business is something that greater investment in digital training allows.

6. Care of personal data. The greater the demand, the greater the security gaps. Understanding the relevance, design and management of robust cybersecurity systems, authentication, and protection of personal data will transform in consumer trust and loyalty.

After the rapid evolution of eCommerce, we are obliged to evolve. Only change is guaranteed, and we must demand a perfect rhythm to do it. Training will always be the most important ally for adaptation and the creation of firm, robust, viable and disruptive projects. We do not see a better time than this to add true professionalism to eCommerce strategies, acquire leadership of transformation and thus achieve a new generation of businesses that face the demanding and competitive future.

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Featured in the Best Online Shops 2020 – Newsweek, DK Hardware is one of the largest online home improvement retailers for a variety of hardware manufacturers all over the United States and Canada.

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Impulsive Shopping and Post-Pandemic Consumer Behavior

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Picture this. You are in the supermarket in your neighborhood queuing to pay and see some delicious and totally irresistible chocolates that you did not even think about buying but that now are something that has become essential. That is what in marketing is called “impulsive buying” and, for example in the case of supermarkets, it is their main source of benefits.

Let’s take it up a notch. Have you thought about how you can translate an Instagram or Facebook like into a sale? That’s called Influencer Marketing, and I’ll show you how to unleash this online technique by starting a conversation and ultimately driving sales and establishing impulsive shopping, whether this was your initial objective or not. Remember, one like, share or comment, might equal one sale.

The Internet and mobile devices, as instant tools, favor impulsive purchases. Different promotions present on your website can trigger unplanned purchases by Internet users. Imagine being able to have those displays that are in the boxes of the supermarkets integrated into the design and shopping experience of your online store… How much extra income could they bring you? The experience may surprise you.

Flash sales (Time-limited): Flash sales are time-limited sales that are very often used in e-commerce to encourage impulsive buying. Generated by an attractive offer but limited in time, the user has to make a quick decision if he does not want to miss this opportunity. It works very well, especially in specific seasons where people are willing to spend more money (Christmas, back to school, Halloween).

Free shipping: The hook is to set a minimum purchase price so that the shipping costs are free and, if the customer does not yet have that amount, offer low-cost products in the checkout process that achieve the minimum required quantity. If we use products that far exceed the minimum amount, it will not work, but if they are inexpensive and related to the purchase that has been made, success is practically guaranteed.

Stock level: Showing available stocks can, to some extent, favor impulsive buying. If the number of products in stock is low, the interested visitor will tend to buy their product for fear of not finding it again at the price proposed in your online store.

Give away discount coupons or free products (gift): On condition of making a purchase, of course. This type of tactic has been shown to also boost sales since the customer must buy in order to receive their gift.

Expiration date:  Discounts on these types of items range between 20 percent and 50 percent of their initial price. For example, if they are products that expire the next day, the price is usually cut in half, but if we talk about products that have weeks to expire, the discount stays between 20 percent and 30 percent. Stores free themselves of products that would end up in the garbage and without any benefit if not bought, while customers get a good deal for a product that they would either buy or just purchase to take advantage of that specific occasion.

After the pandemic

From toilet paper in the early pandemic to bleach and flour, during this crisis consumers have modified its consumption and its way of making the purchase. But what will the consumer be like after pandemic? It is evident that many consumers have had to test the online channel as a result of this crisis, and they have realized how comfortable and safe it is for them.

The confinement has made the segment of the population that least bought online, those over 55-60 years old, now the group that needs it the most, especially those over 70, who are the most vulnerable to the disease and those who, therefore, should be more confined and without the help of their families. Although the consumer preferred to buy some specific products in person; if consumers verify that the product they receive at home meets their expectations, it is very likely that after the crisis it will continue to do so.

On the same line of shifting consumer behavior, for instance, some of the most popular products today are related to protecting employees and separating consumers with employees, like speak-thru devices, trays and shelves, and sliding service windows.

Where do impulsive purchases predominate: in physical stores or on the internet?

Physical stores are the main claim to get a customer to buy without having thought about it before. This fact is partly logical because most impulsive products are food, clothing, drinks, and personal care products. If discounts and promotions are added to that, the mix is ​​perfect. Supermarkets, shopping malls, and convenience stores are the central places for this type of sales.

Furthermore, some stores go the extra mile by using techniques that play with your senses, by releasing exquisite coffee and fresh cookie smell to get you in, even if they’re not in the food business.

Online advertising is the least appreciated to generate buying impulses, but that does not mean that their tactics are useless: Brands that use digital platforms as the first approach and establish the first connection have the potential to reap the benefits when the time comes to make the final purchase in the store, according to a study by Geoblink. 69 percent of those surveyed stated having bought between one and five products spontaneously in the last week, while 26 percent admitted having made between six and ten purchases of this type.

The millennial generation is the one that buys the most on impulse: a small group of 7 percent have bought up to 11 items without foresight in the last week. The previous facts serve as a great opening remark of the aforementioned Influencer Marketing technique. If you got until this part of the story, it means that there’s impulsive buyer material within you.

Influencer Marketing is nothing more than getting the right people to talk about you, firstly triggering your target audience to talk about you, secondly prompting that audience talking to each other about you, and finally you and the audience listening to each other. When this two-way conversation is in place, it is very probable that some of your social media likes, whether on Instagram or Facebook, are in fact translating into sales in your physical or online store.

There are a couple of exceptions to this rule on digital impulsive buying: the first, that those who already have a subscription to a platform like Amazon, which avoids having to go through several stages before buying, are better able to combat the impulsive factor. The second: when the object to buy is an electronic item. 55 percent of the participants chose the Internet as the preferred medium for the impulsive purchase of these items.

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Featured in the Best Online Shops 2020 – Newsweek, DK Hardware is one of the largest online home improvement retailers for a variety of hardware manufacturers all over the United States and Canada.