How Your e-Commerce Store Can Compete with the Big Brands

Are you thinking about starting an e-commerce store online? Or perhaps you have one already but you don’t believe it can never compete alongside some of the big brand websites like Amazon?

Here’s the good news, according to a  new survey by Forrester Research,  the web has created a world stage where consumers no longer need to value brands.

This means that your website can compete for market share alongside big brands.  But to do this you’ll need to make sure your site gets found in the search engines and that you pay attention to conversion rate optimisation.

Here’s the thing, almost 60 per cent of UK shoppers have not decided on the brand before researching or buying a product online.

With e-commerce sites like eBay and Amazon battling it out for the cheapest prices on the internet, it comes as no surprise that online shoppers are weighing up their options.

What’s interesting about the results of this survey is that 86 per cent of respondents use ratings and reviews for online purchases.  So if you want to improve your conversion rate optimisation, you simply have to have a rating and review system on your website.

Patricia Evans, research director at Forrester, said many companies see integrating user-generated content as an end in itself and fail to appreciate the value it can create, both online and in-store.

“Businesses are still scared by how much they’ll get, that they won’t get enough, or that customers will say something negative,” she said. “They have the approach still that we tell our customers what to want.”

Evans believes that the UK is a relatively mature market for e-commerce, with annual order value per customer the highest in the world at about £576, compared with £480 in the US.

And another thing an additional 44 per cent of shoppers check for product prices online before buying products in-store.  This is great news if you also have a local bricks and mortar business to complement your e-commerce store.  It means that you have got two channels for selling your goods.

Of the 500 shoppers surveyed, 42 per cent use their mobile phone while shopping. The research identified that out of that 42 per cent, 16 per cent used it to compare prices with other stores.

Competing on price is something that I’m always wary of.  It can start a downhill spiral that can kill your business.  What this research doesn’t pick up on is that most people look at prices but that is only one factor in their buying decision.

Reviews and ratings will have a huge effect on your conversion rate as well as every element of your website’s design, colour scheme, wording, guarantees and cost of shipping.

Here’s the thing, if you make it easy for someone to buy from you and they feel they can trust you, the likelihood is that they will be happy to pay slightly more from a website that is easy to use with a simple checkout, has good feedback and free delivery.  It’s all about convenience.

So before you jump into the battle for the cheapest prices for whatever you’re selling, have a look at other ways you can use conversion rate optimisation to maximise the profit from every visitor you get to your website.