Essentials For Building A Profitable Ecommerce
BusinessRobyn Anderson
ecommerce Consultant
ROBYN ANDERSON
• Co-Founder of Orange Collar Media• Magento Gold Level Partner• Consulted with over 100 ecommerce Merchants• Developed & Managed Digital Strategy & Marketing Programs for OCM & Clients• Owns Two ecommerce Websites
FOCUS AREAS• Ecommerce Strategy
• Roadmap• Platform Selection• Internal Operations
• Marketing & Merchandising • Customer Persona• PPC• Visual Merchandising• Email Marketing• Marketplaces
• Ecommerce Analysis• Trends• New Features• Best Practices• Conversion Analysis
ECOMMERCE STRATEGY• Create a Road Map• Select The Right Platform For Business Requirements• Create A Solid Internal Process
CREATE A ROADMAP • Check in Points 3, 6, 9, 12 Months• Platform Selection• Development Timeline• Brand Identity • UI & Design• Data Strategy • Feature & Functionality Outlined
SELECT THE RIGHT PLATFORM• Shopify, Demandware, Hybris, Magento, Woo Commerce• Robust & Flexible• Merchandising Ability• Does it Follow Best Practices• Community Involvement- Developers & Users• Costs
ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS
MERCHANDISING & SEARCH• Can you rearrange the order that your products are shown?• How do you add “featured” products or upsells? • Does your platform come with advanced Search?• Will you need to invest in 3rd party search tools like Nextopia
or Celebros?
PLATFORM ECOSYSTEM• Can you easily find developers? • Are you locked in to working with one group? • Are there tested and approved integrations and modules
available for use? • Can your platform disappear due to acquisition or buy out?
COSTS• How will the platform you choose save you $? • What is the total monthly cost to run your ecommerce business?
• Hosting• Platform fee’s• Support• Daily maintenance
INTERNAL PROCESS/ OPERATIONS• Logistics Strategy • Accounting• Inventory• Order to Ship • Branding Within Process• Customer Service
MARKETING & MERCHANDISING• Identify Your Customer• Analyze Traffic Data• PPC • Inbound• Affiliate• Visual Merchandising• Email Marketing• Marketplaces
IDENTIFY YOUR CUSTOMER• Persona Development• Hobbies, Interests,
& Passions• Time of Day They
Shop• Where They Live• Income Level• Identify The Customer’s
Buying Journey
ANALYZE DATA• When are your traffic levels highest? • Review Keywords & Search Terms• Geographical Location• Return visitors vs. New visits• Mobile device traffic• Traffic Sources
PAY PER CLICK• Monitor & Evaluate ROI• Search Engines & Your Industry• Use a Call to Action in your Ad• Make Sure the Landing Page is Relevant to the Ad• Constantly Add New Keywords & Negative Keywords
to Pinpoint Customer’s Search Criteria
INBOUND/SEO• Content Meets Context• Create Content Your Customer is Looking For• Blog• Social Media Management• Create Downloadable Items • Become the Trustworthy Brand
BUYERS JOURNEY
Awareness Consideration
Decision
Attract
convert Close Deligh
t
VISUAL MERCHANDISING• Understand Buyers Journey• Be Clear About Your Products- Descriptions & Price• Quality Product Images• Related Products, Customer Reviews, Upsell Opportunities• Offer something! Free shipping, % off, Quality Guarantee
EMAIL MARKETING• Email Marketing Clients• Personalization• Automated Work Flows• Coupon Codes• Subscriptions• Exclusive Memberships/ Clubs
MARKETPLACES• Affiliates• Ebay• Amazon
ECOMMERCE ANALYSIS• Trends• New Features• Best Practices • Support• Conversion Analysis
TRENDS• You’re Always Out of Style• Personalization• Clean Design• Flat Buttons and Calls to Action• Simplicity
NEW FEATURES• Ecommerce Platform Ecosystem• Loyalty Reward Points• Gamification• Exclusive Memberships• Interactive Apps• Enhanced Search
BEST PRACTICES• Use your blog to answer your customers questions for search queries• Write original Product Descriptions• Use appealing Titles & Meta Descriptions for people not bots• Make sure your site runs FAST…REALLY FAST• Must be Mobile• Connect as people not just a brand. Use an About us page with real
information about the people behind the brand.
CONVERSION ANALYSIS• Product Performance• Purchase Funnel Performance• A/B Test• Competitor Analysis• Analyze Pages with High Bounce Rates• Design Trends
• Button color
REVIEW• Essentials for building a profitable ecommerce business:
• Ecommerce strategy• Marketing & Merchandising Plan• Ecommerce Analysis
HOW HOSTWAY CAN HELP
High Performance, Front-to-Back E-commerce Solutions
• Infrastructure• Migration• Optimization• Support• Administration
QUESTIONS?