Setting up an e-commerce business? What you need to know

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e-commerce business

If you are considering launching an e-commerce business, it may be quite sobering to consider that 90% of online businesses fail within just 120 days.

According to research*, the main reasons these businesses give for their failure include:

  • Poor online marketing (37%)
  • Lack of search visibility eg because there were bigger players outspending them in the market (35%)
  • There was little to no market for their products (35%)
  • They ran out of cash (32%).


What each of these reasons tells us, is that these online businesses failed because the owners failed to build an effective strategy for their online business before launching.

If you are going to move into the online space, whether you already have a bricks and mortar presence or not, it should go without saying that you need to develop a viable strategy first. That’s a strategy that includes:

  • Research on your market and market needs – what problem are you trying to solve and is the market for solving this problem already saturated or are there niches that you can fill?
  • A clear plan on how your product or service solves the problem you’ve identified. 
  • A well articulated unique value proposition – why would someone buy from you and how is your offering differentiated from your online competition? This is as important for an e-commerce business as it is for any other business.


For example, we have a client who sells the most beautiful sympathy hampers and gifts. The online hamper market is heavily saturated but our client has a clear niche in the condolence gift sector. The problem they are solving is how to send your heartfelt condolences in a meaningful way when it’s hard to find the right words and you don’t want to just send flowers. Within this niche, they are able to cost-effectively gain visibility. (Check this wonderful company out at www.sendinghugs.com.au).

  • A detailed understanding of your online competition. You need to know who your competitors are, what they are doing and how they are positioned against you. You can learn a lot from your competition, particularly if they are successful online, and you should be using all the data you are able to access.


You will be competing against these companies for exposure in search engines and in marketplaces so you need to work out how you are going to get visibility and deliver a better, more aligned customer experience.

You also need to have a clear assessment of your Cost of Goods Sold. You need to accurately
understand what ROAS you will need to achieve in your digital advertising to deliver your
desired level of profit. Google and Meta advisors, in our experience, will often underestimate
the ROAS you require so ensure you have a handle on the full cost associated with your online
sales.

Customer-centric, cost-effective logistics are also vital, particularly post-COVID where customer demands are high. You will need to be meeting customer expectations on:

  • Fulfilment – are you going to fulfil orders yourself, use an external fulfilment service or drop ship from warehouses, remembering that today’s customers demand speed, want items to be in stock and are increasingly wanting express shipping times.
  • Shipping costs – customers are now demanding ‘no’ or ‘low’ cost shipping. The definitely don’t want shipping costs to be around the same price as the product they are buying and will get very frustrated if they have to enter all their details into the cart before being advised of an unacceptably high shipping rate.
  • Returns policy – customers want to be able to return anything they order without question and without cost to them. 67% of buyers check the return policy before buying but 92% will buy again from the same site after a good returns experience. Other than for elite, rare or high value items, these terms are becoming non-negotiable.


Your choice of platform for your e-commerce site is also a critical consideration and the platform you choose should be influenced by your goals and what success will look like for you. There are many platforms available such as Shopify, Woocommerce and Square as well as more customisable options. Whatever platform you choose, it should be:
 

  • Scalable – you don’t want to be rebuilding in a few years if your online business succeeds.
  • Fast – research says that 40% of website visitors will wait no longer than 3 seconds for a page to load and ideally, you should aim for less than this.
  • Flexible – personalised search, flexible payment options and an engaging user experience are all vital.
  • SEO friendly – not all templated websites have great SEO so beware of platforms that will be difficult to optimise in the search engines.


Once you have all these factors in order, you then need to start looking at analysing your customers and automating your marketing. Read our other story in this newsletter on customer personas and omnichannel marketing for further suggestions on marketing your business online.

If you’d like an obligation free chat about your ecommerce business, please contact us on 02 4322 7559.


 *Research project by Forbes, Huffington Post, and Marketing Signals

Sustainable Marketing

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Sustainable Marketing

A Win for Business > A Win for the Customer > A Win for our Planet

 

If you’re committed to sustainable marketing practices, there is good news. Not only are they good for the health of our planet and our people, they are what customers now demand – and they are good for the long term profitability of business.

Here’s a sample of some up-to-date research on sustainable marketing and customer demands.

What is sustainable marketing?

Sustainable marketing is marketing that is focused on improving environmental wellness, social inclusion and equity, and economic responsibility, while delivering profit to the business. It’s about ensuring businesses are driven by a purpose that goes beyond simply making money.

 

Is sustainable marketing a costly exercise for business?

It is true that sustainable marketing MAY come at a cost in the short term, but in the longer term, it can be highly profitable.

A Deloitte study from 2019 showed that purpose-driven companies achieved higher market share gains and grew on average three times faster than their competitors, while at the same time achieving higher staff and customer satisfaction.

 

Why is having a ‘purpose beyond profit’ good for business?

Extensive research tells us that today’s consumer wants to buy from companies that stand for more than the products they sell. They want their brands to have a purpose.

An Accenture study in 2018 found:

  • 63% of consumers prefer to buy from companies whose purpose reflects their own values and beliefs.
  • 62% want companies to take a stand on matters they care about in relation to the environment, social and cultural issues and politics.

 

What attracts a consumer to a brand other than price and quality?

The 2018 Accenture study found:

  • 66% said brand culture – how a brand delivers on its promises
  • 66% said transparency
  • 65% said they were attracted by brands that treat their employees well
  • 62% said they supported companies that believe in reducing plastics and improving the environment
  • 62% also said they look for ethical values and brands that are authentic.

 

How important is authenticity in sustainable marketing?

Today’s consumer is highly informed, highly demanding and driven by more than just price, product quality and convenience. They will not accept greenwashing and require claims to be able to be substantiated.

  • 53% of consumers who are disappointed by a brand’s words or actions on a social issue will complain.
  • 47% will walk away from the brand in frustration
  • 17% will never return.

 

Do today’s consumers take sustainability into account when buying a product?

An IBM study on consumer behaviour in 2020 revealed:

  • Nearly 57% of consumers would be willing to change their shopping habits to reduce the impact on the environment.
  • Nearly 80% said that sustainability was important to them.

 

But are consumers willing to pay a premium for sustainable products?

For those who say sustainability is very or extremely important to them, over 70% said they would be willing to pay a premium of 35%.

 

What sustainable attributes are they willing to pay a premium for?

  • Greater health and wellness benefits
  • Simplifying their lives (getting back to basics)
  • Organic ingredients
  • Supporting recycling
  • Authenticity of the products
  • Environmental responsibility
  • Full transparency such as on sourcing materials, ingredients and information on the supply chain.

 

Are all generations willing to pay a premium for sustainable products?

A Global Sustainability Study in July 2021 found:

  • 42% of Gen Y would accept a premium of around 31%
  • 39% of Gen Z would accept a premium of 32%
  • 31% of Gen X were willing to pay a premium of 21%
  • 26% of Baby Boomers would pay up to 14%.

 

Are people actually taking action to become more sustainable?

A Deloitte study in March 2021 in the UK showed that:

  • 61% of consumers had cut back on the use of single use plastics
  • 45% were buying local
  • 39% were buying less new goods
  • 34% were choosing brands that were committed to environmentally sustainable practices.

 

What are the reasons for people not adopting a more sustainable lifestyle?

  • 22% were not interested
  • 16% thought it would be too expensive
  • 15% did not have enough information
  • 10% believed that their actions would not make any difference.

 

Is this research relevant to Australia?

According to a Finders Green Report in 2021, Australians seem to adopting sustainable practices even more readily than in the UK. The research showed:

  • Only 14% of our population are doing nothing to reduce their carbon footprint
  • Of these, 9% aren’t interested and 5% think it’s too expensive.

 

How do businesses implement sustainable marketing practices?

Whatever sector you are in, consider these general guidelines:

  • Work with your customers, employees and other stakeholders to deliver on your shared values. Collaborate to make a difference and communicate your joint achievements.
  • Be authentic. Communicate your measurable goals and where you are on your journey. It’s okay not to be perfect now.
  • Be transparent in your messaging. Consumers often feel they don’t have the information they need to make sustainable purchasing decisions so clearly explain environmental benefits on product labels or websites. Don’t use broad terms such as ‘natural’, ‘recyclable’ or ‘low carbon’ without explaining facts behind the claim.
  • Apologise when you get it wrong. With all good intentions, brands will get things wrong when aiming to be sustainable so be upfront and you will be forgiven.
  • Be vocal about issues that matter to your customers. Be authentic in standing up for issues, even if that means collaborating with your competition.
  • Take action on issues that matter to your customers. Show your customers that you do more than simply ‘talk’ by sharing information on your actions.
  • Educate your customers. ‘Lack of knowledge’ is a key reason why consumers don’t buy sustainable products so don’t assume they understand why they should buy from you. Inspire them with real facts on how their adoption of sustainable practices and purchases will actually have a beneficial impact on the world.
  • Make your customer the centre-point of your storytelling about your sustainability efforts. Talk about how your customer is changing the world by their sustainable purchasing decisions and make them feel good about the choices they have made.

If you’d like to discuss your marketing strategy and communication needs, please contact us for a free initial consultation.

Digital Marketing Terms Explained

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Get in front of any marketer at the moment and chances are they’ll start talking to you about pixels. Or retargeting. Or marketing automation.

Which can all sound a little overwhelming for those who were brought up to believe a pixel was a teeny, tiny element of an image!

So we thought we’d create a quick and easy glossary on digital marketing terms to help SMEs to better understand the processes and opportunities of modern digital marketing.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is the process of using technology to deliver regular, repetitive, and personalised communications to your database to increase lead generation, nurture leads, increase conversions, cross-sell, up-sell and improve retention.

Done well, it can significantly increase your customer experience and ultimately your bottom line through emarketing, SMS, tracking, social media and digital advertising campaigns.

There are a whole host of tools and platforms that are available today to optimise the marketing automation process. Every company, even an SME, should be using marketing automation to improve sales results and reduce marketing overheads.

If you’re not taking advantage of marketing automation, it’s time to learn more.

Facebook Pixel Retargeting

In this context, a pixel is a piece of tracking code that, when added to a website page, can collect data to track and measure actions (known as events) that website visitors take on your website. You can then deliver tailored ads to these visitors on Facebook or Instagram by bringing these visitors into a ‘custom audience’. This little piece of code is very powerful in enabling you to optimise your campaigns by retargeting the people who have the highest propensity to buy from you or take action.

We’ll be explaining common social media terms and settings in an article in a later newsletter.

Retargeting

Retargeting is the process of identifying website visitors and their on-site behaviour (eg whether they are viewing specific product pages or leaving a product in an abandoned cart) and marketing again to that visitor once they’ve left your website by serving digital ads to them.

Retargeting can be static where you deliver ads based on their page visitations or it can be dynamic where machine learning and more sophisticated technologies are used to analyse behaviours and deliver a personalised ad variation that is most likely to optimise results.

These ads can be delivered via social media platforms or via display ads (see below).

Remarketing

Remarketing is similar to retargeting but it uses email marketing rather than digital ads. Have you ever abandoned a shopping cart only to receive an email later about the product you left in your cart? Or have you downloaded a document on social media and then received a promotional email about the same subject matter? That’s remarketing.

Some marketers use the terms retargeting and remarketing interchangeably so it can be confusing but it really doesn’t matter – they both aim to increase conversions by tracking prospective customers and marketing to them again whether that is via digital ads or email marketing campaigns.

eDM Marketing

The acronym ‘eDM’ simply stands for ‘electronic direct mail’ or an automated email blast.

eDM marketing however is more than just the process of sending out an email. It involves continuous and strategic database building and refining through the use of other platforms such as social media, retargeting, digital advertising, Pay per Click campaigns and SMS to enable tightly targeted communications to be delivered to build relationships, generate more leads and increase conversions.

Email Tracking Code

Similar to the Facebook Pixel, an email tracking code can be installed on email communications to give you insights into how your audience responds to your emarketing campaign.

For example, it can let you know who has opened your email, how many times they’ve opened it, what links they’ve clicked on, what attachments they’ve viewed and more.

Most email marketing platforms such as Mailchimp and Hubspot offer email tracking as a built in service. If you also add the Google Analytics tracking code to your email marketing campaigns, you will be able to track clicks from your campaigns all the way through to purchase.

Google Text Ads

A Google Text Ad is a typical Pay Per Click Ad that allows you to specify a headline, display URL and description text. You can choose for your ads to appear on the Google Search network (eg in Google search results, maps or shopping) or on the Google Display Network (eg YouTube, Blogger or Gmail).

You can also run Text Ads across the Microsoft Network on Bing, Yahoo and AOL search engines. While there is no doubt that Google is dominant in the paid search space, Microsoft actually grew significant in the US search market over the past year with Bing achieving 19.7% market share whereas Google declined by 11%. There are benefits to both so if you’d like to know more, call us to book a meeting to discuss this in more detail.

Google Display Ads

Google Display Ads are those ads that appear while you are browsing various websites, watching YouTube, reading your Gmail account or using a mobile app. You can use them to target prospective customers or you can use them to re-engage with prospects who have already visited your website. Unlike advertising on the Google Search Network, Google Display Ads can be beneficial in targeting people before they start searching for your product or service.

You can either use your own fully created Uploaded Display Ads or you can use Google’s Responsive Ad service where you upload your logo, brand name, visual assets and text, and Google will automatically create the ads to suit the specs of specific web pages.

There are pros and cons of each type of Display Ad which we will cover in a later article.

MARKETING 101 – FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS.

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Plate with sign small business marketing and notepad.

Effective marketing is a key driver of growth for your small business. Good brands online build wealth and equity. Each time you market you are increasing the value of your small business and going digital is one of the best ways to achieve this. It goes without saying that the success of your small business relies on a strong brand and  online presence. But if you do not have a background in marketing, where do you start?

We have provided some “small business marketing 101’s” which may help and motivate you to get the ball rolling:

1-GAIN KNOWLEDGE THROUGH RESEARCH

Prior to developing your marketing strategy, the first preliminary step is to conduct market research. It’s important to gain as much information and insight as possible into your customers’ buying patterns as well as their drivers. Market research is also the best way to monitor market trends and be one step ahead of your competitors by ensuring you are observing their activities and learning from their mistakes.

2-DEFINE YOUR MARKET

Once you have conducted your research make sure you have a solid understanding of the demographic and psychographic profile of your target market actually and an understanding of their needs, behaviours, drivers and blockers. This can be achieved through online analytics, surveys, social media patterns and of course, by asking them.

3-DETERMINE WHAT MAKES YOUR BUSINESS UNIQUE

The key to effective sales and marketing is to define and promote your USPs – “Unique Selling Points”.

Unless you can clarify and articulate what makes your business unique amongst your competitors, it’s hard to stand out as the preferred option and to reel in your audience successfully.

USPs may require fresh ideas and thinking outside the box – it isn’t always as simple as unquantified metrics such as ‘better customer service’ or ‘better product’. The trick to choosing USPs that will clearly differentiate your offering is to ensure they are relevant, desirable and genuinely meet the needs of your target market.

Once your USPs are established, find a clear and simple way to communicate them to your prospects. Consistency is key – ensure your core USPs are splashed all over your marketing, as a creed to live by.

With repetition comes memorability and as a result, your target audience will always associate you with the promises you are making. The most important aspect of developing your USPs is to ensure they are deliverable. Trust is everything in small business.

4-UNDERSTAND DIGITAL MARKETING OR HIRE A PROFESSIONAL TO NAIL IT FOR YOU!

You won’t regret it! Digital marketing is now the most popular and successful way small businesses can promote their products or services. It is highly measurable, enabling you to track your ROI and brand awareness as well as delivering higher conversion rates than via many other media.

Many small business owners and business managers perceive digital marketing as too complicated and time consuming. However, there are many courses that can assist you by providing the kick start you may require to set up a professional presence on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you need assistance in optimising your results, professionals in the digital marketing space can help you reach a wider audience of qualified prospects through pixel campaigns, remarketing and retargeting as well as creating engaging and relevant content.

Before you jump into content creation however, you should develop an effective digital marketing strategy that will lay the foundations for your targeting, messaging, scheduling and creative execution to enable you to benefit from the power of social media networking platforms to support and grow your business.

5-GET REPEAT BUSINESS THROUGH NURTURING TACTICS.

Keeping your current clientele happy and onboard is key to building “word or mouth” leads and repeat business. This requires nurturing and relationship building as opposed to overt sales tactics.

Don’t focus all your communications with a client on promoting your products or services. Share relevant and valuable information with them without asking for anything in return. Request their feedback and input on decisions you are making. Consider keeping information about birthdays and other occasions in order to surprise them by sending e-cards and vouchers.

Keeping in touch with your customers through social media, blogs, newsletters, email and SMS will show you are active, listening and willing to reach out regularly.

Most importantly, always listen to your customers’ needs and expectations and never fail to deliver on your promises. If you unwittingly do drop the ball, be honest and fix the issue immediately, transparently and empathetically. The way you address failings can turn a disengaged client into one who will be loyal for the long term.

6-CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR YOUR STRATEGY AND REVIEW RESULTS

In order to determine what is and isn’t working, regular monitoring of your marketing activities is required. Have your objectives been met? Are your activities supporting your marketing strategy? Is your messaging on track?

There are various analytics tools available such as Hootsuite, Google Analytics, Kissmetrics, SproutSocial, BuzzSumo and Hotjar that can help you to analyse the results of your social media activities, digital marketing and website campaigns to determine what is working, what can be improved and which avenue is more effective.

All in all, the success of a small business depends on the business owner’s willingness and ability to market their products and services effectively. Any successful entrepreneur will tell you, good marketing leads to sales which is essential for your business to thrive.

Congratulations to our Fight Back Small Business Winner!

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Fight back - travel

We can all agree that 2020 has been tough for small business owners. With this in mind, we recently ran a competition allowing our small business community to share their stories. We have heard stories of courage, strength, stamina and motivation. We thank our entrants for taking the time to inspire our small business community with hope and reassurance during these unprecedented times.

Congratulations to the winner of our Fight Back Competition, Allan Hopper, founder of hopperound – The Travel Agency. We celebrate the positive spirit and dedication of Allan Hopper, founder of hopperound – The Travel Agency.

Allan has two strong passions in life, and that’s people and travel; hence the birth of hopperound, a personable travel agency with a big heart for its clients.

Allan and his team pride themselves on their ‘start to finish’ customer support which they conduct for each individual client. They support their clients throughout their entire journey, right from the moment they pick up the phone to propose their travel dreams, through the planning stages, during their travels, right up until the moment they return.

It’s this style of customer support that has had him successfully run his agency purely through word of mouth and repeat business. “We go to great lengths for our clients, so they don’t have to do a thing – besides enjoy their holiday,” said Allan. “I am proud to say as a result of this, we have had the same loyal clients for over 20 years.”

When Covid-19 hit our shores in February-March 2020, panic set in within the travel industry. Today, approximately 30% of travel agencies have sadly closed due to an immense loss of business.

Allan went from having an extremely busy and profitable period around January and February to receiving absolutely no income in the following months. “In the middle of March, when reality sunk in, everything fell apart,” he explained.

With a heavy heart, Allan had no choice but to let go of his contractors and his Head Office Accounts Manager, who also happens to be his sister. Together, they cried. “This is when it really hit and it was at this point, we thought we will take a big hit. But we also thought it would all be over as quick as it began,” Allan said. Like everyone else, Allan had no way to predict the extent of the pandemic and how long it would stick around… Today, we are still uncertain.

Once the shock subsided, Allan and his sister turned to light-hearted humour to keep their spirits high and Allan chose to switch his mind to planning mode and started to look towards the future.

Allan decided to restore hope in clients and others within the community by creating a social media presence to keep the travel bug alive – virtually. Allan took to Instagram and Facebook to provide his audience with beautiful travel images, tips and stories, and as a result, his online following grew, a great boost for brand recognition.

“Although travel agents are not currently booking a huge amount of travel, we are still working full time for our clients,” said Allan. “I have been spending a huge amount of time helping my clients get credit or their money back from various holidays that they have had to cancel.”

You can imagine the stress involved in contacting various vendors all over the world and the amount of money lost for those who did not engage a travel agent. Allan’s loyalty had him working above and beyond to ensure the best outcomes for his disappointed clients.

Today, Allan is working on his marketing strategy and thinking of a brighter future. “I foresee travel agencies becoming a much bigger necessity going forward, similar to what it was like before we were replaced by online bookings,” he said.

After the scare of a pandemic and the millions of dollars lost by travellers who have had to cancel bookings through major companies who have not addressed their woes, a travel agent seems like a very safe method of booking travel going forward.

There’s no doubt travel will be a more complicated and much stricter process once all borders have opened. It’s inevitable that the majority of us will feel a sense of comfort being supported by professionals in the industry who will ensure our arrangements are conducted safely and accurately. If anything happens, it will be reassuring to know we have a familiar agent on the phone who will help us during any situation, like Allan and his team at hopperound.

Allan has had to undergo big changes in his business and inject money, time and energy towards planning, marketing, training and webinars to ensure he is ready for the next big shift that is predicted to occur. Hopefully this will be a positive one.

Going forward, those clients who love to book online – activities, cars, cruises, flights, hotels, insurance, tours etc. – will be able to do so via our website, with the security of having their bookings backed by an accredited travel agency. The same professional service will apply, meaning when things don’t go according to plan, we step in to help.

Within this current climate, if you don’t have a flexible and open mind, and if you are not willing to change and grow, you may as well throw in the towel.

For now, Allan has changed his slogan to keep the motivation and dream alive for himself and his clients. He signs his emails off as:

“Allan Hopper I Founder
hopperound – The Travel Agency

Hibernating, Reinventing & Dreaming of Travel.
“Be Safe, Stay Connected & Dream With Us.”

Should you wish to travel to any destination where it is safe to venture in the near future, we highly recommend you contact hopperound. Allan and his team will have your back from start to finish.

Website below:
hopperound.com.au