If you want to grow your eCommerce business, providing a smooth and memorable shopping experience is key to the ultimate Ecommerce Growth Strategy.

But this is easier said than done. Especially since consumers are flooded with options. Plus, it can be difficult to transition from an online marketplace to other arenas of business, such as an online store, without thinking one step ahead.

That’s why it’s vital to use the most up-to-date eCommerce growth strategy. We’ll walk you through effective growth strategies you can employ throughout your eCommerce journey. But first, let us go over what an eCommerce growth strategy is.

What is an Ecommerce Growth Strategy?

An Ecommerce Growth Strategy is a set of plans and activities businesses use to sell products or services online. This includes reaching the right people, converting them into customers, generating repeat purchases, and creating a smooth, enjoyable shopping experience.

The best Ecommerce Growth Strategy are comprehensive and reliable. They’re easy to follow and give you confidence for big projects like ecommerce expansions.

Why is it important to have an Ecommerce Growth Strategy plan?

Just like a business plan or a marketing strategy, having a roadmap for your ecommerce business can set you up for success. There are four key benefits to having an effective Ecommerce Growth Strategy:

1. Long-term company health and stability

An ecommerce strategy gives you a consistent stream of new customers and a way to turn one-time shoppers into loyal repeat buyers. It gives you a blueprint for launching a new product line, a holiday campaign, or a new market.

Having an ecommerce plan means you can weather dips in website traffic or revenue. Not only will you know what caused them—you’ll know what to do to get back on track. The result? A stable, resilient company with happy employees.

2. Foundation for scalability and growth

By definition, Ecommerce Growth Strategy are made to help you grow, whether that’s expanding from retail into omnichannel selling or growing your current ecommerce business.

The magic is in knowing what to do when those opportunities arise.

Should you hire more staff, and how many? Could a brick-and-mortar store increase the success of an ecommerce launch? What do you have to do to thrive in a new country or continent? How can your brand be the go-to option based on what’s working in your target market? Ecommerce planning helps answer those questions, and more.

3. Ability to edge out competition

Competitor research is a big part of an ecommerce business strategy. It allows you to develop your unique value proposition, intentionally position yourself in the market, and stand out from your competitors while giving your target customers exactly what they want.

4. Operational and cost efficiency

Being strategic about your ecommerce operations lets you optimize your inventory management, supply chain processes, tech stack, order fulfillment, and every moment in the customer journey.

You’ll avoid hidden costs, minimize errors, and maximize productivity throughout the business so you can stay operationally lean and serve your customers well.

How to create an Ecommerce Growth Strategy plan

It can be hard to know where to start when developing your ecommerce strategy plan, but these six steps will help you know what to consider and what data you need to gather.

• Get to know your ideal buyer
• List marketing channels and customer touchpoints
• Define your goals and objectives
• Get to know your competitors
• Develop your unique value proposition
• Map out the system and tools you need

Top eCommerce growth strategies

Improve website performance

Aim for a page loading speed of no more than three seconds. In fact, the top 10 eCommerce websites in the U.S. took 1.96 seconds on average to load.

When attempting to speed up your website, consider the following:

• Reduce image sizes:The larger the image files, the longer it will take for your website to load. Use an online tool to compress images without sacrificing the quality. Examples include Adobe Photoshop Express and Compressor.io.
• Optimize the code:Minify your site’s CSS, HTML and JavaScript byremoving unnecessary spaces, commas, comments and other elements to improve page loading speed. Tools you can employ for this task include UglifyJS and CSS Minifier.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN serves up content closest to where a user is located. Some Bluehost hosting plans come with a Cloudflare CDN.
• Choose the right web host: The right hosting platform will include features to optimize for speed and performance.

Double down on customer retention

Retaining existing customers is cheaper than attracting new prospects. That’s because to attract new customers, you have to meet them at each stage of the marketing funnel with tactics like search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing.

When customers keep returning, you can reduce your marketing spend devoted toward attracting prospects. This helps lower your customer acquisition costs (CAC). And when you have repeat purchases coming in, your CLV goes up. That said, developing long-term customer relationships requires some effort.

One way to do this is to introduce a customer loyalty or rewards program. For example, customers can redeem points to get discounts or special incentives. Or you can give them early access to new products. Whatever you decide, the goal is to keep them coming back for more.

Sell your products using social commerce

There’s no better time than now to tap into the power of social commerce to drive online sales and scale your eCommerce brand. According to Accenture, the industry should reach $1.2 trillion by 2025.

Social commerce allows consumers to explore and purchase products without exiting a social media app. This results in a frictionless shopping experience that could boost your sales.

Deploy augmented reality

If you’re a fan of video games like Pokemon Go, you might be familiar with AR. With AR, a user can view digital images in real life via their device’s camera or smartphone. It allows consumers to view products in their own environment and in real time. And unlike virtual reality, they’re fully aware of their surroundings.

Leverage a multichannel sales strategy

You might be missing out on massive selling opportunities if you’re using a single channel. In fact, retailers who don’t take advantage of multiple channels miss out on up to 30% of sales.

Channels you can look into include an eCommerce store, online marketplaces, SMS, mobile apps, social media and physical stores. For instance, physical stores allow you to sell to local consumers who prefer the in-store experience.

A lot goes into setting up a multichannel strategy. First, you’ll need to establish strong branding so that you can provide users with the same shopping experience regardless of the channel they use.

Next, choose the channels you’ll use, as multichannel selling is resource intensive. Marketplaces like Amazon include analytics, so you can use this data to narrow down your list to the most profitable options. You’ll also need a way to manage your sales in one place.

Use chatbots

Online shoppers can be impatient. So if you or your team aren’t on hand to answer a customer’s questions, you’re at risk of losing that sale.

Chatbots can help you avoid this issue by responding to user queries. For instance, a Userlike survey found that 68% of consumers like the speed at which a chatbot answered their questions. In addition, Gartner predicts that by 2027, about a quarter of organizations will use chatbots as their primary customer service channel.  

And apart from providing timely customer support, chatbots are useful in a number of ways: they can collect customer data, provide personalized recommendations and track orders. Plus, implementing chatbots is cost-effective since you won’t have to increase headcount as your business grows.

Optimize your online store for mobile

An eCommerce growth strategy is incomplete without mobile optimization. Picture this: Each day, Americans spend four hours and 25 minutes on their mobile devices.

And mobile devices account for over 55% of website traffic on a global scale. Plus, a mobile-friendly website appeals to Google, which is great for increased search visibility.

Final thoughts

An Ecommerce Growth Strategy will help you work toward your goals with intention and a plan. It will allow you to make tweaks and adjustments if needed instead of simply hoping for the best.

If it feels like a lot goes into a successful Ecommerce Growth Strategy plan, that’s because it does—but with the right ecommerce platform, it won’t be overwhelming. Scalability meets hands-on support to guide you into new acquisition and retention strategies, sales channels, and industry trends.