Why your products should be sold online.

In the age of modern day consumerism, research is finding more and more people prefer to buy online, this is related to a number of driving performance indicators.

Some of the main indicators are price, ease of online shopping, availability of the product, common promo's such as free shipping and of course the psychology that bargains are to be had on the internet.

Due to indicators like these many NZ businesses are flocking to the internet to now drive the majority of their sales and promotional requirements via an eCommerce Magento2 site.

Read these incredible stats about eCommerce in NZ.

• 54% of Kiwis aged over 18 years are now shopping online, an increase from 38 percent of New Zealanders five years ago (Nielsen NZ Online Retail Report June 2013)
• In key spending demographics, the numbers are much higher. 71% of Kiwis aged 25-34 and 68% of those aged 35-44 now shop online (Statistics NZ, per NZ Retailers Association Online Retail Report 2013)

• New Zealanders spent $3.7 billion in the last 12 months purchasing via the internet (Nielsen NZ Online Retail Report June 2013)
• 26% of the total NZ online shopping, representing nearly $1 billion, was spent on international websites (Nielsen NZ Online Retail Report June 2013)
• These totals are only for physical products purchased online. It’s estimated that a further $1.6-$2 billion is spent on downloadable products or intangible purchases such as airline tickets, rental cars, accommodation, theatre tickets and entertainment (NZ Retailers Association Online Retail Report 2013)
• 37.8% of Kiwi online shoppers bought Clothing, Shoes or Accessories online in 2012, while 32.1% bought Books or Magazines (Nielsen NZ Online Retail Report June 2013, as reported in NZ Retailers Association Online Retail Report 2013)
• Smartphones have changed the way that Kiwi consumers shop. Smartphones are critical shopping tools with 74% of NZ users having researched a product or service on their mobile device. (Google/Ipsos Our Mobile Planet NZ May 2013)
   

There has been major growth in eCommerce shops inside New Zealand and its stats like these that are driving them, the results are tangible and the sales are there.

As a company building eCommerce websites for the last 8 years we have seen the growth of eCommerce booming year on year.

Our specialist skill set is in creating eCommerce websites that sell product and with the right tools you can easily match if not outgrow your retail efforts.

How to get serious results from your eCommerce Website.

We have formulated a simple 5 point system for anyone to follow to enjoy good results and sales from a new or existing Magento eCommerce site.

Point 1 - Platform and Foundations.

First of all you want to make sure you have a eCommerce site that has a rock solid web platform (web software) driving it. Without a solid platform and foundations, (just like a house) you cannot expect your site to last you a good amount of time (more than 3 years), and you cannot expect the same results in search engines and converting visitors.
 

Point 2 - Owning VS Renting.

You need to ensure you own your eCommerce site outright, there is nothing worse than borrowing or renting a website system, it just doesn't work long term and quite often short term aswell.

Owning your site means that you aren't tied into any one particular provider and that you have freedom of choice for providers. It also provides sense of ownership and further commitment to ensuring your site is a success.
 

Point 3 - eCommerce Design.

Design is one of the most important factors that will help make your site a success or a dismal failure.

When you design your site there are a number of aspects to consider other than just branding and general aesthetics. Your website needs to be easy to navigate, best practise web usability needs to be followed, search options need to be visible, filterable attributes need to be included and the list goes on.

Alot of what goes into a successful eCommerce site design is a combination of best practise, but most importantly the thought and analytical process behind understanding how your customers will buy your products and what makes it easy for them to do so.
 

Point 4 - Taking Control.

Taking control of your site. Taking control of your site is one of the most important points, when we say take control we mean that you need to ensure you know your site inside and out.

Training sessions and education about your website is incredibly important so you can modify and administrate without having to rely on any third parties. Making small changes can be a nightmare especially during busy holiday (Christmas) periods when your web provider is not as readily available as normal. It also means you have more promotional control over your site which can be very beneficial and this will allow you to take the marketing of your site to a higher level.
 

Point 5 - Powerful Marketing Plans.

Devise and implement a powerful marketing strategy. This point is by far the top and most important driving factor to any successful eCommerce site.

Implementing a powerful and targeted marketing strategy sounds complicated, but its really not hard at all. Without traffic your eCommerce site won't thrive or make sales, so the whole point of your marketing strategy should be focused on driving relevent and high volume traffic to your website.

There are many methods and channels with which you can use to achieve this, here is a small list: Search optimisation, search marketing/advertising, social media, press release marketing, networks, viral marketing, email marketing and generic advertising. Each one has been proven to get results and sales, from there on its all about creativity in your marketing.

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Our team has been helping our customers implement this 5 point strategy for over 8 years and our customers have seen true success.

Many of our eCommerce site owners rave about just how easy it is to run a eCommerce site when you plan and strategise from the get go.

If you would like to find out more about this 5 Point strategy and make the move to selling online, get in touch with our team today to discuss your requirements.

Written by Ben Davis - MediaCore - The Web Specialists