Amazon – the enlarged retail goliath of the modern era; recklessly determined to destroy all that the small business owner holds dear. This is especially true when that small business owner wants or needs to sell products online. How can one compete against the company that sells everything, for less than you can, and ships it for free, faster than you can? It’s impossible, right?
Luckily, Amazon and other online retailers will never totally replace in-person shopping. As big as eCommerce is, some people still believe in the experience of seeing and touching products in person before purchasing. Following are some of the top ways through which you can compete with Amazon.
Prioritize Transparency and Details
A recent study released by the eCommerce Foundation found that nearly 90% of consumers do preliminary research online before making a purchase online or in-store. Consider how you can help your customers during this step of the buying process. If you’re listing inventory on your website or on an online marketplace, think about all the questions a potential buyer might have and make the answers easily accessible. If you’re selling used or vintage items, be upfront about impurities as well as about any stories that could give your item more personality.
You should also be overly vocal about any causes you support, whether through a commitment to sustainable ingredients, a portion of your proceeds benefiting charity, or something else. Today’s consumers are increasingly more loyal to purpose-driven brands.
Offer Exceptional, Personalized Service
In some ways, you just can not compete with Walmart or Amazon or Alibaba. Online giants flourish by offering various choices and low prices. If you attempt to meet or beat their costs, you’ll end up losing cash. Instead, focus on ways to engage with your own audience in ways that online companies cannot.
Regardless of whether you have a retail shop, restaurant or other sort of business, your only aim is to provide customers with an extraordinary experience that they can’t duplicate online. Personal service plays a big part here. Providing exceptional customer service is a foolproof way to attract new customers and guarantee the loyalty of returning customers. Chatbots and support tickets still can’t replace in-person customer service. To benefit as much as possible from this, however, you and your staff must be friendly, knowledgeable, and useful. Good customer service is a major reason some people prefer shopping online.
The more personalized the service, the more of an edge you gain over even the most sophisticated websites. This depends on your product, of course. If you sell anything food-related, you’re now competing with Amazon Fresh and prepared meal delivery services. As advantageous as these services may be, they can’t replace face-to-face services. Just recognizing your best customers and welcome them by name can make a major difference. Personalized emails from large online retailers just aren’t the same.
Utilize Mobile to Connect the Online and Offline Shopping Experience
Why should customers shop with you if they can get quicker service and lower prices on Walmart or Amazon? You can give them a motivator by creating a seamless online and offline shopping experience. This separates you from brands that only offer the online option.
Mobile is one of your best tools for bridging the gap between the physical and the virtual. An ever-increasing number of customers are browsing online using smartphones. While they can and do browse large sites for example Amazon, the experience can be somewhat overpowering. While you will most likely be unable to offer as wide a choice, you can offer a more focused and customized shopping experience.
Creating a dedicated eCommerce mobile app for your business lets your customers set preferences and lets you send them exclusive deals. You can likewise send them location-based pop-up notifications when they are nearby. Text message marketing is another integral tool for engagement. The main benefits of m-commerce include the greater engagement with users. This yield better customer experience and higher ROI.
Offer Discounted Shipping
Consumers shop giant eCommerce sites for the convenience—namely fast, affordable shipping. If you run an online business, it’s crucial to make the purchasing process as fast and stress-free as possible, especially for customers who buy gifts at the last minute.
One way to do this is by offering free or discounted shipping. Look at your balance sheets to figure out whether you can afford to mark down or completely absorb shipping costs during the holidays. You can likewise motivate customers to purchase more by cutting delivery costs when they reach a specific spending limit, say $50.
You may have to spend more upfront to do this, but it’s a worthwhile investment. Reducing the delivery cost on your website can have an effect between a customer clicking “buy” or looking for a comparable item on Amazon. As per UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper survey, 81% of purchasers said free shipping is a top concern when shopping on the web, and 58% of individuals said they would add products to their cart to fit for free shipping.
Streamline the Payment Process
Part of the appeal of sites like Amazon is the one-click payment process, which eliminates the hassle of searching for your wallet and inputting a 16-digit credit card number every time you want to make a purchase.
If you’re running an online store, make it easier to create an account on the site, either by enabling autofill settings or limiting the number of information shoppers have to provide. From there, add a PayPal or Apple Pay integration to save customers time and confusion.
It may seem like a small change, but a quick, painless payment process is an easy way to improve the overall shopping experience for your customers, and it might lead to higher conversion rates.
Double your Marketing Efforts
Boost the traffic to your business with strategic marketing. If you own a store or manufacture products from a specific location, revamp your website with city-specific SEO keywords to attract more local customers. Or begin an email campaign to showcase new products, share news about upcoming community events or remind customers about bestsellers.
As Amazon seems set on consuming every aspect of the retail industry, it’s important for retailers to remember the ways in which they can still compete. Offering a branded, helpful customer experience is at the highest priority on the list.
Wrap Up
Drawing on what makes your business different—your brand, customer service, and community—can give you a unique image. Good luck!
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