3 Keys to Accelerate Your Ecommerce Business in India

The e-commerce websites have increased over a tenfold in the past few years and the competition is on a rise. According to a recent study by Microsoft Accelerator Research, nearly a half of the e-commerce startups closed down within 6-12 months of their launch. A lot of these sites have dead inventories and the 20-30% discounts did not help much in covering their costs. The high mortality rate has made it even more pertinent to get the right mix to ensure continuous growth and not fall prey to intense competition. Listed below are 3 Keys to accelerate your e-commerce business in India:-   

1.      Increase Conversion Rates

Specific keywords often tend to have a better conversion rate than general keywords. For example, consider the keywords below. Which one do you think leads to a higher conversion rate?
       a.       HP
       b.      HP Printers
       c.       HP P1007
Generally, more specific keywords like "HP P1007" tend to lead to a better conversion rate than general keywords like "HP." This is because the online shoppers who are looking for specific models or products have already researched the product and now want to make a purchase. However, using more specific keywords can lead to fewer impressions. If your keywords are too specific, fewer people may end up searching for those terms. The trick is to find the right balance between being general enough to match what people are searching for, and specific enough to lead to conversions.

2.      Increase Average Order Value and Decrease Bounce Rates

Once you get a shopper to your site, the goal shifts to making them purchase as much as possible. Since the online shoppers have specific needs your landing pages must be designed to instantly provide personalized and relevant content. The customers can be encouraged to buy more products by creating product bundles, instead of selling them separately. For example a mobile phone can be sold with accessories like bluetooth, phone cover, micro SD card etc.

3.     Differentiate Your Business
With so many retailers entering the online e-commerce business you need to differentiate yourself from them. Asking simple questions to yourself such as - 
    Why should a customer visit you? 
    Do you offer the lowest price? 
    Does your customer service set you apart? 
will set your differential advantage and help you develop your USP. Every business needs to differentiate itself. As a small e-commerce business, you cannot hope to sell everything to everybody, so you need to make sure that your business stands for something specific in the minds of consumers. One way to differentiate your business is to solve at least one problem that customers face -- especially a problem that no one else is solving.

By

Shovana Sahu

About Intentree

Intentree provides e-commerce optimization services using measurable & frugal usability, performance, security and functional techniques. To know more visit us @ www.intentree.com or or http://www.slideshare.net/intentree/intentree-introduction

7 Keys to Enhance E-Commerce Customer Service

The e-commerce websites have increased over a tenfold in the past few years and the competition is on a rise. According to a recent study by Microsoft Accelerator Research, nearly a half of the e-commerce startups closed down within 6-12 months of their launch. A lot of these sites have dead inventories and the 20-30% discounts did not help much in covering their costs. The high mortality rate has made it even more pertinent to get the right mix to ensure continuous growth and not fall prey to intense competition. Listed below are 3 Keys to accelerate your e-commerce business in India:-   

1.      Increase Conversion Rates

Specific keywords often tend to have a better conversion rate than general keywords. For example, consider the keywords below. Which one do you think leads to a higher conversion rate?
       a.       HP
       b.      HP Printers
       c.       HP P1007
Generally, more specific keywords like "HP P1007" tend to lead to a better conversion rate than general keywords like "HP." This is because the online shoppers who are looking for specific models or products have already researched the product and now want to make a purchase. However, using more specific keywords can lead to fewer impressions. If your keywords are too specific, fewer people may end up searching for those terms. The trick is to find the right balance between being general enough to match what people are searching for, and specific enough to lead to conversions.

2.      Increase Average Order Value and Decrease Bounce RatesOnce you get a shopper to your site, the goal shifts to making them purchase as much as possible. Since the online shoppers have specific needs your landing pages must be designed to instantly provide personalized and relevant content. The customers can be encouraged to buy more products by creating product bundles, instead of selling them separately. For example a mobile phone can be sold with accessories like bluetooth, phone cover, micro SD card etc.

3.     Differentiate Your Business
With so many retailers entering the online e-commerce business you need to differentiate yourself from them. Asking simple questions to yourself such as - 
    Why should a customer visit you? 
    Do you offer the lowest price? 
    Does your customer service set you apart? 
will set your differential advantage and help you develop your USP. Every business needs to differentiate itself. As a small e-commerce business, you cannot hope to sell everything to everybody, so you need to make sure that your business stands for something specific in the minds of consumers. One way to differentiate your business is to solve at least one problem that customers face -- especially a problem that no one else is solving.

By

Shovana Sahu

About Intentree

Intentree provides e-commerce optimization services using measurable & frugal usability, performance, security and functional techniques. To know more visit us @ www.intentree.com or or http://www.slideshare.net/intentree/intentree-introduction

7 Conversion Tips to Guarantee Success for Ecommerce in India

For an e-commerce store, every user who visits the website is a potential customer. A successful e-commerce store is one that converts a large number of visitors into buyers. Even though conversion rate determines the financial success of an e-commerce website, it is often ignored and companies are often clueless about how to increase their conversion rates.

Here are 7 simple ways to increase your website’s conversion rates immediately:

1.   Keep it Simple & Descriptive

Majority of the prospective customers use the internet to compare the available product options. Provide extensive product descriptions and images to help present the product better to the customer and get her to buy it immediately. 

2.   Easy and Secure Payment Options

Provide all possible payment options, including PayPal, all major credit cards and debit cards, cash on delivery. A third part verification seal such as an SSL certificate or a HackerSafe seal can be given on the page. Showing credibility indicators like McAfee Secure and TrustE badges can help convert the comparison shopper to a buyer.

3.   Allow Bookmarks

Allow customers to bookmark products for future purchase. Increase the cookie length and use a persistent shopping cart, which saves the contents of the cart for a number of days. Let the customer know on the cart summary page how long their cart details will be saved.

4.   Don’t Display Out of Stock Merchandise in the Product List

Hide a product/size/colour when the stock runs out or display the current quantity of items in stock on the product page. This will reduce any surprises for the customer when they reach the view cart page.

5.   No Hidden Costs

Reduce the shipping charges. Promotional messages like “Order for Rs 250 or more and get Free Shipping” can be shown to encourage quick purchase. Also mention the delivery time and the total costs so that there are no surprises at the time of receipt. You can also provide cash on delivery or cash back facility within 15 days if the product does not meet the customer’s expectations.

6.   Lucrative Discounts

Offer discounts on next purchase or give away free goodies with the product. One can also give quantity-based discounts such as 10% off or free shipping on orders over Rs 250.

7.   Follow Up

Reach out to the shoppers who have abandoned their carts and offer a better deal. Try sending them a follow-up email that includes a modest discount, or other incentive to return.

By
Shovana Sahu

About Intentree
Intentree provides e-commerce optimization services using measurable & frugal usability, performance, security and functional techniques. To know more visit us @ www.intentree.com.