During the pandemic, more and more local SMEs were founded as consumers strived to shop locally. 2022 has seen consumers increasingly turning away from huge multinational businesses like Amazon and towards smaller businesses. This has been done to revitalise local communities and find more ethical options for buying online.
As this trend has grown, record numbers of new e-commerce businesses have been founded. This has led to increased competition between SMEs, and standing out is now imperative to taking advantage of the growth opportunities offered by the current climate.
What can you do to make your SME unique and more appealing to customers? How can your cooperation with the best fulfilment company in the UK help your business scale up? This blog is your way to get these questions answered.
Embrace mobile shopping
As of 2020, more than 46% of UK consumers made a purchase online using their mobile device, with that number likely far higher now. Phones have quickly become the primary means for online buying, replacing computers and laptops in the e-commerce market.
Making sure your SME caters to the mobile experience is thus of vital importance to growing your business. Shoppers quickly become impatient if a website is poorly optimised for a phone screen, causing many businesses to lose revenue due to technical limitations affecting consumer patience. Your business can be different, appealing to customers and beating the competition simply by having a website that functions well on handheld devices.
There are several ways to do this:
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- It might be as simple as ensuring you or someone you hire can code your website to adapt to being displayed on handheld devices.
- Alternatively, you can use a fulfilment service company like Shopify, which, in addition to streamlining your selling and inventory process, provides website templates that transition well to mobile phones.
However you do it, make sure your SME is oriented towards mobile shopping to see your profits and business grow.
Refine your customer experience
Customer experience is vital for any business because making your customers happy ensures word-of-mouth growth and repeat business. Furthermore, in the modern day, good customer experience leads to positive online reviews, hugely increasing your company’s outreach due to Internet algorithms promoting well-reviewed companies above others.
Focusing on the individual customer is perhaps the best way to elevate customer experience and thus benefit your business. Here’s how you can do it:
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- Making sure the customer is communicated with in a friendly and polite manner can greatly improve the quality of the outcome.
- Respond to all customers, whether on online reviews, messages or emails, to appear as personal and open as possible.
If your company’s internal resources are insufficient to refine your customer experience, you can take advantage of professional fulfilment services. These can help you differentiate your business when it comes to shopping or ordering experience. No matter what challenges your customers may encounter, your fulfilment partner will be able to handle them 24/7 through email or other means. This can contribute to faster exchanges and hassle-free returns, boosting customer experience and sales.
In addition to e-commerce fulfilment services for online orders, you should have a responsive, personal and helpful online chat option. In 2022, more and more people – particularly the younger generation – expect to communicate with sellers through online chats rather than through emails or phone calls. Whether it is a website-embedded online chat or a regular text messaging service, ensure that customers know that it exists and can receive swift, effective responses. If this is done well, your business will stand out, which will help you thrive in today’s competitive environment.
Build a strong online presence
Starting an online store is not enough to see your SME grow. You need to create personal and business-driven identities to cement your presence online. When built right, it will help you increase brand awareness, which is essential for growth.
If you have no idea where to start, take your time to establish your business goals and get involved in the most popular social networks. This will help you get your products or services in front of more eyes, which you can then deliver with fulfilment services in the UK.
Here’s how you can improve your online presence:
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- Share your content regularly. You should be consistent in posting your content on social media. This will keep your followers engaged and convert leads into customers.
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- Stay true to your brand. Whatever online platform has become home to your business posts, make sure your content matches your brand’s ‘big idea’ and identity. Do not copy irrelevant styles from other companies to copy their path to success.
- Encourage your clientele. You can resort to tricks like giveaways to stand out from other SMEs and large companies. Plus, you can encourage your followers to tag your posts in exchange for discounts and deals.
Take advantage of web technology
The final way to make your SME stand out is to incorporate new technology into your operation. Using e-commerce fulfilment services like Minatus and platforms like Shopify can help modernise your selling process, making it simpler for both you and your customers.
Minatus uses cutting-edge technology to make the receiving, managing and dispatching of your goods as streamlined and efficient as possible, creating a quick and easy process for you and the receiving customer. Employing these services and embracing what they do can have huge benefits for your SME without confusing e-commerce fulfilment UK pricing strategies and exorbitant fees.
What’s more, understanding ever-changing Internet algorithms can also help your business. They determine what gets seen first on Google searches, and appearing near the top results is vital to a healthy business. The requirements for smooth online promotion are always shifting in emphasis but generally involve:
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- Having an active website filled with blogs and newsletters
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- Having lots of online reviews
- Responding to customers’ reviews
All SMEs must keep an eye on the moving goalposts provided by Internet search providers if they want to grow in the current climate. By carefully tracking them and following these tips, your SME should do well.