How to Make Your Ecommerce Brand Stand Out

October 25 2021 - Standing out in the eCommerce industry is not easy. You have more competition than ever before, and anyone can create a company out of nothing and start an eCommerce business to sell the same types of products you sell. Luckily, with the right idea and dedication, you can make your eCommerce brand stand out.

Be Innovative

If you truly want your business to stand out, you'll need to give your customers something they've never seen before. Just because the eCommerce industry is saturated doesn't mean you can't be innovative. For example, MedCline's Body Pillow is not a new concept. People have seen body pillows before. However, what makes Medcline stand out is that its design is patented, which means you can't get the same design anywhere else.

Another great example of innovation is a subscription box. These boxes are filled with products you can buy just about anywhere, but they offer them on a subscription. Take BarkBox, for example. Anyone can go out and buy the same products in a BarkBox, but this company's subscription plan is an alternate route to the pet business by offering its customers something unique. BarkBox offers dog toys and treats delivered straight to your door, so your pup is never without a toy to play with.

With these examples in mind, anyone can be innovative; it doesn't mean they have to develop a new product.

Solve Customer Problems

If you don't have any ideas for doing something new for your business, you can still make yourself different from your competition by solving customer problems with your business. When you create your buyer persona and look at the characteristics of your customer, you'll uncover their:

• Age and location
• Preferences and interests
• Pain points

Pay special attention to your customer's pain points so your business can try to solve them. While there may be products similar to the one you sell, there may not be enough products in the marketplace that solve their problems. Let's use our MedCline body pillow example from before. There are many body pillows on the market, but most of them are either straight or L-shaped. With L-shaped pillows, consumers can put the pillow either between their legs or behind their heads.

MedCline likely researched their target customer when designing their pillow to find that many were looking for the ability to put the body pillow between their legs and behind their heads, which is how they developed the J-shaped patented design.

Analyzing pain points can help you build a strong, unique selling proposition while showing your customers you care about their wants and needs.

Have an Online Presence

Your business takes place online, so you need a strong online presence to get in front of your customers' eyes. But, if you want your business to be unforgettable, you'll need more than good web design. Instead, make sure your website focuses on user experience and can make the buying process simple and easy. The right website will help your brand and position yourself while allowing your customers to easily find and buy products.

Imagery is key for eCommerce businesses. You'll need multiple high-quality images of your products and your business to stand out. In addition, people want to see the products they purchase online before buying them, so make sure the labels and packaging are clear.

In addition, most people shop on their smartphones instead of their desktops, so make sure you have a responsive web design.

Review Your Branding

Your online presence and eCommerce brand are not the same things. Your brand is more than what your company looks like; it includes your brand voice and your brand's values. Unfortunately, many companies look at their branding as an extension of their marketing strategy, but it's more than that. Your brand is your online reputation, and it's how you can develop and nurture relationships with your audience.

Good branding demonstrates you share the same values as your customers and want to provide them with a good experience. When working on your branding, consider:

• Brand photography
• Brand logo
• Colors
• Website
• Tone of voice
• Marketing campaigns

Provide Exceptional Customer Service

Customer service can be the reason your eCommerce brand succeeds or the reason it fails. All of your customers are looking for a great experience with a dedicated customer support team that can help them easily solve problems or offer advice.

Delivering a great customer experience doesn't have to be difficult. It includes everything from making sure your checkout process is easy to providing quality customer service when a customer reaches out to you. In addition, your customer service strategy should make your customers want to reach out and communicate with you.

As an eCommerce business, there are many ways your customers can contact you. You'll have a phone number, email address, website form, and social media. You can expect customers to use all of these resources to get in touch with you, so you'll need to have a dedicated team who can answer questions as quickly as possible.

For example, if a customer isn't happy with your product or it arrived damaged, they don't want to wait several days to hear back from you. Instead, your customer service team needs to reply to their concerns and replace the item, give them a refund, or come up with another solution that appeases the customer so they will come back after having a negative experience.

Ultimately, your customer service can turn a negative experience with your company into a positive one that helps you retain customers and attract more.

Be Real

Many people are still wary about purchasing products online from new companies because they don't know whether or not an eCommerce business is legitimate. While there are numerous ways to build trust with your customers, one of the best ways is to be real. Instead of letting your website and social media strategy depending on stock photos, hire a photographer who can take photos of your real business, including the people running it to the products you have in stock.

When you talk to your customers, talk to them like you're a real person, not a robot. For example, when someone contacts your brand on social media, don't send them an automated message hoping it will solve their problem. While some canned responses can be helpful to you and your customers, when someone has an important question, make sure you tell them your name and try to resolve their problem directly on social media.

Standing Out in a Competitive Marketplace

Making your eCommerce business stand out won't always be easy, but by following these tips, you're well on your way. If you take away one thing from this article, it should be the most successful companies care about their customers and show it by responding to their pain points, providing exceptional customer service, and being personal.

• More Small Business Articles