E-Commerce Tech Tools to Help Edge Out Your Competition
Everyone’s looking for an edge in the online marketplace, put your online store up-front with these E-Commerce tech tools.
E-commerce is not only an annual trillion-dollar industry — it’s also growing at a double-digit percentage rate. As technology grows, online companies will face more and more competition.
So how can you make your website stand out from the seemingly endless competition?
In the online marketplace, there’s a broad range of technology solutions and tools for establishing a competitive advantage, like user interface tools, customer service solutions and marketing monitoring tools, which can give business owners a competitive edge. Here are a few solutions you can quickly adopt.
User Interface Tools
Your website is usually the first interaction people have with your company, and with plenty of competition, it’s imperative that you make a great and lasting first impression. When surveyed about their expectations for an e-commerce website, consumers said it must be aesthetically pleasing and easily navigable. It should look credible and promote the company, product or service, the survey concluded. About half of all respondents said they want a search feature and 98 percent want shipping costs clearly labeled.
After assembling your website, though, it’s crucial to go the extra mile in order to one-up your competition, which means evaluating your website’s effectiveness. Luckily, some interface design tools do just that. For instance, Mouse Stats is a UX program with a slew of analytic features that help monitor how your users are interacting with your website. This tool includes services like scroll heat maps, which are reports based on users’ mouse movements, and micro surveying, which can be used to help users navigate the site or compile preferences. These features can tell you what’s working on your site and what’s being ignored.
Customer Service Solutions
A significant challenge business owners contend with while operating a Web-based company — more so than a brick-and-mortar store, anyway — is offering exceptional customer service.
Without the benefit of being face to face with your customers, your duty to convey satisfaction should include some type of website support functionality. And it must be swift and personal. There are an array of customizable options from which to choose that can do everything from maintain and organize your customer database to generate reports on demographics.
Additionally, you can gain a competitive advantage in customer service by moving your contact center infrastructure to the cloud. A cloud-based contact center streamlines the process of providing customer service throughout the customer lifecycle. As such, it can — and should — be personalized to cater to each customer’s preferences.
Marketing Monitoring Tools
When it comes to marketing in the digital age, social media is the name of the game. The key, though, is getting the most out of this free marketing tool. Simply creating a page for your company is not nearly enough. You have to engage with your customers and prospects as well as communicate any issues as they arise. While this can be time-consuming as a sole proprietor, the benefits are astronomical. Here’s where a little tech can save you a lot of time and help you stand out amongst your rivals.
Seek out Customer Reviews
Customer reviews, either on your company website or on social media, define the perception of your company. Indeed, the perception of your product or service is even more important than the product or service itself, so responding to this type of feedback — positive and negative alike — is imperative to maintain credibility. Programs like FreeReviewMonitoring.com helps companies stay on top of customer reviews by alerting you when someone posts a new comment.
Maintain an Active Online Presence
Additionally, an analytics tool LikeAlyzer can help you judge the effectiveness of your Facebook page by evaluating key elements. This tool also helps monitor your activity to make sure your company maintains an active online presence while also comparing your activity and customer engagement with other similar companies. Plus, it’s free.
In modern commerce, it’s necessary to stay on top of technology and to adopt new best practices in order to stand out in the ever-growing marketplace. Gaining a competitive edge with technology not only helps your business grow, but it can also keep customers and prospects alike engaged.
