Understanding your particular market is crucial to making informed decisions and achieving wide business success. Conducting thorough market research can provide insights into market trends, consumer preferences, and the competitive landscape, helping businesses to identify opportunities and mitigate risks.
eCommerce business market research is a mouthful and is inherently intimidating. This step-by-step guide is designed to help eCommerce companies make sense of this strategy and walks you through the process of conducting effective, high-reward research.
What Is Market Research for eCommerce?
Market research for eCommerce involves the systematic collection and analysis of data related to online retail market trends, consumer behaviors, and the competitive environment.
This process helps businesses understand their market, identify opportunities, and make informed strategic decisions. The main goal of eCommerce market research is to gather data that can be used to interpret consumer behavior, etching out a competitive advantage over competitors.
eCommerce Market Research Step-By-Step Process
Growing an eCommerce business is not simple. To effectively conduct eCommerce market research and develop innovative marketing strategies, follow these detailed steps:
Identify Product Demand and Make Projections
Numerous eCommerce product research tools provide ideas by analyzing current best sellers on platforms like Amazon or dropship supplier sales data. However, these tools often highlight products that have already peaked in popularity, making it challenging to capitalize on their success. Many trending products are short-lived fads driven by social media, resulting in decreased demand by the time they are added to your store.
To discover products with sustainable growth potential, examine their historical growth trends over the past several months or years. The goal is to aggregate trend data to make projections of emerging trends for eCommerce platforms.
Determine Market Growth
A product’s success is more likely if it is part of a growing market trend rather than a solitary item in a stagnant or declining market. To assess market growth, start by reviewing secondary research data from sources like Allied Market Research and Grand View Research, which offer some free market reports.
These reports typically include quantitative data such as market size, growth forecasts, compound annual growth rates, and other critical information that can help you understand the market’s growth trajectory. Some reports provide consumer insights, including spending habits, target market demographics, and market sentiment. These eCommerce tools are more helpful for non-niche market segments.
Access Profit Margins
Using the information gathered from identifying product demand and determining market growth, assess the potential profit margins for your product.
Consider factors such as cost of goods sold (COGS), pricing strategies, and competitor pricing. A healthy profit margin ensures that your business remains sustainable and profitable. Analyze the cost structure of your product, including manufacturing, shipping, and marketing expenses, and compare it with the average selling price and potential for eCommerce sales to determine your potential profit margins.
Analyze Top Competitors + Keyword Research
A competitive market indicates stability, but excessive competition can hinder your ability to gain traction, as high marketing costs may erode your profits. To analyze your competition, identify the leading players in your niche, their primary keywords, and your target keywords. Understanding your competitors’ keyword strategies enables you to formulate an effective keyword strategy to outperform them.
Utilize tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs to identify high-performing keywords and gaps in your competitors’ strategies, allowing you to optimize your content and advertising efforts. When you conduct market research, always keep your mind on profitability. For example, a some competitive keywords may be too difficult for your company to rank for. A better business strategy is to reach your target audience using a slightly less competitive keyword with a smaller search volume, but one that you can actually rank for.
Hot tip: It’s better to be in the top three ranking URLs for a few KWs than in the mid-teens for many KWs. Strategy makes the difference here.
eCommerce Market Research Tools
Several tools can aid in your eCommerce market research, providing valuable data and insights to inform your decisions. We’ve listed some of our favorites below.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and reports website traffic, offering insights into user behavior, demographics, and engagement. Through analyzing this data, you can understand how visitors interact with your site, identify popular products, and measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.
Salesforce Shopping Index
The Salesforce Shopping Index provides data on global online shopping trends, including key performance indicators such as conversion rates, average order values, and traffic sources. This tool helps you understand broader market trends and benchmark your performance against industry standards.
Helium 10
Helium 10 is an all-in-one software suite designed for Amazon sellers, offering tools for product research, keyword research, listing optimization, and market trend analysis. It helps sellers identify profitable products, optimize listings, and stay ahead of the competition on the Amazon platform.
Jungle Scout
Jungle Scout is a comprehensive tool for Amazon sellers that offers product research, sales analytics, and keyword tracking. It provides data-driven insights to help sellers find profitable products, estimate sales, and optimize their Amazon listings for better visibility and performance.
SEMrush
SEMrush is a versatile digital marketing tool that offers features for SEO, PPC, content marketing, and competitive analysis. It helps businesses identify high-performing keywords, analyze competitor strategies, and optimize their online presence to improve search engine rankings and drive traffic.
SurferSEO
SurferSEO is a content optimization tool that analyzes the top-performing pages for a given keyword and provides recommendations for on-page SEO improvements. It helps you create content that ranks higher in search engine results by optimizing for relevant keywords and user intent.
How eCommerce Businesses Encourage Repeat Customers
So, you’ve done the research, launched the product(s), and now you’ve made some impressive sales. Congrats! But don’t run immediately to the next project. Now is the time to capitalize on all these new customers. Never forget, acquiring new customers is often more expensive than retaining existing ones.
Here are some effective strategies to keep your customers coming back.
1. Exceptional Customer Service
Providing outstanding customer service is fundamental to fostering customer loyalty. Quick, helpful responses to inquiries and issues can significantly improve the customer experience. Ensure your support team is easily accessible via multiple channels, such as email, live chat, and social media.
Consider offering 24/7 support to accommodate customers in different time zones. Training your staff to handle customer interactions with empathy, patience, and professionalism can turn a negative experience into a positive one, thereby retaining customers and enhancing their loyalty to your brand.
2. Personalized Marketing
Personalization goes a long way in making customers feel valued. Use the data you’ve gathered from your market research and customer interactions to tailor your marketing efforts. Send personalized emails with product recommendations based on previous purchases or browsing behavior. Birthday discounts, anniversary specials, and personalized thank-you notes can also enhance the customer experience.
Implementing personalized website content, such as showing products based on browsing history or sending cart abandonment reminders, can further increase customer engagement and drive repeat purchases.
3. Loyalty Programs
Implementing a loyalty program is an excellent way to reward repeat customers. Offer points for every purchase, which can be redeemed for discounts, free products, or exclusive offers. Loyalty programs not only incentivize repeat business but also foster a sense of community among your customers. To maximize the effectiveness of your loyalty program, ensure it is easy to understand and use.
Provide multiple ways for customers to earn points, such as through purchases, social media shares, and referrals. Regularly promote your loyalty program through email campaigns and on your website to keep customers engaged.
4. Regular Communication
Stay in touch with your customers through regular communication. Email newsletters, social media updates, and blog posts keep your brand top-of-mind. Share useful content, product updates, and exclusive offers to keep your customers engaged and informed.
Personalized content, such as special deals based on past purchases or tailored product recommendations, can enhance the effectiveness of your communications. Use a mix of communication channels to reach a broader audience and cater to different preferences, ensuring your messages are consistent and valuable.
5. Exclusive Offers and Discounts
Offer exclusive deals and discounts to your repeat customers. This can include early access to sales, special promotions, or member-only events. Exclusive offers make your customers feel special and provide them with an incentive to return to your store. Highlight these exclusive deals in your marketing communications to create a sense of urgency and excitement.
Consider using a tiered rewards system within your loyalty program to offer even more exclusive perks to your most loyal customers, further encouraging repeat purchases.
6. Seamless User Experience
Ensure your website offers a seamless shopping experience. A user-friendly interface, fast loading times, easy navigation, and a simple checkout process all contribute to a positive customer experience. Mobile optimization is also crucial, as a growing number of consumers shop on their mobile devices.
Regularly test your website’s functionality and make improvements based on user feedback. Providing multiple payment options and ensuring your website is secure can also enhance the user experience, making customers more likely to return.
7. Subscription Services
Consider offering subscription services for products that require regular replenishment. Subscriptions provide a convenient way for customers to receive their favorite products on a regular basis, ensuring repeat business and steady revenue for your eCommerce store. Offer incentives such as discounts or free shipping for subscription customers to encourage them to sign up.
Make it easy for customers to manage their subscriptions, including options to pause, modify, or cancel, to enhance their overall experience and satisfaction with your service. Even if a customer cancels their subscription you can always advertise re-subscribing at a later date.
8. Solicit Feedback and Act on It
Actively seek feedback from your customers to understand their needs and preferences. Use surveys, reviews, and social media interactions to gather insights. Show your customers that you value their opinions by implementing changes based on their feedback.
Promptly responding to feedback, both positive and negative, can demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction. Share the improvements you’ve made as a result of customer feedback to build trust and show that you are dedicated to enhancing their experience.
9. Build a Community
Creating a community around your brand can enhance customer loyalty. Encourage customers to share their experiences, reviews, and photos on social media. Engaging with your customers in a community setting fosters a sense of belonging and loyalty. Host online events, such as webinars or live Q&A sessions, to interact with your customers and build relationships.
Create and moderate online forums or groups where customers can discuss your products and share tips, further strengthening their connection to your brand.
10. Consistent Quality and Reliable Delivery
Ensure that your products consistently meet high-quality standards and that deliveries are reliable and timely. Positive experiences with your products and services build trust and encourage customers to return. Implement quality control processes to maintain product standards and reduce the risk of defects. Partner with reliable shipping providers and offer tracking options to keep customers informed about their orders.
Regularly review your delivery processes and make improvements to ensure timely and accurate deliveries, further enhancing customer satisfaction.
Get Started With Elevato
Ready to elevate your eCommerce game? At Elevato, we specialize in helping businesses like yours thrive with tailored strategies and expert insights.
Contact us today to learn how we can help you enhance your customer retention and achieve your business goals. Let’s take your eCommerce business to new heights together!