The best way to succeed in e-commerce is to gather tips from different business ventures that have already made it. They’ve learned the tricks of the trade and dodged various risky situations. What’s more, many of them are more than happy to share their stories. That way they encourage rookie e-traders to find their own way to the top in this field. Likewise, we’re also eager to help beginners climb the ladder and become a household name. In line with that, we’ve analyzed dozens of success stories in e-trade and we bring the ones we thought would inspire online traders.
1) Diamond Candle
They had an original business idea – sinking rings of different value into the wax of fragrant candles. Still, at the beginning they had trouble popularizing their brand, mostly because they couldn’t afford expensive advertising. After a while, however, Diamond Candle managed to make a breakthrough via engaged customers.
The incentive that made this online business take off were the rings. Namely, satisfied customers shared the photos of their in-wax findings across social media. The owners of Diamond Candle then had only one task – to streamline new customers from social channels to their website.
What brought success to these entrepreneurs was a fresh idea that inspired Internet users to spread the word about it. Also, they went an extra mile to present their products in a favorable way, i.e. invested in product photography.
2) Common Projects
Footwear tell a lot about people in general. The founders of Common Project had that in mind when they launched the eponymous business in 2004. Their initial target audience weremen who like wearing classy, but inconspicuous sneakers. Due to their narrow audience and an interest-raising product, they have gradually gained recognition from a larger number of people.
Only when they became an established e-commerce business did they increase the number of items they sell. For instance, it took them some time to include women’s shoes into their assortment of products.
Nowadays, they sell simple but top-notch men’s and women’s shoes, as well as classy accessories. Their desire not to offer too many products is still predominant, which turned out as a great move to attract chosen customers.
Additionally, they accomplished their goals with the help of clothes designers and branch influencers. All these steps will help you increase your sales. Also, when selling clothes online, go for a simple checkout page and smart invoice templates.These little details can make a significant difference in ensuring a fast and convenient purchase.
3) Seismic Audio
Another business started in 2004, more as an attempt on eBay than a serious venture, Seismic Audio now brings about $10 million. The key to success of this business was its focus. On the one hand, its founder was concentrated only on one platform – eBay. On the other, this business offered a handpicked number of high-quality audio products.
The former strategy has generated a tribe of loyal, repeat customers. The latter tactics has skyrocketed the reputation of the brand.
After the initial success, Seismic Audio expanded its work to Amazon in 2007.
What you can learn from this example is that you should first get familiar with one e-commerce platform and later spread your work to other channels of e-trade.
4) Edible Arrangements
Some categories of e-commerce need to deliver their service as soon as possible. Food businesses are probably the most prominent such group. The owners of Edible Arrangements did their marketing homework partly right. They offered their customers an instantaneous delivery, but it didn’t increase the number of sales. As they later realized, their shoppers didn’t notice that useful service.
Therefore, they highlighted this momentous delivery with a special banner on the homepage with a clock counting down the remaining time for such deliveries. The outcome of this strategy were increased sales and greater contentment of shoppers.
The morale of this success story is that sometimes adding a minute change can result in better sales results – especially if it’s accompanied by a countdown timer that’s creating a sense of shopping urge.
5) Black Milk Clothing
Just like the owners of Diamond Candle, the founders of Black Milk Clothing couldn’t afford an abundant marketing budget. This is where they experienced the power of social media in e-commerce promotion.
Namely, they created several Facebook groups to promote their main products – original leggings. Via those groups, they also succeeded in raising interest in their brand. As a result, those groups have become real communities of brand lovers who buy items from the Black Milk Clothing website. At the same time, they popularize that brand in social media.
This case study shows that you should seize the opportunities offered by the communality of social networks. The more followers you convert into satisfied buyers, the more other potential customers will see your brand. Once your brand becomes one of your customers’ daily online topics, you’ve hit the bull’s eye.
Conclusion
Learning from other people’s experiences will encourage novice online traders to launch a business of their own. At the beginning, you can place your e-commerce cruise on one of numerous existing e-commerce platforms. As you reach some success, you can go for a website of your own.
As opposed to that, opening too many e-commerce fronts will soon exhaust your limited initial resources. But if you gradually build your online brand, you’ll have enough time to improve your business and become a success story, just like the enterprises presented in this article.
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AuthorBio: Mark Thomasson is a biz-dev hero at Invoicebus - a simple invoicing service that gets your invoices paid faster. He passionately blogs on topics that help small biz owners succeed in their business. He is also a lifelong learner who practices mindfulness and enjoys long walks in nature more than anything else.
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