Our Guide to Consistently Make Money with an Ecommerce Business

Many people think they’re going to make a lot of money starting an ecommerce store without having to put in any effort. While people do quickly grow online startup e-stores into successful brands, they don’t do so without adhering to some general principles. This is our guide to consistently make money with an ecommerce.

Establish Yourself as a Brand

Not all ecommerce stores are the same. No two places sell exactly the same things in the same way. But what entices people to shop with one retailer over another when they have highly similar offerings? It largely comes down to who has the best brand. 

Customer loyalty is massively important. Getting people to build a relationship with your brand boosts revenues and lowers marketing costs. Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is one of the most important metrics to consider when you’re running an ecommerce business. Too high of a CAC can be particularly disastrous for new businesses, as getting new customers is far more costly than keeping them.

Dive into your customer metrics to get a stronger idea of how you should build your brand to keep people coming back. 

Understand Your Customers Better

A huge part of brand building is getting to know your ideal customer. You can’t sell the same way to married people in their 60s as you would to a teenager. People have different values and respond accordingly. To get the most out of your ecommerce store, you need to create detailed customer profiles that outline the sorts of people most likely to purchase your goods. You’ll need to think about demographics (age, location, income) as well as psychographics (opinions, lifestyles) when putting together consumer personas. Companies doing the best job at this pull in the most revenue by enticing individuals who fall within specific categories.  

Emphasize Mobile Capabilities 

Over 50 percent of all searches happen on smartphones or tablets. This number is set to continue going up with time. Mobile search functionality is pretty much inherent in the ecommerce definition which, according to Shopify, refers to the transfer of funds (digitally) and products (physically), regardless of internet-connected device. In short, make sure you choose a platform that stresses the importance of mobile compatibility.  

Develop a Diverse Inventory

Your product listings are going to play a huge role in determining the consistency of cash flow at your ecommerce store. Is your brand disproportionately associated with a certain season—such as a company that sells equipment for snow sports? If this is the case, you might want to consider ways you can expand your inventory to maintain more revenues throughout the year. This might mean adding a new line of related products to your brand offerings. Or, you can run periodic discount sales throughout the year to keep people interested in your brand, and potentially cross-sell additional items while they’re shopping with you. 

Space Out Promotions

Almost all retailers roll out big sales during the holiday season. Whether it’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday—or another day altogether—there are tons of opportunities to make money during this time of year. But you don’t want to limit yourself to making money during the holidays. Find creative ways to space out your promotions to get a steady income. 

Watch Quarterly Financials

A lot of ecommerce businesses only look at their bottom lines at the end of the year. As long as things end up in a decent place, these store owners are satisfied. However, only looking at financials in his way can give a limited, or distorted, view of how a business is really bringing in money. It’s important to evaluate income throughout the year. This way, you can figure out what’s working at what times and capitalize on those opportunities. Ecommerce businesses need to utilize analytics tools in order to stay on top of their financials all year. 

If you’re going to run an ecommerce store, you might as well do it the right way. Many people have found success in the ecommerce world by keeping these ideas in mind.