Starting an online retail operation in an area you are passionate about is exciting, but can also be daunting. While success isn’t guaranteed, you can take steps to increase your overall confidence in your business, products, and processes. You can build the right infrastructure to run your online retail store in the best way that works for you.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when building a business. Here are four tricks of successful online retailers to keep their companies growing.
Set trackable key performance indicators.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) reflect the health and operations of your business. They tell you whether your business is growing and can alert you to potential problems. For example, the number of sales made each week can serve as a KPI. If your sales drop or rise unexpectedly, you may have an issue related to your business.
Look into Google Analytics Academy and other data-driven tools to grow your knowledge of KPIs and potential measurements to track. Even if you don’t consider yourself a “numbers person,” you can set goals for your business to make sure it grows steadily.
Establish safe, secure payment options.
Don’t underestimate the value of online retail payment processing for your ecommerce store. Secure payment options instill trust in customers, who feel safe submitting personal information to buy your products. Your ecommerce payment processing system prevents data leaks and hacks, which can harm your business financially and legally.
There is no such thing as a business that is too small to care about cybersecurity. More than half of small businesses don’t have any cybersecurity measures in place — including measures related to payment processing.
Make sure you have a trusted payment processing partner, even if you need a high-risk merchant account. It is better to work with a trusted high-risk credit card processing vendor than to leave your finances open to attacks.
Identify your operational weaknesses.
Running an online retail operation means you need to understand every aspect of your business, from the sales tax you collect to the product photos you edit and upload. No one is an expert on everything. Review each aspect of your business and identify where your knowledge gaps are. From there, you can either grow your skills in these areas or work with professionals to handle that part of the business.
For example, if completing your taxes feels impossible, find an accountant specializing in small business growth. If you aren’t sure about website building, find a web designer who can make your pages shine.
Prepare to scale in the coming years.
Today, your business might receive 10 orders per week. In the future, you could receive more than 100 orders per day. Your business has the potential to become incredibly successful and popular with customers. The processes you build today can help you scale your business in the coming years. Keep this in mind as you grow your business.
Developing good bookkeeping, production, customer service, and marketing habits when your business is small can help you once you start to grow. It is easier to establish processes when your business is just beginning instead of retroactively building these systems in the future.
Starting any online operation comes with instability and risk, but with careful planning and infrastructure, you can develop a healthy business from the beginning that grows into a large-scale operation.