Now that you’ve had a chance to see some of Amazon’s top competitors, it’s time to show you how online stores can compete with Amazon.
How online stores can compete with Amazon?
You don’t have to be the next Walmart, Alibaba or eBay to successfully sell online. Your online store doesn’t need $1 billion in revenue to stand up to this global giant.
All you have to do is follow the example of successful brands in the industry. You can even steal the tutorial directly from Amazon and apply it to your business.
These are the 12 best tips for competing with Amazon online.
1. Create a brand. Be a brand! Compete with Amazon!
Branding is a powerful tool.
Branding is the reason why Starbucks can charge $5 for coffee and why Gucci can sell T-shirts for $500.
You need to create a brand that your customers will recognize and trust. When customers are loyal to a brand, they won’t shop elsewhere, even if the alternative is cheaper or more convenient.
Amazon sells products made by different brands. But the nature of the Amazon platform makes every product unbranded.
It’s hard for shoppers to differentiate between brands when they shop on Amazon.
As a result, this creates a significant opportunity for other B2B e-commerce stores to stand out with their unique brands.
2. Focus on customer retention.
Everyone thinks they need to find new clients to be successful. While new clients are obviously great, you can’t afford to ignore existing clients.
Loyal customers spend more money and convert at a faster rate compared to new customers.
A customer who once bought something on your site is already familiar with your brand and products. It’s much easier to sell to them again than trying to tell someone about yourself and what you do.
Studies show that the probability of selling to a regular customer is up to 70%, but for new customers this figure drops to 5%.
Returning customers are 50% more likely to try new products and spend 31% more money than new customers.
Amazon uses Prime membership as a way to retain customers. You should develop a customer loyalty program to encourage customer retention in your online store.
3. Focus on ecommerce SEO.
SEO for eCommerce is something that should be a priority for all B2B eCommerce stores in 2020.
- Site architecture.
- User experience.
- Blogs.
- Description of categories.
- Descriptions of products.
- Keyword research.
- Creating links.
These are all components of the internal and technical SEO of your site. If you can master your SEO strategy, you will rank high in the SERPs for relevant keywords in your category.
The first page of Google search results captures 71% of clicks. If you don’t show up on that page, chances are slim that a customer will go straight to your site.
Without a focus on organic search traffic, you rely on customers going straight to your site and bypassing the search engine. But what about buyers who are not familiar with your brand? You are pushing these people away.
The numbers speak for themselves. 93% of all online experiences start with a search engine.
Consumers are looking for what you are selling. You just need to make sure that your ecommerce site shows up in organic search results.
4. Create a mailing list.
Contrary to popular belief, email marketing is far from dead. For brands, this is one of the best ways to communicate with customers.
When you write down the email address, you can remind the customer of sales or promotions that will encourage them to make a purchase. You think about your brand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but in reality, customers don’t.
Don’t sit back and wait for them to visit your site. Send them an email to start the process.
Here are two of my favorite ecommerce mailing list building strategies. First, collect email addresses during checkout.
5. Offer attractive discounts.
Everyone wants to feel like they got a good deal when they buy something. The last thing you want is for your customers to feel guilty after shopping on your site. This will give them a bad association with your brand.
One of the reasons for Amazon’s success is their prices. Here are some of the most important factors influencing buying decisions on Amazon.
To compete with Amazon’s low prices, you need to offer enticing discounts on your ecommerce website. When a customer feels they are getting a good deal, it increases the likelihood that they will convert.
6. Bet on the usability of the website in the first place.
Amazon is masterful at getting users to convert. The website, mobile app and one-click checkout process contribute to the success of the company.
To handle this, your website must serve your customers. Pages should load quickly, and ease of navigation should also be a priority. If your customers cannot find what they are looking for with just a couple of clicks, they will go elsewhere for their needs.
There is no reason for people to put up with the tedious buying process. Countless websites, including Amazon, make it easy to shop online.
First impression matters. It takes only 0.05 seconds for a person to form an opinion about a website. 38% of consumers stop visiting sites with an unattractive design. Moreover, 88% of people will not return to a site after a bad experience.
If your site is not user friendly, people will leave – it’s that simple.
7. Don’t sell the same items you sell on Amazon.
We have already established how extensive Amazon’s product list is. Looks like they sell anything and everything under the sun.
But with that said, you should avoid selling the same products that are offered on Amazon, especially if you are an online reseller.
If you have the resources, try building your own product. Otherwise, find ways to carve out a niche in your industry.
You wouldn’t open a fast food burger restaurant and put it next to McDonald’s, would you? So don’t try to beat Amazon online at their own game by selling everything they do. Be unique.
8. Don’t sacrifice profitability on Amazon.
When you’re trying to compete with Amazon, it can be tempting to cut prices. But this is not a winning strategy if you are sacrificing your profits.
Amazon is able to keep prices low due to its huge sales volume. But an independent online retailer cannot afford to maintain such low prices. The minimum profit will put your company at risk of bankruptcy.
Of course, if your price of competing products is lower than Amazon’s, consumers may prefer you over them. But it’s not profitable in the long run if you don’t make enough money to keep the lights on.
Get real profit. Then, create a pricing strategy that matches that margin, even after sales, promotions, or discounts.
9. Focus on conversions and funnels.
Conversions are the lifeblood of an online store. Traffic is great, but it’s useless if visitors don’t convert.
Here’s an overview of the average ecommerce performance for each stage of the conversion funnel.
10. Simplify the return process.
Returns are an integral part of online sales. Instead of avoiding them, you need to make it as easy as possible for the buyer to return.
A customer-friendly return policy can be the difference between a conversion and a missed opportunity.
66% of consumers check a company’s return policy before buying. 80% of shoppers are put off by brands with an inconvenient return process.
Put yourself in the place of the consumer for a moment. They bought what they wanted and for one reason or another they want to send it back. In some cases, the product may be defective or not up to customer standards.
Regardless of the reason, the customer is already dissatisfied. Don’t make things worse by making them pay for a refund. Over 41% of consumers will only shop at online stores that offer free returns.
Let them print a free return shipping label. Eliminate restocking fees or other return fees.
Don’t lose a customer because of a return. If the process is simple, people will continue to buy from your online store even if their original goal was unsatisfactory.
11. Offer 2-day shipping.
Amazon’s delivery service has raised the bar for online delivery practices. Prime members receive their orders within two days. It has become a new standard in the minds of consumers.
To compete with Amazon, you also need to offer two-day shipping. Here’s the catch – you need to do it for free.
Additional costs, including shipping, are the number one reason for shopping cart abandonment.
According to this chart, another 18% of consumers are abandoning checkout because delivery times were too slow.
A recent study shows that nine out of ten customers say free shipping is the number one incentive to shop more online.
Don’t worry about losing money on shipping. Simply include the shipping cost in the base price of your products. In addition, 93% of customers want to buy more items when free shipping is offered. Orders shipped for free are 30% higher on average.
There is no way around this; to compete with Amazon, you need to ship items for free and fast.
12. Work with trading platforms.
Instead of just selling directly from your website, you can work with other online marketplaces besides Amazon. This is the perfect strategy for small brands in niche categories.
How online stores can compete with Amazon?
Summing up
Amazon has changed the way you shop online. They raised consumer expectations and set the bar for other online retailers.
While Amazon is a powerful leader in global e-commerce, that doesn’t mean they’re immune to competition. There are many other big companies that are taking some of Amazon’s market share.
Every online store in existence competes with Amazon. To survive and evolve as you move forward, you need to adapt and make changes to your process.
Follow the tips I’ve laid out in this guide and you’ll be able to compete with Amazon for years to come.
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