Trend change in E-commerce

E-commerce has gone through the roof the past few years with fashion brands paving the way for new ways of buying online. From larger conglomerates to small businesses, competition has also grown online with many business owners left confused about how to get their brand up and running.

Daniel Knight, the founder of Sidekick, explains how it has become harder over the years below.

Since 2010, Sidekick has been selling kickboxing equipment online. Back then, Facebook was only six years old and all you needed to grow your global empire was a Blackberry phone and a Wifi connection. Utilising a website, Ebay, Amazon and networking on Facebook was the bread and butter of e-commerce, working to launch a successful business online in no time.

However, over the years, online retailers have changed the competition. All businesses have had to up their game from creating SEO optimised content to solid Google campaigns amongst social media presences and keyword optimisation too. Even Amazon and Ebay have taken a backseat when it comes to e-commerce with many companies offering direct delivery at very competitive prices instead.

Nowadays, selling products online can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.

Social media has changed the most over the last ten years. Although algorithms change frequently, business profiles and connected shopping have created fantastic ways of buying online. Keeping updated with these changes will give you the best chances of standing out from your competition and hitting your online sales targets.

For example, new Facebook algorithms limit the amount of views each post receives so page likes are no longer the main goal of social media marketing. A focused campaign based around running ad campaigns and boosted posts has become one of the best ways to gain exposure for your business and it’s products.

As for Instagram, this platform has become a major selling social media network. From connected shops and bio links to memes and user-generated content, Instagram is a constantly evolving platform. Influencer marketing is a large part of marketing on Instagram, aiding not onlythe reach of your platform, but also aligning your products with celebrities and social media personalities too.

Over the past ten years, e-commerce has evolved dramatically. Expanding from a few major selling platforms, knowing how to market your products online is one of the most effective ways of expanding your brand and growing your business too.

So, if you’re thinking of starting a new business you need to:

● Choose what product/services you would like to offer.

● Study the market to see where you would fit.

● Create a unique name and logo.

● Get your products made and use high resolution images.

● Build your website and social media platforms.

● Budget a monthly figure for Facebook and Google ads.

● Get cracking!!!