Top Tips for Making an eCommerce Store More Profitable (episode 500)
You are listening to a milestone episode – eCommerce MasterPlan’s episode 500!!
To celebrate this significant event, we gathered past guests – 20 of them! – and asked them the question, “what’s your top tip to make an eCommerce store more profitable?”
I’ve worked hard to get you a line-up of brilliant guests so you get the best possible tips to help you and your business become more profitable.
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Then 👉 Get your copy of the Top Tips eBook Here
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Mike Stevens, The Direct to Consumer Playbook
Mike prioritizes product-market fit over all else, emphasizing these key points for eCommerce success:
- Focus on product market fit.
- Demand trumps perfect execution.
- Focus on meeting a big unmet need first.
- Product market fit gives you time to figure out the rest.
Lucy Jeffrey, Bare Kind Socks
Lucy Jeffrey emphasizes focusing on the fundamentals and cost reduction to improve eCommerce profitability, with key points including:
- Charge for shipping.
- Reduce cost of goods.
- Reduce fulfillment costs.
- Increase prices marginally.
- Bundle slow-selling items.
Christine Nicholson, The Exit Readiness Expert
Christine’s top tip to make an eCommerce store more profitable is to understand your customers better than anyone else and make the user experience as friction-free as possible.
- Get someone unfamiliar with eCommerce to test your website’s user experience.
- Focus on making the buying process as smooth as possible.
- Read Chloe’s books!
Jaye Cowle from Launch
Jaye’s top tip to make an eCommerce store more profitable is to prioritize customer happiness and measure it to gain insights that can influence business decisions.
- Make customer happiness a KPI for every team.
- Use multiple tracking methods to measure customer happiness.
- Balance customer acquisition with customer retention efforts.
James Gurd, Digital Juggler Ltd.
James’s top tip to make an eCommerce store more profitable is to measure customer satisfaction with a Net Promoter Score survey to identify promoters and detractors and use that data to improve customer experience and retention.
- Use NPS surveys at point of purchase and post-delivery to measure customer satisfaction.
- Address issues raised by detractors to improve customer experience and turn them into promoters.
- Use NPS data to inform customer service and retention strategies.
Gary Amstutz, RubberStampSA
Gary’s top tip to make an eCommerce store more profitable is to focus on the entire customer experience, rather than just the products you sell.
- Prioritize creating a positive customer experience to cultivate brand advocates and repeat business.
Adam Bastock from Small99
Adam’s advice to make an eCommerce store more profitable is to focus on a two-pronged sustainability strategy that reduces costs and attracts customers who value eco-friendly practices.
- Implement internal sustainability practices to reduce packaging waste and lower costs.
- Develop an external sustainability story to attract customers who are concerned about the environment.
Kathleen Sullivan Garman from SullyGarman & Associates
Kathleen emphasizes that optimizing operations is crucial to profitability in eCommerce, with a focus on efficient fulfillment through strategic warehouse location and cost control. Key considerations for optimising profit:
- Warehouse location.
- Fulfillment strategy.
- Cost control throughout the supply chain.
Steven Sashen, Xero Shoes
Steven Sashen’s top tip for making an eCommerce store more profitable is simple and straightforward:
- Ask for the vendor’s best price!
Anthea Morris from Better2Know
Anthea’s top tips for making an eCommerce store more profitable are focused on finance:
- Check and compare card transaction fees from different providers.
- Make sure your payment area uses 3d secure to prevent chargebacks.
- Factor in the cost of potential chargebacks due to customer disputes.
Kristian Hansen from Slø
Kristian emphasizes that knowing your numbers is crucial for making an eCommerce store more profitable. His key points include:
- Understand margins and customer acquisition costs.
- Monitor conversion rates and customer lifetime value.
- Track return rates and ensure all key metrics trend positively.
Alison Metcalfe, Alison Metcalfe Ltd.
Alison highlights the importance of thoroughly understanding margins to ensure an eCommerce store’s profitability.
- Calculate intake margin by subtracting the cost price and additional costs from the retail price.
- Understand the relationship between intake margin and sales margin to gauge business health.
- Review gross margin and net profit by considering indirect costs and overheads to identify savings and spending efficiency.
Kunle Campbell from 2x eCommerce
Kunle advocates for cross-functional growth to maximize profitability in an eCommerce store. His key points are:
- Ensure marketing, operations, and finance teams are in sync.
- Categorize marketing campaigns for financial clarity and focus on profit-driven marketing.
- Conduct regular cross-departmental meetings.
Janis Thomas from Look Fabulous Forever
Janis’s top tip is to provide useful and helpful content to customers for eCommerce profitability.
- Create content that is valuable to customers, not just promotional.
- Provide tutorials and information relevant to your products and target audience.
- Building strong customer relationships through valuable content can lead to high engagement and long-term business growth.
Izabela Russell, Music Radio Creative
Izabela’s top tip is on the importance of website speed for improving an eCommerce store’s profitability:
- Monitor Google Analytics for website speed metrics.
- Optimise website elements like audio and images for faster loading.
- Ensure the site is well-optimised for both desktop and mobile experiences.
Luke Carthy, eCommerce Consultant
Luke recommends preventing wasted ad spend on out-of-stock items to improve an eCommerce store’s profitability.
- Avoid directing paid traffic to out-of-stock or unavailable products.
- Integrate stock status information into Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for better tracking.
- Use this data to optimize ad spend and prevent wasting money on unavailable items.
Patricia Callwood from True Serenity Tea
Pat’s top tip for making an eCommerce store more profitable is to provide an exceptional customer experience through creative marketing strategies. Here are the key points:
- Use a variety of marketing channels like social media, publications, and AI tools.
- Regularly send informative content to your customers such as product descriptions, usage guides, and links to learn more about your business.
Laura Riches from Laylo
Laura believes in free and creative marketing strategies to get customer attention before paid advertising. Here are the key points:
- Think creatively about free marketing stunts and attention-grabbing tactics.
- Focus on personal brand building to attract customers.
Anna Wilson, Key Ascent
Anna Wilson emphasizes data capture optimization to maximize conversions on your eCommerce store. Here’s how:
- Capture visitor details.
- Test capture methods and optimize timing.
- Develop engaging messages.
- Focus on quality leads.
Ben Dreyer from Boden
Ben’s top tip for eCommerce profitability is continuous improvement and focusing on what works for your business. Here are the key points:
- Constantly evolve.
- Do what’s right, not what’s trendy.
- Prioritize profit over vanity metrics.
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Shopify recently turned the tables on me, and took me from interviewer to interviewee.
Knowing, as they do, that the most successful retailers today are those that bridge the gap between online and offline and make it a seamless experience, Shopify wanted my thoughts on how to achieve truly connected commerce, particularly in the key areas of local selling, omnichannel selling and cross border selling.
You can read my thoughts, along with other commerce experts from Germany, France, Spain and Italy by downloading the report.
Full transcript to read & download:
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