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A Guide to Implementing a CRM Strategy

Implementing a CRM strategy may be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be.

In this article, we’ll talk about everything you need to know about setting one up.

What is a CRM strategy?

A CRM strategy, or customer relationship management strategy, is a plan that outlines how a business or organization will manage its interactions with customers to build and maintain positive relationships. 

At its core, the strategy is all about putting the customer first, and ensuring that they feel valued, heard, and understood. 

Any strategy usually goes hand in hand with CRM software, as this can make it easier for the implementation. 

Is a CRM strategy and CRM software different? 

Yes, a CRM strategy is not the same as a CRM software. While CRM software is an important tool for implementing a CRM strategy, the strategy itself encompasses much more than just the software.

The strategy is a plan or framework that outlines how a business will manage and improve its customer relationships.

This involves defining goals, identifying customer needs, creating a customer-centric culture, and measuring performance to ensure that the strategy is working effectively.

The strategy may also include other aspects such as marketing, customer service, and sales processes.

On the other hand, CRM software is a technology tool that is used to support the strategy.

The software is designed to help businesses manage their customer interactions, store customer data, and automate various processes.

It typically includes features like contact management, lead tracking, sales forecasting, and analytics. 

The software enables businesses to efficiently manage their customer interactions, access customer information, and streamline their workflows.

CRM strategy

How to implement a CRM strategy

There are a few key elements that go into developing an effective strategy. 

Understanding your customers

To build strong relationships with your customers, you need to understand who they are, what they want, and what their pain points and challenges are.

This requires gathering data and insights through market research, customer surveys, social media monitoring, and other tools.

Defining your objective

Once you have a clear understanding of your customers, you need to define your objectives for your strategy.

This might include increasing customer loyalty, improving customer satisfaction ratings, boosting sales and revenue, or customer retention.

Selecting the right technology

A CRM strategy relies on technology to manage customer interactions and data.

You need to select the right technology solutions that align with your business needs and objectives and provide the features and functionality you need to manage your customer relationships effectively.

Developing a customer-centric culture

 A successful strategy requires a company-wide commitment to putting the customer first.

This means developing a customer-centric culture that empowers employees to prioritize customer needs and deliver exceptional experiences.

Measuring and optimizing performance

To ensure that your strategy is delivering the results you want, you need to measure and analyze your performance over time.

This requires tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), analyzing customer feedback, and making data-driven decisions to optimize your strategy.

Benefits of implementing a CRM strategy

There are several benefits to developing and implementing a CRM strategy. 

Improved customer loyalty 

By building positive relationships with your customers and meeting their needs effectively, you can improve customer loyalty and reduce churn.

This can lead to higher lifetime customer value and increased revenue over time.

Increased sales

It can help you identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities, and provide personalized offers and promotions to customers based on their interests and preferences.

This can help increase sales and revenue.

More efficient operations

By automating customer interactions and streamlining customer data management, it can help you operate more efficiently and reduce costs.

Better customer experiences

A CRM strategy can help you deliver more personalized, responsive, and engaging customer experiences, which can improve satisfaction ratings and boost your reputation.

Get started with your CRM strategy

Overall, a CRM strategy is a critical component of any modern business that wants to build strong relationships with its customers and stay competitive in a crowded marketplace.

By prioritizing customer needs, developing a customer-centric culture, and leveraging technology to manage customer interactions, a business can drive growth, increase customer loyalty, and deliver exceptional experiences to its customers.

Breadstack offers a CRM software so you can continue to improve efficiency and allow yourself to scale. Contact us today to get started!

Ready to use a CRM software?

Check out Breadstack!

How CRM Software Can Skyrocket Your Business

Today’s business landscape is rapidly changing. New technologies, social media and mobile devices have made it imperative for businesses to become more customer-centric than ever before.

That’s why CRM software has become so essential for organizations of all sizes.

In this article, we’ll explore how CRM software can skyrocket your business.

What is CRM Software?

CRM stands for “customer relationship management”. It is a software designed to help companies keep track of customers and potential customers, create and deliver targeted marketing campaigns, collect customer data and organize internal business processes.

In the past, many businesses kept track of customer information on paper or in a file cabinet.

This meant that anyone who needed to look at the data had to make a special trip to the office where the information was kept.

With a CRM system, the data is stored in a central database that can be accessed from anywhere.

Why is CRM software so important?

As more and more companies start to make the shift toward a customer-focused business model, there’s never been a greater need for CRM software.

This software gives businesses a way to organize the data they have about their customers.

It also helps them collect additional information about their clients. The data you collect about your customers will help you to understand who they are and what they need.

It will also help you to identify your most valuable customers. Collecting data and understanding the data will allow you to improve the customer journey and customer interactions.

This information can then be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that are much more likely to be effective. But not only marketing teams benefit.

The sales team, customer service teams and everyone else in the company will benefit from using the CRM systems.

How can CRM software help your business?

Customer relationship management software provides an all-in-one solution for managing your customers and improving your marketing efforts.

The following are some ways that CRM software can help your business.

Improve your customer knowledge the easy way

Using CRM software can help you increase your customer satisfaction levels by giving you a 360-degree view of your customers.

This insight can help you personalize the customer experience and drive more sales. You can also use this data to improve your marketing campaigns and product offerings.

Here are some ways you can use CRM software to know your customers better:

Create detailed customer profiles

By adding information like customer demographics, buying habits, product and service usage, and other data, you can create detailed customer profiles.

This information can help you deliver personalized customer experiences and provide the right content to the right people.

It can also help you understand your customers’ needs and preferences better, which is critical to improving your overall customer satisfaction levels.

Manage customer relations

CRM software can help you track and manage all your important customer-related activities, such as engagements, feedback, and communications.

This can help you improve your customer relations and better serve your customers. It can also help you gather actionable insights from your customer interactions, which is key to making strategic improvements to your business.

Increase customer loyalty

The more satisfied your customers are, the more likely they are to buy from you again. But, how do you know if your customers are happy? And, how can you make sure that they are?

Customer relationship management software can help by allowing you to track your customers’ satisfaction levels.

You can do this by asking them a few simple questions after they’ve received their product or service. Getting feedback from your customers is a great way to increase their loyalty and make improvements to your business.

Boost your marketing efforts

Depending on your business, you might have to spend a significant amount of money on marketing. One way to cut down on these costs is by finding ways to improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

CRM software has many features that will help you to do this. These include campaign tracking, marketing automation tools, and lead management capabilities.

By tracking the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, you’ll have a better idea of how much you can spend on each one.

This will allow you to create more targeted campaigns that are more likely to be effective. You’ll also be able to adjust your campaigns based on the feedback you receive from your customers.

Improves internal communication

How well do your employees work together? Do they have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities? Do they know how to find the information they need to do their jobs?

If your employees struggle to communicate with each other, it could be hurting your business.

CRM software can help to improve internal communication by organizing information and providing employees with the tools they need to do their jobs.

Good CRM solutions will make it easy for employees to find the information they need whether they are the sales team or the customer service team.

It will also provide them with the training they require to do their jobs. This kind of software can even be helpful to those who aren’t involved in the sales process.

Helps with productivity

Do you know how much time your employees spend on administrative tasks?

It may surprise you to learn that many business owners are unaware of just how much of their employees’ time is being spent on boring tasks like data entry. This is why so many businesses have switched to CRM software.

When your employees use a good CRM system, they will be able to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time doing their jobs.

This is great news for your organization because it will allow you to get more done with the same number of employees. In some cases, it may even allow you to hire fewer people.

While you can’t rely on software to do everything, it can make a big difference. CRM software can also provide project management and create a resort of customer communications to find out how to improve your workflow.

Better customer interactions

CRM software can improve customer interactions by providing a centralized database of customer information, automating routine tasks, and allowing businesses to personalize communication based on customer preferences.

This leads to more efficient communication, better customer service, and a more personalized customer experience.

Grow your business with a CRM software

Here are 3 main reasons to use CRM software to grow your business. 

Better customer relationships​

Strong relationships can lead to repeat business and referrals. To keep customers happy, you need to understand their wants and needs. CRM software can help you organize your customers’ interactions and track their feedback.

You can also use it to send targeted messages that build relationships based on each customer’s specific interests.

Optimized sales​

Sales teams need access to information about their customers and the ability to collaborate. A CRM system can help you track everything, from leads to meetings and opportunities.

You can also use it to send and receive messages, schedule meetings, and set reminders for important tasks.

Looking to increase sales? Check out our article on “how to increase sales conversion rates”

Improved marketing campaigns

Marketing teams need to know where their audiences are and what they’re interested in. It would help if you also had the ability to execute campaigns quickly.

A CRM system can improve your marketing efforts by helping you track your audiences’ interests and behaviours.

It can also enable you to execute campaigns quickly, allowing you to test different options and see which performs best.

Skyrocket your business

As you can see, CRM software can help your business in many ways help your business thrive.

It’s important to choose the right CRM platform for your business. It should be reasonably priced, have the features you need, and be easy to use.

Breadstack can offer to keep your business up to date.

We bring a seamless approach to introducing new technology to your current business. We have an easy-to-use CRM software that can be implemented in your business today.

Contact us today for a free demo!

How to Write Product Descriptions That Sell

Writing product descriptions is an important aspect for any ecommerce owner. It takes time, effort and little practice to create descriptions. 

But a lot of people miss their importance of them. They can compel your customer to purchase and ultimately increase your sales. 

We’ll give you 5 techniques and a template to craft your own product descriptions. Let’s get started. 

setting up a product description

What is a product description?

Product descriptions are the copy that explains what the product is and any key features it can offer the purchaser. The primary purpose of the product description is to give the potential buyer enough information to want to purchase the product.

Product descriptions do matter. A study found that 20% of missed purchases are due to a lack of product information.

Even consider this for yourself, do you look at the product description? Most people would say yes. After all, you can’t fully base a buying decision on the product image or name. 

You’re looking for the benefits, size, colour, reviews, and any other useful information

5 techniques for writing product descriptions

Some of the online stores in the ecommerce space make the mistake of just writing product descriptions with no thought involved.

They write down a bland idea and add a few elements about their product. But this causes a few key issues. 

It doesn’t give the reader compelling reasons to purchase. It also doesn’t separate the product from a competitor.

In writing a good product description it’s important to have a well-thought-out description that meets the needs of your reader and makes you the obvious choice against your competitor.

  • Who is your target audience
  • Benefits, not features
  • No bland phrases
  • Build trust
  • Make it scannable 
  • Bonus KPI & Goals 

Who is your target audience?

A target audience is a group of people that are the best candidates to buy your product. You need to be able to put yourself in the audience’s shoes and ask yourself what are they looking to read. 

A misconception about a target audience is that you won’t be able to reach enough people.

You have a much better chance of converting your target audience compared to a general audience. 

If you’re selling vegan products. You can create your product description to speak directly to vegans. Now, does this separate you from non-vegans, yes! But it doesn’t matter. 

You are better off writing a description for vegans than writing a general description for everyone.

When you market to everyone, you are really marketing to no one. There’s no key information that speaks to a specific target. 

Let’s look at a product description example.

The Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal+ does a fantastic job of speaking to its target audience. The V10 Animal+ clearly indicates it’s for pet owners throughout the product description.

Their “in-the-box” feature speaks to a lot of pet owners directly. The motobar cleaner head and hair screw tool speak directly to their target audience.

Anyone that has a pet with long hair knows it’s a hassle to deal with hair. It gets tangled in your current vacuum and it can sometimes not even be affected by the vacuuming.

Putting these two features immediately upfront is already catching the interest of pet owners.

Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal+

Benefits, not features

A good product description talks about benefits first.

If we’re selling our own products, we know every intricate detail about it from the size, colour, how it’s made and anything else about the product, but all of this information doesn’t tell the reader why they should buy the product. 

The benefits in your product description should give real reasons why someone should buy your product.

Your customer wants to know the existing things about this product and what they can expect to gain from purchasing it. 

It’s not that product features aren’t important, and there is a place for them in your description, but features don’t create excitement behind a product.

Customers will usually look at features after they’ve made the decision to buy. 

Let’s look at a product description example.

Continuing with our Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal+ if we continue down the page we come to the key benefit it highlights. Some of the benefits are lightweight, long charging time and hygienic bin emptying.

Now, it doesn’t tell us how or why they added each of these features, but it gives us the benefits of it. Each of these benefits are providing a specific impact on what the user can expect from using this vacuum.

Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal+

No bland phrases

“It’s an excellent product” or “the best product on the market” – we like to call these bland phrases and they have no place in a product description. 

Why? They don’t tell the reader anything. They don’t bring value.

Every business owner thinks their product is an excellent product, but that doesn’t give a reader a reason to buy it. 

It becomes a less persuasive product description when we hear these bland phrases because we’re so accustomed to hearing them ourselves.

Instead of using these bland phrases use phrases that relate to your product and highlight why it’s an excellent product or is the best on the market. 

Build trust

Any new product we see, we don’t exactly know if it’s going to hit all the promises it made to us – this is where building trust comes in. Trust can be seen in a few different ways but the main one is social proof.

This could be comments, reviews, or testimonials from your customers. But adding social proof can be the chicken or the egg situation. What comes first?

Getting social proof doesn’t have to be hard. You could offer your product for free to a few select people in exchange for using their responses.

You could also take to a trade show or exhibit and have people view the product in person with you and get their response after. 

Building trust is a valuable tool for making your ideal customer say yes, to purchasing. It gives them confidence that the product will work and they sympathize with customers that have left a good review. 

Let’s look at a product description example.

Again, let’s continue with our Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal+. Dyson does a great job of adding social proof throughout their description.

The first headline has a rating and reviews underneath to clearly indicate the number of people that have used and liked the vacuum.

If you continue down to the next block there is a full part of social proof with a rating and more reviews again. Bonus point here as well because the review directly relates to the target audience.

Having the social proof immediately shown in the product description is already building trust with the reader.

Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal+

Make it scannable 

Product description writing doesn’t have to be a certain length, it can be as long as it needs to be, as long as you’re continuing to provide valuable information, but this doesn’t mean everyone is going to read every line. 

Making it scannable can ensure readers will be able to pick up key information points like the benefits or social proof. Even take blog articles for example.

Marketers and writers have found that a lot of people don’t read every line, so what do they do? They have easy information to pick up that can either entice the reader to keep reading or gain a general point of information. 

Here are ways to make it scannable:

  • Headlines
  • Bullet points
  • Font size
  • White space

Bonus KPI & Goals 

Our last technique for product descriptions isn’t necessarily a technique but it can still yield some great results. Setting up KPIs and goals with your product description needs to be added in.

If you don’t know how your current or new product description is working it can cause issues. 

Testing with different product descriptions can ensure you have the best descriptions on your website for customers.

Aside from potentially seeing what product descriptions improve sales, you can also learn what is attracting your audience and use these technical details.

This will ultimately help you create the next product description faster and still yield great results. 

Utilizing product descriptions

Step-by-step writing for product descriptions

If you don’t know where to start for your product descriptions. It’s best to start gathering everything you need without even thinking about writing.

Before you begin: Write down the benefits, social proof, target audience and any other information that may be useful. After gathering the information you need it’s time to start.

Step 1: Create a headline that hooks your audience – A lot of copy experts say to write this last, if that works for you, go for it!

Step 2: Write a short description highlighting a key benefit of your product – Most of the time this is a short paragraph, but it could be bullet points as well.

Step 3: Write down all the benefits of your product – There doesn’t have to be a certain amount, as long as they relate to your product.

Step 4: Other details of your product – This is where you can add in all the features and other useful information about your product.

Step 5: Social proof – Whether it’s reviews, ratings, or testimonials now is the time to add it in.

Step 6: Create a call to action – Now, it’s time to direct your audience to the buy now button.

These 6 steps can help you create your product description from start to finish.It may take some time to craft the best one, but you’ll get there.

You’ll now be able to create better descriptions to showcase your product better and ultimately increase product sales.

How to Take Perfect Product Photos (2022 Tutorial)

Product photos are a key piece for anyone looking to showcase their products online. It’s going to be the first time a potential customer sees your product. Showcasing it in the best way possible will encourage customers to take action.

But how do you take product photos?

We’ll give you all the information you need to know along with some main product photography tips.

Capture clear product photos
Photo was taken by Tony Chao - Breadstack Photographer

What camera to use for product photos?

A good camera can certainly help with product photography, but that doesn’t mean you have to buy the most expensive one on the market to get the best results. 

There are so many other considerations that take into account when shooting product photos. If you’re on a budget you can always use your phone too – some phone cameras can be equally as great.

Everyone is going to have a different budget when it comes to a camera for product photos. Whether you can buy the latest tech or want to use your phone, both can work well. Using the camera really comes down to the operator. 

Good Phone Camera 

Phone cameras have come a long way. Before it was fuzzy pixelated images, but now you can produce some high-quality images. There are many great phones on the market right now – and would be great for product photos.

The iPhone 14 pro max is a powerhouse of a phone camera. It has a high 6.7-inch display that captures colours and lighting perfectly all while producing high-quality photos. Its main feature has a sports 2x optical zoom that lets you get crystal clear photos with the little details. 

The iPhone 14 pro max is quite expensive at around $999. 

Good Product Photo Camera

A good product photo camera should do a bit of everything. It should be very versatile to shoot products with all the different options available.

The Sony a6100 is a great camera that does all of that. It’s a versatile camera that is lightweight, user-friendly, and overall can produce some high-quality product photos. The camera is lightweight and compact enough to bring anywhere. 

It is one of the more expensive cameras on the market running for about $999. 

Sony A6100. Source: Sony.ca

Using lights for product photos

Products should be well-lit to showcase their best features. The best way to think of this is why would someone buy your product. The light should amplify those features so they can be picked up by the camera whether that’s artificial light or natural light. 

Lights for product photography

LED lights can be the best bang for your buck. There are bright, affordable (some kinds), and easy to use. For any amateur or professional product photography, they can work well. One of the better lights is continuous lighting. 

They stay plugged into a wall the entire time. This way you can choose when to turn the light on or off. 

The number of lights will really depend on your product size and the area of the shooting. Although for those that are unsure, starting with one can work well. Just use the light for the sides, either left or right, this is the easiest light position to correct properly. 

LED continuous lighting does vary in price but for around $60 you should be able to find something. 

Other forms of light

Purchasing lights for product photography isn’t the only option. If you don’t have the budget to purchase product photography lighting shooting beside a big window can work just as well.

Using natural lighting can have a beautiful effect on your product shots.

The downside with natural light is you can’t choose where you want it. You may have a hard time getting your features to shine through with natural light.

Accessories equipment needed for Product Photos

Accessory equipment for shooting product photography could be any number of things. Here are some of the pieces of equipment. 

Lens

Depending on the camera you use, you can swap different lenses. This lens could be a macro lens, telephoto lens, wide angle, fixed or fisheye. All serve a specific purpose. 

Memory Card

Capturing product photos for a shoot could be anywhere from a couple of 100 to a couple of 1000. You want to ensure you have enough space on your camera so you can shoot for the whole day. Having a few extra memory cards will keep you capturing images all day without worry. 

Battery 

Product photography can take some time whether that’s a few hours or a full day. Having a couple of extra battery packs with you will ensure you can keep shooting. Better safe than sorry when it comes to having extra battery packs. 

Tripod

Holding the camera steady can be a bit of an art form, especially if it’s been a long shoot. A tripod holds the camera for you, so you don’t get taxed something up the shot. Use a tripod to set up multiple angles and have the height any way you want. 

Setting the scene for your product

Showcasing your product is a fundamental part of product photos. It gives you a chance to showcase your product and its features while keeping things creative. Whether that is with lifestyle shots or any other vision you may have.

What do we mean by this? Let’s look at any fashion brand. If we take Nike’s shorts as an example.

Without even looking at the description it becomes clear they are an athletic brand. Usually, they have their shorts on a model outside playing a sport. It could be soccer, basketball, running or weight lifting. This is exactly what setting the scene for a product is about.

Want to write better product descriptions? Check out “How to write product descriptions that sell“.

Few tips:

Where would your product be? – Think about where your product would be used and create a small set to create the environment for the images to help tell the story better.

Be careful with the background – Create a background that doesn’t distract/take away from the product

Texture matters –  It’s how you bring in other elements that don’t overpower the main product but enhance it

Depth of field – Keep the eye drawn to your product not the background or foreground

Keep the area clean – Dust and fingerprints are all things that will ruin a product photo, keep the area clean

Always remember, less is more – sometimes we love to over-cram a space because it feels empty but negative space/empty space can also help tell the story

Think outside the box

A product photo essentially is whatever you want it to be. Of course, it has to highlight the product, but as long as it does that you’re on the track. But what do we mean outside of the box? 

It means getting creative with it. You don’t have to take straight photos or use the same lens. Try things differently. Take different angles from all over, use different lenses, and experience different camera settings. 

It never hurts stepping outside of your comfort zone with product photos you may realize you like a photo better after snapping the shot. 

Editing software to help with photos

Editing can be a big part of your product photo piece. It gives you the chance to fine-tune any details or clean up any wanted parts of your photo.

There is a wide range of photo editing apps and software on the market everything from basic edits to complex edits.

Key features of editing: 

  • Change the background
  • Correct colours
  • Retouch
  • Cropping 
  • Remove or create shadows
  • Improve image quality

Adobe Lightroom is a classic photo editing software for editing and is a go-to for amateur and professional photographers. Adobe lightroom gives you all the tools you’ll need to create amazing product photos. 

Adobe lightroom costs around $13 a month. 

Steps for taking product photos

Step 1: Gather supplies

Start by collecting all supplies needed for the product shoot. This could be the lights, cameras, accessories, and the product.

Things you may need:

  • camera/phone
  • lights
  • tripod
  • product

Step 2: Set the scene

After you have all the supplies you’ll need to start setting up. The product shoot planning should be done before you take the photos.

You’ll want to have a good idea of what you want to achieve on the day. It’s also going to ensure you stay on track and don’t waste any time coming up with ideas.

Scene considerations:

  • clean area (no dust/fingerprints)
  • quality check product
  • relates to your product
Photo was taken by Tony Chao - Breadstack Photographer

Step 3. Practice shoot

Next step in the product shooting process is to take practice photos. It may take a few tries to position the product how you want.

You may also have to play around with the lighting, angles or height. Taking a few practice shoots ensures you are set up properly before taking the final shot.

Things to practice:

  • test angles
  • test hight
  • test lighting
  • test camera

Step 4. Take Product Photos

Now, comes the fun part. It’s taking the actual product shot. It’s important to take lots of photos. Get as many photos as you can to capture your product image.

A few shots to consider:

  • up close
  • side
  • above
  • angled

Step 5. Edit Photos

After you have taken all shots needed, it’s time to head to the computer and start editing. This is when you can fine-tune the image and remove or add things to create the final image.

Chances are with any of the editing software you choose to use, you’ll be able to find easy guides online that can help you achieve your vision.

Step 6. Upload

Success! It’s time to upload the photo. Product images can be used in many different ways from images on your website to social media posts.

Using your product photos

All great ecommerce websites have good product photos. It’s a great way to highlight your product and showcase all the features that make it amazing.

Creating product photos isn’t an easy task, but with the information we have provided, you’ll be ready to shoot your very own. Just like anything, it takes time to get better.

The more time you spend shooting products the better you will get – you just have to start!

Better product photos can even increase sales and conversions. Start shooting your own photos.

How to Start an Ecommerce Business

Ecommerce sales in 2021 reached $5 trillion and this number is expected to be even higher at the end of this year (2022).

It’s not a bad statistic for those wanting to start an ecommerce business.

Starting an ecommerce business is no easy feat, but it can be done. There are millions of successful ecommerce websites online, there’s no reason you can’t be next.

But first, there’s a lot to consider when starting an ecommerce business.

Coming up with an idea, deciding on a business model, understanding costs, and eventually getting customers are just the beginning.

65% of consumers expect to use online shopping channels more.

For any entrepreneur starting your own business, you’ve most likely had the dream of running your own ecommerce store. Learn the exact steps to that dream in the guide

We’ve thought of everything from tips, steps and need-to-know information to get started in building your own ecommerce business.

Find a product to sell

The first step and arguably the most important one when building an ecommerce business is deciding on what products to sell directly to consumers.

Finding products to sell can be difficult but we’ll give you our best tips for finding a profitable product. 

Viewing products in the shop.

Solve a customer's pain

Solving customer pain points is an easy way to come up with a product, the difficult part is finding the right pain. A good example of a pain is Brita Filters.

The pain would be not having accessible filtered drinking water. Their solution was to create an affordable easy-to-use water filter jug. 

Another good example is automatic coffee makers. The pain would be not spending the time or energy to make coffee. Delonghi Coffee for instance has created an automatic coffee maker that does the work for you. 

Pains don’t have to be complicated. The simplest customer pain can be a big success for consumers. 

Passion for a product

Using your passion can be a red flag for some when finding the right product to sell, but we like to say otherwise. Having a product your passion about means you care.

You’re going to spend all your time ensuring it’s a success because you care about it. It also means you’ll have a wealth of knowledge on the topic. 

A good example of passion products is Sour Strips. The owner, Max Chewning, had a love for sour candy. He was able to take his passion for sour candy and apply it to finding success in creating his own candy company.

Another example is Beardbrand. The owner Eric Bandholz had a passion for beards. His blog started to showcase this passion and it lead to a full-scale ecommerce business. 

setting up a product description

Existing bad products

Existing bad products can go hand in hand with customer pains, but with already existing products. Looking through some of the products whether it’s fashion or household you’re going to have some ideas on how to make it better or things you just wished it had.

Even without looking through your own products, you can check customer reviews online to gain the same information. 

If you get stuck looking at what products to discover scrolling through Amazon can give you a good idea or even just look at your everyday items. 

Having this newfound knowledge you can attempt to make a product better. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel but you can make it better.

For more information on choosing a product – check out our article “How to choose a product to sell“.

Evaluating your idea

Having an idea in mind is a good first start, but jumping into production isn’t the next step. You need to evaluate your idea or in other words, will it actually sell?

It allows you to get a good feeling about your product and you won’t waste money on something no one will buy. 

Now, big companies spend 1000s of dollars on the validation process, but as a new business owner, it may not be possible. Here’s what you can do to validate your product. 

81 percent of people conduct research online before purchasing an item. 

What do people need? 

When Henry Ford could have asked people what they want, they said they need a faster horse, not a motorized vehicle. But now, cars have become a crucial part of our world. Could you really imagine still riding horses to work? (wait, that sounds awesome)

But back to the question, Henry Ford still solved a problem, people needed to get to destinations faster, they needed to carry things, and they needed to move people. It becomes easier to realize the motorized vehicle was something everyone needed. 

To further explain the question, what do people need, ask yourself the same question can I use this? If the answer becomes no, your validation process becomes easier. 

Who is your audience? 

If you can make the assumption that people will like your product, next is who will you sell to? Are they older, younger, married, or educated?

Skipping on the audience can seem like an okay thing to do, but it can really help understand your potential with the product and who exactly you can be selling to. 

Researching online can be a good way to find out your audience. Many websites now give good statistical data about all sorts of topics-Statista.com is a great example.

Identifying your target audience.

What is your market? 

Figuring out your market is an important step. It will help you identify the size of your market, the price people will pay, and your competitors.

Gaining all of this data furthers the validity of a product. It also lets you decide if your product is better than other competitors. 

Have you made any sales? 

Yes, we did say not to jump in and start creating products, but creating a few items of your product can be beneficial. Having a few products lets you test the market so to speak.

If you can see some interest in your product with a few sales, it will give you the confidence to move on to the next step. 

Obtain your product

Reaching this step means you have found a product and validated your idea with real evidence that it will sell. Now, it’s time to obtain your product.

There are various methods of obtaining your product from creating it with a manufacturer or being completely hands-off. 

Dropshipping 

Drop shipping blew up a few years ago and is still a viable option for those wanting to start an ecommerce business. Dropshipping is completely hands-off in a sense, meaning you don’t have to store, create, or even ship products.

The model is buying inventory from a third party and having them fulfill all the orders. 

For drop shipping, you can sell and market the products on your own website, but you don’t have to spend time managing the back end of a business. Dropshippers simply act as the middleman because they don’t own any products. 

Manufacturer

Manufacturers are the more common option for those wanting to create a product. You can exactly create the product you envision. All the freedom does come with added costs and time, but creating the product you want, is a good benefit.

Finding a manufacturer can be challenging, but a quick google search can get you in contact with a manufacturer willing to help. 

There are most likely manufacturers in your country, however, they can cost more than going overseas for products. Do your research and find the manufacturer you want to work with based on your needs. 

Print on demand

Print-on-demand isn’t for every ecommerce business, but it’s a great way to create custom products. You can put your creativity into any item of your choice from clothes to household items.

Print on demand is when you work with a supplier that has the items and you only pay once an item has been sold. The supplier takes care of inventory and shipping. 

Print-on-demand has been a popular choice over the years for those looking into different ecommerce businesses. 

All of these ways to obtain a product can work. It depends on what you’re looking for and what you want to achieve, they all come with their own benefits. Ecommerce owners have also done a mix of both before.

Print-on-demand can be a quick way to bring a product to life, especially for proof of concept. The manufacturer does take longer, but then you’re creating the product you want. 

1 out of 5 customers are willing to pay up to 20% more for personalized products.

Create a business plan

Do you have to write a business plan? It’s the first question that comes to mind when creating your own business or even thinking about it. The answer is yes. A business plan is a fantastic document.

It’s essentially a road map that brings your ideas and thoughts together. It’s also going to help you highlight your business’s values and benefits. 

A business plan should include:

  • Strategic planning
  • Evaluating ideas
  • Research
  • Recruiting
  • Partnerships
  • Competition

Including all of the 6 ideas we mentioned is a great start to creating. The best way to get a business plan done is to start with the outline and just begin writing. It will take time to write and finalize the plan, but I give you a step-by-step plan on your next action steps for your business.

Set up your online store

Setting up an online store is an exciting step. It means you are one step closer to having your ecommerce business up and running.  Your first step is going to be to use a website builder. 

There are many options for website builders on the market. There are build-and-drop websites like Wix and Squarespace. Or there are web builders like WordPress that give you a little more flexibility. 

The next step would be officially designing your store layout. Build and drops, give you 1000s of templates to choose from. It’s a matter of adding products, descriptions, photos, and other web content. 

Creating your store is easier said than done. There’s a lot to consider. Here are some guides we found on the web to make the process a bit easier (some of them are from us)

If you get stuck or need help website builders do have a customer service phone number you can reach them at. There are also usually online forums for website builders that can help you out. 

Storefront options 

Aside from building your own website through a website builder, websites like Etsy, Shopify and Amazon have to be talked about. 

These websites allow you to create a storefront on their website directly. You still have a lot of freedom on how your website will look. These websites spend their own money on marketing the platform, so it can potentially bring in sales. 

Of course, these platforms do have their downsides, usually, they take a fee per transaction for them to be on your site. Although it’s not a deal breaker, it does have to be considered with your profit margins.

Regardless of the website builder or storefront you choose, it comes down to what you’re looking for. Choosing one isn’t easier than the other. There are countless stories of success on both. 

Determine shipping 

Making sales is amazing, but how are you going to send the products to your customers? You need to prepare for the shipping aspects of a business. Deciding on the basics for shipping needs to be assessed before launch.

Choosing your options isn’t set in stone, businesses continually change and optimize their shipping strategy but you need to start somewhere. 

49.3% of people shop online for free delivery.

Shipping rates and methods

There are many different shipping rates you can choose from. 

Free shipping – two options to offer free shipping either the product price is increased to pay for shipping or you pay the full price out of your margins.

Real-time carrier rates  – carriers like UPS and Canada Post offer live pricing for customers. Customers can choose the exact shipping method they want and pay accordingly. 

Flat rate – works best with a similar product being shipped from your store. This way it’s fair for all customers no matter what product they choose. Sometimes you can profit from shipping and for others, you’ll take the cost. It works both ways. 

Local delivery – for small businesses is a great way to offer reliable next-day shipping to customers. You can set up a shipping area and conveniently offer this option for customers. 

What about Shipping rates? 

Shipping rates will vary and we don’t want to give off the wrong impression to those of you ready to start shipping. 

However, shipping rates will depend on location, shipping address, weight, and size. A lot of carriers have a shipping calculator so you can check it out for yourself. 

UPS Shipping Calculator

Canada Post Shipping Calculator

FedEx Shipping Calculator

Consider all the information for shipping

Knowing all of this shipping information you can start to analyze the costs of shipping. Run different scenarios of the different rates, products, and delivery options so you can be aware of what you’re paying or what your customer is paying.

Packaging

Packaging is the next thing to consider for shipping. Packaging can play a big first impression of your brand to new customers.

Good packaging can really highlight a brand in the best of light. It can become more of an experience rather than just getting a product. 

Years ago, packaging was not looked at by consumers, but now it falls within your business’s identity. Packaging has become unique and it’s a great way to build an audience. 

Many different packaging options can potentially work for your product. Deciding on boxes, bags and other materials is going to be your first option. If you do have other products that are different sizes, you’ll need to figure out all the packaging options. 

Keep in mind shipping prices vary greatly on size and weight. Have all your shipping options light and small if possible to avoid extra costs. 

56% of shoppers aged 18-34 expect same-day delivery

Labeling

Once the shipping and packaging are considered it’s time to think about labels. Shipping labels are an important piece to your business. The old fashion way of writing a ship-to-return address on packaging can still work for bootstrapping ecommerce owners, although, it’s not accessible in the long run. 

Getting a label maker is an additional cost, but you’ll be able to spend time on other things. 

Drop off

After packaging the product, getting the right information, and labeling the order it’s time to ship it. At this stage, you can take them to the shipping center. Depending on your location it could be UPS, FedEx, Canada Post, etc…

Turn your store to live

It’s officially time to launch your ecommerce business. Now, it’s time to start acquiring customers. There are many different strategies that we’ll talk about. 

SEO – is a great way to organically gain traffic through search engines. The better your SEO is the higher your website position will be and the more people will see it. SEO does take time to learn and implement. 

Social media – a powerful marketing tool that can help gain traffic to your business. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or Tik Tok they all can play a role in marketing your business. The great thing about social media is it’s free to sign up and build an audience. 

Paid Ads – Paying for ads could mean with google or social media. It is a great way to get your website in front of your direct audience. Paid ads can be costly, but they could also bring in a lot of attention. 

Email Marketing – It has one of the highest conversion rates for all business owners. Developing a written email marketing campaign can be a valuable tool to increase sales. The hard part can be getting set up with emails and capturing leads with email. 

Figuring out a marketing strategy.

Why is ecommerce becoming more popular? 

Creating a physical store can be quite complicated and expensive. Depending on the business it can take $1000s to get up and running

However, over the years physical stores are becoming less popular, and more people are turning to ecommerce websites to have a business.

The cost of an ecommerce store is significantly lower than a physical store. 

But something else is happening…

More people are starting to pursue their passions. The term side hustle is a mainstream thought now. People are creating side hustles based on their passions and working additionally apart from their full-time job. 

What’s the reason for all this? 

They can easily get set up an ecommerce business whether it’s based on products get started with a low barrier to entry. Ecommerce businesses have opened the doors financially for so many people.

There are countless stories of people generating $1000’s a month and turning their once side hustle ecommerce business into a full-time gig. 

But of course, this isn’t the only reason for ecommerce businesses. There becomes a lot of freedom with ecommerce.

The ability to work online (depending on products or physical services), the amount of reach you can have, and again, the risk is lower. 

Whether you have a side hustle you want to pursue or have always dreamed of becoming a business owner, starting an ecommerce business could be the right step for you. 

Ecommerce businesses still need dedication and commitment to see success. It’s not a build-it-and-they-will-come approach. But for those willing to see it through it can be a great option. 

Updating your store with AI.

The cost associated with an ecommerce business

Cost is going to play an important role in any ecommerce business. It’s vital to understand all the costs of going into starting. Generally, you could spend only a couple hundred a month or upwards of thousands of dollars a month. 

The initial fees associated with ecommerce:

  • Domain name
  • Website Hosting
  • SSL certificate
  • Web design
  • Payment processing
  • Software

Domain name registration – The average cost of a domain name varies from $10-$20 a year.

The price depends on where your purchase the domain name. Also, .ca, .com, and .io are all the different costs associated with them.

Website hosting – The average cost of hosting a website can range from $5-$25 a month. Each website host can offer several features that help but are additional costs. 

SSL Certificate – The average cost of an SSL Certificate will vary greatly from $30-$1000 annually. Keeping your site secure is going to be a must.

Your SSL certificate will protect yourself and your users from potential hackers. It’s also a key ranking factor with Google 

Web design – The cost of web design can vary you can even do this part yourself.

However, a good website designer is worth their weight in gold. It can be anywhere between $1000 to $10,000, with even some designers charging even higher. 

Payment processing – Payments can be made through PayPal or e-transfer, but this makes it harder for costumes to purchase.

Signing up for Stripe, Square or another payment processing is a must. Most tenders charge a 2% transaction fee along with a low 20-60 cent base fee. 

Software – Ecommerce websites need software that can run them. This could be Shopify, or Big commerce, just to name a few. These softwares can run from 75$ and up each month. 

*A lot of the costs we listed here, can be purchased as bundles. For instance, domain names, websites, hosting, and SSL certificates you can usually find as one-time payments made annually.* 

Other costs to consider:

can be up to your choosing, but altogether they can help your ecommerce business. 

Accounting software – Keeping up-to-date financial records is going to be key come tax time. Signing up with QuickBooks or Freshbooks is going to be a good start. 

Marketing budgeting – Spending money on marketing is essential to getting your name out there and bringing in new traffic.

Bigger companies usually have ongoing marketing budgets, but when you’re just getting started you can pick and choose when it’s best to spend on marketing.

Inventory costs – For those physical product-based businesses inventory costs need to be looked at. You’ll need the right amount of cash flow to continually have inventory. 

Our goal isn’t to discourage you from starting an ecommerce business. These costs just need to be considered when deciding on an ecommerce business.

The amount of money needed can vary greatly. Some ecommerce business owners can operate with just $1000. It’s all about what you to willing to spend money on. 

Lowering costs with inventory management.

How to succeed in ecommerce? 

Once you’ve set up your business and have seen a steady stream of income it’s important to understand how to maintain and scale your business.

There are many different ways and ideas to optimize your business to improve costs, increase revenue, or simply just spend less time on tasks. All of these can help you continually succeed. 

Have control over your operations 

Understanding all of your business data from inventory, revenue, shipping, customers, and anything else that factors into your business is an important part of having a successful business. 

Our software Breadstack does exactly that – it gives you a full overview of your business with precision data and more. 

Benefits of Breadstacks operations feature

Make better decisions with a full business overview – Check product lists, inventory items, and customer service chats all on one system. Be aware of all business data. 

Avoid or reduce errors before they happen – Have real-time data in every department to reduce errors and keep all systems running. 

Save time by being able to operate anywhere – Move freely in your business by being aware of all departments in one place. 

Managing stores, inventory, products, and customers isn’t easy. Gain an overview of all operations to understand your business.

81% of shoppers conduct online research online before making a purchase.

Find a way to improve revenue

Sales are important to any ecommerce business – it’s the only way to keep the business running.

One method of sales may be working now, but that doesn’t mean it always will. Always be challenging your sales team whether that’s only you or your team. 

Breadstack will help you revolutionize your ecommerce business to empower the modern customer ultimately increasing sales. 

Benefits of Breadstacks sales feature

Give promotions to liquidate dead stock – Make money immediately by turning dead stock into cash and liquidating slow-moving inventory with effective promotional activities.  

Never have an out-of-stock item for purchase – Always be up to date on stock availability and have a full view of your inventory in real time.  Know where your products are always going.

Always be ready to sell – Manage and create promotions in real-time during customer shopping to upsell or build the basket. 

Customers want deals, and retailers need sales.  Take advantage of powerful insights to make data-driven decisions that deliver customer value and exceed overall business goals.

Utilize marketing for efficiency 

Marketing is an expense, but the return on investment can be quite big with the right marketing campaign. The best tip we can give with marketing is to always be testing.

Running one campaign isn’t a good way to run your marketing efforts. Spend the time testing and gathering all the data you can to have better campaigns. 

Breadstack enables businesses to establish real customer data for tailored experiences. 

Benefits of Breadstacks marketing feature

Personalize campaigns for better results – Collect customer data that allows you to know them better. Gain real insights that matter.

Offer targeted promotions that work – Check buying or browsing history to offer targeted promotions or individual coupons.

Encourage customers to buy more – Get to know your customer and engage them with relevant product information or promotional material. 

Automatically collect customer data that can be used for a better customer journey. Target customers with personalized recommendations or promotions.

Improve customer service 

Customer service can be underutilized or even overlooked, but it’s a fundamental part of any business’s success.

Customer service can result in more sales, better retention, and overall satisfaction for customers. 

At Breadstack we believe in the powerful impact customer service has on a business. Our software lets you unlock real-time customer data.

Using omnnichannel for your store.

Benefits of Breadstacks customer service feature

Connect with customers when it matters most – Connect with customers in real-time during their shopping experience to alleviate barriers.

Offer help when you’re customers need it – Set up a chat widget to interact with customers and offer support or product information 

Create better customer journeys with confidence – Automatically collect customer data such as buying history, behaviours, and shopping patterns to offer personalized experiences. 

Take advantage of key data points during customer interactions to stimulate purchase decisions and accelerate the buying process.

Ready to start an ecommerce business?

Anything new is scary at first. There are a lot of unknowns, concerns, and fears about starting an ecommerce business.

It’s the reason we created this article. We want to give those interested the right information to get started.

Starting any ecommerce business can be difficult but with the right idea, motivation, and commitment anyone can make it work. We believe in each person that has a dream to start an ecommerce business.

We want to see everyone succeed, which is why we created our own software to help those optimize their business and increase revenue.

Breadstack lets you….

Personalize campaigns for better results – Collect customer data that allows you to know them better. Gain real insights that matter.

Offer targeted promotions that work – Check buying or browsing history to offer targeted promotions or individual coupons.

Encourage customers to buy more – Get to know your customer and engage them with relevant product information or promotional material.

Schedule a free demo today with Breadstack!

Choosing A CRM Software

Choosing CRM software can be a complicated task, especially if you don’t know how to get started.

In this article, we’ll offer tips as well as some features around CRM, so you know what your options are.

CRM software

Tips on choosing a CRM software

Choosing a CRM can be a daunting task, especially if you’re not familiar with the different options available on the market. 

Here are our tips on finding the right one for you and your business.

For more information about CRM, check out “How CRM software can skyrocket your business“.

Determine your business needs

The first step in choosing a CRM software is to determine your business needs. What are the specific challenges you’re trying to address with a CRM?

Do you need help with lead management, sales pipeline management, customer service, or all of the above? Do you need to integrate with other tools or platforms?

Once you have a clear understanding of your needs, you can start evaluating different CRM software options.

Evaluate features and functionality

When evaluating different software options, it’s important to consider the features and functionality each one offers.

Look for software that offers the features you need, such as lead capture forms, contact management, sales forecasting, and analytics.

You may also want to consider features like automation, customization, and integration with other tools or platforms.

Make a list of the features that are important to your business, and use that list to compare different CRM software options.

Consider ease of use

Another important consideration when choosing software is the ease of use. You want to choose software that is user-friendly and easy for your team to adopt.

Look for software with a simple and intuitive interface, and make sure it has the features and functionality you need without being overly complex.

Also, consider software that offers training and support to help your team get up and running quickly.

Evaluate pricing and scalability

Pricing is another important consideration when choosing software. Look for software that fits your budget, but also consider the value it provides.

Some software may offer more features and functionality, but come with a higher price tag. Others may be more affordable, but may not offer all the features you need.

Also, consider the scalability of the software. Will it be able to grow and adapt as your business grows and evolves?

Look for customer support

Customer support is an important consideration when choosing a CRM software. Look for software that offers strong customer support, such as phone, email, or chat support, as well as online resources like a knowledge base or community forum.

You want to be sure that you can get the help you need quickly and efficiently if you run into any issues or have questions.

Read reviews and get recommendations

Finally, before making a decision, it’s a good idea to read reviews and get recommendations from other businesses or industry experts.

Ask for recommendations from colleagues or industry experts, as they may have experience with different CRM software options and can offer valuable insights.

Different features of a CRM software

CRM software typically includes a range of features to help businesses manage and analyze customer interactions and data. When deciding to pick a CRM software it’s important to know what they can offer.

Here are some of the most common features you can find in a CRM software:

Contact management – enables users to store, organize, and track customer information, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails.

Sales pipeline management – allows sales teams to manage their sales process by tracking deals and leads through various stages of the sales funnel.

Lead management – helps businesses capture and manage leads from multiple sources, such as landing pages, web forms, and social media channels.

Marketing automation – assists in automating repetitive marketing tasks such as email campaigns, social media posts, and other marketing activities.

Analytics and reporting – provides insights into customer data, sales pipeline, and marketing campaigns to help businesses make data-driven decisions.

Customer service and support – enables businesses to manage customer service requests, track support tickets, and handle customer inquiries.

Collaboration and workflow management – helps teams collaborate and manage workflows by sharing tasks, calendars, and project timelines.

Integration with other software – allows CRM software to connect with other business tools such as email marketing, accounting, or inventory management systems.

Mobile access – allows users to access CRM software from mobile devices and tablets, ensuring that they can manage customer interactions on the go.

The right CRM software for you

Choosing software requires careful consideration of your business needs and features. 

By taking the time to evaluate these factors, you can choose a CRM software that meets the needs of your business and helps you improve your customer relationships. 

Breadstack offers a CRM software so you can continue to improve efficiency and allow yourself to scale. Contact us today to get started!

Ready to use a CRM software?

Learn more!

15 Ecommerce Website Design Tips

In today’s world ecommerce websites are becoming more and more popular. Before having an ecommerce site was rare, but with the greatness of technology, it has become easier for anyone to get started with an ecommerce business.

Of course, building a website without professional help or extensive knowledge about the ecommere website space your website can lack the design it needs to gain website visitors.

We’ll give you 15 tips to get your ecommerce site ready for action so you can have a successful online store and ultimately gain more sales.

ecommerce website

Use social proof

How do people make the right decisions for their trust? Social proofs. When designing e-commerce websites, make sure you display the positive comments your customers have given.

Make a rating section where people can rate your product. Add testimonial pages with a quote about the experience of your clients. 

Ask customers for feedback on their product—and what they liked about it – and put this information into your e-commerce site. All good ecommerce sites will have some sort of social proof to entice customers to purchase when online shopping.

Make checkout easy

If you are making checkout difficult for customers then you’ll lose them. The easiest and most straightforward ways of selling a product are – and should be – easy.

Keep all checkout pages clean and easily accessible. Let customers register at your website or check out as guests. An ecommerce business is about the simplicity of using online. 

When making online purchases your customers should have a seamless process. This will help you have a successful ecommerce site.

Keep your products organized

The goal of your ecommerce site should be to help people easily find the product. You can arrange products into specific categories. Categories need to be easily accessible using menus to streamline the search.

This gives the customer a look at specialized products you didn’t know you had before. Its ecommerce store has many product categories on its menu, including accessories, applications and more.

When an individual clicks on an electronic type category, they can narrow the results to specific options such as electronic type brand. Good ecommerce web design means having an organized website.

website design

Utilize simple website design

An ecommerce site that s simple will be more attractive and trusted content than visually complex sites. Is your website optimized to improve conversions?

For simplifying website development for online commerce. Ignore unnecessary data by using a minimal design theme with lots of whitespaces. An omnichannel strategy can help you implement a seamless website flow.

Calls for action are clearly outlined and the simplistic design creates a professional and minimalist look. Simple ecommerce website design isn’t always the option for everyone, but it can be easily applied to make a website look clean.

Don't distract users

It is important to design an ecommerce website that generates sales. The goal of your ecommerce site is to gain more sales. Having unnecessary pop-ups or other pages can lead you to an unwanted buying experience for your website visitors.

Having high-quality product images is also going to make a difference. Blurry photos can take away the professionalism of your website. Your ecommerce store is about sales. Website visitors should be pointed in the right direction.

Be honest about pricing

Honesty is a very good policy. Make sure to always make a good impression on what product or service your business sells. Avoid hiding any of this information and making it hard to find your website.

Burying price info from your ecommerce store is harmful and can even ruin your site. Rather put it somewhere that can be easily understood. 

These rules are applicable to transport too. Make it clear what shipping fees are involved and what shipping policies you require customers to follow.

Quick, simple checkout

There have never been any more reasons carts are abandoned than a complicated checkout procedure. How can e-Commerce simplify checkout process? Let the users take part in the visit by visiting the place.

People get suspicious when they need so many details to make an offer. The need for creating your own account could turn them out quickly as you would say “cart abandonment”. 

Send only information that is necessary such as delivery information, name and payments. If a product is digitally delivered, there is no need for a contact number.

Include reviews and testimonials

72% of internet shoppers say they read reviews before buying anything. It is also possible to make the information useful by putting a review on the web directly from the author. Customer feedback is an efficient method for promoting your business.

The best way of incorporating product-specific reviews into the description of each individual product is through an e-commerce website. 

You can even create one page on your website for reviews or testimonials. The site includes testimonials for potential customers to view in-depth.

Use a view cart button

Most online e-commerce websites usually feature a small shopping cart icon on all pages (usually in the top-right corner). It is a way for users to see what they added to the cart.

It’s a very important element in an ecommerce website design! The presence of this icon on any page in the customer’s web browser increases conversion rates.

Please check the icon updates in realtime and is identifiable as an e-commerce product. We can never have people confused about something. It’s an important button on your website.

Mobile optimization

More than 50 percent of websites are accessed via mobile devices. This figure will continue to grow with more sophisticated smartphone and tablet devices. Have your ecommerce website design adapt to mobile.

It’s always important to check as well how your website looks. It could look great on a computer but bad on a mobile device. Good ecommerce website design needs to look good on mobile.

Provide clear navigation

Make it easy for visitors to find information on your website. It allows users to quickly navigate between different sections or pages of the website, enhancing the overall user experience.

Better navigation structure boosts the chances of visitors staying longer on the site, exploring more pages, and ultimately converting into customers or taking desired actions.

Setting up a website design.

SEO still matters

SEO plays an important role in your business which means it needs to be thought about even in the website design. It helps improve the visibility and ranking of your website in search engine results.

SEO can also improve the overall user experience by ensuring that your website is properly structured and loads quickly. Effective SEO implementation can drive more conversions, boost brand credibility, and provide long-term growth opportunities for your business.

Place CTAs properly

CTA or call to actions entice your visitors to take action on a page. It could be to sign up for a service or a demo. It could also be to visit a new page. 

A CTA needs to be highly visible and placed with purpose. Without clear and compelling CTAs, visitors may be unsure of the next steps to take, resulting in missed opportunities for engagement and conversion.

Use good visuals

Visuals are essential for website design as they have a significant impact on user engagement and overall user experience. They can capture attention, convey information more effectively, and evoke emotions, helping to create a memorable and engaging website. 

Visuals also play a crucial role in showcasing your products or services. It allows users to get a better understanding of what you’re selling.

Have a responsive design

Make sure your website is fully responsive and adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices. Visitors will click off if pages are loading slowly or simply don’t look right. 

It also positively impacts SEO, as search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites in their rankings, leading to increased visibility and organic traffic.

Go headless with Breadstack

Our 15 ecommerce website design tips can certainly help with your optimizations. Having more flexibility can give you more control in increasing sales. 

One of the ways to do this is by using headless commerce. It can help you gain even more flexibility within your site. Breadstack’s headless commerce solution lets you take control. 

  • Increase conversions
  • Simpler integrations
  • Better front-end customizations 
  • Create a highly customized experience

Ready to go headless? 

Discover more!

What is Ecommerce Marketing?

Ecommerce marketing is becoming more and more popular in our world today. However, it can be difficult to know the proper steps to take to have an efficient marketing strategy.

Ecommerce businesses are looking for different channels to grow their business online.

For this article, we’ll focus on ecommerce marketing and do a deep dive to help you understand. 

ecommerce marketing

Understanding ecommerce marketing

Ecommerce marketing can take a lot of forms, but the main goal is to improve brand awareness and conversions. 

Achieving the main goal is done by driving traffic with various methods and converting the traffic to paying customers.

Forms of ecommerce marketing

Businesses using ecommerce marketing will sometimes implement many marketing strategies As we mentioned above social media, content and search engines are among the most common.

After all, these forms allow you to be seen online which brings us back to the main goal of ecommerce marketing.

Now let’s look at the forms.

Social media platforms

Facebook, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and Instagram all cover social media. All of these platforms have brands, businesses, and influencers connecting with an audience. Of course, for personal use, it’s a way to connect with friends and showcase what you’re doing.

For businesses, it’s about getting your name out there and showcasing your products or services. It’s not necessary to be on every platform, you should use the one that you resonate with best.

Content marketing

Blogs and articles should automatically come to mind when it comes to content marketing. Using content marketing can be a great way to offer value to your customers but it’s also a great way to improve the search engine optimization of your website.

Content marketing is something almost every business owner should be taking advantage of. It’s an important step in an ecommerce marketing plan whether you have an online store or anything else along those lines.

Search engine

Search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) are both important to gain brand awareness on your website. Search engine marketing is all about Google ads.

You can place Google ads along with Google searches to place at the top. Search engine optimization allows your website to rank on Google. The better your SEO is the better you can rank with Google.

Other forms of marketing

These are 3 main forms of ecommerce marketing, but there are a few other ways we need to touch base on. Email marketing is another form of ecommerce marketing that can help with the goal.

Email marketing has proven to be successful with the written email campaign strategy. Most people check their email consistently. It’s a great way to connect with your audience.

Another popular form of ecommerce marketing is using influencers. Yes, it does relate to social media, but influencer marketing should be on its own.

Using influencer marketing can be powerful to build awareness for your ecommerce business. Influencers have a trusted community with sometimes millions of outreach to share your business with.

Ecommerce marketing tips

The ecommerce market is estimated to be over $27 billion, that’s a lot of potential for businesses to make money.

You will need a campaign that addresses the needs and goals of a unique customer. In the hope of enabling the growth of your brand.

We’ve mentioned the main strategies when it comes to your ecommerce store, but there are others to help you. Driving online sales is a never-ending process.

Here are some tips to help you stay on top of your ecommerce marketing strategy.

User-generated content

User-generated content is exactly what it sounds like. It’s content created by users or your customers. It could be a picture, video, testimonial, social media post, or anything else along these lines.

Transparency with UGC is a big appeal to consumers, especially when it comes to online shopping.

It’s more trustworthy to see a customer testimonial than a company talking about their own product. This is just one of the great ecommerce marketing strategies companies should be looking to use.

Customer loyalty

Customer loyalty is what businesses should try to accomplish with every customer that walks through their door or enter their ecommerce store. But before you have loyal customers, you need to ask yourself why should a customer return.

Many ecommerce sites are offering reward programs or discounts to repeat customers. These programs help the customer receive perks for shopping and the company receives the sale.

Web design

Web design doesn’t automatically seem to go with a strategy. However, people entering your ecommerce site will quickly move away if the site isn’t clear to use or isn’t responsive.

Businesses should keep web design in mind when thinking about ecommerce marketing tactics. It’s also important your web design works in all forms such as desktop and mobile.

For more tips on website design check out “10 Ecommerce Website Design Tips“.

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