The,Toughest,Problems,Facing,O marketing The 5 Toughest Problems Facing Online Retailers
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What are the toughest problems facing online retailers in 2003?Problem # 1 Getting visitorsThe number one complaint of online retailers is they are not getting enough visitors.Many choose to get visitors the same way their competitors do. Online retailers try search engine placement, pay-per-clicks, banner ads and other marketing tactics. Banners can cost as little as $1 per 1000 views. Email lists can be as inexpensive as $30 per 10,000 names. Despite these low prices, retailers are finding that many times these tactics don't deliver enough sales to justify the cost.Problem # 2 Low conversion ratesTurning visitors into customers is the second biggest problem that online retailers face. This becomes a greater problem when retailers sell items that people prefer to see and touch before buying, such as clothing.Do you know the answers to this question:What percentage of your visitors become your customers?That percentage is your sales conversion rate. This number is one of the most overlooked and most impactful numbers in online marketing. It's overlooked because website owners often think that more visitors is the route to more customers. What if their marketing is bringing lots of visitors but their website is sending them away?Websites can send visitors away in many ways, from frustratingly slow download times to poor sales copy. Visitors in general complain of having to download plug-ins to view the website and confusing navigation. Most ecommerce businesses are getting 1-2% sales conversion. A small change in your conversion rate can have a big impact on your bottom line. Let's say you run your numbers and find that you have a 1% conversion rate. Applying marketing know-how, you make some changes to your website that makes customers more likely to buy. Next week you test your sales conversion rate and find that it's 2%. You've doubled your sales, without spending more money marketing!Once you get your sales conversion higher, your marketing budget performs better. The same money that was bringing you 1% sales conversion is now bringing 2% sales conversion.While a small change in your sales conversion rate will have a great impact on revenues, most website owners are unaware of this and are losing sales. Problem # 3 The proximity of the competitionAccording to Nielsen/Netratings, February 2003, the average visitor spends only 55 seconds per webpage. In less than a minute, your visitors decide whether to continue viewing your pages or click away.How many of your competitors are online? Find out now by going to your favorite search engine and typing in keywords prospective customers would use when looking for your business. How many options do your potential customers have?Even if a visitor wants what you offer, he is tempted to comparison shop. It's very easy to click and go to another site. Are you doing everything you can to get customers to buy from you?Problem # 4 Price-shoppingIf you sell something exclusive, price-shopping wouldn't be a problem for you until competition shows up on the scene. However, if you sell products that other websites offer, then you'll find intense pressure to lower your prices. Search engines give prospective customers a list of options. Plus, there are price comparison websites like Pricegrabber, MySimon and Dealtime that make it easy for consumers to price-shop. They give their users prices from several websites.Problem # 5 Shopping cart abandonmentA visitor decides to buy from you. Somewhere between placing items in the shopping cart and completing the purchase they leave your website, usually for good.More than 60 percent of online shoppers abandon purchases before completing the credit card transaction, according to Gartner Group, Inc. Which means if 40 people buy from you, 100 started to buy from you. Imagine how many more sales you'd have if you prevented some of these abandoned carts.Identifying the toughest problems facing online retailers is the first step in dealing effectively with them. Article Tags: Toughest Problems Facing, Problems Facing Online, Facing Online Retailers, Sales Conversion Rate, Toughest Problems, Problems Facing, Facing Online, Online Retailers, Sales Conversion, Conversion Rate
The,Toughest,Problems,Facing,O