How to Succeed with Your Online Store Project

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You’ve just launched your first e-commerce site, or you’re planning to venture into online sales in the coming days?

Did you know that 90%* of online stores close after 120 days of existence on the web? “”

How can you stand out and be among the 10% that will sustain their online activity?

Answer: By understanding the mistakes made by the majority of new e-merchants and applying the basics of modern online selling, often overlooked.

The 10 reasons that endanger new online stores

A recent study by marketingsignals.com reveals the top 10 reasons why 90% of online stores close after 4 months of existence on the web.

Here is the list of the top 10 reasons

The reported percentage is equal to the percentage of stores that closed for these reasons; multiple reasons may contribute to the closure of a single store.

1. Little to no digital marketing strategy – 37%
2. Lack of visibility on search engines – 35%
3. Too small a market to sustain the business – 35%
4. Significant, irrelevant investments – 32%
5. Insufficiently thought-out pricing strategy – 29%
6. More effective competition (pricing, quality, marketing…) – 23%
7. Commerce giants dominating the market – 19%
8. Lack of customer service – 16%
9. Small or low-quality team – 14%
10. Low-quality or non-demand-responsive products – 11%

Avoid these 10 risks in 3 steps and sustain your future online business

Choose the right online sales platform

First and foremost, nothing is simpler than this first step to avoid the risks represented by points 2, 4, and 9, which cumulatively account for 81%.

These risks can be easily avoided by choosing a good SaaS platform like Panierdachat.

As evidence, over 96% of online stores using the Panierdachat platform are still in operation after this 4-month period*.

*Figures collected from August 2018 to August 2019

Why will you avoid these risks by choosing Panierdachat?

For point 2, Panierdachat allows you to create an online store easily and automatically optimized for Google (without any additional work):

• Responsive for all screens
• Lightweight
• Fast and powerful
• Clear structure transmitted to Google
• Simplified management of title tags and meta-descriptions

Check out our SEO checklist for a 100% optimized online store.

For point 4, Panierdachat offers monthly (or annual) packages starting at $44.95 CAD/month, allowing you to know how much you pay without surprises and without a large investment (knowing that a basic e-commerce site will cost you more than $10,000 at launch).

Analyze your market and meet expectations

When opening a physical store, you need funding that you request from the bank. The bank asks for your business model and financing plan, documents that prompt you to analyze the market you want to enter: competitors, market size, current trends…

Today, launching a business online is so quick that we forget the fundamentals.

However, by answering a few questions, you can position yourself in the right market segment by improving your products and services according to real expectations. You can also optimize your communications and image based on your target clientele.

Here are examples of questions you should be able to answer:

• What is the market value?
• Who are your direct and indirect competitors?
• What are your competitive advantages compared to the main competitors? How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?
• Are the advantages your products/services provide trigger points for purchase? Does their absence in your competitors make them a real weakness?
• Do your prices match the expectations of customers in this market?
• How many products do you need to sell (what turnover) on average per month/week to really make a living from your online business and to be able to invest in its growth?

By answering these questions and adjusting according to the results, you can avoid reasons 3, 5, 6, 7, and 10 of the top 10 reasons for online store closures within 4 months. That’s 98% cumulative responses.

Cultivate your image and

customer relations

By following the first two steps of our article, you avoid 8 out of the top 10 reasons for online store closure within 120 days.

But this 3rd and final step should not be underestimated, especially since it helps address issue number 1: the lack of a marketing strategy.

This lack of strategy is often linked to a lack of resources. However, thanks to our 1st step, after avoiding high costs for the launch of your online store, your budget will allow you to invest in digital marketing.

But not so fast! Paying for advertising does not guarantee financial returns! You need to choose the right media and the right message for your target audience.

How to choose where to advertise online and improve your customer relationship?

On the internet, the customer is king, and your customer service should be at the heart of your loyalty strategy. To avoid risk 8,, you must offer a service that satisfies your customers and visitors.

For this, consider:

• Add an FAQ page to include all information about payment, delivery, returns, refunds, etc., and answer the most common questions.
• Be responsive and answer all questions received by email and social media.
• Offer order tracking and provide fast and clean delivery.
• Inform your customers to reassure them: Confirmation email upon order receipt (automatic with Panierdachat), shipping confirmation email, etc.
• Follow the ideas in our article “Increasing online sales: 5 original ideas to build customer loyalty »

Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin… many media offer paid communication options.

But which one is best for your business?

We will soon write a more comprehensive article on this, but here is the audience of the main social networks to help you choose the right one for your target audience.

• Number of active users worldwide: 2.4 billion
• Number of users in Quebec: 5.49 million
• Number of users in France: 34 million
• Average age of the Facebook Ad audience:
  1st: 32% are 25-34 years old
  2nd: 26% are 18-24 years old
  3rd: 16.5% are 35-44 years old
• Gender distribution of the Facebook Ad audience: 43% women to 57% men

• Number of active users worldwide: 1 billion
• Number of users in Canada (including Francophones): 12 million (including 2.9 million Francophones)
• Number of users in France: 16 million
• Average age of the Instagram Ad audience:
  1st: 34% are 25-34 years old
  2nd: 31% are 18-24 years old
  3rd: 15.8% are 35-44 years old
• Gender distribution of the Instagram Ad audience: 52% women to 48% men

• Number of active users worldwide: 254 million
• Number of users in Canada (including Francophones): 5.725 million (including 1 million Francophones)
• Number of users in France: 5.745 million
• Average age of the Twitter Ad audience:
  1st: 31% are 18-24 years old
  2nd: 27.3% are 25-34 years old
  3rd: 20.6% are 35-44 years old
• Gender distribution of the Twitter Ad audience: 31% women to 69% men

• Number of active users worldwide: 639.4 million
• Number of users in Canada (including Francophones): 16 million (including 4.9 million Francophones)
• Numberof users in France:

  18 million

• Average age of the Linkedin Ad audience:
  1st: 37% are 25-34 years old
  2nd: 29% are 35-44 years old
  3rd: 26% are 18-24 years old
• Gender distribution of the Linkedin Ad audience: 43% women to 57% men

• Number of active users worldwide: 144.5 million
• Number of users in Canada (including Francophones): 8.1 million (including 2.1 million Francophones)
• Number of users in France: 8.7 million
• Gender distribution of the Linkedin Ad audience: 70% women to 30% men

• Google is the most visited site in the world with 3.3 billion searches per day, representing 91% of the search engine market (ahead of Bing and Yahoo!).
• An average user sees nearly 11 pages per day.
• According to the Google Economic Impact Report, on average, for every $1 spent on Google Search advertising, it yields $2.

In summary, advertising via Google Ads is for all businesses and activities without exception; you just need to know how to target your audience and address the right message.

With these figures, you can choose the most relevant media and avoid reason number 1, which forces online stores to close within 120 days.

Sources for social media statistics: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5