My dad always told me growing up that the phrase “I can’t” shouldn’t be in your vocabulary, and that anything and everything you put your mind to can be accomplished. Well, today I’m passing what my dad told me onto you;it’s time to take that phrase out of your vocabulary (in regard to your business competing with companies like Amazon and Walmart, this isn’t a self-motivation blog). Take a step back, look in the mirror and say, “I can compete with Amazon!” or “I can compete with Walmart!”. Let’s be real though, there is no possible way you can match either of their inventories or vast array of products (unless your company sells anything from cotton candy machines to rifles), but there are some things you can compete on, and maybe do better than these two. Without further ado, here are 4 tips to compete with Amazon and Walmart as a “smaller” ecommerce store.
Be Good at What You Do
Like I said earlier, you don’t sell everything like Amazon or Walmart, and you shouldn’t (if you did, well, you don’t need my help). And in regard to what you are selling, Amazon and Walmart probably have too. Okay, good thing I established that this wasn’t a motivational blog before, because this sounds depressing, but no need to worry, this is where some good marketing comes in.
You know who’s buying your products (your “niche market”), so keep hitting them with content. Make that content extremely relevant and customizedto them; build a following within that specific group. Yeah, it’s going to take a while to rank on search against these giants, but by becoming a master of your own market, you’ll rank in other keywords, more relevant to your business.
Serving Up Smiles
You want to compete against Amazon and Walmart because of how big they are and how they completely rule the market (or world), but that means that they had to do something correct to get to that point, right? Take Amazon for example, who has the best customer service overall out ofany company. Steal a page from their book and offer some great customer service yourself. Offer generous return policies, great customer service hours, price matching, basically anything within your limits to serve the consumer. A little goes a long way, andgreat customer service will get people talking.
Get Social
I get that you have social media pages, but having something isn’t necessarily using something. This point ties a lot into the previous one about customer service, as it continues the trend of making the consumer feel important. Some things you can do with social media are simple, easy, and fun for both you and your consumer.
Amazon and Walmart have millions of purchases a day, so it’s fair to say that they also have millions of people tweeting at them, using their hashtags, mentioning them, whatever. Can they respond to all these posts? No. Can you? Yes (your posts, not theirs, that’d be weird). Whenever one of your customers posts something about you, send them a reply, thanking them for their feedback (even if it’s negative, try offering a solution). Hold events, giveaways, or create a hashtag; anything you can do to get the consumer to continue interactions with you even after the sale is completed.
Make Things Easy
Okay, we’re going to steal another page from their books, but I won’t tell if you don’t. Both of these companies have phenomenal websites. Navigation is easy, and you can buy an item with a single tap or click. If your website requires more than a few clicks to purchase an item, that might be a bit too much. Some people may get fed up and leave, others may use that time to reconsider their purchase, want to know why? Because people are the laziest creatures on the planet. Include features on your website that make navigation and purchase as easy and convenient for the consumer as possible. Something as simple as auto-fill into a search bar or the ability to save a credit card for future use can really pay out in the long run (figuratively and literally).
Okay, so that’s it. I understand that this is easier to say than accomplish, but that’s where Netrocon comes in. We can help you get started on these changes to make sure that your customers are satisfied (and you, of course). No need to worry, with our help, one day Amazon executives will be reading this blog but the title will have your companies name in it.