Boosting eCommerce ROI: How to optimise quickly in a rapidly changing industry

As any leader running a business online will tell you, keeping up with the latest trends and technologies is as vital a job as running payroll or performing a stock check.

We live in a world where things are constantly changing, consumers are demanding more, expecting more, and using their voice more to advocate (or not) for brands they encounter online. New technologies are continually emerging to completely transform everything from marketing to customer service, shipping to sales. It’s safe to say, the information superhighway has gone space age.

As the needs of your customers change and the industry as a whole continues to evolve, you need innovative, effective strategies in place to boost your eCommerce ROI, retain clients and optimise your business quickly.

Don’t ignore the power of AI

If one technology has the power to entirely transform whole industries, it’s AI. In fact, we’re already seeing eCommerce outfits employing AI across their business to great effect.

By 2032, the E-commerce AI market is expected to reach $45.72 billion, meaning that if you haven’t fully embraced AI by then, you probably won’t be in business. Make no mistake, now is the time to leverage the power of this new technology.

The biggest eCommerce brands, from Netflix to Amazon, use AI extensively to streamline and automate their service, and also to create more meaningful engagement with their customers. 

If you want to use AI for eCommerce ROI boosting purposes, a chatbot is a smart way to offer 24/7 support to your customers. While your human customer service and sales reps are snoozing, your AI chatbot keeps watch, on hand to provide product recommendations and support regardless of the early or late hour.  

Similarly, AI and audience engines can be used to collect a vast amount of data. This gives you an unparalleled insight into who you customers really are, what they like, and how they shop online. Knowledge is power and with that information to hand, it’s much easier to create tailored solutions, optimise your website and improve the service you offer to each shopper.

1.  Use real-time analytics to make decisions

When you need to make important decisions about how to improve your business, you need to know that you’re working with the most up-to-date information possible – which is where real-time analytics comes into the mix.

eCommerce brands can leverage the power of real-time analytics by continuously monitoring data on website traffic, user behaviour, and sales trends. With this goldmine of information constantly streaming in, you can swiftly identify opportunities and deal with challenges as they present themselves. 

Other brands are already using these analytics to optimise product recommendations, update pricing strategies, create personalised shopping experiences, and find new ways to engage with their customers as they’re shopping online.

One of the hardest things to achieve is trying to pin down user behaviour in eCommerce; your customers are not walking around a physical store where you can speak to them in person and observe them first hand. Everything is done through a screen – which makes getting to know them much more of a challenge. But, in the fast-paced world of eCommerce, real-time customer insights can help your business to adapt swiftly, refine your marketing strategies in minutes, and remain competitive against competitors that are all trying to offer your customers bigger and better things.

2.Personalise your website to individual customer needs

Many brands will agree that eCommerce profitability lies in the ability to provide personalised experiences to each website visitor. Creating a personalised customer experience can make the difference between securing a final sale and watching shopper after shopper leave your site for one of your competitors instead. Once you’ve started to incorporate AI and real-time analytics, this step is easy.

Take Netflix as an example - a huge digital company that has single-handedly changed the viewing habits of all of us. This company collects an enormous amount of data on each customer as a matter of routine; what time of the day they are most active, how long they typically watch TV/movies for, what their favourite genres are, who their favourite actors are, etc. 

With this information, they have a pretty good idea of what you like to watch. Hey presto - they can use this understanding to personalise the home screen every time you log in. Much like a friend or family member who knows you really well, this data allows Netflix to recommend TV shows and movies they know you are going to like.

3.  Keep an eye on what your competition is doing

Whether your business has just started or you’re feeling stuck in a rut with what you’re doing, it can be useful to look elsewhere for inspiration.

Create a list of some of your main competitors. Explore their product pages, social media accounts, checkout pages, and blog posts to get an idea of how they are converting browsers into buyers.

We’re not saying that you should copy everything they’re doing – success for one business doesn’t necessarily translate into success for another – but it could help you to identify gaps in your current strategy.

4.  Focus on SEO to optimise your eCommerce site

SEO (search engine optimisation) is a business critical factor. SEO is all about optimising your site to show up in search engines. Increasing your rankings means more visibility and that means more website traffic. More eyeballs on your products means more sales.

To optimise your website, you’ll need to use the right keywords, offer good quality content, build links, and optimise the user experience with fast loading pages, easy navigation and continual updates.

Creating high-quality, SEO-optimised content is an ongoing process and not one that you can achieve overnight. Incorporating SEO into your current marketing strategy and investing time into SEO efforts will pay off over time with more traffic and greater sales volumes.

Start optimising your eCommerce site with AI today

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