The business and retail landscape has transformed dramatically since the advent of the internet, and almost every shop you know has an online counterpart. Although many shoppers still go to physical stores, those who prefer to stay at home and shop through their mobile phones or computers have surged immensely over the years.
The exponential increase peaked in 2020, with over two billion people purchasing goods online, translating to USD$4.2 trillion in sales worldwide.
It’s no wonder many are venturing into the world of e-commerce. The opportunity to earn is enormous, and your market is worldwide.
There are now about 24 million e-commerce sites globally, and many are still sprouting every day. If you plan to open up your own e-commerce business, know that you need to grow smartly and appropriately to edge over your competition.
To help you do that, here are the best tools you need to grow your e-commerce business:
Tools That Can Help Grow Your E-commerce Business
Social Media
Sixty percent of the world’s population is on the internet, with 3.6 billion people having one or more social media accounts on various platforms. There is no better place to promote your products than here. So, whether you plan to launch your products on social networking sites, blogs, video streaming sites, or microblogging sites, the world is your audience.
A critical aspect of social media is growing your following, which is crucial to increasing your engagement and boosting your brand awareness. Yet it could also be the most challenging task to tackle when you’re starting. If you’re struggling to increase your follower count on Instagram, you can check out guides to help you get USA followers on EarthWeb.
Influencer App
User-generated content is a campaign many digital marketers utilize to increase brand awareness and recognition. Partnering with influencers is a viable way to reach your target audience with an impact.
These influencers have a niche following that could be a potential avenue to drum up your presence on social media, like Instagram. Many of these influencers belong to a community, so you’re expanding your reach to others if you reach out to one. Most of the time, you won’t have to contact them, too, as they’ll be the ones to reach out to you.
However, searching for your influencers is like looking for a gem in the rough. It could be a time-consuming and tedious move. Thus, a tool like an influencer app can make the search easier for you. The app will filter the niche, the number of followers of an influencer you’re aiming for, and your budget based on their media kit, location, and even their deliverables.
Influencers are now divided into micro-influencers (those with 10,000 to 200,000 followers) and nano-influencers (those with under 10,000 followers). The app will also measure their effectiveness at a given time frame, so you can opt to search for other influencers if you feel you’re not the right fit.
Giveaway Apps
Another effective way to grow your business is to host giveaways or contests on social media. This can be a labor-intensive one if done manually because, after setting the rules, you have to monitor the participant’s compliance with the contest parameters you have required.
This means going to each account and checking if they liked, shared, saved, and tagged their friends. Not to mention the form they will have to fill out so you can gather their information and check the validity of their entry.
Using a giveaway app can make every contest run smoothly from beginning to end. The app has all the necessary features you can integrate into your social media channels for worry-free contests.
Perhaps the app’s best feature is the drawing of the winner electronically. You can be transparent with your followers and ensure that only those who follow the rules meticulously can win the handsome prize.
Thus, host giveaways and contests regularly and see your brand loyalty soar.
Customer Relationship Management App
The delivery of the best customer experience is a hallmark of a great brand. Creating an excellent relationship with your customers should be your number one priority.
Managing a thriving business and paying attention to labor, sales, and other channels can take your attention away from the heart of your business—your customers.
A customer relationship management app can help you manage all your interactions with your customers so you won’t miss a single email, shop inquiry, refund request, or product complaint. Everything will be on one platform, streamlining your processes so you can increase your staff’s productivity, product management, and marketing efforts, and even identify business opportunities to grow your brand.
Conclusion
Growing a business has transformed significantly from when people hand out fliers on the streets or put billboards on buildings. Although we still see these today, the powerful hold of digitalization in people’s lives has made everything evolve from paper materials to bytes.
