Essentials For Building A Profitable Ecommerce Business Robyn Anderson ecommerce Consultant

ROBYN ANDERSON Co-Founder of Orange Collar Media Magento Gold Level Partner Consulted with over 100 ecommerce Merchants Developed & Managed Digital Strategy & Marketing Programs for OCM & Clients Owns Two ecommerce Websites

FOCUS AREAS Ecommerce Strategy Roadmap Platform Selection Internal Operations Marketing & Merchandising Customer Persona PPC Visual Merchandising Marketing Marketplaces Ecommerce Analysis Trends New Features Best Practices Conversion Analysis

ECOMMERCE STRATEGY Create a Road Map Select The Right Platform For Business Requirements Create A Solid Internal Process

CREATE A ROADMAP Check in Points 3, 6, 9, 12 Months Platform Selection Development Timeline Brand Identity UI & Design Data Strategy Feature & Functionality Outlined

SELECT THE RIGHT PLATFORM Shopify, Demandware, Hybris, Magento, Woo Commerce Robust & Flexible Merchandising Ability Does it Follow Best Practices Community Involvement- Developers & Users Costs

ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS

MERCHANDISING & SEARCH Can you rearrange the order that your products are shown? How do you add “featured” products or upsells? Does your platform come with advanced Search? Will you need to invest in 3rd party search tools like Nextopia or Celebros?

PLATFORM ECOSYSTEM Can you easily find developers? Are you locked in to working with one group? Are there tested and approved integrations and modules available for use? Can your platform disappear due to acquisition or buy out?

COSTS How will the platform you choose save you $? What is the total monthly cost to run your ecommerce business? Hosting Platform fee’s Support Daily maintenance

INTERNAL PROCESS/ OPERATIONS Logistics Strategy Accounting Inventory Order to Ship Branding Within Process Customer Service

MARKETING & MERCHANDISING Identify Your Customer Analyze Traffic Data PPC Inbound Affiliate Visual Merchandising Marketing Marketplaces

IDENTIFY YOUR CUSTOMER Persona Development Hobbies, Interests, & Passions Time of Day They Shop Where They Live Income Level Identify The Customer’s Buying Journey

ANALYZE DATA When are your traffic levels highest? Review Keywords & Search Terms Geographical Location Return visitors vs. New visits Mobile device traffic Traffic Sources

PAY PER CLICK Monitor & Evaluate ROI Search Engines & Your Industry Use a Call to Action in your Ad Make Sure the Landing Page is Relevant to the Ad Constantly Add New Keywords & Negative Keywords to Pinpoint Customer’s Search Criteria

INBOUND/SEO Content Meets Context Create Content Your Customer is Looking For Blog Social Media Management Create Downloadable Items Become the Trustworthy Brand

BUYERS JOURNEY AwarenessConsideration Decision AttractconvertCloseDelight

VISUAL MERCHANDISING Understand Buyers Journey Be Clear About Your Products- Descriptions & Price Quality Product Images Related Products, Customer Reviews, Upsell Opportunities Offer something! Free shipping, % off, Quality Guarantee

MARKETING Marketing Clients Personalization Automated Work Flows Coupon Codes Subscriptions Exclusive Memberships/ Clubs

MARKETPLACES Affiliates Ebay Amazon

ECOMMERCE ANALYSIS Trends New Features Best Practices Support Conversion Analysis

TRENDS You’re Always Out of Style Personalization Clean Design Flat Buttons and Calls to Action Simplicity

NEW FEATURES Ecommerce Platform Ecosystem Loyalty Reward Points Gamification Exclusive Memberships Interactive Apps Enhanced Search

BEST PRACTICES Use your blog to answer your customers questions for search queries Write original Product Descriptions Use appealing Titles & Meta Descriptions for people not bots Make sure your site runs FAST…REALLY FAST Must be Mobile Connect as people not just a brand. Use an About us page with real information about the people behind the brand.

CONVERSION ANALYSIS Product Performance Purchase Funnel Performance A/B Test Competitor Analysis Analyze Pages with High Bounce Rates Design Trends Button color

REVIEW Essentials for building a profitable ecommerce business: Ecommerce strategy Marketing & Merchandising Plan Ecommerce Analysis

HOW HOSTWAY CAN HELP High Performance, Front-to-Back E-commerce Solutions Infrastructure Migration Optimization Support Administration

QUESTIONS?