3 New Year Resolutions eCommerce Professionals Should Make (and Keep)

Happy New Year!Let me guess...you've made some new year resolutions for yourself just like everyone else around the world. Am I right?If you did, I congratulate you for taking that first initial step. What people struggle with the most is not being able to keep their new year resolutions.Why do people have a hard time sticking to their resolutions every year?They fail because their resolutions are unspecific, unrealistic and they're based on willpower and not systems as stated by Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You to Be Rich.It's not enough to simply tell yourself I want to grow my eCommerce business.  You need to be specific on what you plan on doing in order to grow your business, is it actually possible (realistic) and what systems will be used to help you follow through that goal.For example: don't just say "I want to grow my eCommerce store by increasing sales".Instead, your new year resolution should be:"In order to grow my eCommerce business by 15% before the end of the year, I will focus on email marketing and build a 25 000 subscribers email list.  Starting this Thursday, I will create a new giveaway and aim to acquire at least 5000 email signups before March 31st.  I will nurture those new leads with a 2-part welcome email series that will educate them about our product and value proposition.  I will then send those leads a 10% OFF coupon to try our product."You see what I mean?  By making this type of new year resolution, you will be able to track your progress and increase your chances of success before the end of the year.To help you make the most of the new year, I decided to share with you 3 New Year Resolutions you should consider making to help grow any type of eCommerce business.

Resolution #1 - Make Smarter Decisions Through Analytics

How could you possibly make any business or marketing decision without having data to support you?  Analytics is key for long term eCommerce success.This year, increase sales by making smarter decisions through analytics.Here's how you do this:

• Audit Your Analytics - Perform an extensive audit on your analytics to ensure everything is properly integrated (tracking codes) as well as ensuring all data is accurate.  Make sure you're tracking purchases and products sold.
• Track site search - one of the most used features of an online store is site search.  Make sure you're tracking what people are searching and what search terms perform best. This information will help you improve sourcing, merchandising and promotions.
• Track Assisted Conversions (attribution) - Don't simply track last-click conversions.  Certain channels impact conversions early in the shopper's path to purchase.

Resolution #2 - The Website Should Just Work for Everyone

There's no excuse when it comes to making sure shoppers can access your online store and purchase products.Let's honest though, it's no longer an easy task since technology is constantly changing.  With new devices, new apps and new browsers being released every couple of months, making sure your website works for everyone is becoming a challenge.Nonetheless, do this:

• Improve Load Times - Make sure your website loads fast on all devices, browsers and internet connections.  Optimize key pages such as the homepage, category page, site search, product pages and checkout.
• Optimize the Mobile experience - Mobile traffic to online stores is increasing year over year.  Make sure your website does not fall behind when it comes to mobile.  Think mobile first and constantly test every page across smartphones and tablets.
• Improve Usability - Track what people do on your website through heatmaps, video recordings and clickmaps.  Small improvements in design and usability can have huge impacts on overall conversions.

Resolution #3 - Build a Better Shopping Experience

Since we spend a lot of money acquiring new customers, we want to make sure we keep them for a long time.The question is: How do you make customers come back to your online store?One way is by exceeding customer expectations.If you want to improve the overall shopping experience, you need to listen to customers, understand their concerns, complaints and act upon improving them.

• Launch OnSite Surveys - Survey customers to better understand their concerns and overall satisfaction.  This will help you prioritize key areas of the business that need immediate attention.
• Make Customer Service Top Priority - Make sure you have a top notch customer service team.  Provide adequate training and tools to help them deliver a wow experience when handling pre-transaction and post-transaction support.  Improving your email communication or installing Live Chat goes a long way.
• Request Feedback & Reviews - Ask customers for feedback about their shopping experience with your brand as well as product feedback to help gather reviews across your catalog.  Product reviews will help boost product sales and overall feedback will help boost social proof as well as giving you insights about what customers think of your brand.

Conclusion

If you really want to make sure you stick to your new year resolutions, make sure to have a detailed action plan in place and hold yourself accountable for not following your goals.