So you managed to find a way to launch your online store, found a good template, changed some colors, added your logo and took the time needed to upload your product inventory or most of it online.

Well Done!

It's been exciting to finally witness eCommerce kicking off in Jordan!

Now, as you are learning your way into this sales channel don’t go back to selling solely on Facebook & Instagram. Your brand new digital store can act as your central hub to all your digital marketing efforts. Moreover, your business growth will highly depend on offering a better user experience than your competitors.

The following is a quick checklist of improvements you can think about including and adding to your effort.

Online Store Enhancement Checklist

Area of focus	Why?	Tips
Quality and breadth of product photography	Photos of your products online are the most important aspects of your selling program. You are asking your customer to trust that this is the product they are looking for so better yet insure that it is and it's beautiful to own.	Include at least 4 or 5 photos of each product that can take the customer a 360 degrees of how it looks like and how it measures. If you opt to include manufacturer photos make sure they deliver on that 360 view. If you are selling your locally produced product, invest in hiring a professional photographer to take great photos that attract and help sell each product.
Detailed description of each product	Because the buyer wants to make sure this is the product that they originally wanted or they better get than the other. They want to check the specifications if its an electronic device or they want to make sure of the dimensions if its a furniture item or the ingredients of a food item.	If you are reselling an item then make sure to include EVERYTHING the manufacturer has listed in its description and specs. If you are the producer of this product then invest in a neatly written description and include dimensions and anything else you can think the buyer will need to know to make their decision.
Common Q & A other customers had with you	It saves you time spent on calls or chats to answer questions you’ve already answered for another customer before and helps make the buyer get that many other people have inquired about the product before.	Have one of your customer service staff gather questions asked from your social media messaging and historical chats. Also make it a habit for your customer service staff to document the questions and answers as they happen so you start building this very useful database.
Save cart items for guests even after they close the window	Because there is a chance your customer closed the tab by mistake or remembered the product you had so simplify the process of ordering in the next day or week.	If the customer was signed in and left few items in the cart without ordering, make sure your store is set up technically in a way that it emails customers with abandoned carts.
Video will always be the King	Your potential customer will go to youtube and search for a good review, make it easier for them by including the best one that recomends the product.	If your product is locally produced, do invest in making short videos that show how it looks and how its best used. Go for your best sellers or your new additions and soon you will build up a reel that covers all your best items.
Invest in proper categorization, tagging and smart search	More often than imagined, 1) customers go the search box directly to find what they are looking for 2) customers do look through the related items list to make note of competeting items, complimentary items, and/or upscaled ones.	Don't over do your categorization, 2 and 3 levels at most and keep trying to strike a balance between specialty and usage. Don't over tag items and shoot for specialty and general use to enable customers to find them. Make your search smart through autocomplete or by showing products that match directly
Encourage all your customers to buy online	Selling online helps you avoid bargining conversations, cuts down on the need to open more branches, helps you reach customers far from your physical locations, new towns and new cities. More over, less overhead costs that might enable you to offer discounted prices.	Build your loyalty program on giving more points for online sales, occasional gifts and promotions you can drive through your social media channels.
Email/WhatsApp Campaigns	Selling to an existing customer is always a sales-efficient method, perfecting the balance of sending notifications via email or WhatsApp helps nurture those exisiting relationships and can increase your sales over time.	Try monthly/weekly emails/messages and be consistant, those who love your brand and products/services will appreciate recieving them over time if they are direct and to the point and relate to their sales history with you.

Want to discuss your online store experience?

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ABOUT AUTHOR

Razan Khatib is the Co-founder & CEO of Spring Technologies. She's a digital strategist who helps small business owners with their digital transformation aspirations. You can can reach her at razan[at]hellospring.net

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