The eCommerce market is as big as ever. With retail eCommerce sales amounting to 3.53 trillion U.S. Dollars and e-retail revenues expected to grow to 6.54 trillion U.S. dollars by 2022, the market is showing no signs of slowing down.

The number of retailers offering products online is growing at an extremely fast rate which means competition is getting more and more fierce by the second. Online retailers not only have to compete with giants such as Walmart and Amazon, but they need to keep up with local businesses, too.

To start an online store in such a competitive market is not an easy task. Building an eCommerce store is not that difficult; you can start one from scratch or purchase one from a website for sale listing. However, maintaining an eCommerce store and scaling is a huge challenge. 

Luckily, the growth of the eCommerce market has led to an increase in the number of ways businesses can increase their sales too. Technological progress has given birth to innovative strategies that can help you grow your business. The implementation of these advanced techniques can help you maximize your reach. 

So, here are the five best strategies to scale your eCommerce business in 2020:

Use voice search

Voice search is emerging as one of the biggest marketing trends this decade. With new and improved voice recognition systems, the number of businesses taking advantage of voice search is bound to increase. 

Hence, the best way forward for an online retailer is to optimize their content for trending keywords and search terms. This optimization will allow brands to capture an audience that is increasingly using voice search to look up products and services.

Terms used for voice search typically vary from terms used in traditional SEO. For instance, voice search phrases often include question words, such as why what and who, so marketers should ensure these voice search queries are handled efficiently. Additionally, voice searches are longer than regular search terms which is why marketers should incorporate more long-tail keywords. The longer the keywords, the higher the probability of conversion.

Don’t neglect site speed

With the number of alternatives available to consumers, it’s easy for them to switch to a competitor at the first sign of a technical glitch. With a significant impact on conversion and overall user experience, your website’s loading speed, on desktop and mobile both, fast loading time shows that your site is free of any glitches.

Apart from the effect on user experience and customer satisfaction, site speed is an essential factor that Google takes into account when determining how your website is ranked when specific keywords are looked up to. If your website takes time to load, Google will perceive that as a poor user experience, thereby negatively impacting your quality score. When your loading speed increases, the bounce rate will automatically go up.

Take advantage of user-generated content and influencer marketing

Consumers aren’t just going to listen to what brands give them, and they want to be part of the entire experience. Not only that, but customers also want to hear from other customers. Nothing validates your business more than another customer’s positive experience, so, in 2020, you need to encourage your customers to produce and share their content, such as pictures and videos. It’s crucial to incentivize such actions to maximize participation and engagement, which will thereby increase conversion and establish your brand’s credibility.

User-generated content can also come from micro and mega influencers whose presence can have a tenfold impact on your brand’s credibility. Many consumers today trust the opinions of notable figures in the industry before making a purchase decision. Hence, influencer marketing is an excellent way to gain the trust of your target audience. The influencers you choose for your brand’s promotion don’t necessarily have to have millions of followers on Instagram. In fact, the most impactful influencers will be the ones your target audience can relate to the most, thereby leading to higher conversions.

For your brand to make the most of user-generated content and influencer marketing, you need to do it in a way that appears organic and doesn’t give the impression of sponsorships and paid promotions. One of the best ways to do this is for your brand to send your products to content creators who can then honestly review your product and choose to promote it to their followers if they want to.

Issue discount codes and coupons

Many shoppers actively search for discount codes and coupons that could decrease their shopping cart total by even a small amount. With many options to choose from, customers want to know that your product or service is worth its value and, sometimes, a coupon might just help them do that.

Approximately 60 percent of shoppers actively look for coupons and discount codes when looking up an unfamiliar retailer before buying a product or service. Apart from new customers, though, discount codes and coupons are useful for returning customers too and provide an excellent incentive to go through with a purchase.

Try QR codes

QR codes are becoming increasingly popular, primarily because they don’t require consumers to download an app. Printing QR codes on promotional materials can give customers instant access to your website, as well as exclusive promotional codes.

QR codes can be used in extremely flexible ways that allow customers to unlock different promotions at different points. Each QR code is unique with its individual details so, for a brand, it’s entirely up to you to create a QR code that leads customers to where you want them exactly.

Conclusion

Every customer is different and to determine what your target audience will respond to, you need to test these strategies out. By trying out a different combination of strategies, you can devise the best marketing strategy for your eCommerce that will not only yield optimal results but boost growth and sales for your business in 2020, too.

What other advanced techniques can help boost your business in 2020? Let us know in the comments below!