10 Things Your Competitors Can Teach You About eCommerce

Unless you are a leader in eCommerce in your industry there is a lot you can learn from larger competitors selling in your space online. Even if you are a leader, your competitors will always give you insight into what you can do to stay ahead of the curve. Here are ten things you might want to look for from competitors in the eCommerce space.

What products to sell

Competitors that are doing more in volume online may give you insight into what sells and what doesn’t. Obviously for manufacturers this may not be as applicable who offer unique products, however, retailers and distributors can gain valuable insight from competitors as to what to sell and what not to sell.

Design trends that work

If your competitors are selling tens of millions or more and you are still in the pre millions of online sales, there is a good chance design is a huge component of that. The web is competitive and consumers, as well as businesses, expect a user-friendly experience. If you are not providing that you will have a tough time converting new or even existing customers to buy online.
Checkout is a major area you could be losing customers and require better design!

Promotion strategies

Are your competitors offering free shipping or buy one get x free? There is a good chance you are losing out in the promotion game and are not finding creative ways to entice competitors to buy products with promotions and free giveaways that might not impact your margins too much.

Paid advertising strategies

If you see competitors ads all over the Internet there is a good chance it is providing them ROI, brand awareness, and an overall competitive advantage in the market. It’s possible some of the keywords and placements are areas you should be looking to advertise on, even if you have a smaller budget.

How to price your products

You can easily become more competitive with pricing by simply keeping an eye on your competitors pricing on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis.

What eCommerce platform might be best

Are your competitors on Shopify, Magento, WooComerce etc? There is most likely a reason as to why they are on that platform. There may also be opportunities to build something more robust on a better platform if you see an opening in the market.

What third party technologies to use

Are your competitors using Hubspot, Drift, Intercom, Logic Broker, Yotpo, or other types of third party apps that give them an advantage? Third-party apps can add huge functionality for a low cost and give you a leg up on competitors.

How to structure your product data

How are you competitors structuring their product data? Maybe there are ways you can do it better?

What to Charge for Shipping

Are your competitors offering free shipping for orders over 100 dollars? Well, offer free shipping for orders over 80. There are always ways to become more competitive with shipping and reduce barriers to checkout.

How fast You Need To Fulfill Orders

Are your competitors fulfilling orders in days and yours takes weeks? You may need to seriously think about how to become more efficient with fulfillment and look into solutions like Hublogix for multi-warehouse fulfillment.