subject: Revamp Ecommerce Website Design And Marketing To Grow In This Recession [print this page] The improvement witnessed in the e-commerce industry is sizable in terms of market share, great tenacity through the recession, and mature client base. In spite of all that, e-commerce marketing is regarded a cornerstone of a business's marketing endeavor rather than an entity in its own right. E-commerce websites are considered as a must-have to stay on top of competition but their true potential is still under appreciated. This philosophy must change for e-commerce to receive its rightful quota of the advertising budget, and for companies to capitalize on the e-commerce website audience.
E-commerce and the expanding internet market
Internet audiences are no longer confined to age, gender or geography. Web-savvy youngsters are not the only people visiting websites. Middle-aged men and women too spend a number of hours browsing the internet every day. In fact, more and more people across all ages, genders and cultural backgrounds are turning to e-commerce businesses today. Businesses now perceive this change. As a result, growth in expenditure on internet advertising has surpassed growth in expenditure on more conventional media.
Though there has been a 5% decline in the internet advertising in 2009-10, it is nothing compared to the severe revenue decline experienced by television, newspaper and radio ads. Businesses should look at the future prospects of the internet market rather than the past, and disburse their budgetary funds accordingly.
Fine-tuning e-commerce websites for customer segments
An e-commerce website's audience includes people from all walks and geographies. Businesses should fine-tune their website to better serve its targeted audience by enhancing the customer experience. Businesses can develop an effective e-commerce website by:* Collecting information of website visitors: Gathering details about visitors on the website is a nonstop task. E-commerce developers should collect particulars of visitors such as age, gender, interests, income, on a continuous basis.* Matching e-commerce website design to customers: Website designers are typically young and tech-savvy and this often shows in their website design. However, the site must remain easy to use since prospects may not have the same technical expertise as the designers. Customers will come back to the site only if they have a satisfying shopping experience. For this, the website design should be- user friendly in features, organization, and navigation- include suitable content that attracts the audience's interest- project the website's offerings effectively* Developing different websites for distinct target audiences: A business can offer multiple product lines for different sets of target audiences. Businesses should consider launching distinct sites for each target audience so that each site is developed around that consumer segment. This way, the target audience can relate to the site.Reallocating marketing budgetsThe recession has paved the way for many trials and innovations in marketing tactics. Marketing budgets that only include recurring incremental changes are inadequate for businesses to optimize for the successful marketing practices that exist today. It makes more sense to build the budget from scratch; allocating more money to promotions in media like internet that show more promise in the current market scenario.Number of internet users are growing and e-commerce businesses should do what's necessary to maximize on it. They should assess their e-commerce development plans to ensure their website appeals to a wide range of customers.by: Daljeet Sidhu
