Ecommerce Best Practices for Creating a Successful Online Store

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Choose the Right Ecommerce Platform

By 2026, retail ecommerce sales are projected to reach more than $8.1 trillion — with even more growth projected in the future.

For many ecommerce businesses and startups, competing within an ever-growing marketplace can be intimidating and as the marketing continues to grow more and more saturating, finding your place may seem like a tall order.

The best way to separate yourself from the competition is to ensure that your website and your business are up-to-date on the latest ecommerce trends and best practices.


By crafting a modern business and marketing strategy, you can set yourself up for success and bring greater value to your customers.

Make Your Website Simple and Easy to Navigate

When crafting your ecommerce website design, make sure that it is streamlined, simple to read and easy to navigate.

Whether it is having to deal with slow loading times, overly dense imagery or difficult-to-find search bars and navigation bars, navigating a complex website can be challenging and lead to potential customers leaving before ever even looking at your products.

UX and UI optimization.

A streamlined user experience and interface is one of the most essential attributes of a successful ecommerce website.

By making each aspect of navigating your website — from landing pages to product pages — and understanding your products simpler, you can make it easy for potential customers to move from one product to the next.

The longer they are on your ecommerce site, the more likely they will purchase your products.

Prioritize High-Quality Customer Support

When building out an ecommerce website, make sure that you prioritize providing excellent, easily accessible customer service. This can include features such as 24/7 phone support, live chat on your website, equitable return policies or even a responsible email system.

With 81% of consumers saying a positive customer service experience increases the chances of them making a purchase, providing excellent customer support can be the difference that pushes potential customers over the finish line.

Create High-Quality Product Descriptions, Images and Videos

High-quality product descriptions, product images and videos are a fundamental part of a successful ecommerce website.

By optimizing these categories, you can increase conversion rates and SEO to bring greater eyes onto your page and, ultimately, more buyers looking to purchase.

Cultivate an Organic Marketing Strategy

With 33% of organic search traffic coming from the very first listings on Google, making sure that your ecommerce brand builds an organic presence online is critical to your long-term success.

To accomplish this, you should consider utilizing the following:

Build a blog.

Crafting blogs on a regular basis can go a long way toward establishing an organic marketing presence and building a strong following.

By optimizing your blog with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind, you can use the power of Google and keywords to bring more eyes to your page. The more people who read your blog posts, the more likely they are to convert into sellers and land on your ecommerce homepage.

Launch a podcast.

In 2022, there will be 140 million podcast listeners in the U.S., a number expected to rise to 164 million by 2024 — highlighting a remarkable opportunity for online companies nationwide.

Through the use of podcasts, ecommerce organizations can open themselves up to a broader base of customers and connect with them in a meaningful way while increasing traffic generation.

Start a YouTube channel.

YouTube is the second largest search engine online after Google, making it an ideal place to host your video content, from product demos to how-tos.

With a YouTube channel, you can enhance your multichannel marketing efforts to help bring more customers to your ecommerce store.

Invest in creating TikTok videos.

TikTok has quickly grown in the last few years into one of the world’s most downloaded social media apps, especially among members of the younger generations.

Even for those less up-to-date on recent social trends, TikTok could represent an opportunity for businesses to showcase their products and boost visibility within a rapidly growing customer base.

Post on Facebook and Instagram.

More than 2.7 billion people use Facebook every month, making it one of the behemoths of the entire internet. If you’re not participating in the platform, you’re missing out on a significant potential revenue stream and cutting off millions of buyers. 

Through the use of Facebook Marketplace and Instagram Shop, you can expand your audience while boosting sales with a smooth, streamlined customer experience.

Work with Influencers

One of the fastest ways to drive sales and bring in revenue is to establish credibility and social proof within a market — and influencer marketing is a fantastic way to start.

With the help of influencer endorsements, you can create an excellent first impression, raising the value proposition of your offerings to help build trust and bring in new customers.

Set Up an Email Strategy for Cart Abandonment

Building an email marketing campaign is one of the surest ways of driving traffic to your online store, whether reaching out to potential customers or enticing current ones towards new offerings and best sellers.

Additionally, through the use of shopping cart abandonment emails, you can remind buyers that they are close to the finish line or even present them with new offerings or discounts. Oftentimes, a simple reminder can be all it takes to convert a customer.

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The Final Word

Finding success in the ecommerce marketplace can be a challenging and worrisome prospect, especially for organizations who are not quite sure where to start.

By incorporating ecommerce best practices and trends, you can ensure that you are giving yourself a headstart on the competition and setting yourself up for a profitable resubottom linelts.

FAQs About Ecommerce Best Practices

What are some of the latest ecommerce trends?

Ecommerce trends come and go, making it challenging to keep up to date with what’s happening in the digital marketplace.

Thankfully, we have identified 14 ecommerce trends that are powering online retail forward, including:

  • AR enhances the reality of online shopping.

  • There will be a growing volume of voice search.

  • AI helps shops learn about shoppers.

  • On-site personalization uses those insights to create individualized experiences.

  • Big data plays a big part in creating personalized experiences.

  • Chatbots improve the shopping experience.

  • Shopping through mobile devices is still on the move.

  • More ways to pay.

  • Headless and API-driven ecommerce allow continued innovation.

  • Customers respond to video.

  • Subscriptions keep customers coming back.

  • Sustainability is becoming more important.

  • Businesses should optimize digital strategy for conversion.

  • B2B is growing...and changing.

What are the best channels to promote ecommerce products?

There are many email and sales channels that your ecommerce business can use to promote your products, including:

  • Email marketing.

  • Influencer marketing.

  • Paid advertising.

  • Social media marketing.

  • SMS or text-based marketing

  • Content marketing.

  • SEO.

  • Public relations (PR).

  • Partnership marketing.

Through all of these channels and more, you can work towards crafting a modern, omnichannel approach.

Is TikTok really a good place to market for ecommerce products?

Absolutely. By the end of 2022, TikTok is projected to have 1.8 monthly active users — making it the world's 6th most popular social media platform. 

While you may not be posting selfies, TikTok is a valuable opportunity for ecommerce businesses to showcase their products on a larger platform with a pre-existing audience. Having your brand go viral on TikTok can lead to an uptick in sales, while having a consistent presence can add a bit of credibility to your offerings.

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How can I optimize my abandon cart rate?

To optimize your abandonment rate, you should consider the following tactics:

  • Analyze user behavior for conversion funnel leaks: Tools like Google Analytics can help you create comprehensive conversion funnels to map out exactly where shoppers are dropping off, from bounce rates to order values.

  • Choose the features you really need: Make the usability of your checkout page as tight and expedient as you can. Avoid intrusive pop-ups or upsell notifications.

  • Collect customer feedback about pain points: Send customers a post-purchase survey to determine their feelings about your checkout process through customer reviews and testimonials.

  • Conduct A/B testing: When rolling out a new web design, layout call-to-action (CTA) or form of content, always perform A/B tests to see which versions perform the best.

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