There are many perks to owning or running your own eCommerce business. Being your own boss is one of them, as it’s great not having to answer to anyone or meet any targets but the ones you set yourself. Working your own hours is another, even if they can often be longer than a nine-to-five gig. But in this game, you need to stay one step ahead of your competitors, and there are plenty of them. It’s rare to be the sole online vendor in any industry. But, with a few helpful tips, you can come out on top. Let’s check out how you can stay on top of your close competitors.

By Data Scraping

Data scraping is a method of researching, gathering data and gaining useful insights into the market that you’re trying to corner. A data scraper essentially scours the web for useful data, like prices, discounts and other insights. It saves you countless hours that you would otherwise spend researching this yourself, freeing up you and your staff to focus on the things that matter - like strategy, innovation and product or service design.

By Having a Competitive Price Point

Online shoppers are, as a rule of thumb, a great deal savvier than their retail counterparts. They know how to search, use discount codes, look for free shipping and guarantee themselves the best deal going. Unless you sell premium or luxury goods, you’ll need to keep your prices competitive. If you have the chance to undercut your competition and still make some margin, go for it - because if you don’t, someone else will.

Make Use of Discount Codes

As we just mentioned, online shoppers are savvy and will make use of any discount codes offered to them. You can offer a discount code for signing up to your mailing list, which nets you a valuable subscriber who you might convert into a return customer. You can offer a code for people to return to an abandoned cart, guaranteeing a sale. You can even offer codes for referring new customers, giving both customers a discount. You don’t have to be too generous here - anywhere from five to ten per cent will help you to get some valuable business.

Free Shipping!

Everyone loves free shipping. You can offer it across the board, and just mark up your prices to cover the cost of shipping anyway - it’s all about what your customers perceive as value for money. The other option is to keep your prices a bit lower but offer free shipping for purchases over a certain amount - for example, over fifty or one hundred dollars. This will tempt people to spend more to get free shipping.

Loyalty Schemes

Another way to stay on top of the game is to offer your regular customers a loyalty scheme. This can take the form of points, store credit or other incentives. The trick is to give the appearance of a good deal without actually incurring too much loss. For example, for every $500 they spend, give them $10-$20 off their next order. The customer perceives a great deal, but in reality, you still make a tidy profit and don’t lose too much.

Summing Up

There are a few surefire ways to stay ahead of your competitors in the eCommerce game. Utilise data scraping tools to gather valuable data about your competitors. Have a competitive price point to tempt those savvy online shoppers. Utilise discount codes as much as you can, and consider offering free shipping. Finally, a loyalty scheme is a way to reward your repeat customers without costing you too much. Good luck!