Why Carrying Out E-Commerce Research May Be The Most Important Tool In Your Arsenal

When it comes to being successful in any business, one of the key components is to ensure that you understand the market, that you have an overview of the competition, and you can secure the best prices for any supplies or products that your company needs. There are so many companies in business today that have no comprehension of their target market, the competition within the industry, or even the growth potential of the sector they are involved in that it is truly staggering. With all of that being said, eCommerce research, particularly for an online business, can be more difficult than it might at first appear. There are so many variables involved in building a 7 figure cycle, and online companies are not restricted by space in the same way that a bricks and mortar company is, which gives them the freedom to operate in whichever way they please. There are of course many tools available online both free and paid that can assist in your eCommerce research, but it is difficult to ascertain just how accurate the results they provide truly are. A good example of where tools can be beneficial is to help with tracking customer profiles, opinions, and even behavior. Google trends will also assist, helping businesses to predict where the market is going next, and provide them with the opportunity to get in front of the wave before the next craze or fad starts. One thing the internet excels at is the unlimited capacity for the provision of data, which when used intelligently can provide an excellent insight into both your customers and growing trends. The key here is how to find the data that is relevant to your company, and then how to make the best use of it.

Six eCommerce Myths and Their Implications for Retailers http://t.co/wJohPRhDbN #eCommerceResearch

— Placeable (@BePlaceable) April 18, 2015

Some Of The Best Ways To Get Started With Online Research

Online research companies are all too aware of the value of the information they provide and charge accordingly, meaning that using them for gathering your information can be an expensive option. What can magnify the situation is that different companies may have small snippets of the information you require, and each company could potentially charge you $500 for their information. If there are ten different companies that all have vital information you require that’s $5000 in eCommerce research per year, a not inconsiderable sum of money for a small or fledgling business. With a limited marketing budget, it is critical that you use your resources carefully and in ways that are more likely to generate income, so spending this amount on research although beneficial may not be the best use of your marketing funds. However, all is not lost as there are some options available that may require a little more work, but can cost very little financially.

Read Press Reports – Press reports are often used by the research companies to promote their latest reports, with the intention of encouraging companies to buy the full report. To do this, they have to release at least some of the information contained in the report to allow potential buyers to gain an idea of the contents of the full report. Although you will not receive the full report, they may be sufficient information contained in these press releases, to give you some ideas and the beauty of this method is that it will not cost you anything, other than a little time searching on Google. In fact, if you are technologically sophisticated, it is possible to have the releases syndicated either via RSS (Really Simple Syndication) or even sent straight to your inbox by subscribing to certain PR websites, such as PRWeb or Source Wire.

Online Research – Forums, Review Sites, and Social Media

If you are time rich, but cash poor, then a lot of information can be found online, provided you are prepared to work hard and invest the time. Visit forums in your industry, research what potential customers are talking about. Follow the industry leaders on social media and check out review sites. Don’t underestimate the length of time and effort this may take, but if money is an issue, then the other alternative is time. The E-commerce industry by its very nature is relatively transparent, so provided you spend some time and effect and apply a bit of analytical thinking, there is every chance that the valuable information you require is available somewhere online.

Some Recommended Tools That Might Assist

Keyword Research  – Google Keyword Tool The Google Keyword Tool is a free website run by Google essentially for people looking to advertise on their network of websites. By utilizing it, you can get information rich data on the products and services that people are searching for, both recently and over time. The research can also be filtered into location specific areas or countries, which can also be beneficial. Another huge benefit of the tool is that it will also generate alternative keyword ideas, that you may not have even considered before. Invest some time into learning how to make full use of the Google Keyword Tool, and it will repay you many times over, and it costs nothing to use.

Social Media Social media is one of the most exciting and information rich hubs to gather information. This is where your customers are spending the vast majority of their time, and if you follow the right people, and silently watch and observe, all the information you ever need will appear before your eyes. Without even realizing the market will tell you what they want, what they dislike, the language they are using, all of which you can use to your advantage. Answer their questions in your blog posts, tweet out that post, and watch people start to link to your site, or follow you because you are providing the exact information they were asking for. The very knowledge that they provided you with in the first place. Just make sure that you remain focused and don’t get side tracked or waste time on social media as it is an easy trap to fall into.

Know Your Competition There is always a lot to be gained by observing the market leader and seeing how they do business, and why they are successful. Perhaps you can identify a weakness that you can take advantage of, and learn from the mistakes you notice they are making. This is an easy piece of eCommerce research, will cost you nothing and is anonymous, so nobody will even be aware that you have completed it.

Research and Investigate The Industry Trends The one thing that is guaranteed in business is that nothing ever stays the same. Being able to predict where the market is headed in the next few months or years is a crucial piece of information and could give you first mover advantage. Something as simple as researching online shopping cart abandonment trends could help you to work out why so many customers fail to purchase at the last minute. Rectify this problem on your site, and the results could be explosive, just like the strategy outlined in the 7 figure cycle review. A stunning statistic is that shopping cart abandonment is around 68.1%, so there is huge potential for improvement with this one issue alone. By gathering your visitor’s contact details quickly, you have the opportunity to retarget them or enquire what else you could do to assist with their purchase. This little change could make a lot of difference to your overall sales figures.