How to Calculate ROI in the Move to E-Commerce
One of the tricky parts of tracking trends in commerce is that seemingly spontaneous events can have big impacts that blow our predictions off course. International conflict can upset fuel costs, a bit of unexpected canal traffic can interrupt transnational supply chains, and, of course, a pandemic might catch every person and brand off guard.
While we did witness lots of unexpected trends pop up alongside COVID-19, as far as e-commerce goes, disruption wasn’t really the name of the game. In fact, the pandemic helped put us years ahead of where expected to be in the transition online, and this shift is certainly here to stay.
Whereas brands rushed to fill e-commerce spaces early on during quarantine in response to social distancing requirements, brands considering the transition now have a bit less of a hygienic mandate. Vaccine rollout is well on its way throughout the world, with several countries already being able to consider COVID-19 a thing of the past.
So, where does this leave brands now? How can brands calculate their ROI in the move to e-commerce in an increasingly post-COVID world?
Don’t forget the trends
The pandemic rushed a lot of brands into the e-commerce transition, but let’s not forget that this didn’t just come out of the blue. The transition away from exclusively physical stores and towards a virtual commerce space was already healthy and developing before we put our masks on. While hygiene concerns made this transition more urgent than what had been projected, the move into e-commerce is not new.
In terms of ROI, brands need to consider the costs and benefits of the decision, but also the costs and the benefits of the alternative.
The increased development of these trends seems to spell out that it’ll pay off to commit to e-commerce sooner than later, but for the sake of a different perspective, consider the alternative.
In a market that’s consistently pulling away from exclusively brick-and-mortar models, in an environment that is increasingly reliant on online platforms for everything from marketing to brand loyalty, can you really afford to not make the move?
Committing to the transition
It’s not too difficult to look at the trends and the data and decide that it’s time to embrace e-commerce. It’s a bit more difficult to actually make the move. Often overlooked, it’s important to take into account that building and maintaining an e-commerce space is a rigorous commitment that is going to cost you money—it’s a lot more than just purchasing a domain.
A website, and any visual element to your e-commerce, is a hyper-visual representation of your brand. The good part? This can help you build a stronger brand personality, a better relationship with your consumer base, and a positive customer experience that extends far beyond the doors of your shop. The caveat? None of this is free, or cheap.
This is important because, on the other side of things, a poorly developed and maintained website can do the opposite for your brand: create bad optics, a stressful relationship with your customers, and kill consumer loyalty and experience.
In order to get the most out of your e-commerce efforts, it’s important to invest in quality search engine optimization, put time and effort (and money) into understanding the competition, and pay attention to all of the little details that can make or break your online platform. This is a hefty task, and not committing appropriately can result in poor results, despite significant investment.
As with a lot of moves to improve your brand, moving into e-commerce is a great way to better everything from profit to reputation, but only if you have the capacity to carry out a quality transition.
Understanding the demand
Spending money for the sake of spending money isn’t going to provide results. To put this another way, investments should be motivated by the need to fill some demand. Following a trend for the sake of following a trend can be a dangerous game ending in a lot of investment and not a lot of return.
Luckily, the demand for e-commerce options is more or less universal. A point that can’t be stressed enough is that the move towards these online platforms was already well on its way. On top of that, COVID-19 introduced some other factors that set the demand in stone.
For one, customers are more conscious about hygienic purchases now. This means that a lot of customers will have a better and more comfortable experience through an online, contact-free shopping platform.
Another point is convenience. We got even more used to buying and ordering things from the comfort of our own homes during quarantine, and the demand for that convenience is sticking around.
It’s important to look at your brand, look at your products and services, and make decisions that make sense.
An online art gallery might benefit from an optimized order and delivery infrastructure that the homepage for a car shop might not. The demand for an online presence is very real, but exactly how your brand will meet that demand will depend on customer analytics and on an assessment of what e-commerce will mean to you.
Calculating ROI
The consensus probably seems pretty clear at this point. Sooner or later, you should make the move into e-commerce if you haven’t already. The transition is careful work, and to guarantee a quality ROI for the move, it’s important to stick to some key points:
- Research and evaluate what an e-commerce platform should look like for you, as well as what development and maintenance look like.
- Study your consumer analytics to know exactly how the demand matches up to your possibilities.
- Create a detailed strategy.
- Make sure you have the capacity to carry out this strategy in a fully committed fashion.
Fulfilling these points appropriately can pave the way for a smooth and successful transition online, as well as help make strives for your brand.
Navigating these points can be tricky, which is why professionals like Amber Engine are ready to welcome you into the world of e-commerce.