eCommerce Competition is Only Getting Fiercer – Learn How to Come Out on Top

The Internet changed the way businesses operate. The emergence of eCommerce back in the 1990s has proved to be a tectonic change. This shifted shopping from offline to online and opened endless possibilities to companies.

Inevitably, fierce eCommerce competition was created. And it’s not just local, but global as well. So, how to find a way to compete and keep your head above the water? Being willing to change and adapt is crucial. Same can be said for being customer-oriented and focusing on the value you provide.

However, we are certain you have already heard this advice many times before. 

In this blog post, we want to be more specific. We will go over 5 tips on how you can come out on top of your eCommerce competition.

Tip #1 – eCommerce Competition Analysis

It is natural to want to know what your competitors are doing. How are they positioning themselves? What customer segments are they targeting? What is their pricing strategy?

There are so many questions you can (and should) ask.

When it comes to eCommerce competition analysis, knowing one aspect of your competitors’ strategy can answer many other questions. We are talking about your competitors’ pricing.

Knowing their pricing strategy will enable you to more easily predict their behavior. In turn, this will make it easier for you to plan ahead.

When talking about eCommerce competition, luckily, it is slightly easier to learn this.

With automated price monitoring tools keeping track of your competitors’ price changes becomes a breeze. Furthermore, doing it long enough will provide you with key insights into:

• How do your competitors deal with seasonality;
• What products are they bundling;
• Are they prone to undercutting and potentially causing pricing wars;
• Do they make price adjustments to certain products more than others;
• Are they violating any MAP policy.

Tip #2 – Focus on mCommerce

To put it simply – mCommerce is eCommerce done on mobile devices.

In reality, it’s more complicated than that, but for our purposes, we can hold onto that operational definition.

So, what’s the deal with it?

First of all, the number of people globally who are using a mobile device as their primary device is increasing and is projected to keep increasing (at least until 2030).

Second, customers (existing and potential ones) use their smartphones to find information about a product they’re interested in. And even purchase said product.

Now, it’s getting clearer why mCommerce is a big deal nowadays.

There are many details to it, from choosing the technical solution for your store, deciding will you only have a (responsive) website, or an app as well, how many steps will your checkout process take, and what payment processors will you use, to answering the question are you going to implement any online-specific loyalty program.

This brings us back to our main point.

The way mCommerce can help you deal with eCommerce competition is by increasing your market share and share of customer.

The convenience of using mobile devices is evidently too large of a factor to be ignored.

Tip #3 – Provide Excellent Customer Service

We have to mention customer service. It’s one of the crucial things that can make differentiate you from your eCommerce competition.

Since there isn’t face-to-face contact, customer service is the bridge between your company and customers.

Customer service should be:

• Fast,
• Provide relevant information,
• Understand customers.

Excellent customer service reputation is difficult to build, but it pays off if done well.

The purpose of having a customer service department is to: make sure your customers are happy and satisfied with their purchases, and encourage them to continue shopping with your brand. If the customers are happy with your customer support service, they’ll stick with you.

When your customers stick with you (or in other words, become loyal) you gain an advantage over your eCommerce competitors.

Tip #4 – Product Listing Optimization

Product listing optimization means improving the way your products are presented and described on your website, eCommerce platforms, and applications.

It’s in large part related to the usability of your product pages, but not exclusively.

You should strive to have:

• high-quality (but not too large) images,
• concise product descriptions with relevant keywords,
• easy site navigation, and
• descriptive titles.

Implementing all of these tips properly will help you rank better with search engines, attract and retain more customers, and ultimately gain an edge over your eCommerce competitors.

Tip #5 – Implement Dynamic Pricing Strategies

Dynamic pricing has become a staple in eCommerce nowadays.

It can be used to improve your personalization efforts, reach desired pricing positions, react to seasonal effects, improve overall customer experience, and more.

Furthermore, dynamic pricing tools eliminate the need for constant manual adjustments. This saves time and other important resources but also eliminates the risk of manual errors.

Besides, some dynamic pricing tools enable you to set your prices based on your competitors and decide how more or less expensive you want to be.

In essence, dynamic pricing tools can help you take complete control over your pricing policy. We are talking about levels of control unimaginable with manual adjustments.

However, when it comes to eCommerce competition, how will it help you?

The truth is, it will likely bring you to the same level your competitors are on.

Dynamic pricing has become so widely used that it is now considered a norm in eCommerce. It has become one of the things you need to have only in order to stay afloat.

eCommerce Competition Solution

Now, having read all the five tips we presented, go ahead and implement them.

Perhaps start off with the one you think will be the easiest for you to go with.

Monitor the results and optimize accordingly.

As we have said at the beginning, one of the most important aspects of a successful eCommerce business is the willingness to adapt.

As time goes by, technology evolves, and customer preferences change, these tips may become more or less relevant.

What you can count on is that we will make sure to update this article as soon as we notice new relevant trends arising that can benefit your eCommerce business.