Competing With Large Retailers as a Small E-Commerce Website
You may have finally discovered how to reach your dream of starting an e-commerce business. This is a great step in your e-commerce journey, and we do not doubt that you’re very excited to go down this path.
However, if you’re a very small e-commerce business, you might quickly find that your eCommerce website is being lost amongst loads of larger retailers.Â
These large retailers dominate the e-commerce market, and you might already be giving up about ever getting your name and your products out there.
It doesn’t have to be this way, however. There are ways that you’ll be able to compete with these larger retailers without having to spend loads of money or loads of time.
Ideas for Competing with Large Retailers
Depending on how far into the e-commerce journey you’ve gone, you might think that it’s impossible to compete with any sort of large, more well-established retailer. We’re here to dissuade you of that opinion.
Be Niche in Your Branding and Products
One of the largest ways to try and compete with large retailers is to hone in on what your mission is and what your goal is as a business. You will want to make sure that you are a specialist of your topic/product/service so that you can stand out as a knowledgeable company for your product or service.
If you’re able to prove your experience and that customers should work with you, you’ll be able to beat the bigger retailers at their own game.
Experiment with Searching
One of the reasons you might find that you’re not seeing the attention and traffic that would lead to more sales is that you’re not using great search engine optimisation.
Search engine optimisation – if done right – will help you to become one of the first few sites that comes up when people Google phrases related to your business.
For example, if you’re in the business of fishing, you can try to make longer and more specific phrases like ‘Carp Fishing Rods’ rather than generic ones such as ‘Fishing Rods’.
Get Personal
One of the greatest ways to get more customers to your site – and away from those other, larger retailers – is to get the customers to work with you and vibe with your mission statement and brand.
If you’re able to define your mission statement clearly and concisely, and if it resonates with people, more people will end up coming to your ecommerce website. If you don’t believe us, look at green-conscious and sustainable sites.
With interest in sustainability and green living being popular things currently, people have begun shifting their focus towards more natural and less landfill-increasing products.
This means that even smaller businesses (such as Pela, a phone case company that makes biodegradable phone cases) can compete with larger and more established sites (such as OtterBox).
Respond Quickly
When working with big businesses and retailers, customers have become accustomed to having to wait 48-72 hours before they’re able to hear back if they have any questions.
As such, if you’re able to be a business where you respond quickly to any queries, you’ll get a leg up in the business sphere.
Customers who can get their questions answered are more likely to go with the company that answered them well, completely, and in a very timely fashion.
Many other ideas can help you, as a small eCommerce website, stand up against bigger and more established retailers. If you want to make sure you have a chance at securing business and competing against larger websites, try to use some of these hints and tips to increase your stats in the battle with the larger corporations. contact us if you need professional advice.
