For an e-commerce business to be successful, it's crucial to have balanced growth of The Four Pillars that form the solid foundation of any online store. You can have a store with the best custom design focused on conversion, integrate the latest technology, and offer highly competitive prices. However, if shipments are delayed or the user experience is poor, the results may not meet expectations.
All these pillars hold equal value and are interdependent; meaning, if you have three pillars optimized to the fullest, but neglect the fourth, it will affect your e-commerce success.
1. Product-Market Fit
The first pillar refers to the alignment between the product and the target market. It's about identifying and meeting a specific market need with a unique product or service. A healthy pillar is manifested through organic and consistent purchases from the target audience, or in other words, your ideal customers. Finding the ideal product that meets a specific market need is the foundation of any successful business. This is the key factor in establishing authentic connections with customers and fostering long-term loyalty.
To illustrate this point, here's a success story where the brand found the perfect product to meet a niche market need, and we supported them with a custom redesign:
Origo Shoes: Focused on barefoot philosophy shoes, we developed a completely custom template from scratch for their target audience in the United States. A few years later, they launched their store in Mexico as well.
2. Technology
The second pillar is technology and user experience. When entering the world of e-commerce, choosing the right platform and technological resources for your store will be one of the most important decisions as they largely define the user experience. Platforms like Shopify or Shopify Plus offer comprehensive solutions that manage the technical maintenance of the store, allowing you to focus on creating an exceptional user experience for your customers. By paying the monthly fee, you're covering the technical maintenance they provide to the platform.
To achieve this, it's advisable to have the support of a specialized agency in conversion-oriented design. User experience is a decisive factor in the purchasing decision and can make the difference between a satisfied and an unsatisfied customer.
For example, in this success case, we implemented smart applications that allowed them to increase their most important metrics:
Sunwarrior: Specialized in selling vegan proteins and dietary supplements, they increased their sales conversion rate by 66% after implementing a custom redesign and integrating smart applications like Rebuy.
3. Operations and Logistics
The third pillar is efficiency in operations and logistics. From the research phase and resolving pre-purchase doubts to the timely delivery of the product, each stage must be managed with precision and professionalism. Collaborating with logistics experts and online store development experts like Getmore, you ensure efficient order management and expert advice on e-commerce best practices, ensuring customer satisfaction from the first click to product delivery.
Despite being one of the most important aspects, this is often overlooked as it is something managed in the post-purchase phase, and entrepreneurs commonly focus on the pre-purchase and actual purchase. However, if a customer doesn't receive order information in transit, and/or it arrives much later, they are likely a lost customer.
In this success case, they understood the importance of a good post-purchase experience and partnered with a great fulfillment company for free express order delivery management and with Getmore for a custom redesign focused on user experience:
Skindion: With their flagship product, a microcurrent device for firm and youthful skin, they managed to increase their recurring customer rate by 23% thanks to a partnership with a 3PL and a custom redesign focused on user experience.
4. Community and Marketing Strategy
The fourth essential pillar focuses on building a strong community and implementing an effective marketing strategy. The success of an e-commerce business is based on strong customer relationships and forming a passionate community around the brand. The digital marketing strategy should go beyond the simple final transaction, highlighting the brand's values and identity. Sometimes, this pillar is given the #1 priority, and although it is one of the most important, it won't be very effective to spend large amounts on advertising if your online store is not well optimized for the user experience or if your operations are not managed correctly.
By choosing a specialized marketing agency, you can obtain customized strategies that encourage brand loyalty and build a committed community. In this success case, we implemented the best email marketing tool, Klaviyo, to automate email flows based on customer behavior and target audience:
Tupperware MX: We implemented an email marketing automation with Klaviyo to have more efficient communication with customers, achieving a 26% reduction in cart abandonment.
Conclusion
In summary, to achieve a successful e-commerce business, it is essential to have balanced growth aligned with the four fundamental pillars: Product-Market Fit, Technology, Operations, and Marketing. It's important to remember that all four pillars are equally important, and you should delegate to third parties what goes beyond your expertise so that you can focus on what you really know how to do: managing your business. If you want to chat about how these pillars apply to your online store or strategic course of action, contact us!