Online retail marketing is a form of marketing that allows consumers to purchase what they want when they want it. The lines between traditional retail shops and online retailers are becoming increasingly blurred. E-commerce grew from approximately 0.6% of all retail sales in 2011 to 12% in 2014.

Shopping from the comfort of your couch is becoming popular — more and more people are choosing to avoid physical stores and instead buy what they want online. As a result, brick and mortar retailers are struggling to keep up with the demands of online shoppers while online retailers are looking for ways to expand their customer base and gain more sales. In this article, we’ll explore how you can use online retail marketing to grow your business.

The Rise In E-commerce Shopping

E-commerce grew significantly in the 2010s, from 0.6% of all retail sales in 2011 to 12% in 2014.

In the US, retail e-commerce sales were worth around £19.9billion in 2014. Globally, retail e-commerce sales were valued at around US$16.9billion in 2014.

Online shopping is now a common experience for people in developed economies, so much so that retailers and brands have started to take advantage of this by creating websites and smartphone applications (apps) that allow customers to browse products and make purchases without leaving the comfort of their homes. According to the Global Digital Marketing Research Report by Webfluencer, by 2022, 69% of consumers in the UK will have purchased an item online, with 66% using various mobile phones or tablets to do so. Just 17% of shoppers bought something offline while the remaining 3% used a combination of the two methods. Even if you’re a brick and mortar business, online retail is becoming a significant channel for potential customers.

Why Online Retail Marketing?

In light of the rise of e-commerce and the growing number of people shopping online, it’s fairly obvious that online retail marketing is here to stay.

E-commerce marketing focuses on attracting new customers to your brand or store through digital marketing tactics including search engine optimisation (SEO), social media marketing (SMM), e-mail marketing (EMA), and content marketing (CM).

Many brands and retailers sell a variety of products online, which means there’s a wide range of digital marketing tactics to choose from. To attract potential customers, you’ll need to focus on attracting each of their digital niches — which is a lot easier said than done.

The Diverse Online Customer Base

Today’s online shoppers come from a diverse range of demographics, with 68% of retail e-commerce sales in the UK happening in the evenings and at weekends. The Global Digital Marketing Research Report by Webfluencer also notes that Gen-Z shoppers are more likely to buy clothes online than any other generation.

One of the advantages of marketing online is that you can target specific consumer groups rather than having to appeal to the masses. If a product or brand is relevant to many people, it might not seem profitable to market it, especially if you’re only looking to make a small profit from each sale. However, marketing a product or service to a specific audience can increase the likelihood of making a sale and, ultimately, increase your profit margin. For example, you might decide to market a fashion lifestyle blog to millennials or target a niche market such as men’s fashion or luxury goods. These are all groups that a brand or business might not easily reach, but by focusing on a smaller audience, you increase the likelihood of making a sale and, subsequently, gain more profit. In short, diverse marketing often results in increased revenue.

How Online Retail Marketing Can Benefit Your Business

If you’re looking to grow your business, online retail marketing offers a variety of opportunities, from increased product awareness to attracting new customers and boosting your sales.

Product awareness comes into play when potential customers are searching for your products or services online. If someone is searching for your brand, you can assume they know nothing about your company — meaning they have never heard of you and probably do not know what you offer. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have a brand that is extremely well-known but, for some reason, lacks presence online. In both scenarios, having a clear product strategy and online marketing plan can help you determine what information and promotions to provide to drive product awareness and, subsequently, sales.

Attracting new customers into your business is relatively easy when done right. In the online world, attracting potential customers to your website is as simple as setting up a few key words or short phrases in the headings and text of your content. To make your website more appealing to the general public, you can use a tool like Google Adwords to gain more visitors to your site. You can also consider using paid social media marketing (PSM) to gain more likes, comments, and shares — all of which can help you gain more visibility and, subsequently, new customers.

As we’ve established, people are turning to the online world to purchase products they want and need. However, what many businesses don’t realise is that not all online customers are equal. Just like with any other channel, not all web traffic is created equal — and that means you can’t simply target the most popular platforms to grab the eyeballs of passersby and turn them into future customers. Instead, you need to consider where your target audience is spending their time online and use that to establish the ideal platform for your brand. If you’re looking to grow your business, pay close attention to the type of content and platforms that your target audience uses — that way you’ll be able to establish yourself as an expert in your field and make the right impression on your target audience. When doing business online, transparency is key.