E-Commerce Websites: Time to Switch?

As the world of e-commerce grows, evolves and develops, it can begin to seem overwhelming. One thing that should be a key touchpoint for both you and your customers is your website. Despite all of the other places and platforms where you need to have a presence and strategy online, your website is the home of your brand and it is absolutely crucial to make it the best it can be. 

For small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), it can be disheartening to think about e-commerce giants like Amazon, eBay and the like. How can an SME even begin to think about competing with such Goliaths, which have unlimited funds and access to technology at their collective fingertips? Well, don't forget that little David defeated that particular biblical monster!

Major e-commerce platforms are always investing in new ways to keep customers on their websites and in their sales funnels, making competition incredibly fierce. While you will obviously never be able to truly defeat the e-commerce Goliaths, you can certainly make sure that you get your own slice of the pie.

A recent report from vshosting found that there is a 'major performance gap in the UK’s e-commerce landscape.' The key takeaway from that report was that many of the UK's big e-commerce players are 'falling behind in several web metrics', with fast-growing SMEs moving in quickly and decisively to bridge that gap. You can read more about the vshosting~ report in a special edition of the Brickweb blog.

One big advantage that SMEs have over the big platforms is the ability to offer more of a personal touch. Large corporations offer a correspondingly corporate experience and their customer service logistics are much more difficult.­ 

As an SME, you have the ability to make the entire customer journey a more tailored, personal experience at every stage, building a level of loyalty that global platforms just cannot achieve. The more you personalise a customer's journey and show them how much you care, the more likely they are to not only make a repeat purchase but also to become a champion of your brand.    

It's crucial that the e-commerce websites of SMEs offer a user experience (UX) that is equal to (if not better than) they can get on a more established platform. Among many other things, it has to load quickly, be easy to navigate, offer sleek and exciting visuals, function perfectly and provide multiple payment options beyond traditional debit and credit cards.

Upgrading to a new website provides an excellent opportunity to optimise all stages of the customer journey and gives your brand a new lease of life in an ever-more competitive market. And that's where Brickweb, with our 20+ years of experience and incredibly talented team of experts, can help you out.

We'd like to invite you to browse our website to find out more about the comprehensive suite of e-commerce services and solutions we provide. If you like what you see and decide to commit to an upgrade of your current site then we'll give you a month of our unique SEO tool package 'The Digital Workhouse' absolutely free with our compliments. Get in touch with us today!