eCommerce Skills You Need
to Run a Successful Store

If you look around, it is likely that many friends and family members are experimenting with the idea of setting up an eCommerce business. There are several reasons for this, including the ease of setting up an online store and the fact that it requires very little investment compared to other businesses.

While starting an online store is relatively easy, its success is not guaranteed. The global revenue of eCommerce continues to grow, and with that growth comes a significant increase in competition, making it harder than ever to carve out a market share.

Nevertheless, there are certain skills that can dramatically increase your chances of success in the eCommerce field. This article lists ten of the most essential skills you will need to master.

1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

   The first thing you are going to do after setting up an eCommerce store is to market it, right? After all, how else will you reach your target audience? When it comes to marketing, you have several options, including social media marketing (SMM), pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and search engine optimisation (SEO).

   SEO helps increase the quality and quantity of organic traffic coming to your store from search engines like Google, making it a must-have marketing strategy. A feature-rich SEO strategy can provide valuable information related to keywords, your backlink profile, and even identify issues like duplicate content. This information is essential for improving your store and engaging with your audience.

2. Negotiation

   Suppose you wish to sell mobile phone covers. Your first task will be to find reliable suppliers who can meet your product requirements. Your goal will be to convince them to offer you the lowest possible prices without compromising on quality. This is where negotiation skills come into play.

   If you cannot secure a good price from your suppliers, you will have no option but to pass those higher costs on to your customers. They may not be willing to pay high prices, especially for an unknown brand. Through effective negotiation, you can reach an agreement that benefits all parties. It is also wise to have at least three reliable suppliers so that if one is unable to fulfil your requirements, you can easily shift to the others without any major business disruption.

3. Understanding the Sales Funnel

   
   
   

   For any business owner, understanding the sales funnel is a must-have skill. It is a visual representation of a prospective customer’s journey with your brand. The four classic stages are Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. eCommerce store owners need to tailor their marketing content and website experience based on this funnel.

   In the awareness stage, the audience first becomes aware of your product, so your content should focus on explaining what it is and the problem it solves. In the interest stage, you might offer more detailed content, like live demos or case studies. By understanding the sales funnel and formulating a comprehensive content strategy around it, you can effectively guide users from initial interest to final purchase.

4. Time Management

   Unless you have a large team, you will likely be managing many different responsibilities simultaneously. You could be uploading products, writing descriptions, carrying out competitor research, and replying to customer queries all in the same day. This makes time management a critical skill. If you spend too much time on one aspect, others will fall behind schedule. Many store owners use project management tools to keep track of everything that needs to be done. It is highly recommended that you identify a tool that can help you manage your store efficiently.

5. Stress Management

   As a store owner, you will be managing various areas simultaneously, which can naturally lead to a lot of stress. If you are not careful, this stress can quickly become a health risk. Therefore, taking regular breaks from work and using stress management techniques can be a great way to boost your overall well-being. If you are working while stressed, you will face difficulties in managing even minor problems.

6. Content Creation

   Whether it’s product images, posts for social media channels, or writing a blog, store owners spend a great deal of time creating content. Therefore, you should be well-versed in the art of content creation. With the rapid increase in AI tools, creating content is easier than ever, but your role is to ensure that it is authentic, valuable, and fit for humans.

7. Mastery Over Artificial Intelligence Tools

   Speaking of AI tools, one needs to know how to make effective use of them. Anyone can ask an AI to write an article, but the generic content it produces will likely not rank on search engines or drive any meaningful engagement. The reason is that it is not personalised to your store’s unique requirements and target audience. Therefore, you need to perfect your AI tool prompts through practice, and learn how to edit and refine the output to make it your own.

8. Understanding eCommerce and Business Laws

   Depending on where you live, you may need a license to set up your eCommerce store. You also need to determine your business structure, such as a company, partnership, or sole proprietorship. The laws and tax liabilities governing each vary. Therefore, we recommend checking with the relevant bodies in your country before you begin.

9. Data Analytics

   As a store owner, you will soon realise the importance of data. First, you need to ensure that you are collecting the right data. You might notice that many top eCommerce stores have customised their registration or checkout pages to ask for specific information. They do this to gather data that enables them to hyper-personalise the user experience.

   However, this is not possible without the second part: effective data utilisation. The gathered data is only as good as your ability to analyse and interpret it. With advanced data analytic systems, store owners can easily make sense of this data, enabling them to personalise shopping experiences with targeted discounts and promotions.

10. Patience

    Finally, if you are aiming for long-term success, you need to have patience. If you panic over the slightest inconveniences, then running a business may not be for you. In any business, there are ups and downs. There may be times when you go days or even weeks without a single sale. Use this time to identify weaknesses in your products and marketing strategies, and to learn and improve.

Conclusion

This concludes our article on the top ten eCommerce skills you need to run a successful store. Of course, these are not the only required skills, but they do provide a robust foundation on which to build your business. As you progress, you can explore other areas such as website design, advanced marketing strategies, and product pricing. If you ever run into trouble, you can always hire an expert to help you identify and fix any issues promptly.

Further Reading from Skills You Need

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The Skills You Need Guide to Self-Employment and
Running Your Own Business

If you are thinking about running your own business, or already do so, but feel that you need some guidance, then this eBook is for you. It takes you through self-employment in easy steps, helping you to ensure that your business has more chance of success.

This is the guide no new or aspiring entrepreneur can afford to be without!

Based on our popular self-employment and entrepreneurship content.