Running a successful online venture in today’s ever-evolving eCommerce landscape is no walk in the park. Business owners and marketers face numerous challenges that can make or break their eCommerce ambitions.
In this guide, we will explore common eCommerce challenges, from establishing trust through security protocols to optimizing eCommerce logistics to differentiating your brand to stand out. We’ll also discuss eCommerce advertising formats, platforms and strategies, and see how other brands are achieving better-than-expected results and sales.
Whether you’re a seasoned eCommerce expert or just starting out, read on to discover how to navigate the complexities of running a profitable eCommerce business.
What Is E-commerce Marketing?
E-commerce marketing is the process of using promotional methods to increase traffic to an online store, and boost sales over the internet. There are several main types of e-commerce business models.
Some are based on who is selling to whom and how products/services are delivered, such as:
- Business to consumer (B2C): Businesses that sell products and services directly to the end user, which is typically the case for online retailers.
- Business to business (B2B): Businesses that offer products and services to other businesses. This can still be considered e-commerce, even if a physical product isn’t involved.
Others are based on inventory & fulfillment model:
- Direct-to-Consumer (D2C): Brands selling directly to consumers, bypassing the middlemen.
- Dropshipping: Store owners selling products without holding inventory; rather, the suppliers ship directly to customers.
The goal of e-commerce marketing is to drive both awareness and sales for businesses that operate online. Most e-commerce marketing strategies involve web-based tactics such as search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, social media marketing, and paid online advertising.
eCommerce Advantages and Disadvantages
eCommerce Business Benefits
Profitability: eCommerce brings a plethora of benefits to the table for business owners and consumers alike. With an eCommerce business, you can reach customers worldwide, 24/7. Without renting or maintaining physical stores, you can lower overhead costs and increase profits or pass those savings on to consumers.
Efficiency:Technology enables eCommerce optimization, automating order processing and customer service, and freeing up time and resources for other critical business tasks such as marketing and product development.
Data-Driven: One of the most significant advantages is the ability to track and measure various metrics accurately. A data-driven approach empowers you to make informed decisions, optimize strategies, and achieve better results. Whether analyzing website traffic, monitoring conversion rates, or studying customer behavior, eCommerce provides valuable insights that traditional retail cannot match.
eCommerce Business Risks
While eCommerce offers numerous advantages, there are risks. However, knowing the challenges will enable you to navigate them effectively. In addition to attracting consumers, building loyalty, meeting customer expectations and finding the best technology partners, three of the biggest hurdles to keep in mind are:
Security: Customers must feel confident that their personal and financial information is safe when purchasing online. Establishing secure payment gateways, having SSL certificates, and implementing other security measures protect data and establish your credibility and trustworthiness with consumers.
Competition: Estimates suggest there are more than 26 million eCommerce sites. Increasing competition means businesses need to differentiate themselves by offering exceptional products at competitive prices and prioritizing customer service to drive repeat business.
Logistics: Online brands must perfect their shipping and return processes to ensure customer satisfaction. Free shipping is often a tipping point – 76% of consumers rate it as most important, 78% will spend more to get it, and 48% will abandon carts due to shipping costs. Return policies are as important – 75% of customers expect free returns, and 55% prefer to purchase from sites that offer free returns.
eCommerce Marketing Risks
Since you can’t rely on foot traffic like traditional shops, you must depend on advertising to bring digital traffic. When it comes to launching ads and ensuring ad spend delivers a positive return on investment (ROI), marketers should consider of the following eCommerce risks:
Ad Fraud: Ad fraud occurs when malicious actors use fraudulent methods to generate clicks or impressions on ads, depleting budgets and skewing performance metrics.
Brand Safety: A brand’s reputation can be damaged if its campaigns are displayed next to inappropriate or offensive content. Advertisers must ensure their ads appear on reputable and contextually relevant websites to avoid negative associations.
Ads.txt: The Authorized Digital Sellers (ads.txt) is a text file that allows publishers to declare who is authorized to sell their inventory and helps reduce ad fraud.
By proactively addressing these eCommerce risks, businesses can safeguard their advertising investments and ensure a more secure and profitable online presence.
How to Write an E-commerce Marketing Plan
Research Your Market
Before you can outline a marketing plan for your business, you need to research what’s happening in your market — this means both your industry, your local market, and your competitors. Look at which businesses are similar to yours, with a comparable product range, and assess where you could possibly fill a gap in the market. Keep up on wider trends in your industry to prepare for anything that may be coming down the pipeline.
Define Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
Your UVP is essential to know, as this is what sets you apart from other similar businesses. Make sure you have a clear understanding of where your business fits into your industry, what makes you unique, and why customers should choose you over a competitor. This distinction should be the foundation of all your marketing messaging, whether it’s your price, your quality, or your service.
Outline Marketing Channels and Promotion Strategy
Once you’ve developed the base of your business planning, you can move onto the marketing-specific pieces of your strategy. This is essential for building strong marketing messaging and determining which channels you should choose to promote your business.
When you’ve decided which channels will work best for your time, budget, and audience, you’ll want to create a content and promotion calendar that outlines when you need to have marketing assets completed and when to post on your social channels. This will help your whole team stay on track with marketing consistently.
Set Your Measurable KPIs
As part of your marketing strategy, you’ll also want to decide which key performance indicators (KPIs) you want to track to measure success. Conversion rate, customer acquisition costs, and return on ad spend are all important details to know so that you can determine whether or not your marketing efforts are working and if not, what you need to change in your strategy.
eCommerce Digital Marketing Channels
To thrive in the digital landscape, eCommerce business owners must use diverse advertising models and formats. Here’s a look at the most popular online models and how you can use each one effectively:
Display Advertising
Display advertising involves placing text or image banners or pop ups on websites, apps and blogs. These ads do not show in search results.
Display ads can enhance brand visibility and reach a broad audience via display networks. However, they tend to have high CPMs and low CTRs, so it’s best to start with a small display budget and test the results.
Search Engine Marketing & Optimization (SEM & SEO)
These are two different but complementary ways to improve your site’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEM involves using paid advertising to place ads at the top of SERPs. SEO involves improving your website’s structure and content to make it more likely to rank organically for relevant keywords.
You can use SEM to appear prominently in search results, especially for high-intent keywords related to your products. Investing in SEO ensures long-term visibility and reduces reliance on paid advertising.
Email Marketing
As one of the oldest forms of online marketing, email remains an important channel for many e-commerce businesses promoting their products. Emails such as abandoned cart follow-ups and promotional discounts, along with lead nurturing efforts, can all have a significant impact on increasing sales throughout the year.
Content Marketing
Adding content to your business’ site is an important way to increase your brand’s appearance in search engine results pages and give users key information about the products you’re selling. Blog posts aren’t the only method to do this, though: For e-commerce companies, descriptive on-page content for products can make the difference between someone choosing to make a purchase or closing their browser. Working with influencers to create content for your site or an external site is also a form of content marketing that can benefit e-commerce businesses, leveraging an existing audience to increase sales.
Social Media Advertising
Social media advertising entails promoting products or services on social platforms like Facebook or TikTok. The ads show in user feeds in the form of images, videos, and carousels.
You can create highly targeted campaigns based on your audience demographics and interests. Use these to reach new customers, build brand awareness and engagement, and target people who have engaged with your brand in the past, driving them to your site through the ad.
Native Advertising
Native advertising is paid advertising in which the ad matches the style and format of the platform where it appears, such as in promoted search results, on publisher sites and on social media. Since they blend in, they are less disruptive than other ad formats and feel more authentic.
Native ads are effective throughout the eCommerce advertising funnel, earning 53% more views than banner ads and increasing purchase intent by 18%. By aligning the ad content with platform users’ interests or the context of a publisher’s page, they reach relevant users at exactly the right moment. This approach fosters engagement and trust, leading to higher conversion rates.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
PPC advertising charges brands only when a user clicks on their ad. It’s commonly associated with search engine advertising but can also apply to display and social media ads.
These can be very cost-effective since you only pay for clicks, not impressions. You’ll need extensive keyword research and ad targeting to reach the right consumers and maximize your budget.
Remarketing
Remarketing (or retargeting ads) involves showing ads to users who previously visited your website or interacted with a brand but didn’t purchase.
These are best used to re engage potential customers. By showing users tailored ads across various platforms, you can remind them about your products and encourage them to complete a purchase.
Video Ads
Video ads use short clips instead of static images, making content more compelling and engaging.
Video ads are a great way to tell a visual story and showcase products in action. With the rise of video consumption, particularly on mobile devices, video ads can effectively capture attention and drive conversions effectively.
Mobile Advertising
Mobile advertising targets users on smartphones and tablets through mobile apps or mobile-optimized websites.
By 2026, 87% of all retail transactions will happen on mobile devices. You can create mobile-responsive ads, leverage location-based targeting, and reach customers where they spend a significant portion of their online time.
How to Create Your E-commerce Marketing Strategy
Define Your Goals
The first place you’ll want to start with your strategy is outlining your overall goals. For most e-commerce businesses, this strategy will likely involve both increasing sales and improving customer retention, while also bringing in new customers. Define who your target audiences are and find out where they spend their time online and offline. This information will help you determine which marketing channels will suit your audience.
Optimize Your Website for Both User Experience and Sales
A website should never be optimized solely to appear in search results. While ranking on Google is important, it’s vital that you always think of users first. Ensure that product pages are clearly laid out and designed in a way that makes them easy to navigate and for users to complete a purchase. Then from there, you can add additional optimization that helps your business to appear in search results for relevant products.
Choose the Right Marketing Channels for You
Even if your business has a large marketing team, not every marketing channel will be an optimal one for your business. Review your budget and decide on what mix of marketing tactics you want to deploy, based on the type of audience you want to target and on what platforms they consume content. A mix of strategies like social media and email marketing, along with offline local marketing, is often a good place to start.
Track and Analyze Marketing Results
Use analytical tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to track online performance. These tools are important for understanding how people are using your site and where you can make improvements. Track metrics like conversion rate, email open rate, engagement rate, and wider business metrics like cost-per-conversion and customer retention or churn rates.
Omnichannel Advertising
Running ads across a range of platforms or channels is called omnichannel advertising. Since most consumers visit multiple sites daily, omnichannel advertising lets you connect with shoppers no matter where they are. With more touchpoints, you can reinforce brand awareness, improve conversions, and build better shopper profiles for enhanced personalization. By diversifying your media mix, you can avoid becoming overly dependent on one or two channels while leveraging the strengths of each and allowing them to work together cohesively, resulting in improved ROI.
Personalization
You can increase brand awareness, conversion rates, and customer satisfaction by learning about your customers and targeting them with relevant content. Personalization can be done by collecting data about customers’ interests, demographics, and browsing habits and then using that data to target ads and content relevant to each customer.
Retargeting
Retargeting is highly effective and cost-efficient because it re-engages potential customers who have already shown interest in your product or brand. This strategy leverages familiarity and reinforces brand awareness, often resulting in higher conversion rates and improved ROI by focusing campaigns on those most likely to convert.
eCommerce Metrics to Track Performance
There are several metrics that eCommerce businesses should track to measure their success, including:
Website Traffic
The number of people who visit your website.
Bounce Rate
The percentage of people who leave your website after viewing only one page (see what publishers can do to reduce mobile bounce rate).
Conversion Rate (CVR)
This measures the percentage of website visitors who make a purchase.
Average Order Value (AOV)
This measures the average amount of money customers spend on each order.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
This measures the total amount of money a customer spends with your business over their lifetime.
Yield Optimization
This is the process of maximizing revenue generated from ad impressions.
Cost Per Mille (CPM)
This represents the average cost of one thousand ad impressions, indicating how efficient campaigns are.
What Is an E-commerce Platform?
An e-commerce platform is a type of software that allows businesses to create and manage their own online stores. This includes functional features such as product listing capabilities, along with checkout and payment processing. Order management, inventory management, and fulfillment details may also be included in these platforms, or you can connect to other tools that offer these services.
While some e-commerce platforms enable businesses to create and manage their own online stores, others specialize in performance marketing, offering AI-powered features designed to help e-commerce advertisers reach their marketing goals and maximize ROI.
Realize's advanced AI capabilities enable precise targeting, engagement optimization, and budget simulation, maximizing advertiser ROI.
Examples of eCommerce Advertising
Now, let’s look at a few case studies that illustrate successful eCommerce advertising strategies. These real-life examples provide insights into how eCommerce businesses have navigated challenges, tapped into the power of programmatic advertising, and achieved impressive results with Taboola performance advertising.
Bombfell: Mobile Advertising
Bombfell, a personal styling subscription service for men, had trouble scaling with social programmatic, search and other paid channels. The brand used Taboola’s native advertising platform to increase traffic and landing page conversions. Leveraging hundreds of real-time signals, mobile ads were the most successful way to engage its user base, with those campaigns generating a 960% increase in conversions and a 48% increase in traffic.
Flintobox: Content Discovery
Flintobox produces STEAM-based educational activity boxes for children, sold via a monthly subscription service. The brand’s early marketing efforts were ineffective because the selling model was new, and campaigns weren’t reaching parents at the right moment. Flintobox used Taboola’s content discovery platform to attract highly engaged audiences to informative blog content, eBooks, and customized landing pages, resulting in a 15% increase in subscriptions at a 20% lower CPA than any other channel.
Sirloin: Video Advertising
Sirloin, a Korean eCommerce startup that sells high-quality meat products, wanted to acquire new customers and drive repeat purchases from existing ones. It knew high-quality video creatives would help, but few ad platforms could help them distribute the video campaigns. Using Taboola’s audience segments, Sirloin was able to reach engaged audiences with its video creatives. The campaigns had an 82% viewability rate and 45% completion rate. Additional performance campaigns achieved a 2,200% increase in ROAS at a lower CPC than expected.
Recap and Future Trends
In this guide, we’ve explored the fundamentals of eCommerce, the advantages, risks, and the mechanics of eCommerce advertising. We’ve also covered different advertising models, platforms, and practical strategies you can rely on. You can explore more eCommerce best practices for your holiday campaigns here.
To enhance your eCommerce expertise, consider attending webinars, listening to podcasts, and reading industry news to stay updated on the latest eCommerce trends. You’ll also find plenty of industry-specific insights and platform tutorials in Taboola’s Resource Center, which will help you level up your eCommerce advertising game.
In the future, expect to see eCommerce continue to evolve, with trends like augmented reality shopping experiences, voice commerce, AI and sustainability playing significant roles. Remember, the key is to stay agile, adapt to changes, and keep refining your strategies to thrive in the exciting world of eCommerce.
