There is a big misconception about online retail businesses – people think that they’re cheap to set up and run because you don’t have to pay the overhead that a traditional store has. While it’s true that you don’t have to pay rent on a store, that doesn’t mean that it’s cheap. You still have to pay for the cost of delivering products. If you buy into the myth that online retailers are cheap to run, you might find yourself in some financial trouble and your business might fold entirely if you overspend. If you’re going to survive, you need to find ways to keep your overhead down. These are three of the best ways for online retailers to cut their costs.
Sort Out Your Checkout System
The checkout system on your website is so important as cart abandonment is a big problem for online retailers. So many customers will decide against the purchase at the last minute which means that you’re losing money and the resources that you invested in marketing are wasted. The longer that you give the customer to think about the purchase, the more likely they are to abandon their cart, so you need to make sure that you create a streamlined checkout service that works seamlessly.
You also need to be aware of chargebacks from your checkout service provider. These are charges that they take when a customer reverses their payment. Sometimes, it’s going to happen and you can’t avoid it but if you maintain better contact with customers and make sure that you give good details about your products so people get exactly what they’re expecting, you can reduce it.
Streamline Shipping
Shipping is one of your biggest costs and you have to be very careful about how you handle it. You can cut costs easily if you just reduce the speed that you get products out. But if you do that, you’re going to lose a lot of customers because people have very high expectations. You need to find a way to get products out quickly, without spending loads of money. The best way to do that is to use telematics to review your delivery routes and see where the inefficiencies are. If you can make your delivery routes more efficient, you can save a lot of money on fuel costs and maybe even cut down on the number of drivers that you’re using.
Design The Website Right From The Start
Your website is the most important part of your online retail business, but web design can be expensive. You might decide to save yourself some money by using a cheaper web design company, but that won’t work. It’ll be cheaper to start with, but the site will be badly built and that means you’ll constantly be paying out for website maintenance. However, if you spend a bit more money on an experienced web designer, the site won’t need as many repairs in future.
If you can use these simple tips to cut costs in your online retail business, you’ll be more likely to survive and become a success.
