Running a business is always going to be a bit of a balancing act. After all, on one hand you want to reach more people, grow your brand, and make buying from you as simple as clicking a button, but on the other hand, you don’t want to lose that human connection — the thing that made your business feel personal and different in the first place. What’s going to be good news to you is that you can do both — find out the 3 things to do when selling online, without losing your personal touch.
By Team Savant
Image: Shoper
Keep The Conversation Going
Just because someone’s browsing your website instead of walking into your shop, it doesn’t mean you can’t speak to them like a real person - in fact, you should do exactly that. Your copy, your emails, your product descriptions, and anything else you communicate with all need to sound like you, and it all needs to be helpful, warm, and honest. Remember, people aren’t just buying the product — they’re buying into your personality and story as well.
A few things you can do include responding to messages quickly, leaving helpful or thoughtful replies to reviews and comments, and perhaps even just sending a thank you email — it can do a lot. They might be small touches, but they can remind people there’s a real human behind the website, and that goes a long way.
Make It All Feel Easy
It’s really frustrating when you’re ready to buy something online, but the checkout process feels like it’s just long-winded and complicated. You want to make sure your customer’s journey from interest in something to actually buying it is as smooth as possible, and that means having plenty of clear product info, good instructions, and a checkout process that works without any annoying bugs and glitches.
Using the right tools behind the scenes is a big part of all that, and choosing reliable ecommerce payment gateways is a wise move because it means your customers can pay securely and quickly without having to go through loads of unnecessary steps. In the end, a system that works well is one that helps to build trust, and trust is a huge part of creating that personal connection you want (especially when you’re not actually face-to-face).
Show Who You Are
When people buy from small businesses or independent creators, they’re often looking for something more meaningful than a generic product, so it’s crucial you don’t hide what makes you different. Make sure you share photos of how you work, and tell the story behind the product — perhaps even give glimpses into how you make things or where ideas came from, because customers will enjoy seeing that, and it’ll make them feel like part of things.
You might think these ideas are only going to work for handmade or bespoke products, but it can still work no matter what you’re selling online - it’s all about showing who you are and giving people some backstory and that’s going to help them choose to buy from you rather than someone else, and it’s going to make your business more memorable.