Online Market Research for E-Commerce Businesses
Ron Johnson was already a seasoned corporate leader when he became the CEO of JCPenney in 2011. He was vice president of merchandising at Target for 15 years before moving on to Apple as senior vice president of retail for 11 years. When Johnson decided to fully revamp their business and eliminate all discounts, promotions, and sales events, JCPenney felt confident. However, instead of expanding, JCPenney began to decline. The number of sales has decreased. Customers had vanished. This was eventually dubbed an "epic rebranding disaster" by Forbes.
What went wrong, and how did it happen? Because Johnson had no idea who the brand's target market was. In an interview, he stated, "I assumed people were just weary of coupons and all this stuff." Customers at JCPenney, on the other hand, seemed to like coupons and deals! The lesson to be learned from this debacle is that we should never presume we know what clients want. Instead, we should base our judgments on both quantitative and qualitative research. Furthermore, we should strive to comprehend the market in its entirety, particularly the competitive environment and developing trends. Fortunately, since anybody can now perform market research online, all of this has never been easier.
Why Online Market Research?
Time and money are required to do good internet market research. However, allocating such funds to eCommerce research makes sense for several reasons:
1. Gain a more in-depth grasp of your target market
Knowing your target market is essential for developing fresh product ideas, building a strong marketing plan, and writing content that converts. Ecommerce personas also guarantee that you are speaking directly to the requirements of your customers and that you are meeting all of their expectations. Keep in mind that while understanding your target market's demographics is vital, it isn't sufficient in and of itself.
You should not only know who your target consumers are, but also what they think, feel, and value. Online market research, particularly qualitative research, may assist you in delving into the underlying motivators that drive a purchasing decision.
2. Get to know your customers' habits
Understanding how your target clients buy online may help you make your website more usable and deliver a better customer experience. Every point of friction in the buyer's journey decreases customer satisfaction and raises the chances of cart abandonment, lost up-sell opportunities, and missed retention opportunities.
3. Look for new business opportunities
There are several eCommerce business possibilities available that can help your company grow:
New product development
Cross-border sales
Subscription offerings
Or new business models
Conducting online business research and analyzing market data might assist you in identifying opportunities that are hiding in plain sight.
How?
Understanding the target demographics, market circumstances, and competitors requires market research. Here's how to conduct e-commerce market research to gather high-quality and relevant information about your target market.
1. Perform a keyword search
Keyword research can assist you in determining whether or not there is a market for the goods you wish to sell online. Despite the fact that high search volumes do not imply that the product's concept is profitable, they do suggest genuine customer interest. Furthermore, keyword research is beneficial when developing an inbound marketing plan since it helps you to identify chances for organic traffic generation through SEO.
The following are some of the most popular free keyword research tools:
Google Keyword Planner is a tool that helps you find keywords. Ubersuggest is a keyword tool. While Ahrefs is a complex tool that will take some time to master, you can learn how to perform basic keyword research in only ten minutes. Simply watch Sam Oh's video "Keyword Research Tutorial: From Start to Finish" to learn all you need to know to get started. This lesson is especially useful for eCommerce entrepreneurs since Sam demonstrates how to do research using a new eCommerce shop that offers computers, computer parts, computer accessories, and software.
Your objective is to identify areas that potential consumers are interested in, produce instructional content around those themes, and soft-pitch your offerings. At the end of the day, traffic quality triumphs over volume. When choosing a term, evaluate whether ranking for it will result in more sales rather than just more visitors.
2. Examine the competition
Analyzing the competition may teach you a lot about a market, so figure out who your key rivals are and investigate them. Even if you're conducting e-commerce market research, you shouldn't limit yourself to e-commerce companies. LARQ, for example, offers water bottles online, but they compete with both online marketplaces and specialty internet retailers. Justin Wang conducted extensive market research before starting the company to ensure that there isn't direct competition offering the same service.
Once you've compiled a list of your industry's major players, you should investigate their:
Business plan. What methods do they use to obtain their products? Are they dropshippers or do they have stock? Do they make use of 3PL (third-party logistics) services? What pricing approach do they employ? What marketing approach do they employ? What is their policy on returns? Make a list of all the answers.
A sales funnel is a series of steps that leads to Content marketing, paid advertising, SEO, and other methods are used to get potential consumers to their website. What methods do they use to turn site visitors into paying customers? Do they try to upsell you? Cross-sell? Down-sell? Do they send out automated emails when a customer's basket is abandoned? You might want to take a look at their complete sales funnel to see how it's set up.
Website. What kind of e-commerce platform are they using? What is the time it takes for their website to load? Is the design of their internet shop professional? What components of branding do they employ? What is the checkout process like for them (number of stages, amount of field forms, etc.)? Do they deliver a satisfactory user experience in general?
3. Look at current events
When conducting e-commerce product research, it's important to keep up with current customer trends. To find them, use Google Trends. Here are two topics to consider while conducting online product research:
Is interest in this product waning, steady, or increasing?
Is this product's popularity seasonal, or does it persist throughout the year?
Simply enter a relevant term and select a time frame. If you put in "artificial plants" and select "Past 5 Years" as your timeframe, you'll find that interest in the term has been constant, with a significant spike in the last year.
4. Make use of social media
Consumer information may be found in abundance on social media. It is here that individuals air their grievances, wants, preferences, and aspirations. But you'll have to take a deep dive to uncover those golden nuggets of insight. Keep your online company research focused on the following to prevent falling too far down the internet rabbit hole:
Influencers in your field should be followed. Examine their thoughts, interactions, and previous brand collaborations. Keep an eye on important hashtags. Determine which hashtags are most relevant to your items and make it a practice to monitor them on a regular basis. Examine the opinions of your competitors. Keep an eye on what your competitors are saying about you.
To put it in a nutshell
We're inclined to believe that we "simply know" what our target market wants. However, this is how prejudices enter our thinking. Do the fieldwork and verify your hypotheses rather than "guessing" what your target market wants. To codify what your target consumers enjoy, dislike, and miss, use appropriate quantitative and qualitative data. Then go to work! Don't put off starting your business until everything is "perfect." In fact, it would be a folly to do so. Because you won't be able to right-size your offer without first-hand feedback.
You must make an informed estimate based on market research as to what will resonate with potential buyers before putting your items in front of them at launch. That way, you'll be able to figure out what works and what doesn't as your company grows, and you'll be able to change your strategy appropriately.
Stack discount codes, discounts field on cart, combine discount codes, run multiple automatic discounts, and more!