Dropshipping and mCommerce Success

Dropshipping and mCommerce Success relies on understanding how your customers think and what they are looking for. Although, there is a lot of data to sift through, the best dropshipping relationship management (CRM) software collects data and enables you to analyse consumer buying patterns more easily. We will share some of the latest statistics on mCommerce (mobile phone purchasing) consumer buying habits, what shoppers want from online stores and how shoppers use mCommerce to accomplish their goals.

We will provide you with a step-by-step mobile marketing strategy to accumulate data, analyse data and use the data to increase your revenue. We will discuss specific techniques for upselling products. This Advanced Dropshipping Guide: Dropshipping and mCommerce Success provides you with facts, ideas and solutions, so you can provide the best customer user experience (UX).

Knowing Your Customer

Building a healthy relationship with your customer takes time. When you understand your customer’s thoughts, words and actions, then you can create the best relationship. You can communicate and understand each another.

Smart phones have revolutionised the way that people shop. According to PayPal, in their “mCommerce State of Play”, 72% of smartphone owners are using their phones for purchases. Therefore, many dropshipping store are becoming mobile-friendly.

Successful businesses know their customers.

One of the fastest growing dropshipping markets in Australia is the mCommerce sector. Between 2016 and 2017, the mCommerce market experienced a 46% Year over Year (YoY) increase. This is your best opportunity to increase your sales.

How can you unlock the mCommerce market sector? What apps and software tools can help you understand consumer wants and needs? Here is a step by step plan for learning about mCommerce consumers habits, analysing buying patterns and creating a successful mCommerce marketing strategy:

1. Master Human Psychology
2. Collect Buying Data
3. Customer Relationship Management
4. Business Intelligence
5. Understand Consumer Behavior
6. Market Products
7. Push Notifications
8. Upsell Accessories Apps

Increasing your sales by understanding your mCommerce customer is a gradual process. The truth is that your competition is already engaged in this high-level of Business Intelligence (BI). As you move up the ladder of understanding your customer’s needs, you increase your chances of earning healthy profits.

Of course, you can add or remove any of the steps that you want. This is just a rough guideline to help those who have questions. It all starts with a healthy understanding of Human Psychology.

Over time, you can Collect Buying Data on your consumers to expand your understanding of their needs. It can be overwhelming to try to organise volumes of data yourself. With the best Customer Relationship Management software, you can properly handle, sift through and analyse the data.

Business Intelligence is the stage for data analysis. After analysing this data, you can gain a more advanced Understanding of Consumer Behavior. Now, that you have this increased knowledge, you can better Market Products.

Finally, we offer you two techniques to increase sales: Push Notifications and Upsell Accessories Apps. Hopefully, this information can help you improve your online store.

1. Master Human Psychology

What is your website visitor looking for? Those with smart phones are likely to be looking for cheap products that they cannot find anywhere else. They expect mCommerce to provide them with the best deals for products and services.

How does the mCommerce shopper think?

There is a delicate balance between trying to collect consumer contact information, such as e-mails and not overwhelming your website visitors with the requests. More websites are including a contact form on their Home page. Make it very short and simple, so you don’t waste the visitor’s time.

Micro Commitments

One prevailing marketing and advertising concept is the micro commitment. Everyone has a lot to deal with. Customers might not be able to give you a full promise, but a micro commitment might be possible.

The aforementioned contact form is an example of two micro commitments made by the visitor: 1. Visiting your website and 2. Filling out the form. They want you to contact them with insider, VIP information about your products. Use your email marketing to reward your customer with valuable discounts, specials and deals.

Most consumers want to be rewarded for their time. By rewarding your customer, you create a psychological imprint on their psyche. They can associate your brand with pleasant feelings of fulfillment. You have provided them with customer satisfaction.

You have started the beneficial relationship with your customer, building up a level of trust. Now, you can move to the next stage of customer interaction. You can gradually assemble a marketing list.

If you start small, you have something to build on. You also won’t over-promise something that you cannot deliver. Err on the side of prudence, so your customer can trust your word, business and merchandise.

Distracted Shopping

What are consumers doing while they are surfing your website using their smart phone? It should not be any surprise to you that people on smart phones love to multi-task. They might be purchasing your merchandise online, while completing some other task offline.

Understanding your consumer’s activities will help you determine which products might be most desired. Consumers might be anywhere, doing almost anything. This is what consumers are doing when engaged in mCommerce:

• Working = 57%
• Household Chores = 51%
• In-Store Comparison Shopping = 46%
• Cooking = 32%
• Restaurant = 22%
• Errands = 22%
• Commuting = 19%
• Attending Child’s Event = 9%
• Exercising = 7%
• Driving = 6%
• Walking Dog = 6%

Some of your customers will simply be visiting your website to pass time during their child’s game. Others, about 46%, will be checking your prices while they walk through a brick-and-mortar store. Somehow, you need to offer a good experience for each type of customer. Distracted shopping is where single product dropship advertising works best.

2. Collect Buying Data

How fast is your website? Consumers are drawn to websites that load quickly and allow them to move around rapidly. Sometimes, you might need to remove items that are slowing down your site’s processing speeds.

Collecting data online includes both visible and invisible methods. Asking for data on a contact form is visible. Collecting data on customer navigation, time spent and purchasing habits is invisible.

The best dropshipping software offers data collection, metrics, website statistics and Business Intelligence. Your goal should be to use BI to create a superior UX in the short-term. Then, this can lead to increased sales in the long-term.

Small dropshipping stores might not be able to beat Amazon, eBay or Alibaba on price, but you can provide a superior UX. Offer a personalised shopping experience. Show that you remember what your customer purchased during a recent visit.

3. Customer Relationship Management

Unless you have a photogenic mind, you can’t remember all that information. But, your CRM can. Let your dropshipping CRM software do the heavy lifting of data-crunching analysis.

What does your mCommerce shopper want?

One necessity for mCommerce is to identify the shopper, irrespective of whether a smart phone or desktop is being used. This allows you to compile a complete record of their purchases. You might notice that the consumer prefers to buy different products while using different technology.

Comparison mCommerce Shopping

If you remember the previous statistical list showed that about 46% of consumers were using their mobile phone for in-store comparison shopping. How specifically are Australian consumers combining offline, eCommerce and mCommerce to get the best price and selection?

We covered the following data last month, but now we will analyse the mCommerce data in more depth. According to the Ingenico Omni-Channel Retailing Report, this compares the initial technology used with the final technology used for a product purchase:

• Offline: Offline = 74%, Desktop = 19% & Mobile = 6%
• Desktop: Offline = 26%, Desktop = 60% & Mobile = 13%
• Mobile: Offline = 25%, Desktop = 40% & Mobile = 33%

For example, when the first phase of a product search was offline, it was completed using mCommerce in 6% of the cases. Based on this data, we will analyse 5 types of mobile phone website visitors. The first mobile phone website visitor is just looking, but won’t complete a purchase.

The second mobile phone website visitor has started her merchandise search at an offline, brick-and-mortar store. An estimated 6% of mCommerce shoppers might have tried on a pretty dress offline, then found the same dress for a lower price at your online store.

The third mobile phone website visitor started her search using a desktop. These could include housewives with 13% completing the purchase using a smart phone. Why didn’t the shopper use a desktop to complete the purchase? Maybe, the consumer was satisfied that your product was the best price, so she used the smart phone to purchase the item immediately.

The fourth mobile phone website visitor has started his search at your online store. He might be comparing prices on general inventory or specific merchandise. You need to optimize searchability for these consumers.

And, the fifth mobile phone website visitor started his search online and finished it online. These have the highest potential to be your most valuable mCommerce customers. You might want to try to offer push notifications to these consumers.

Each customer is important, but in different ways. For the most growth, you could focus on those who visit, but don’t buy. For the highest chance of completing the sale, you should focus on the consumer who starts and completes his purchase using a smart phone (or desktop).

4. Dropshipping and mCommerce Success = Business Intelligence

Once you have accumulated the customer data, you should review it to identify trends. The best dropshipping software creates useful graphs. What did you expect? What did you discover?

Is there anything that surprises you? Should you change your marketing strategy to mirror the discovered reality? The reality is that mCommerce trends are still relatively new and many business owners are learning a lot by reviewing the statistics.

How does your mCommerce consumer navigate your online store?

Understanding demographics and consumer habits will provide you with the Business Intelligence to increase your sales. For example, did you know that parents make more online purchases than non-parents? Housewives have the time to use their family home computer to view, research and complete online purchases.

Perhaps, the most beneficial BI will open your eyes to a new marketing campaign model. You might identify certain buying patterns on Fridays or notice that a certain customer prefers a certain type of merchandise. This Business Intelligence can be used to increase your sales by offering what you think the consumer is most likely to want.

Everyone wins with successful BI. Customers save time and get the right merchandise to fulfill their needs. You increase your revenue. And, you increase the likelihood of repeat customer purchases, since a satisfied customer is more likely to return to your online store in the future.

5. Understand Consumer Behavior

Next, we will delve deeper into the mCommerce psyche, by discussing windows, trust and what features consumers want on websites. For many consumers, smart phones are becoming like a third eye. The smart phone is used by many as their window to the world.

Smart Phone Windows

Imagine your consumer viewing your website from a small screen, the size of your palm. A mobile-friendly website must provide small images, descriptions and messages. You should also add one click functionality.

If eyes are the windows to the soul, smart phones are the windows to the psyche.

Most smart phones have very limited memories. You should allow for one click functionality to speed up viewing, navigation and checkout for your mCommerce visitor.

Why Consumers Trust Certain Websites

Trust is a very subjective concept. Everyone has a different set of parameters that makes them trust something or someone. But, mCommerce shoppers are starting to list certain criteria that make them trust websites.

Customers patronise websites that they trust.

Of course, you might be able to make your own list of features that were found on fake websites, which you have visited. For some, trust is like eating food. A fraudulent website leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Building Trust

Remember that mCommerce is a virtual experience. Consumers cannot see you physically, but are measuring your legitimacy by all of the electronic appearances on their smart phone screens. Every image, word and function must be fine-tuned to exude legitimacy, establish credibility and build trust.

Lorelle on WordPress asked her fans the following question, “What Makes You Trust a Website?” These are some of the features of trustworthy websites, according to them:

• Professional Website Design
• Accuracy
• Answers
• Third-Party Links
• Reviews
• Testimonials

For Lorelle, trust was a feeling. A trustworthy website offered answers – she felt comfortable when she visited it. It also had communal support, verified by third-party links, reviews and testimonials.

Make it easy.

A study by Southhampton University looked at why people trusted certain websites over others. They found that the most important reasons for choosing one site over another were easy to find information, easy to read descriptions and easy navigation. Make it easy for your visitor and you can create the best UX.

Creating Mistrust

Have you ever walked into a room and felt uneasy? Have you ever visited a website that didn’t look legitimate? What are the features of potentially fraudulent websites?

An intrusive pop-up window might startle some visitors. It is like a pushy salesman, who won’t take “No” for an answer. You need to offer useful, friendly, unobtrusive pop-up windows, such as a Live Chat Help window.

Some fake websites lack any original content. You might not be able to discern the purpose of the site. In the end, the fake websites look spammy. Some just feel that it cannot be trusted.

What Consumers Want

Consumers have completed surveys on what they want from your online store. The truth is that you might be a legitimate website, but some of your features might not be optimised or user-friendly. Your duty is to minimize features that might cause uncertainty.

Make your website visitor feel comfortable, like you care and are willing to provide them with a real answer. These are the most important things to online visitors, according to a Namogoo Study, reprinted in Forbes:

• Clear Product Images at 87.62%
• Product Reviews at 78.14%
• Product Descriptions at 77.30%
• Easy Checkout Process at 75.61%
• Easy Search at 69.33%
• Simple Navigation at 55.83%
• Easy to Use Mobile Device at 48.39%
• Payment Options at 39.49%
• Remembers my Preferences, Information & History at 30.75%
• Product Videos at 20.94%

What’s the worst part of the checkout process for online shoppers? The number one frustration is having to enter the same information twice. Automatically populate data to speed up mCommerce purchases.

Customers want to feel appreciated, like they matter. Listen to their comments and show your concern with concrete action. Then, they will be more likely to patronise your online store.

6. Market Products

Once you know what your customers care about, you can develop a marketing plan to reach them. You also know which products might fit their lifestyle. You have the keys to open the doors to your customer’s minds.

You can increase your profitability because you know what the customer wants before the customer does. Then, you can stock your store with merchandise that will sell.

7. Push Notifications

After you have the customer data and Business Intelligence, you can use specific marketing techniques to increase your sales. One of the more successful mCommerce marketing techniques is the Push Notification (also known as the Push Alert). This allows you to create closer, deeper relationships with customers.

What do you gain with push notifications? Immediacy. Statistics have shown that 90% of text messages are read within 180 seconds of their delivery.

Why do consumers read these push alerts so quickly? Unlike emails, the push alert remains on the top of a mobile phone display until the consumer does something with it.

You can create very specific, personalised upselling opportunities and get immediate responses with push alerts. You can encourage urge purchases of a hot, must have item to boost your sales figures.

This could be particularly useful for moving seasonal merchandise. You could use it for a new brand campaign. Or, you could use it to reward your most loyal customers. Either way, push notifications used effectively can boost your sales.

Real-Time Push versus Pull Mobile Marketing

What is the difference between Push and Pull Mobile Marketing? The primary difference between Push and Pull Mobile Marketing is the type of suggestion, you make to the customer. Push Marketing suggests a very specific merchandise purchase; Pull Marketing suggests visiting your website for more information.

Successful Push Alert Mobile Marketing Campaign

Certainly, learning from successful marketing campaigns can be useful. An American retailer, named K-Mart had something called the red light special. Imagine being in their store when a red light was turned on – this identified that there was a special sales item.

Offer a red light push alert special.

You can create the sense of immediacy and excitement. People will want to rush to buy the special product because it will make them feel special.

That is how you could create a successful push alert mobile marketing campaign. You would need to have your own dropshipping store app. Then, have the customer download the app and opt in to receiving push alerts.

Use incentives to encourage customers to opt in to push alerts.

How can you get consumers to opt-in? The best time to ask consumers to opt in is after you have rewarded them with a special deal. You have proven the value of your business client relationship.

Now, they can opt in to push notifications to earn future benefits. Incentivise consumers with deep discounts, vouchers or exclusive deals on your best selling merchandise. You could put certain merchandise that is never discounted on push notifications. This makes the push notifications an exclusive benefit.

Already, by accepting the push alert app, your customer is signalling his or her interest in receiving special deals. Make them feel special, like a VIP. These are the features of the best push notification mobile marketing strategy:

• Clear
• Exciting
• Timing
• Frequency
• Type
• Regular
• Beneficial

A key advantage of push notification application alerts is that they can include feature-rich contents, such as images and links. This creates a more personalised, consumer-friendly marketing connection.

Clearly state which product is for sale and provide a link directly to its product page. It might be wise to test out your instructions. Have an employee read your push notification app instruction and see if the employee completes the action correctly.

Create some excitement. You want your alert to stand out from the crowd.

Some consumers have very short attention spans. You need to take a page from the Google WebMaster Tool advice section – make your push notifications relevant, useful and beneficial to the consumer. You can tie them into seasonal events, festivals or holidays.

Use your CRM to list recent customer purchases. It can automatically suggest an accessory, similar product or upgrade.

Also, you can have your software determine the best time to send the push alert. Make a log of when the consumer made his last purchase. Then, send the push notification at the same time. Don’t send it during dinner time.

The goal of this mCommerce marketing strategy is to establish a normal time when your customer expects to hear from you.

Increasing app usage with push notifications

Besides increasing sales, you can increase usage of your dropshipping app with push alerts. According to Urban Airship, push notifications increase daily app usage by up to 540%. Therefore, you can gain more personalised sales, more upselling opportunities and increased app usage on your mobile website with push notifications.

8. Upsell Accessories Apps

The best dropshipping software includes CRM functionality that can automatically provide consumers with upselling prompts. CRM can automatically assemble past consumer buying pattern data and then analyse potential accessories that are usually purchased therewith. When your customer is on your website, you can use a personalised pop-up window offering a more expensive product or accessory.

The benefit of upselling CRM is that consumers don’t need to download your app. This can be used to reach another market niche.

Business Intelligence Increases Sales

The smart phone has more functionality than the regular mobile phone. That is a key benefit of the mCommerce market. Make your website mobile-friendly to attract the most visitors.

Likewise, Business Intelligence can help you increase sales. Analyse the statistics provided herein and develop a marketing strategy to unlock their potential.

You can deepen brand penetration, reward customer loyalty and add the personal touch with push notification mobile marketing. Use consumer behavior, purchases and demographics to create the right push notification. Create a superior UX to retain the best customers.

Knowing your customer is one of the secrets to business success. When you have a better understanding of your customer than the competition, you have a winning edge. Successful businesses can predict consumer behavior, so they can offer the right message, right product and right price at the right time.