How to compete with Amazon as an SME

Maybe you have a successful brick and mortar shop and wish to delve into the online marketplace? Perhaps you’ve heard the wonder stories of people getting rich quick with dropshipping? There may be one rather obstructive obstacle you may want to consider. Amazon.

The 1000 billion dollar colossal is intimidating to most, if not all retailers, leaving many retailers doubting the future of their SME’s or starting a new business altogether. However, fear not. This giant isn’t so scary once you understand the core fundamentals of why it rose to popularity and dominated the eCommerce sphere.  

Intelligence search

Customers want that personalised touch, to be thought of as an individual as oppose to a digital number adds incredible value to your brand. As soon as you type in even a single letter into Amazons search feature, it predicts your search based on previous shopping behaviour and cross-referencing that with customers of a similar demographic and product patterns. Not only that, but it has a great memory of previously searched items, catering precisely to the users’ needs, whatever they may be.

Recommendations

Recently viewed items are one of the first things the user sees when they login to Amazon. With the vast majority of customers buying products on the go via their cellular device, it can be a common occurrence that their experience is disrupted. Perhaps they lost signal going through a tunnel; they ran out of time on their lunch break, or general life happens. Don’t be deterred from their absence or cart abandonment. Having recommendations or recently viewed products, saving their abandoned cart or even a gentle email reminder that their items are waiting for them are a great way to engage and have them return time and time again.

Personal touch

Tailor the shopping experience to your customer; a simple “Hello Dave” when they enter your web store is an excellent way to make the user feel like their shopping experience will be tailor-made for their unique tastes. Not only that, but you as an independent brand also have the upper hand in this field. They are a faceless conglomerate, you, on the other hand, are the underdog—the heart of your town’s community. Utilise this unique quality and be an active part of that community, get involved and spread the joy.

Conclusion

At any point in time, there will always be someone more significant than you. Don’t let this deter you from starting something new or investing in your growth. Your unique brand is far more endearing than a giant conglomerate. You’ve more power than you know.

If you have any questions about anything discussed in this blog or if you’d like to chat about a project, feel free to get in touch. We’re always happy to help businesses reach and surpass their eCommerce potential.