E-Commerce: Looking for the USP!
Many online shops have no real strategy or direction. A large part of the incoming orders take place via the common trading platforms. However, brand inflation and increasing competition mean that the air in the e-commerce growth channel can also become tight, and the lead is becoming shorter. At this point, we ask online shops about their specific USPs. The reaction is mostly big eyes and a questioning facial expression: A what? – USP stands for Unique Seller Proposition and is the unique selling point of the online shop. Since most shops do not have a USP and do not try to develop one, the result is a completely replaceable shop. A pity.
The USP in e-commerce
The unique sales promise must be consolidated with your customers, and you must ensure that you can clearly position yourself with your performance. The benefit your customer receives must always be greater than what he would receive from the competition. I’m already seeing the first flashes of inspiration: “Cool, then I’ll offer it at my own cost in the future. I can’t necessarily buy anything from market shares, but I do have a USP.””
Selling through price can be an element of the USP, but it is important to invest in your own brand, and that inevitably costs money. The sole focus on the price is only a “medium-term” solution since only minimal margins can be realised through the sale at the low price. These margins are important for future investments in infrastructure and marketing. So selling through price is not really a USP either.
The brand as a USP is a somewhat smarter solution. At this point, we solidify our performance promise in the minds of the customer and ensure that the customer builds an emotional relationship with us and our service. Ideally, we manage to convert the customer into a promoter through brand alignment and brand communication. To do this, the brand must be relevant to the customer in some way. This brings us back to knowing the target groups and addressing these target groups with the aim of creating relevance and letting the brand speak.
The company’s internal knowledge is also an essential factor for the success of the company. With knowledge about your own products, the credibility of the online shop also increases. Answering questions today that customers won’t ask until tomorrow also shows that the shop is very close to the customer. This knowledge can also lead to success in online marketing via content strategy. The knowledge can be experienced directly by the customer and, in the best case, can also be evaluated. Because the increase in knowledge through the shop can also be evaluated as an increase in utility, it ensures that the customer likes to buy in the shop.
Nothing is more important in e-commerce than fast and lean processes. This is the only way to deliver the package to the customer quickly and to keep the time between purchase and product experience as short as possible, because the customer in e-commerce is not willing to wait weeks after making an impulse purchase for the satisfaction of the need that has arisen. If the customer knows that he can get his products quickly and easily in our online shop, then he is also willing to shop here again. Thanks to the processes!
Of course, when looking at the USPs, you can’t forget one thing: the product range. Because the product offered can also be defined as a USP. Do I offer my customers the full range of products, or is it enough to specialise in qualitative niche products and pre-select the selection for the customer? – These are thoughts that every online shop operator has to think about in order to strategically align their shop.
The target group’s feeling
In summary, the development is nothing more than a reaction of the online shop to the behaviour of the target groups and the development of the market. It is a factor influencing market upheavals and making customers enthusiastic about a brand.
For this, it is important to keep looking at your own shop from the customer’s perspective and to ask yourself the question: What distinguishes this shop from the other shop 1 click away? Why should I shop here? – If you don’t have an answer to the question, it’s time to think about the topic and develop creative USPs. Then the online shop will be on the road to success!
