How to Do Market Research for eCommerce

Trying to start an ecommerce business? Then one of the question you might have asked yourself is “how to do market research for eCommerce?”. We’ll figure it out but let’s start with the basics.

Today’s eCommerce landscape is fiercely competitive, and understanding your target audience is crucial to stand out and succeed. As a savvy online business owner, you must know who your buyers are and what influences their decisions. Gone are the days when a catchy ad alone could win over customers. In this digital age, consumers have unlimited access to information and expect better services from eCommerce businesses.

So, what’s the solution? Market research.

Market research for eCommerce involves gathering and analyzing data to gain valuable insights into your target audience, competitors, and industry trends. It’s the key to unlocking a deep understanding of what makes your customers tick and what drives their purchase decisions.

Imagine tailoring your marketing strategies precisely to your customers’ purchasing habits. By tapping into the preferences and behavior of your audience, you can create a seamless shopping experience that resonates with them.

The good news is the wealth of data and resources available through online market research. However, the challenge lies in knowing which data is relevant and how to use it effectively. Wading through heaps of data without a clear plan is overwhelming and leads to confusion. But fear not!

In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of conducting accurate and extensive market research for your eCommerce store. As eCommerce continues to boom, seizing this opportunity for your online business’s growth is crucial.

 

How to Do Market Research for eCommerce: A Broad Understanding

 

Market research involves gathering valuable information and insights to understand your target audience, industry trends and competition. For eCommerce, it means figuring out what makes your potential customers tick and what they look for in products or services.

It involves various techniques, like analyzing customer demographics and psychographics. Don’t worry; it’s not as intimidating as it sounds! Demographics tell you who your customers are – their age, gender, location, etc. Psychographics, on the other hand, reveal their interests, values and behaviors. Combining both, you get a clear picture of your ideal customer, making it easier to tailor your marketing efforts.

 

Why Should You Conduct Market Research?

Alright, let’s address the “Why” of market research. Imagine you’re setting up a new online store selling trendy sneakers. Without proper research, you might sell sneakers made for running when your target audience is into fashion and streetwear. Uh-oh, that’s a major miss!

You can avoid such disasters and make informed decisions through market research. It lets you identify potential gaps in the market and discover exciting opportunities. You’ll learn about emerging trends and customer preferences, helping you pivot your business strategy when needed.

Moreover, market research saves you from wasting time and money on ineffective marketing campaigns. You know what they say – knowledge is power. Armed with the right information, you can craft targeted marketing messages resonating with your audience, leading to higher conversion rates and increased sales.

 

Let’s use a practical example. You own an online store selling handmade jewelry. You find out through online market research that your target customers are environmentally conscious and passionate about sustainable products through market research. Armed with this knowledge, you start offering eco-friendly packaging and promoting the social impact of your jewelry, and boom! Your sales shoot through the roof!

Market research helps you connect with your audience on a deeper level. When you understand their pain points and desires, you can tailor your products and marketing to meet their needs. It’s like giving them exactly what they’ve been looking for, and that builds brand loyalty and trust.

 

Exploring the Types of Market Research for eCommerce

 

Let’s dive into the various types of eCommerce market research.

 

Getting to the Core with Primary Research

Gathering data directly from your target markets is the heart of market research. Primary market research provides two types of data results: exploratory and conclusive.

• Exploratory information helps identify undefined problems, while conclusive information aids in solving pre-defined issues.
• You might discover your target audience isn’t spending as much as they used to in your industry (exploratory).
• In response, you could offer new features like cryptocurrency payment options to improve online purchases’ security and ease (conclusive).

Primary research methods include one-on-one interviews and surveys.

 

Tapping into Existing Data with Secondary Market Research

Using previously collected, analyzed or published market data, you can improve your eCommerce business. Secondary research sources include public domain data from research journals, official government statistics and data from your eCommerce business (e.g., total sales, website visitors).

Combining primary and secondary research is a powerful approach, as it allows you to obtain specific data points through targeted research methods while supplementing it with everyday activity data.

 

Understanding Numbers Through Quantitative Research

 

Market research involves collecting numerical data, either through primary or secondary means. This type of research is easy to gather and allows for historical benchmarking and direct comparisons of results over different time frames. For instance, you can compare this quarter’s sales to the same quarter of the previous year.

 

Qualitative Research: Delving into Stories

Focusing on gathering non-numerical primary or secondary data can also yield excellent results. While it’s a bit harder to measure than quantitative research, qualitative research offers valuable depth and context to the data you collect. It involves statements or responses from your target audience, giving you a deeper understanding of their perspectives and preferences.

 

 

Know Your Audience Using Customer Research

eCommerce market research requires understanding your target market and the factors influencing their decision-making process by gathering information through customer research. It delves into client satisfaction, loyalty and segmentation based on demographics. You can tailor your marketing efforts to resonate with your customers effectively through in-depth analysis.

 

Branding Research – Crafting a Powerful Identity

Branding research helps you build and maintain a strong brand identity. Study your marketing tone, brand imagery, logo and more through surveys, focus groups and A/B testing. You can assess brand perception, value and loyalty with this method. Effective branding research is crucial, especially in the early stages of building your eCommerce brand.

 

Improving Your Products and Services

• Do our clients appreciate our services?
• Is there anything we need to enhance to make our products more appealing?
• What’s the reception of our recently introduced services?

Product research answers the questions listed above and more. It involves assessing how well your products perform in the market and how to enhance them in the future. Through product research, you’ll understand customer perceptions, product usage and the effectiveness of branding and marketing efforts.

 

Gaining a Competitive Edge

Competitor research focuses on analyzing your closest rivals in the market. You’ll learn from their mistakes and successes, identifying the concepts to integrate and ways to differentiate your brand and attract potential customers. You can gather valuable insights by interviewing customers about their preferences and analyzing your competitor’s sales data.

With the vast amount of online information, online market research covers all these types.

So, having seen the types of market research, how can you use it to attract your target market?

 

How to Do Market Research for eCommerce Success

 

You’ve got an amazing eCommerce business idea, but how do you know if it’ll succeed in the competitive online market?

Let’s dive into the step-by-step process of conducting effective market research for your eCommerce venture.

 

Step 1: Establish Keywords – Unlocking the Power of Search

Keywords are the foundation of successful online visibility. Start with keyword research to establish relevant keywords for your industry or niche. Tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush are your go-to helpers for this task. These tools reveal popular and high-traffic keywords when you search for industry-related terms.

But wait, there’s an even simpler way for your keyword research! Just run a Google search and observe the search engine results page (SERP). It’ll show what people are searching for, giving you valuable insights to create content tailored to those keywords.

 

Step 2: Know Your Ideal Customers

These are the people most likely to purchase your brand. Dig deep into their demographics, interests, and pain points. Knowing your target audience allows you to:

• Tailor marketing materials that resonate directly with your core consumers.
• Ensure your products cater to the needs of your audience, boosting customer satisfaction.
• Understand your audience’s preferred payment methods, like accepting cryptocurrencies for tech-savvy customers.

Build customer profiles using information from primary research, such as surveys, research panels, focus groups and interviews.

 

Step 3: Learn from the Best (and Worst)

Keep an eye on your competitors to stay ahead in the industry. While you might not have access to their exact numbers, you can still gather valuable information by:

• Regularly check out their websites for interesting practices and pricing changes.
• Use online market research (like news articles, social media presence and press releases) to uncover insights into their strategies and thinking.

Use this knowledge to improve upon your competitors’ ideas or avoid their mistakes.

 

Step 4: Stay Connected to Your Audience

Social media is an essential part of eCommerce branding. Set up social media profiles and actively engage with your target audience. Monitor conversations to gauge the buzz around your brand. Positive feedback is excellent, but promptly addressing complaints shows your commitment to customer satisfaction.

 

Step 5: Adapt to Evolving Markets

The eCommerce industry is constantly evolving. Tailor your online market research strategies to keep you updated on industry trends, new technologies and changes affecting businesses in your niche. Failing to notice market trends could make your brand seem outdated or cause you to miss opportunities to capitalize on competitor mistakes.

 

Step 6: Use Analytics Tools for eCommerce

Set up and utilize analytics tools like Google Analytics. These tools provide invaluable data on your visitors and customers, allowing you to make data-driven decisions for your business strategies.

For example, if you notice a high cart abandonment rate, investigate further to identify the root cause. You might discover offering more payment methods, like crypto gateways, improves the user experience and boosts your sales.

 

Step 7: Build a Community – Connect with Your Customers

Building a community around your brand fosters long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. Consider setting up a forum on your eCommerce site or conducting surveys with incentives for frequent respondents. This approach helps you connect with your target audience directly, enabling you to gather valuable feedback and monitor conversations.

Remember, the key to sustainable growth lies in understanding your customers and adapting to the ever-changing market trends.

After dissecting market research, is there any current trend you can adopt to improve your eCommerce business?

 

Encouraging Trend in eCommerce to Improve Business Performance

 

If you’ve recently conducted market research for your eCommerce business, you might have discovered a rising trend that’s hard to ignore – cryptocurrency payments.

Wondering if it’s worth jumping on the bandwagon? We’ll give you the lowdown.

First off, integrating crypto payments can significantly expand your customer base. Cryptocurrencies attract tech-savvy individuals and early adopters who love the convenience and security of digital transactions.

Moreover, crypto payments can be lightning-fast, especially for international transactions. Transaction fees can be lower than traditional payment methods, saving you some precious bucks in the long run.

Security is another major plus. With cryptocurrencies, you can bid farewell to chargebacks and fraud concerns. The blockchain technology behind cryptos ensures transparent and immutable transactions, safeguarding you and your customers.

Lastly, embracing crypto payments positions your eCommerce store as forward-thinking and innovative, earning trust and loyalty from your tech-savvy audience.

So, with the right setup and understanding of your market, integrating cryptocurrency payments might be the game-changer your eCommerce store needs.

 

Growing Your eCommerce Business with a Trusted Crypto Payment Provider

 

Now that you know how to do market research for eCommerce and that you’ve done your online business research, you’ve probably come across CoinPayments, the most trusted cryptocurrency payment gateway in the crypto market since 2013.

Our own market research and feedback through consumer insights allowed us to deliver what the payment market desires.

• An industry-low transaction fee (ours starts at 0.5%).
• A branded checkout experience for clients.
• Supportive eCommerce merchant tools such as shopping cart plug-ins.

So, what are you waiting for?

Start growing your eCommerce brand with CoinPayments to receive all the benefits of cryptocurrency payments.