Top Seller Traits for Success

When you ask a top ecommerce seller what their secret to success is, they will all offer different tips. However, those reasons are all connected by common threads rooted in dedication & perseverance. If you’re looking to take a cue from the pros, follow along with these top tips to propel your online presence towards success. 

Ecommerce Pros are Action Takers

Dreaming of running an ecommerce business is part of the seller’s journey, but the goal falls flat without deliberate action. Top sellers are ambitious action-takers who don’t wait for success to materialize on its own. They go after it with persistent, goal-oriented activity & don’t give up until they see the results they want. 

They’re Customer Obsessed

Following your entrepreneurial dreams is a rewarding experience, but your online store isn’t about you. Top sellers know that an online store is all about the customers, what they want to buy, & their overall experience. Katie Melissa, an Amazon FBA success story, encourages getting out of your own head & thinking like a customer to focus on what they like & will buy. 

Focus on getting completely obsessed with your customers from the first click to nurturing the relationship post-sale. Here are a few ideas on how to keep customers a central part of your ecommerce store:

• Map out the customer journey from start to finish
• Refine your customer service skills
• Offer Live Chat with touch-points about their product, shipping, & delivery
• Nurture customer relationships through email marketing & social media
• Offer a discount on a customer’s birthday or notable events
• Solicit feedback from customers
• Test & refine your product offerings to align with what your customers want

Top Sellers are Persistent

Ecommerce success is a long game that requires testing your products, website, & customer experience. Although some sellers will see success earlier than others, all ecommerce store owners are persistent. There is no substitute for hard work & persistence — it’s also the only surefire way to see results. The good news is you can automate some of your tasks to keep the sales momentum going. Here are 17 time-saving ecommerce tools to refocus your strategy & keep pushing forward toward your goals.

Ecommerce Pros Create Value

Sellers create value in their shops from product descriptions to quality photos & blog posts. Focus on creating actionable, useful information for your customers in everything you do. However, you still need to find a way to stand out from the competition to get your content seen & shared. Here are a few ideas:

• Create a content calendar that focuses on offering year-round value
• Produce DIY video guides about your products
• Offer gift guides to help shoppers narrow their choices
• Empower customers with an FAQ guide & multiple ways to get in touch for a personalized response
• Make sharing valuable content easy & fun with colorful graphics or images

They’re Innovative

Some of the world’s most successful people are innovative & continuously develop new ideas that change their industries. The good news is you don’t need to be naturally gifted to be innovative; you need persistence & practice. You should also expect to stumble once in a while. Taking calculated risks & having the courage to fail once in a while is a necessary part of the process. The more you act on your ideas, test them, & try again, the more innovative you’ll become.

Top Sellers Refine Their Niche

Dave Hermansen of Store Coach says ecommerce entrepreneurs need to find a product & market fit that converts well. Tools can help along the process, like Jungle Scout that provides data & insights on what to sell, how to price it, & how to sell on Amazon FBA successfully. Remember that your niche can also be high-end with more expensive products & services. You won’t need to sell as much per month to hit your quota & you can still make a healthy profit.

They Study Their Analytics

Successful sellers don’t just go with their gut feeling; they also study their analytics to see what’s working & what’s not. Start with Google Analytics & research what native platform tools are available to you, whether you use Shopify or Etsy. There is so much data available to ecommerce sellers; there’s no excuse not to use it. 

However, it can also be overwhelming to know where to start. Here are a few ideas on how to use analytics to help shape your ecommerce business:

• Determine which products to promote by cross-selling to move more inventory or improve the customer shopping experience
• Test which emails convert the best
• Determine which keywords to focus on to refine your on-site SEO
• Understand where visitors are spending the most time
• Test your CTAs
• Create new conversion goals for your ecommerce store
• Analyze which promotions work the best & which fall flat

Remember, you don’t have to master your analytics & data overnight. Add it to your business calendar & set aside time every day or week to turn it into a habit to master.

They Have an Exit Strategy

Top sellers know that building a scalable, successful business requires an exit strategy. You don’t have to plan to sell your business or remove yourself from running it. An exit strategy means your ecommerce business can run successfully without you. A combination of automation tools, virtual assistants, & onboarding new team members could help you keep your business running. You’ll end up with more time to start other businesses, go on vacation, take a few sick days, or strategize selling your online store.

Of course, some areas of your ecommerce business are more difficult to delegate & outsource than others. Hiring a dedicated team member to deal with customer service or email marketing can ensure a smoother operational process. Dropshipping can also take stocking & shipping inventory out of your hands. Consider white-labeling products with a service like CustomCat. We add your design or branding to a wide variety of inventory options, ship it, & send your customers all the details so you can focus on building your business instead of running it.

Ecommerce Sellers Seek Out Feedback

Top sellers are ambitious and persistent, but also don’t assume they know it all. Stay humble & solicit feedback from your customers to find out what they want & what they don’t. Send out regular surveys in exchange for a discount or giveaway to encourage more customers to participate. In addition to seeking out customer feedback, you can also ask your team for input. Although nothing takes the place of what customers want, your team can offer insights into trends & data points that you may have overlooked.

Top Sellers are Transparent

Top sellers are constantly juggling customer service, analytics, marketing, inventory, & more. But they’re also transparent during the process. Be upfront with customers about inventory issues or hiccups without deflecting blame. It’s also crucial to stay transparent with your team members about the choices you’re making about your ecommerce store. The more they understand your strategy & decision-making process, the more likely they are to embrace & understand it. 

They’re Constantly Learning

Ecommerce sellers aren’t born; they’re made. Your selling dream probably started by reading blog posts, devouring seller tips on YouTube, or taking a course on how to get up & running quickly. Without an open-minded approach to learning, it will be challenging to get ahead as a seller. 

If you feel stretched thin running your business, you’re not alone. Lora & Darren, owners of The Succulent Source, offer tips for busy sellers who can’t seem to find the time to learn. They suggest keeping a steady stream of podcasts going, videos, & more so you’re always consuming educational content to improve your game as an A-Seller.

Top sellers don’t have it all figured out, but they are endlessly persistent & willing to keep trying to carve a path to success. What are your top tips as an ecommerce seller? Let us know in the comments.

Happy selling!