Three Things Are Matters For E-Commerce Promotion

Recently I purchased a facial mask from a Korean E-commerce website. This brand has been running that facial mask promotion via all the social media. Every time I check my Facebook and Instagram, the ad pops up. I see so many positive comments about this facial mask and the experiment in the ad looks super effective.

I clicked the link and saw the promotion. The price looked fair, so I made an order. After a few days, I didn't receive any update. Then, I contacted them through email, Instagram, and Facebook to check my order status. However, no one responded. I checked its website, and all the products are out of stock. Excuse me?

After over a week, they finally replied to my email and told me that the ship was going to be delayed.

From a consumer side, this experience makes me re-think what things are matters for E-commerce promotion.

Know Your Stock Limited

For brands, promotion probably is the fastest way to boost sales in the short term. If you push promotion too much, the order volume will be easy to exceed your storage. As a result, you can't meet consumer demand, so consumers may feel upset about your brand.

Therefore, brands need to track the order numbers and the stock all the time. When the order has reached or closed to the stock limited, brands have to reduce the promotion frequency or to stop the promotion.

Brands can't meet everyone's need, but they need to take good control of all the current demand. Especially for international e-commerce brands, it is very necessary for building brand credibility. 

Update Status Right Away

It really matters for update order status on time. For E-commerce world, consumers care about their order status. Has my order been confirmed? When do they ship my order?

Online shopping is different from retail shopping. When we shop online, we can't touch the product; we can't test the product, and we can't get the product right away. Because of all these uncertainties, updating order status is the most important thing for brands. 

For example, I ordered some clothes from Forever 21 during a holiday season. The day after I ordered, I received an email from Forever 21 that my order shipment was delayed. They felt sorry about that and sent me another 15% discount to make it up.

As I read this email, I didn't feel upset. I could understand their working pressure. I felt very appreciated that they told me immediately and care about my feeling.  

A simple update message could make consumers feel the brand is reliable and understand their concerns. 

Response Immediately

For online shopping, the worst thing for consumers is being ignored. When consumers try to contact the brand, it means consumers are worried. What could calm them down? Response to their questions immediately.

Usually, consumers are expecting to receive the reply message from the brand within 24 hours, or they will feel piss off. It will hurt the brand reputation badly if consumers feel being ignored by the brand.

Therefore, if you are too busy to give responses, just like what Forever 21 did, send consumers an update message right after the order confirmation email. Once consumers know what's going on, they will understand and not push you too much. 

In Summary

As international E-commerce brands, it is challenging to build brand awareness oversea, to expand the market and to earn local consumers' trust. It may take a lot of time and effort to accomplish your marketing goals. 

Yes, running a big promotion is a way to drive sales, but it may also hurt the brand if the brand couldn't handle it well. Control your stock limited, update new status to current consumers, and respond to their questions as soon as you can are the basic rules for E-commerce marketing. 

Even though the brand may not accomplish all marketing goals as expected, at least it's better than receiving bad reviews or complains.