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Two Ecommerce websites - No profits? Why?

Discussion in 'eCommerce' started by alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016.

  1. #1
    Good morning,

    I am writing because I have got two ecommerce websites running, one with REAL physical stock, and one based on dropshipping products.

    I have got many sales on eBay, and recently sales on Amazon are starting to pick up too, for both the dropshipped items and the items I hold in stock.

    However, I cannot get sales on the websites?

    I am in a pet niche, and a food & drinks niche. I do not want to post the URL's here, but I would be happy to PM them to anyone who wants to give me their 2cent!

    My websites are UK-based.

    So please, anyone who would like to give me a hand and see why my eBay and Amazon ventures are going just fine, but my two websites do not move at all?

    By the way
    Pet site = 300ish visitors per month
    Food & drink site = 500+ visitor per month

    Thanks for your time.
     
    alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  2. eric_wahlberg

    eric_wahlberg Well-Known Member

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    #2
    You need to work on promoting your website.

    Promote your products on FB, Twitter. If possible, advertise your product in magazine forums related to food and drinks etc. Keep on doing it. You will definitely get satisfactorily results.
     
    eric_wahlberg, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  3. alexanderhello

    alexanderhello Greenhorn

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    #3
    Do you reckon that is really enough to get me going?
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Related-forums

    Do you think you could take a look at my sites and see what you think of them? any feedback, would be hugely appreciated!
     
    alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  4. sam.hunt0710

    sam.hunt0710 Member

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    #4
    Try Pinterest for promoting your websites you will get some good results from there .
     
    sam.hunt0710, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  5. XooX

    XooX Well-Known Member

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    #5
    The traffic numbers are meaningless until we know where they are coming from. Just so you know, Google Analytics has a lot of phantom traffic of late from spammy sources (that never actually visited your website). So the first thing I would do is understand where your cutomers are coming from. If they are genuine visitors who are in fact there to shop, then the next thing to look at would be their navigational flow - see where they are getting stuck in the website and work on making the website more user-friendly.
     
    XooX, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  6. alexanderhello

    alexanderhello Greenhorn

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    #6
    Xoox the thing is, I know that atleast a handful are 100% real visitors, which came from eBay or from Amazon.. people who have shown to like my products, and even return buyers, but they won't buy from the website!

    Even offer 10% discount so it is a better deal than buying on those third party sites, and still nada.

    I dont even have registrations or anything like that! All my blogs get registrations daily, but my ecommerce sites, ZILCH.

    It is very frustrating hehe. Perhaps you like to chat? Would be great to speak with someone who has experience in the field.
     
    alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  7. HCFGrizzly

    HCFGrizzly Member

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    #7
    In my opinion your traffic is too low and that`s why you aren`t getting any sales. Compared to your website, eBay and Amanzon get tons of visitors a day. You won`t get in a year the visitors they get in a day.
    And also, the traffic is low, but is it at least targeted?
    What is your bounce rate?
    How is your social media presence?
     
    HCFGrizzly, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  8. alexanderhello

    alexanderhello Greenhorn

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    #8
    I get what your saying, but if my traffic is coming from buyers who regularly purchase from me on eBay, why do they not trust the website.

    when I get back indoors, I'll post a bit more about the traffic stats.

    My social media presence is lacking but it is being worked on.
    Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, g+ and Twitter.
     
    alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  9. XooX

    XooX Well-Known Member

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    #9
    If these are your customers on ebay but not on your website, I would assume it's mostly because they do not trust your website yet. I don't run an ecommerce store myself (we are building apps for retailers), but can take a look at your site. PM me.
     
    XooX, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  10. alexanderhello

    alexanderhello Greenhorn

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    #10
    Messaged you, and I agree I believe it may be that there's a lack of trust.
     
    alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  11. HCFGrizzly

    HCFGrizzly Member

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    #11
    Maybe they don`t buy from your website out of commodity. If I would have bough your product from eBay, I would continue to buy from there and not your website. eBay is on such a large scale that of course people don`t trust your website compared to eBay or Amazon.
    The lack of social media is a BIG PROBLEM, you should start to work on that ASAP.
    Also, your goals should be to get visitors from Google and not from eBay or Amazon because of the motives I stated above.
     
    HCFGrizzly, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  12. alexanderhello

    alexanderhello Greenhorn

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    #12
    Definitely have a point, there is no way they would trust me as much as they would trust one of these goliaths.

    Would you mind if I send you some PMs regarding social media, and maybe you can view my websites too?
     
    alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  13. redesignunit@gmail.com

    redesignunit@gmail.com Banned

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    #13
    try to find and discover niche traffic so you can able to convert traffic in lead.
     
    redesignunit@gmail.com, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  14. HCFGrizzly

    HCFGrizzly Member

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    #14
    Post your questions here and I will answer them today. Maybe other people have the same questions and we can also help them.
    Also, I think that it`s safe to post a link to your website, it won`t be considered spamming.
     
    HCFGrizzly, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  15. alexanderhello

    alexanderhello Greenhorn

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    #15
    Won't be considered spamming but don't want people to be able to find these posts when searching about my company hehe.

    About social media:
    Facebook is at 300+ likes ( Generally post relevant images, relevant articles from other peoples websites, relevant articles from my own website, and once in a while promotions)
    Instagram is at 1.7k followers ( Relevant images, and from time to time promotions)
    Twitter is at 1k followers ( Relevant images and tweets, once in a while promotions )
    Pinterest is 255 followers ( pin up relevant products, and once in a while promotions)

    I used to do them all daily and answer questions and comment and interact. But absolutely 0 people coming to the site from social media.

    Do I need to continue with this more, had I not reached far enough with my social media campaign before letting it start to dwindle? I am still quite active on facebook but I have let the others lay still a little.

    Am I doing the right things? Do you have a link to some resources that I may find more info? I have already read through the top Google results for "pinterest tips, facebook tips, etc" and many other variations of such :p and it was just really getting on my nerves consider how quickly ebay and amazon can kick off.

    Sorry about not posting the links here, I just do not feel comfortable with potential clients or existing clients finding this here and maybe losing even more cred with them!

    And Redesign unit, thanks for your comment. I am not 100% sure what you mean, but are you referring to like a "proven" traffic base that we already know is interested in our products? So commenting in forums related to the products, ads on blogs / sites referring to the products?
    What would you recommend as the most cost effective ways to start driving niche traffic relevant to me?

    Thanks.
     
    alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  16. HCFGrizzly

    HCFGrizzly Member

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    #16
    The numbers seem ok to me. How old are your websites?
    How did you get your followers? Maybe they aren`t targeted people.
    I also had this problem in the past when I didn`t have a targeted audience, because in general people are on Facebook just to see pictures of what other people are eating (sarcasm), check-ins (again sarcasm) and videos of cats (no sarcasm here....I like cats :))
    You should try to create a contest on your social media accounts. In order for people to enter the contest they have to register their e-mail address on your website. By using this method you achieve 2 things: Create an emailing list for later use and get people to visit your website.
     
    HCFGrizzly, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  17. alexanderhello

    alexanderhello Greenhorn

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    #17
    I'll PM you my sites URLs, I've read a lot about running social media competitions in the past, but was not sure what sort of prizes caught peoples eye and how make enough people participate! was worried about running a contest and having just 2 people sign up hehe.

    And regarding the follower base, is there any way to check? I outlined more or less what I did on the social medias, for insta I used a lot of follow for follow and all that, but only on targeted people not just any old randoms.

    Although ofcourse, i do have many follows from other instagram marketing accounts.
     
    alexanderhello, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  18. jcdean

    jcdean Active Member

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    #18
    Why no close the websites and concentrate on Ebay and Amazon.
    If you want to have a store why no an ebay store.

    People trust ebay and amazon. why not go with what is working for you?
     
    jcdean, Jan 12, 2016 IP
  19. m.sivarajan

    m.sivarajan Banned

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    #19
    Try to promote your sites in social media like facebook, twitter and pinterest, relevant to your site products. Also start concentrating promotions related to your site's products. Hope this could help you.
     
    m.sivarajan, Jan 18, 2016 IP
  20. Roman_Y.

    Roman_Y. Greenhorn

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    #20
    May be you need to concentrate your force on 1-2 social media. I read that you have lots of them. plus to this, don't forget about tagging and create a unique contant for each social media, because smm strategies for each one are different. The comment above is really correct (from alexanderhello).
     
    Roman_Y., Feb 1, 2016 IP