How to Transition From Social Media Marketplaces to eCommerce Sites

As eCommerce remains a rising industry, those who focused only on social media marketplaces are now looking to upgrade their digital presence by transitioning to eCommerce site. Here’s a quick list for business owners who want to ensure their survival and succeed with their eCommerce transition.
Marketing

Marketing

Last updated on September 20, 2022

Today, eCommerce remains a rising industry, with global sales amounting to $26.7 trillion. In the United States alone, the local eCommerce sector grew by 44% in 2020, with over one million new sellers joining the fray, according to Digital Commerce.

Recently, though, those who focused only on social media marketplaces are looking to upgrade their digital presence by transitioning to eCommerce sites. These sites are more credible and detailed, so much so that Arka reports that businesses focusing on eCommerce platforms can increase their profit by 230% within their first three years. That said, here are some ways business owners can ensure their survival and succeed with their eCommerce transition:

Create and execute a content strategy

With social selling, you can still gain online traction with minimal uploaded content, thanks to social media algorithms. However, this isn’t always the case with eCommerce. You’ll have to craft, bank, and upload various forms of on-brand content regularly to boost engagement. This way, your site will be more compelling, interesting, and credible to your target market. Moreover, eCommerce websites function under a different algorithm from social media platforms. Thus, you’ll need to create SEO strategies along with visual collaterals.

Over time, consistently well-made content on your site can improve your organic revenue by up to 25% in the first year, according to SEO specialists Terakeet. Depending on the scope of your business, you can either execute your own marketing efforts in-house or hire digital marketing specialists should you require a dedicated team to attract customers. A professional content marketer should be able to provide you with targeted insights and actionable strategies that are scalable and relevant to your market.

Reassess and re-jig your budget

As an eCommerce site, your operational expenses will increase. Though breaking down expenses vary, generally, some non-negotiable costs include web hosting, website design, performance extension, payment processing, and shipping will be necessities. While you may be able to gather the initial capital to cover these new expenses, in order to consistently allocate funds for these, you may want to onboard a budget analyst.

Budget analysts are ideal for eCommerce businesses because they’ve received advanced training in managerial and strategic accounting. Because they’ll be handling a significant budget, you will need to make sure that your chosen analyst has a valid license and, ideally, a higher learning certification or degree. Given the influx of traditional and online master’s in accounting programs available nowadays, finding such a capable professional won’t actually be that hard. And when you’ve onboarded your analyst, ask for detailed financial reports regularly to address any budgetary concerns before they reflect in your client-facing services.

Be mindful of UI and UX pain points

Although online shopping is meant to be more convenient, for some shoppers, buying from eCommerce sites can be anything but. Globally, cart abandonment rates across industries are over 60% because of pain points like insufficient information. Hence, when planning your transition, make sure to address the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) in the consumer journey.

Consult with your marketing team to pinpoint the best design practices for your eCommerce site. One non-negotiable is to provide as much helpful information as possible to reduce consumer confusion and dissatisfaction. For instance, the Kiwi Sizing plug-in helps lower the chances of online clothing returns due to sizing issues. This service uses stylish and easy-to-understand sizing charts and fits recommendations that can improve conversions and eliminate the need for human agent intervention. To get a clear picture of other areas that need similar solutions, try asking third parties to test out your site before you open it to the public.

Remember, just because you have a dedicated site now doesn’t mean you should close your social media arm. Instead, use it as a way to complement your eCommerce initiatives by improving your reach and chances of conversions. And note that growing your eCommerce site into a popular platform doesn’t happen overnight. But with the right preparation and a multi-pronged support system, you can create a sustainable and profitable long-term business venture.

If you’d like to know more about how to begin and enhance your eCommerce business, check out our other articles on Kiwi Sizing.

Article submitted by Vanessa Hardy for kiwisizing.com


Kiwi Sizing is an e-commerce plugin to help solve the sizing problems for online shopping. Over 40% of online clothing returns are due to sizes. Kiwi Sizing is designed to make sizing easy by offering stylish size charts and easy-to-use fit recommenders that let shoppers know what is the best size to purchase. We help improve conversions, cut down on returns, and lower the needs for customer support.

We are trusted by thousands of Shopify stores with over 400 5-star reviews. Try it now for free and start reducing unnecessary returns.

In this article

Personalized Size Recommendations
on your Shopify Stores

Dramatically reduce returns and increase sales with Kiwi

0 M+
Size Charts
0 K+
Active Stores
0 mins
Average Creation Time
kiwi-logo-shadow

Personalized Size Recommendations on your Shopify Stores