If you run an eCommerce business and you want it to be successful long into the future, then you need to be setting realistic business goals that will drive your company forward. 

You also need to be hitting those goals, of course. There is no point wasting your time talking about what you want to do if you never take positive steps towards actually doing it. 

So no matter how big or small your eCommerce venture, you need to take a proactive approach to setting targets, as well as getting strategic plans in place to achieve those goals. If you’re not sure where to begin, we can help. In this guide, we’re going to look at how to set goals for your eCommerce business and how to reach your individual targets to excel your brand as a whole.

The different types of eCommerce business

Ultimately, every e-commerce business will differ. For example, some will target B2C audiences, while others will offer B2B e-commerce. This means your goals will also differ.

That being said, there are some things that will remain the same no matter what, and there are several basic categories that your e-commerce goals are likely to fall into. These include:

•       New product or service launches
•       Branding and repositioning
•       Revenue targets
•       Product and profit margins

Keeping this in mind, you can begin to think about the different types of goals you want to set for your e-commerce business. You might also have several different areas that you want to focus on, and we’ll now look at how to do this.

Change your mindset and your behavior 

The first thing you need to do is to change your mindset and your behavior, as you cannot achieve a new goal with the same outdated mindset. Instead, you must understand what you want to achieve in the long term, as well as how to break this down into smaller, more manageable targets that you can work towards to reach your bigger goals. 

Always be SMART about your goals 

You may have heard about the SMART method for goal-setting before, and there’s a good reason for that. This is a very helpful and effective way to set your goals. 

But if you’re not familiar with this method, SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. 

So every goal you set must have these five characteristics; you must make it as specific as you possibly can at that time whilst ensuring you know how to measure the results. For example, will you see a percentage increase or perhaps a financial increase?

Also, you should only set goals that you understand to be achievable; there is no point in setting goals that are too far out of your reach. This same also applies to making sure your goal is realistic.

Finally, you should set a date by which you want to achieve each goal and try to stick to your timeline as closely as you can. If you follow this SMART method, you are more likely to stick to your strategy and achieve your goals.

Think about the why for your eCommerce business

Next up, you need to establish why you want to achieve each goal you’ve set for yourself. If you don’t have any real conviction or clarity behind your goal-setting, you’ll find it harder to drive yourself forward and actually achieve said goal.

You must also make sure that everyone on your team or involved in making your eCommerce business a success is on board and that they understand their role in making this happen.

Plan for the how 

Once you know why, you need to think about how. 

What we mean by this is you need to understand every aspect and every step it will take to achieve your goal. This might involve breaking it down into smaller, actionable steps. You might also need to consider the following:

•       What budget will be required
•       What metrics you’ll measure and how to increase/decrease these depending on your targets
•       How competitive your industry is, and who you’ll be competing with
•       Your current customer reach
•       Any adjustments you need to make to your e-commerce website, company or team
•       Any restrictions that might stand in your way and how to tackle these
•       What resources could be required to fund your efforts and achieve your goals
•       If you or your team are qualified or if you will require training to gain the relevant skills 

Keeping all of the above in mind, you can set yourself realistic and achievable e-commerce goals. Now, here’s how to smash them. 

How to hit your eCommerce goals 

Now your goals are set, there are six simple steps you can take to make sure you actually hit them (or at least get very close).

1. Determine where you’re going to start

If you’ve set several e-commerce goals, you need to know where to start. Juggling too many goals at once can be confusing, so don’t overwhelm yourself. Plus, some targets might be dependent on other activities. 

For example, if your goal is to increase sales through your website, you might use a social media marketing campaign to do this. 

Therefore, you need to start by creating your campaign, and then your first target might be reaching an audience of 5,000 people, while your ultimate goal is to generate at least 100 sales as a result. 

In this case, your starting point will be creating your marketing campaign.

2. Make sure you’ve got the budget

Once you know where to start, you need to determine whether you’ve got the budget to get started or not. This might require some fundraising or juggling funds in order to do so.

3. Prepare your team

Next, it’s time to prepare the relevant members of your team. They need to understand the goal in detail and how to achieve it. This way, they can break it down into the relevant steps and get to work.

4. Review and measure

Once everyone knows what to do and they have begun to take positive steps, it’s time to review the process and measure your success so far. You might wish to have regular reviews and check-ins to ensure that you’re able to stick to the date or timeline you selected during your SMART goal-setting.

5. Optimize your strategy

If you’re not achieving the results you want just yet, you might need to optimize your strategy. Look at the areas where you could be going wrong and make changes to help you reach your goals next time.

6. Repeat where necessary

Finally, you may need to repeat the last two steps several times and continue reviewing your process and making positive changes each time until you get the results you want.