All businesses want to enhance their growth, but it isn’t always clear what to do when the gears start spinning. Startup owners will start to feel overwhelmed after a sudden influx of customers, traffic, or interest. To keep your eCommerce store running smoothly, you must do the following. 

10 Steps to Surviving a Rapid Growth Period for Your eCommerce Store

If you wrote a great business plan for your store, then you’ll already have a blueprint for what to do. If not, you’ll have to work backward. Here’s what to do during periods of rapid growth.

1. Have a Plan in Place

Before any period of rapid growth, create a plan to manage the influx of orders, customers, and payments. It’s essential to have strategies in place for areas such as customer service and marketing to ensure that everything runs smoothly during this time, or you could be in trouble.

You’ll also have to upgrade your website to handle an increase in traffic. Hosts like NameHero have Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce hosting plans that can support your website during these times. You wouldn’t want your website to crash during your most profitable period.

2. Monitor Your Budget

It’s essential to keep an eye on your expenses during periods of rapid growth, as increased demand can lead to higher costs in areas such as staffing, marketing, and inventory. One of the top reasons why businesses fail is a lack of capital caused by money mismanagement.

To avoid this problem, make sure you have a realistic budget in place for each period of growth. That way, you’ll be able to manage expenditures while still delivering the best experience.

3. Automate Processes

Use automation tools such as shopping cart software or inventory management software to streamline order processing and customer service requests. This will enable you to respond quickly and efficiently to customers’ needs without having staff manually check stock levels.

Automation can also reduce worker stressors, which is important if you want to improve efficiency and productivity. Happier workers are more likely to give their all for the company.

4. Invest in Quality Staff

The key factor when it comes to managing an eCommerce store during periods of rapid growth is having reliable staff members who can handle the increased demand effectively. They can do all of this without compromising on quality standards, customer service, or your own growth.

Make sure you have enough experienced staff members available who are able to manage the increased workloads, even when things get busy! If you work in an industry where growth isn’t easy to predict, consider keeping employees or freelancers on retainer for when you need them.

5. Enhance Customer Experience

It’s important that your customers’ experience remains positive throughout their entire shopping journey—from browsing products online to receiving their orders. 59% of customers will stop doing business with you after one bad experience, so it’s vital that you improve their experience.

Make sure you have a clear checkout process, offer multiple payment methods, and provide customers with quick and reliable customer service. With any luck, they’ll shop with you again.

6. Monitor Stock Levels

Keep track of inventory on a regular basis so that you can adjust your stocking levels accordingly when demand increases. This will ensure that you don’t run out of stock during periods of high demand and also help to avoid overstocking, which can lead to wastage.

Don’t forget to update your website if a shortage is inevitable. If a customer orders a product that your website said was in stock, they’re going to be upset and likely go to your competitor.

7. Monitor Pricing Tables

As prices typically increase during periods of high demand, always monitor the market and adjust your prices accordingly. Not only will this help you stay competitive, but you’ll also make a higher profit from each sale. With that said, don’t go overboard with the price increase.

It’s tempting to increase prices to meet demand, but that could also make you lose your market advantage. For example, if your product is similar to the competitors, what’s stopping them from shopping with them? You may need to lower your prices to keep certain customers around.

8. Utilize Data Insights

Take advantage of analytics tools like Google Analytics that can offer valuable insights into customer behavior. With data, you’ll better understand the needs and preferences of your customers, which allows you to deliver a more personalized experience in times of growth.

Whether you’re a stable business or just starting out, big data can help you develop strategies for future trends. This information is incredibly valuable when planning for the next spike.

9. Leverage Marketing Strategies

Utilize marketing strategies like email campaigns, SEO optimization, or social media ads to reach potential customers during this period and engage existing ones. While you’re no doubt busy, it’s still vital to invest in your marketing department if you want to keep the ball rolling.

To make irresistible marketing materials, pay attention to your current customers. Use A/B testing to see which advertisements are more popular with your customers and visitors.

10. Keep Customers Updated

Finally, make sure to keep your customers informed at all times throughout the entire customer journey. Even the most navigable website can be confusing to some customers, and you’ll want to be available to guide them through it. Customer satisfaction should be the ultimate goal.

But that may mean owning up to your mistakes if you’re unable to meet your customer’s needs. Don’t leave your customers in the dark. Let them know if a shipment is going to be late if your customer service team is unable to keep up, or if you can’t process requests in a timely manner.

In Conclusion on Your eCommerce Store

Ensuring that your eCommerce store runs smoothly during periods of rapid growth is essential for maintaining customer satisfaction and for the future success of your business.

By following these 10 tips, you’ll have the knowledge and strategies in place to manage any spikes in demand while still providing customers with a positive experience from start to finish.