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Caribou Shares eCommerce Tips For Small Businesses Beyond 2021

In response to the pandemic, retail businesses across the globe were forced to pivot to online selling which has now morphed into a must-have feature for any competitive retail store, according to Manchester-based logistics leader, Caribou. 

In fact, it is predicted that there will be over eCommerce shoppers by the end of 2021. Since eCommerce accounts for over of all retail sales, it’s a smart addition to any retail business that will future-proof your operation for years to come. 

But small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are trying to do more with less, which means making the most of your resources as you offer an online retail experience to your shoppers. You need an innovative plan for the busy Christmas period, and to ensure you kick off 2022 with a strong eCommerce presence. 

Caribou has tips for growing your eCommerce businesses 

The good news, according to Caribou, is that you don’t always need a huge budget to be a disruptor in the eCommerce space, and we’ve looked at a few options to make the most of eCommerce for your retail brand. 

Get the user experience right

When lockdowns hit, many retailers had to switch to eCommerce overnight. This lack of preparation meant many eCommerce experiences just weren’t intuitive. After 18+ months of the pandemic, it’s clear that the volume of online purchases only has plans to stay on the rise, and its important that retailers use it to their advantage.

The user experience on your website can be the difference between a sale or an abandoned cart. Think about the way you would expect to navigate a site, and ensure a mobile-optimized website that’s easy to use. Make sure your images load quickly and that the checkout process is seamless. When in doubt, on your website to make sure your users are having a great experience. Whilst a custom website can rack up some costs, there are now plenty of options to create your own site, meaning you don’t always have to break the bank.

Create good content on the right platforms

Content marketing is popular because it’s affordable to produce—and shoppers love it! You can promote your eCommerce store by creating helpful or otherwise valuable content that your shoppers are looking for. This could take the form of: 

While it can take time to create good content, it’s generally free to produce, so this is a smart way to grow your small business if you don’t have many resources. For example, instead of paying for expensive Facebook Ads, you can create a fun video on how to style your brand’s sweaters for fall. 

The great thing about creating your own content is that you can tap your team’s expertise. Your employees know your brand and products like the back of their hand; so why not use that expertise to generate more content? film how-tos, guides, and other specialist content thanks to their team’s experience.

The key to effective content marketing is to share content on the platforms your audience uses. For example, if you’re selling to 20-year-old college students, you may want to consider age-appropriate content on the platforms they are most likely to use such as TikTok, and maybe not LinkedIn. Caribou believes that it is important to do a little audience research before you spend hours producing content—your shoppers’ preferences should always dictate what you create. 

Partner with influencers

Did you know that of retail stores work with influencers? SMBs don’t always invest in influencer marketing because it sounds expensive or complicated, but in reality, it’s an effective way to stand out from the competition. 

Influencers are effective because they promote your products to a readymade audience that already trusts the influencer’s recommendations. Instead of trying to build an audience yourself, you can hire an influencer to boost your products in a matter of weeks. 

You can look for influencers manually, but to save even more time, to automate outreach, campaigns, payments, and more. 

Optimize your product listing pages, Says Caribou

eCommerce is more convenient than in-store shopping in many ways, but it has one big disadvantage: shoppers can’t physically see your products. If you want to generate more sales, then the way you display your product listing pages is absolutely key. 

If you haven’t already overhauled your product pages to attract more customers, you can boost sales by: 

Use a CRM

In 2021, there was a in eCommerce retail sales globally. That means more people are shopping online today than ever before. This is great news for growing retail brands, but it presents a huge challenge: how can you keep track of your online customers? 

This platform keeps all of your shoppers’ information in one place, which makes it easier to market yourself, understand shopper demographics, and more. Plus, a CRM allows you to segment your customers into groups based on the products they buy, how often they buy, how long they’ve been a customer, and any other metric that matters to your business. 

A CRM will also allow you to create personalized experiences at scale for each of your customers. The tool lets you add shoppers’ names to emails, remind them to order refills, and other personalized touches. Since of shoppers say personalized experiences would make them a repeat customer, this is a must for growing your eCommerce brand, says Caribou.  

Promote products with email marketing

For every £1 you spend on email marketing, you can generate . Since most shoppers want to hear from retailers via email, this is a smart way to grow your business beyond 2021 without busting your budget. 

Use a tool like to send welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, coupons, promotions, and much more. It will even allow you to create automated campaigns that run based on triggers. This means you don’t have to lift a finger: your email marketing will happen automatically, bringing even more shoppers into the fold while you focus on growing your business. 

The bottom line

Retail is a profitable niche, but it’s incredibly competitive. If you haven’t already made a plan to move into online retail, now is the time. Caribou knows that more and more shoppers are shopping without an in-store experience, so Caribou believes you should give them what they want by launching an effective omnichannel presence for your retail brand. 

Instead of spending all of your time finding foot traffic to a brick-and-mortar store, your eCommerce presence can do all of the selling for you.

About Caribou

Caribou was born out of a merger between various mail, parcel, and packet specialists. Together, these companies have injected over two decades of experience into Caribou, which now fuels the logistics industry with new approaches to affordable, timely deliveries. The company operates from multiple locations in the UK, including Manchester, Colchester, and Grantham, and around the world.

The logistics company integrates with several channels and marketplaces, including Amazon, Shopify, OnBuy, Cloud Commerce Pro, WooCommerce, eBay, Linnworks, MetaPack, Mintsoft, CSVuploader, PrestaShop, and StoreFeeder to offer a range of logistics services. These include freight forwarding; domestic parcel and pallet networks; storage and warehousing; haulage; and same-day services.

Caribou values both its staff and customers. The company’s van drivers, warehouse staff, customer service team, and managers make the carrier’s innovative approaches to delivery services possible. Caribou’s people-centric culture reflects its appreciation for these employees, as reflected in the company motto: We are Caribou.

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