How to use ecommerce to grow your business?

With the value of online retail in the UK reportedly worth £127bn in 2024 and global retail online sales projected to reach £4.8 trillion in 2025 (source: The Federation of Small Businesses), it is no wonder that the already large number of UK businesses selling online continues to grow significantly. 

The UK has hundreds of thousands of registered ecommerce-only businesses, while a huge number of UK “bricks-and-mortar” retailers and other SMEs also sell online to generate much-needed additional income. 

Online now makes up almost 30% of UK retail sales, when that figure was less than 3% in 2007 (source: Office for National Statistics). About 52m people in the UK (three quarters of the population) were expected to make online purchases in 2025, confirming the UK's position as one of Europe’s most digitally active consumer markets. 

Ecommerce can be a game-changer for UK SMEs – and not just those in retail. If you want to set up an ecommerce business or your small business wants to start selling online, read on for practical ecommerce tips that could help you succeed and grow.  

What is ecommerce? 

Short for electronic commerce, ecommerce means buying and selling products, services and subscriptions online (ie via the internet). They are purchased via websites or apps, with customers paying by credit/debit cards, digital wallets or other online means. Orders are delivered physically or digitally (eg software or subscriptions).  

Key benefits of ecommerce

Ecommerce can provide many advantages over selling offline via a traditional “bricks-and-mortar” shop.

• Potentially, you can sell to a huge customer base of people in other UK locations and countries all over the world.  

• Selling online can be far cheaper when compared to offline (no huge premises overheads), while enabling you to sell 24/7, 365 days a year worldwide.  

• And you can carefully track your results and customer behaviour, so you can improve or rethink your approach, guided by reliable data. 

  
  

Main ecommerce channels

You can sell via your own website (if it can accept payments and process orders) or create a separate ecommerce website (many use website-building solutions such as Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, Squarespace, etc). You can also sell via online marketplaces (eg Amazon, eBay, Etsy) and social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

• Your choice of ecommerce channels should be determined by several key factors, such what you are selling, your target customers, cost of selling (eg marketplace fees, website building/hosting fees), your knowledge/skill and your overall business marketing strategy.  

• Many UK SMEs combine online marketplaces (which offer great reach), social platforms (which can be great for engagement) and their own website (which gives them complete brand control). 

  
  

Top tip: Find out exactly how much you will pay in fees before you start selling on marketplaces and social media websites and factor it in when setting your prices.

How to start selling online

1 Decide your ecommerce target market

You should know who you want to sell to and what their wants, needs and behaviours are. This should guide all your ecommerce choices. If your knowledge is lacking, carry out reliable market research. As well as online research, speak to members of your target market directly. Find out what they think of your products, services and prices. It could enable you to improve your offer and prevent expensive mistakes.  

2 Research your ecommerce competitors

Carry out online research to find out what your competitors sell, how they sell it, how much they charge and whether they offer any deals, discounts or special offers. Read online reviews (good and bad) to find out what their customers think of their products, services and value for money they receive. How can you be more attractive? Do their weaknesses offer you any opportunities? How can you compete against their strengths?   

3 Choose your ecommerce channels

Will you sell via your own website or create a separate ecommerce website? What about online marketplaces and social media platforms? You could choose more than one channel (many sellers do). 

If you plan to build your own new ecommerce website and lack experience, look at popular website-building options such as Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, Squarespace, etc. Take advantage of free trials so you can better understand what it involves. Using predesigned templates can make the job easier and quicker. Budget permitting, consider getting help to build your ecommerce website, but get detailed quotes before agreeing the work.  

Your website should be fast, mobile-friendly and designed to quickly convert visitors into buyers. The navigation should be clear, the check-out easy, and your product images should be high quality. Include detailed descriptions that sell your products or services, as well as positive customer reviews and endorsements. Clearly explain your shipping, exchange and return policies. As a general rule – keep it simple.  

Top tip: If you plan to use online marketplaces and social media platforms read their advice on how to sell. Find out the exact costs of every channel you choose.

4 Decide what you will sell and set your prices

Knowledge of your target market should guide your choice of products and services. Online research and tools such as Google Trends and Amazon Best Sellers can also tell you what products are in demand online. Alternatively, you could target a niche market, which means aiming your products or services at a specific group of customers. The latter can prove a highly successful strategy. 

Think carefully when setting your ecommerce prices. You do not have to charge less when selling online, but bear in mind your competitors’ prices, all your costs/fees, customer price expectations and delivery charges (especially if selling overseas).  

5 Offer secure payment options and reliable shipping

Offering secure, easy and convenient payment options and reliable shipping is essential. Get it right and it helps to build trust and customer loyalty. Get it wrong and it can lead to cancelled orders and a flurry of negative online reviews.  

Payment options include debit/credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Buy Now, Pay Later (eg Klarna), bank transfer, Direct Debit, etc. Shipping can include flat rates, higher rates for quicker deliveries, free-shipping thresholds, alternative carrier rates and free local delivery or pickup. 

6 Use digital marketing to drive sales

Customers need to know you exist, as well as what you sell and why they should buy it from you. A mix of marketing channels and strategies can be used to attract and retain ecommerce customers, including SEO (search engine optimisation) to ensure that your web pages rank high up in search engine results pages, advertising (including pay-per-click advertising on Google Ads and Facebook Ads), social media marketing (Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest can be great for showcasing  products), email and mobile marketing (eg texts, WhatsApp messages).  

Top tip: Displaying retargeting ads on websites and apps, social media sites and search engines can be an effective way to bring back website visitors who have left without buying.

7 Analyse key metrics and improve

Closely assess the analytics data of your website and/or other ecommerce channels to better understand your performance. Identify what is working well and where you need to improve. Key ecommerce metrics include: bounce rate (ie percentage of visitors who land on a webpage and soon leave without any further activity), conversion rate (ie how effectively your site turns visitors into buyers), total sales revenue, average order value, customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value, repeat purchase rate, cart abandonment rate, refund and return rate, etc. 

Top tip: Offering cost-effective rewards, deals and exclusive offers can help to build customer loyalty. Make returns easy and always provide great customer service. It is cheaper and easier to sell to existing customers, so look after them.

Key considerations when selling online to customers overseas

• You need to display your prices in other currencies. 

• You must be able to accept payments in other currencies, which can be made easier by international payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Worldpay, etc. All transactions should be seamless, secure and cost-effective. 

• Your couriers must be reliable, while having to pay for international shipping can add significantly to your prices for overseas customers. 

• Some products may require export licences or be restricted in certain countries. They are likely to have their own consumer protection laws, too. 

• Your customers may have to pay tariffs, local taxes and customs duties, which can make your products more expensive than local alternatives.  

• You may also have to add pages in other languages to your website. Also work out how you will answer customer enquiries in languages you don’t speak.  

• Your customer service must always be highly professional and responsive.

Top tip: If you have not sold online to customers overseas before, you can dip your toe in the water by first targeting one or two English-speaking countries where buying online is popular. See how you get on before broadening your horizons.

Ecommerce key takeaways

• Ecommerce potentially offers considerable commercial returns. 

• Ecommerce can enable you to sell to a huge customer base. It can be much cheaper than selling offline and you can sell 24/7, 365 days a year.  

• You can sell via your own website, a separate ecommerce website, online marketplaces and social media platforms or a mix of these. 

• You must offer secure payment options, reliable shipping and excellent customer service. 

• It is easy to analyse ecommerce key metrics, so you can improve and sell more. 

• Digital marketing is key to your ecommerce success. Use a mix of channels. 

• Selling online to customers overseas brings additional challenges.