Relative to the mainstream of large eCommerce platforms, vertical eCommerce is weaker. Why? Because the position of the vertical eCommerce is the most impacted. Vertical eCommerce means that the product sequence and the customer base are relative. Using finite products and services to meet customers' needs. It is tenable in theory. In the early development of vertical eCommerce, this model brought a good result as well.
However, with a large number of vertical eCommerce industry participants, competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Vertical eCommerce is struggling to compete with other big eCommerce platforms. To survive in the competition, the vertical eCommerce needs to do some transformation. How to follow the trends and grasp the opportunity? Here are some solutions that may help you:
Transfer to integrated eCommerce
Vertical eCommerce can transfer to integrated eCommerce, which is similar to Amazon. But at present, the competition of integrated eCommerce has become more and more fierce. Ali, Jingdong, and Bestbuy are involved in the integrated eCommerce platform, but other large suppliers start to develop or customize eCommerce websites. For a small and medium-sized eCommerce company, it is hard to share a piece of cake now. They must spend more time in the website operation and human resources even they cannot guarantee good profits.
Develop the brand
Since there are nearly no advantages to develop an eCommerce website, develop the brand is also a good choice. The brand is the only thing that vertical eCommerce can hold and paid special attention to. The industry has the words said "no brand, no business". That means only to make products unique; the brand vertical eCommerce will go well. Liu Qiangdong, the CEO of Jingdong, also said, "own brands will have more opportunities than retailers' eCommerce platform in B2C eCommerce".
Do single product
Take customers' demand as the core to make personalized product customization. Vertical eCommerce has been facing the customers and market dilemma. It is mainly because people couldn't distinguish products and services in vertical eCommerce. If we emphasize one or two segments of the products (including product quantity and variety), it will be replaced by other big and rich integrated eCommerce platforms. Therefore, we should consider the highlight of our vertical eCommerce service. In the current trend of C2B, using a personalized product to drive customers' demand is also a good choice.
Transfer to Media
Transferring to media and developing some related tools can also drive As Douban, Hupu, and so on, their nature is not business, but the media and tools. They create business opportunities through the media. Vertical eCommerce also can learn from this thought. We can build a fan cluster of our own culture and grasp the guiding consumers' opinions.
Be or not to be, is becoming an important thing that should be considered now for vertical eCommerce. Along with the transfer of consumer habits, business owners should understand the future direction of consumption in social communication, localization, personalization, and customization to improve the user experience.
TMO Group is a eCommerce developer in China. We help our clients to make professional eCommerce solutions. More details please send us an email or call our hotline!
