In competitive markets it can be difficult to come out on top. Some of it is down to the amount of promotion and type of promotion that you do, but if someone has found your site along with 3 or 4 others offering the same thing, why should they choose you? The key is to be different, here are a few ideas.

Better Offers
A good example of this is Play.com. Selling DVDs and CDs is a competitive market, and by offering low prices and free delivery they have had huge success. Obviously there are business considerations when reducing costs (I'm not suggesting you don't make a profit!) so it may not be an option. It does not have to be so drastic though, periodic special offers, discounts on bulk buys, offering discount codes to previous customers. Even if its not much, if its more that your competitors you have the edge.

Competitions
Running competitions on your website is a good way to attract attention, especially if the prize is good. Whether you partner with somebody else to get a prize, or offer a voucher for your store, if its attractive to people you'll find you will get a lot of entries. Another thing you can do is provide a "send to friend" feature within the competition. So when someone enters they are presented with a number of boxes to send details to their friends.

Running competitions not only gets attention and raises the profile of your site over your competitors, but also gives you a base of email addresses to market products to down the line (make sure they are aware they'll recieve mails though!).

Be Useful with Blogs/E-Zines
Content is a great way to add value to your website. Starting a blog is a good way to get content online. If you blog about things related to your products, it will tell people you are not just an online shop, but you know what you're talking about and have a face. It could be product reviews, product "how to" articles, discussions on events within your market or even product announcements as you get new stock in.

Enhance Customer Experience
If visitors enjoy their time on your website they will stay, and come back again. Make your website a nice place to be and offer good features to help your customers. Make your ordering process as simple as possible. Have a help section full of expected questions and answers. Make sure its clear where to find everything. All this helps, and at the end of the day if people don't like being on your website they'll look elsewhere.

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