As you grow your ecommerce business, you may consider diversifying your product line by including different products, more products, or support products that accentuate your existing catalogue. Broadening your selection of products not only provides a shelter against changing market tastes but also lets you expand your customer base by providing a wider selection of products.
Choose the Expansion That Makes Sense
Selecting an area for product expansion is largely a matter of common sense. You want something pertinent to your existing product catalogue, but you also want to choose a product range that accentuates and reinforces your web page’s branding identity. Rather than contradict or confuse your customers’ expectations, the new product line should seem a natural extension of what they’ve come to expect from your category pages and product selection.
As an example, a company that sells leather jackets would also want to sell leather restoration tools and leather care products. Such expansion line products for sale also gives your customers a sense of convenience when shopping at your site.
Keep The Products Close In Your Page Categories
Don’t sequester your new products on different pages from your original product catalogue, but instead build them in to existing product description and category pages, either by image thumbnail linking or direct linking to the category page or product descriptions for the new products. This is actually easier than you might expect. Look for natural links between a product you already sell and one that you’ve just added to your product inventory. Then, connect the two with the aforementioned web design tools, and accentuate the connection with a few lines of well-placed copy: “Customers who bought this also bought…” makes a great, if somewhat generic start to the connection.
Use Fulfillment Outsourcing To Manage Your New Products Along With Your Old
By outsourcing your order fulfillment and logistics management, you can expand your product line without taking on the additional expense of warehousing and fulfillment on your own. The new inventory can be delivered to your product fulfillment company’s fulfillment center just as easily as your existing product line.
These fulfillment service companies are able to manage your order fulfillment, logistics resource needs, order processing and shipping, as well as additional tasks including customer service resolutions and mail order fulfillment of catalogues, brochures, and other marketing materials. You have the ability to have your inventory delivered directly to their own fulfillment center, as well.