The wellness industry is booming, and it’s projected to just keep growing. This growth is being driven by a number of factors, including the increasing focus on preventive care, the rising cost of healthcare, and the growing demand for personalized wellness solutions.
Personally, in the past few years I’ve decided to prioritize my health way more because without it, I won’t get much more done, and that’s something a lot of people seem to realize as well. There’s a lot of talk about self care, putting life over work, living in the moment—but more than talk, we need to walk the walk which means prioritizing our health in all aspects: mental, physical, and even spiritual.
Ways in which e-commerce will level up your business
If you’re a wellness business owner, you’re probably looking for ways to reach more customers and grow your business. And one of the best ways to do this is to invest in an e-commerce platform. Let me share with you why…
1. Reach a wider audience
With an e-commerce platform, you can sell your products or services to customers all over the world. This is a huge advantage over traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, which are limited by their physical location. Especially when you are dedicated to a very niched-down industry, the internet is the best way to find the people who want what you offer.
2. Increase your sales
An e-commerce platform can help you increase your sales by making it easier for customers to find and purchase your products. Use SEO to optimize your store, and you’ll have organic traffic coming to you. You can also use your e-commerce platform to run marketing campaigns and promotions to drive more traffic to your site. There are many different ways to market products online, giving you many different ways to increase your sales.
3. Improve your customer service
An e-commerce platform can help you improve your customer service by providing customers with a convenient way to contact you with questions or concerns. Blogposts, FAQs, chatbots—e-commerce provides lots of options to answer questions and provide answers to your customers, and you have full control of it.
Do you have a team that can help you be in social media DMs answering questions? Or are you just one person running the show behind the scenes? You can adjust your options based on your time, your energy, your needs. You can automate customer service without it being salesy or robotic. There’s a lot of flexibility and options to help provide an even better service and have customers come back again and again.
4. Save money
An e-commerce platform can help you save money on overhead costs, such as rent and staffing. You can also save money on marketing and advertising costs by using your e-commerce platform to run online campaigns. This is especially relevant if you are just starting out and don’t have a big budget yet—you can start with what you have! You can make it simple but efficient. There are many different options, some where you need to invest more money, some where you need to invest more time, but either way you have the flexibility to explore and find what fits your situation best.
5. Grow your business
An e-commerce platform can help you grow your business by providing you with the tools and resources you need to reach new customers, increase your sales, and improve your customer service. I mean, all the reasons listed above show why it’s easier to grow your business if you go the e-commerce route. And when you’ve grown enough to expand your team, it will be to get them helping you in more growth and income-generating tasks, instead of simpler tasks that your e-commerce platform and online presence strategy already take care of.
6. Increased flexibility
With an e-commerce platform, you can easily update your product catalog, add new products, and change prices. This flexibility allows you to quickly adapt to changes in the market and meet the needs of your customers. And especially when compared to brick and mortars, e-commerce provides much more flexibility in pretty much every aspect, and allows you to have more freedom.
7. Scalability
An e-commerce platform can be scaled to accommodate your growing business. As your business grows, you can easily add new features and functionality to your e-commerce platform. Or you can start with a simple platforms, and slowly scale when you are fully ready and can afford extra help to move into something more complex—either way, it’s your choice, and you can scale at whatever rate works for you.
8. Security
A good e-commerce platform will offer a high level of security to protect your customers’ personal and financial information, and also protect you from potential problems that could come up with payment processors or other integrations that are necessary for you to run your online store. You can often also offer options so your customers can choose how to provide their information, increasing their trust in you.
If you are convinced that e-commerce would be a great addition to your business, keep on reading for ideas on how to start your own online store.
E-Commerce Product Ideas
If you have been wanting to expand your wellness business into the e-commerce area as well, but are not sure yet of what you could offer, here are some ideas that apply to different areas of the wellness industry:
Digital products
- Ebooks and guides on topics such as nutrition, fitness, and stress management.
- Audio programs such as meditations, yoga classes, and sleep stories.
- Video programs such as fitness tutorials, cooking classes, or other wellness tutorials.
- Online courses on a variety of wellness topics.
- Memberships to support groups or online wellness communities or platforms.
Physical products:
- Natural beauty products such as face masks, moisturizers, and sunscreen.
- Supplements such as vitamins, minerals, and herbs.
- Fitness equipment such as yoga mats, weights, and resistance bands.
- Clothing that is designed for comfort and movement.
- Food that is healthy and nutritious.
- Other tools that you use or are adjacent to your wellness practice such as oils, crystals, and journals.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. The best product ideas of course will depend on your existing business, your target audience, and your unique selling proposition.
E-Commerce Platforms
Nowadays there are so many platforms with different features, price points, ease of use experiences, etc., that there’s guaranteed something out there to help you with your situation. Some platforms you could consider based on your needs:
- Shopify – recommended for bigger stores with lots of products
- WooCommerce – recommended for stores that want to be attached to a website with lots of functionalities beyond blog and store.
- And if you are just starting out and want to try out something simple first before investing in a bigger built, you can try Etsy, Instagram Shopping, or PayPal Buttons.
At Stargazed Studio our specialization with e-commerce is setting up WooCommerce for digital products. We have helped wellness businesses sell subscription memberships, wellness journals, and ebooks through WooCommerce. And we’ve also helped setting up integrations within our clients’ websites to sell products they have listed on Amazon, or products that they sell with partnerships on other websites.
Do you want help figuring out what platform would be best for you right now? Talk to us! If we can’t help you, we can point you to someone who can.
We hope this post showed you not only the amazing benefits of adding e-commerce to your business, but also inspired you to start selling your own products!
