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How to be a Good E-Commerce Copywriter

February 22, 2023

When looking to be a good e-commerce copywriter, there are two goals that stand above all others.

These goals are:

  • Establish trust with the reader
  • Convince the reader that a product is right for them

It is possible to break down these aims into smaller goals and there is also a lot to be said for driving traffic towards your website but, ultimately, there is a need to achieve these two targets in order to grow a business and be a success.

In the digital era, it can be difficult to establish trust with a reader for a number of reasons. The fact that there is so much more competition nowadays and the market is increasingly saturated is a big reason. Modern buyers are often more cynical than they once were and so building trust takes time. This is a virtue not everyone has.

The e-commerce market has become an integral part of daily life for so many people, and one of the biggest factors in its development is due to speed. If you don’t have a lot of time, you can do all of your shopping from the comfort of your bed, couch or on the commute. You can shop in minutes. This means many people won’t spend a lot of time engaging or interacting with brands, so it's extra important to make content engaging from the get-go.

Copywriting is a lengthy process

Copywriting for Shopify merchants and online retailers has to begin long before the sales process. Yes, product descriptions should be as informative and as engaging as possible but editorial copywriting needs to be in play long before this part of the sales process.

Before anything, as a company you need to consider your audience. The success of editorial copywriting for an e-commerce blog is dependent on the image you are trying to promote and the people you are trying to connect with. There is a need to provide copy that relates to the identity of your business, and which at the same time speaks to potential buyers in a way that they will understand.

While there may be a similar end goal for a retailer that sells fashionable clothes for people aged 18 to 25 and a company that provides vintage style clothing for people in their mid-40s, there is a marked difference in the content that will appeal to these audiences.

Showcasing your brand as a company that ties in with the aspirations and aims of your audience is often a good starting point in building trust. An easy way for fashion retailers to do so, for example, is to produce editorial content based on what celebrities are wearing. Whether this is showing how people can get the same look on a budget or by discussing the various trends they are wearing, it is quite simple for a retailer to establish your company in a way that can appeal to your target audience.

This is why before any of you focus on content, you need to establish what is appropriate for your intended audience.

What does your audience want to read?

Developing trust and showing that you can offer the products your audience is looking for is a smart way to convince your individual readers to buy from you.

No matter what product is being sold, copywriting is often about following this pattern:

  • Raise an issue or problem that people have
  • Discuss solutions to this problem
  • Provide the solution to this problem

Whether the problem is dealing with an infestation of rats, to the perfect outfit for a nightclub, to how to decorate a bedroom; every customer has a problem that they want to solve and your job is to connect with them. You must use the correct tone, a combination of informative and engaging language and at the same time demonstrate your product’s practicality, usability, and benefits.

Be sure to include:

  • Simple sentences
  • An active voice
  • Flawless copy
  • State the obvious

Ways that this can be achieved through content, not only in a blog, is by incorporating testimonials or reviews from existing customers into your website.

Companies often use social media to research the problems that their audience are experiencing and then connect them to a solution. The engagement offered by digital marketing solutions should ensure that you have a genuine chance of promoting your products in a tangible way.

A good e-commerce copywriter will make a company seem like a friend, offering advice and solutions to the problems that people face. It is in fact, possible to increase search traffic by over 50% and boost conversion rates to over 30% on most websites. Put simply, the right e-commerce copywriting strategy can make a huge difference to the success of your business.

Some of our favourite e-commerce blogs

  1. Nasty Gal
  2. Bluebella
  3. Mr Porter
  4. Fortnum and Mason
  5. Casper
  6. Herschel
  7. Watch Xchange
  8. Condor

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