• by Ray Schultz , February 22, 2018

The most successful small businesses use email to drive ecommerce. But it is not always their first choice — nor the most effective, according to a study by Privy, provider of an ecommerce platform for SMB merchants.   

Facebook, Instagram and Facebook ads outrank email in being their use for driving online store traffic. And email slides down a notch when it comes to effectiveness -- ranking behind Instagram, Facebook ads, Facebook and Google ads.

Of over 500 SMBs, however, 70% say growing their email list is relevant or critical to their business. And of the companies with revenue of over 100k, 88% are using email, along with 82% of those with five or more employees.

That said, new businesses are most interested in trying Google Ads, remarketing and YouTube in 2018.

Despite low barriers to entry,, it is no small challenge to start a successful SMB. Of those polled, only 43% of those that set goals were able to meet or exceed them in 2017. Another 21% set no goals.

Moreover, 63% of 1-1 year-old businesses did not meet their holiday goals.

New ecommerce businesses face these challenges:

• Driving traffic to their stores
• Getting new customers
• Improving the performance of advertising
• Building a social media presence
• Getting repeat purchases fro past customers
• Increasing cart size

However, SMBs remain optimistic. Over half say they plan to grow by more than 50% in 2018, with 21% expecting to double their revenue. 

Of the companies surveyed, 50% are “solopreneurs.” Overall, 40% sell apparel. 

Privy also found 96% use offers in their marketing and on their websites. The most used offers are free shipping and $ off a whole order. But those two are reversed in terms of effectiveness.

Not all firms are using all potential discount tools, Privy reports. Of those polled, 35% are using “percentage off a single product,” 26% are fielding “dollars of a whole order” and 19% “dollars off a single product,” despite the perceived effectiveness of these offers.

As for inspiration, 60% look to brands like Apple, Nike, Amazon and Old Navy. However, even more read ecommerce and marketing expert blogs and articles. Some ask friends and family.

The takeaway: “Low barriers to entry are giving ecommerce merchants a false sense of what it takes to be successful,” states Ben Jabbawy, CEO and founder of Privy. “While technology makes it easy to get started, we see time and time again that it takes planning and perseverance to successfully grow in the early years.”