The Reality of E commerce Bunsiness

[Nick20000]

Just thought I would write some things about E commerce business.

 

My reality is that after 1 year and 3 months I have made 0 sales and 0 sign ups. This is true. I am still here working and working on my website everyday of my life, adding product pages, making backlinks, tried adwords, facebook, twitter, pinterest, and after all the efforts I have not made anything. My traffic is terrible and never seems to improve. My alexa ranking is 9,824,427.

 

I feel like giving up on it everyday but I just don't. 

 

What are your experiences?

Edited September 24, 2014 by Nick20000 (see edit history)

[Paulito]

Hello

 

Perhaps you could start by giving your url

 

Paul

[Nick20000]

here you go. http://www.shopmost.co.uk

Edited September 24, 2014 by Nick20000 (see edit history)

[PrestaHeroes USA]

being seen is a difficult task especially when we compete against super large savvy shops for same products.

 

with your experience building such a nice shop, have you considered finding other product to sell?

 

here is a great article today from NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/technology/24shave.html?_r=0

 

the point being, is you are now a savvy ecommerce manager, it would then be simple for you compared to most to find other products and build online shop that you may have success with.

 

I think you are competing with amazon and ebay...ave maria pues...

 

suerte! (luck)

[Nick20000]

I have put far too much time and effort into this to just start another website. I don't have anything left to give as in terms of another website. I know what your saying about eBay and Amazon, but there are many websites out there selling the same stuff that have success. Just how to get people to visit and buy from us is the hard bit. Most of my items are cheaper then Amazon and eBay.

[PrestaHeroes USA]

I have put far too much time and effort into this to just start another website. I don't have anything left to give as in terms of another website. I know what your saying about eBay and Amazon, but there are many websites out there selling the same stuff that have success. Just how to get people to visit and buy from us is the hard bit. Most of my items are cheaper then Amazon and eBay.

 

I certainly understand amount of work.  but in reality we do not have enough information to be of much help.  Have you posted your shop for review here?:

http://www.prestashop.com/forums/topic/269161-submit-your-sites-here-to-get-free-seo-and-marketing-advice

 

in your google  analtyiics do you see visitors?  and if so where do they exit?

 

getting bounce rate down is muy imporante

 

-----

 

also there is no reason you can't have shop with 'other' products, this was just advice so have options...and use your knowledge.

[Nick20000]

good point about other products. we do sell many things and can add more.

 

I do have google analytics. I have had around 71 visits in the past 3 days not very much. On my main google analytics my Bounce Rate is 49.30%. My google traffic is around 12 visits a day. I get a few from Pinterest, Facebook, Yahoo.

 

My visits seem to exit through the product pages.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Nick20000 (see edit history)

[PrestaHeroes USA]

that is frustrating, be nice to have a rottentomatoes app, that displayed rating.

 

do you get some abandoned carts?

[Nick20000]

176 total abandoned carts since opening.

 

and 3 just today.

[PrestaHeroes USA]

176 total abandoned carts since opening.

 

and 3 just today.

 

 

gosh that is something...

 

I tested checkout, guest, and that was fine until I didn't complete the purchase and then I see something odd, the devliery address is not my address

 

http://screencast.com/t/cAdGNZUUNVX

 

as for the abandoned carts, pushing them to complete the purchase as you know is the trick.

 

it looks like shipping for me was 0.00, do you have shipping charges, if not I don't see free shipping as a prominent point

[Nick20000]

I just tested it myself and didn't have the problem you just experienced, very strange.

 

And my shipping is free for now.

 

I just removed your account, could you try again and see if you get the same problem.

 

thank you.

[PrestaHeroes USA]

I just tested it myself and didn't have the problem you just experienced, very strange.

 

And my shipping is free for now.

 

I just removed your account, could you try again and see if you get the same problem.

 

thank you.

 

did not see what I described earlier during this last test (guest).

[Paulito]

Hello

From a personal point of view I think your categories are too diverse.

 

After saying that, it is very easy to get £100.00 worth of google ads if you spend £25.00

 

I assume after working on your site for over a year you have read and put into action all of googles advice and best practices.

 

The abandoned carts, where does your analytics say they come from and where did they leave your site.

 

As you have a very varied product range have you tried selling/advertising your products in Hospitals, Car boits etc.

 

The thing us getting your name known

 

Paul

[Nick20000]

hi.

 

they all seem to be leaving the products pages. visits are coming from google search, pinterest, facebook, yahoo search. All landing on the products pages and leaving them.

 

how do I get the free £100 adwords as I am going to spend another £25 tomorrow.

[PrestaHeroes USA]

adwords is another animal.

 

do you offer free shipping, i.e. do you have any shipping costs set up or is all shipping free?

[Nick20000]

We offer free uk shipping. I would like to keep UK shipping as free but Europe I would like to apply shipping, how to separate the two?

 

Like I said I have 25 to spend on adwords, how do I get the £100 free adwords?

[Oxbow]

It is frustrating when you invest so much time and effort into something that you're passionate about, only to see it fall so far short of what you hoped for.

 

I had a quick look at your site, which looks clean and well designed.  The one thing that jumped out to me is that you seem to be offering very similar products to Amazon.  You even use the term "marketplace" in your tagline, which I always associate with Amazon. I can't think of a more challenging market to go after!  I searched for the first two items you are advertising on your front page and both were significantly cheaper at Amazon.  Price isn't everything, but I don't understand your business proposition.  What are you offering that differentiates you from Amazon, Play.com and all the other players that chase this crowded space?

 

My advice would be use all of the great knowledge that you have accumulated over the past 12 months and find a different market to target.  Find something you're passionate about and see if you can find a unique proposition.  It takes perseverance to succeed in business, and every successful business I have ever seen has changed course at some point on the way to finding success.  Good luck with it!

[PrestaHeroes USA]

We offer free uk shipping. I would like to keep UK shipping as free but Europe I would like to apply shipping, how to separate the two?

 

Like I said I have 25 to spend on adwords, how do I get the £100 free adwords?

 

Then splash 'free shipping' using something link html box or images.  It's all the rage in the US.  Your shop does not IMHO advertise free freaky fast shipping.  The freaky fast shipping is what they want, and free just a bonus.  We have sub shop chain here in Kansas City, I can order via their shop, it is here in like 4 minutes..that's what we want and are used to, price is not so important. 

 

 

It is frustrating when you invest so much time and effort into something that you're passionate about, only to see it fall so far short of what you hoped for.

 

I had a quick look at your site, which looks clean and well designed.  The one thing that jumped out to me is that you seem to be offering very similar products to Amazon.  You even use the term "marketplace" in your tagline, which I always associate with Amazon. I can't think of a more challenging market to go after!  I searched for the first two items you are advertising on your front page and both were significantly cheaper at Amazon.  Price isn't everything, but I don't understand your business proposition.  What are you offering that differentiates you from Amazon, Play.com and all the other players that chase this crowded space?

 

My advice would be use all of the great knowledge that you have accumulated over the past 12 months and find a different market to target.  Find something you're passionate about and see if you can find a unique proposition.  It takes perseverance to succeed in business, and every successful business I have ever seen has changed course at some point on the way to finding success.  Good luck with it!

 

I agree...don't give up current shop but with your leanings you can easily be putting fingers in other pies.

[Nick20000]

It is frustrating when you invest so much time and effort into something that you're passionate about, only to see it fall so far short of what you hoped for.

 

I had a quick look at your site, which looks clean and well designed.  The one thing that jumped out to me is that you seem to be offering very similar products to Amazon.  You even use the term "marketplace" in your tagline, which I always associate with Amazon. I can't think of a more challenging market to go after!  I searched for the first two items you are advertising on your front page and both were significantly cheaper at Amazon.  Price isn't everything, but I don't understand your business proposition.  What are you offering that differentiates you from Amazon, Play.com and all the other players that chase this crowded space?

 

My advice would be use all of the great knowledge that you have accumulated over the past 12 months and find a different market to target.  Find something you're passionate about and see if you can find a unique proposition.  It takes perseverance to succeed in business, and every successful business I have ever seen has changed course at some point on the way to finding success.  Good luck with it!

If you look we have many products which are far cheaper then amazon. I have seen places like game.co.uk selling video games for £10 more then amazon and of course they are making lots of sales because people know them. The marketplace tagline was always intended to be temp.

 

I did do a facebook post which got me my first 2 sales for Blu-Ray movies so I know price is not an issue. The ones that sold wrre indeed cheaper then amazon.

[Nick20000]

Then splash 'free shipping' using something link html box or images.  It's all the rage in the US.  Your shop does not IMHO advertise free freaky fast shipping.  The freaky fast shipping is what they want, and free just a bonus.  We have sub shop chain here in Kansas City, I can order via their shop, it is here in like 4 minutes..that's what we want and are used to, price is not so important. 

 

 

 

I agree...don't give up current shop but with your leanings you can easily be putting fingers in other pies.

I am trying many thing. This is a never ending task.

[PrestaHeroes USA]

yes, no rest for the weary, I like 'freaky fast delivery' motto.

[Naldinho]

My reaction is much like those already mentioned -- your site is fine but you are selling stuff that if I was to buy online I'd just go to Amazon (in reality though most of the stuff you're selling is not products I would be in the market for). I think the problem is what you're selling and not the store. The store is nice and clean and seems pretty responsive.

 

My philosophy with e-commerce is that trying to sell generic products is way too hard. I wouldn't look at this as a waste because I presume you learned a lot about the software. I would take that knowledge and try to sell something different. When looking for what to sell I would be looking for something that I would not be competing with Amazon and B&M stores on.

[Nick20000]

My reaction is much like those already mentioned -- your site is fine but you are selling stuff that if I was to buy online I'd just go to Amazon (in reality though most of the stuff you're selling is not products I would be in the market for). I think the problem is what you're selling and not the store. The store is nice and clean and seems pretty responsive.

 

My philosophy with e-commerce is that trying to sell generic products is way too hard. I wouldn't look at this as a waste because I presume you learned a lot about the software. I would take that knowledge and try to sell something different. When looking for what to sell I would be looking for something that I would not be competing with Amazon and B&M stores on.

What about the 1000's of other website that are selling the same products amazon are selling like video games and still making money and getting sales. I have sold things for more then what amazon have sold them for many times on other platforms so I know it is nothing to do with price or where they buy from. Not everyone loves amazon.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Nick20000 (see edit history)

[Paulito]

Hello

 

Firstly, I seem to remember that your site did not look as good as it does now, great improvement.

 

If you went into any supermarket you would find videos, magazines, games and food etc.

 

I still think all you need is advertising, whether that be in social media, images, business cards, pens, or any of the hundreds of ways you can advertise.

 

Your site is OK you just need visitors and those visitors need a reason to buy, as El Patron said "Free Delivery"

You can also do "Specials", i notice you have none at the moment. What about "Buy two get one free"

 

Put a countdown timer on your site.

 

There are so many things you can do

 

PS. Don't forget about Google Addwords

 

Paul

[Naldinho]

What about the 1000's of other website that are selling the same products amazon are selling like video games and still making money and getting sales. I have sold things for more then what amazon have sold them for many times on other platforms so I know it is nothing to do with price or where they buy from. Not everyone loves amazon.

 

I'm not sure saying there are thousands of websites selling the same products really helps your position here. You asked for people's feedback and I gave you my opinion. I personally would never consider getting into e-commerce unless I was able to sell products at an advantage over other people. Trying to sell stuff that anyone else can also acquire and sell is hard.

 

That being said what have you done to get people to come to the store?

 

Adwords was mentioned but in the same discussion the budget seemed low especially since you have such a range of products.

 

I would also suggest trying Amazon -- if your prices are lower than theirs then having product ads on their site might be worth a try. 

 

Also have you actually tried to buy something just to confirm that the payment processing and everything else works?

Edited October 5, 2014 by Naldinho (see edit history)

[Nick20000]

I'm not sure saying there are thousands of websites selling the same products really helps your position here. You asked for people's feedback and I gave you my opinion. I personally would never consider getting into e-commerce unless I was able to sell products at an advantage over other people. Trying to sell stuff that anyone else can also acquire and sell is hard.

 

That being said what have you done to get people to come to the store?

 

Adwords was mentioned but in the same discussion the budget seemed low especially since you have such a range of products.

 

I would also suggest trying Amazon -- if your prices are lower than theirs then having product ads on their site might be worth a try. 

 

Also have you actually tried to buy something just to confirm that the payment processing and everything else works?

Hi. I do appreciate the input.

 

I have a friend who has bought from me 27 times so I know there is nothing wrong with the checkout and I have even gone through it myself many times to make sure it is working fine. Everything works and the payments are fine.

 

I did try adwords but I only tried it for a few products, had 800 impressions and about 14 clicks, no sales. I am new to adwords so still learning. I did have 2 nice sales from my facebook page on 2 blu-ray movies.

 

I think like everyone is saying I need to advertise.

Edited October 5, 2014 by Nick20000 (see edit history)

[Nick20000]

Hello

 

Firstly, I seem to remember that your site did not look as good as it does now, great improvement.

 

If you went into any supermarket you would find videos, magazines, games and food etc.

 

I still think all you need is advertising, whether that be in social media, images, business cards, pens, or any of the hundreds of ways you can advertise.

 

Your site is OK you just need visitors and those visitors need a reason to buy, as El Patron said "Free Delivery"

You can also do "Specials", i notice you have none at the moment. What about "Buy two get one free"

 

Put a countdown timer on your site.

 

There are so many things you can do

 

PS. Don't forget about Google Addwords

 

Paul

thanks for the kind words.

 

I will try some of your ideas.

 

thank you.

[Paulito]

Hello

 

I forgot to mention that customers are never happy to see a category they might be interested in but find no products:

 

1. Tea, Coffee & Hot Chocolate (you only have Coffee)

2. Beers, Wines & Spirits (you only have one type of wine)

 

Paul

[Nick20000]

Hello

 

I forgot to mention that customers are never happy to see a category they might be interested in but find no products:

 

1. Tea, Coffee & Hot Chocolate (you only have Coffee)

2. Beers, Wines & Spirits (you only have one type of wine)

 

Paul

very true. those are new categories that I have to fill up along with many others.

 

thank you.

[Guest]

E-Commerce is definitely NOT Easy. And nobody has divine rights to get sales and customers. There are many contributing factors

 

Personally, although I like your store, I would never buy from you. Even if it cost more I would buy from Amazon or Ebay or WHSmith or some other giant

 

Why?

 

Well the answer is simple - security!

 

I would prefer the security of the bigger sites.

 

So the question then becomes how do you offer security to your buyers? And that is harder to answer. You need to have reviews, but you can't get reviews without sales (Try Yotpo by the way, a great reviews system and free for the basic plan)

 

We have three sites and we also sell on Ebay and Amazon. We get more sales on Ebay and Amazon than our own sites - even though our products would be more expensive there. I very often see customers on our site, checking the stuff, seeing it is cheaper then nipping off to Amazon or Ebay to make the final purchase - security is all

 

So, yes we sell on Amazon and Ebay (from prestashop plugins so administration is fairly simple). We put our Ebay feedback scores on our main sites (using auction nudge - can't find a way to do that with Amazon though) to try and give some security to potential buyers.

 

That is great, a feeling of security once you get to the website, the main problem though is getting people to your site - and the vast majority will come from google / bing searches. And you are way, way, way down the list. So increasing visitors can only come by getting up that list. And that can only come with:

 

A) Time

Advertising - and advertising that costs money

C) great SEO

 

Just did a search for one of your items "WWE: Brothers Of Destruction (2014) (Blu-Ray)" and you were not on the first 10 pages of results

 

So you need to advertise to draw in the crowds, or be very patient, or sell elsewhere as well as we do

 

Over the last three years we have got our three sites up to perhaps 6 - 10 sales a day combined, at best. But we generally do more on each  Ebay and on Amazon a day. So open up to more sales channels, overall we get over 200 sales a week, but if we relied on our own websites it would not be worth it - and running this is a full time job for me

 

A couple of interesting points

 

1) Our best website is www.u-bolts-r-us.co.uk - why? the name. Google loves that name in conjunction with the products we sell on that site - U-bolts. It is just so keyword rich. So that site is easily our best performer and is usually on the first page of search results for "u-bolt", if not top. But still just a handfull of sales a day - why? Because how many people want u-bolts? 

 

2) I saw an edition of Dragon's Den a while ago. There were a couple of men on there wanting an investment in their "revolutionary" website. They were so chuffed with themselves because the site was up and running and already attracting customers. A dragon asked how many hits they get. With big smiles they replies they were now up to 10,000 hits per month. The dragon immediately said he was "out" because 10,000 hits a month is always just going to be a hobby. When he sets up a new website he expects 10,000 hits a day instantly. And how does he get that? Advertising. HE said the only way to get big with e-commerce was to advertise big

 

There may also be something in the name "http://www.shopmost.co.uk" : what has that got to do with DVD's?

As mentioned above our best selling site, U-bolts-r-us does what it says on the tin. Our main comany website, graphskill.co.uk gets far less customers - why? what has "Graphskill" got to do with u-bolts and pipe supports?

 

Yes you can overcome the name issue, but only with costly advertising I fear

 

I like the name http://www.shopmost.co.uk by the way, but it may be more relevant to selling different things, perhaps a price comparison site

 

Anyway, good luck, keep up the great work (lovely site) and consider carefully whether this is a hobby (carry on as you are) or a business venture - start advertising 

 

Edit: Sorry just realised you do sell more than DVD's, but most of above still relevant

Edited October 5, 2014 by Guest (see edit history)

[Gomlers]

Just thought I would write some things about E commerce business.

 

My reality is that after 1 year and 3 months I have made 0 sales and 0 sign ups. This is true. I am still here working and working on my website everyday of my life, adding product pages, making backlinks, tried adwords, facebook, twitter, pinterest, and after all the efforts I have not made anything. My traffic is terrible and never seems to improve. My alexa ranking is 9,824,427.

 

I feel like giving up on it everyday but I just don't. 

 

What are your experiences?

I feel so sorry for you! I really hope you'll crack the code (or whatever you say in English) some day very soon!

All the work you put in, your stock, time and effort.. you really deserve to make a lot of sales!

 

As for your shop:

1. I think it looks real good. My first guess is that you have a low bouncerate, because your front-page looks interesting enough to keep clicking.

 

2. You have a lot of products, and many categories - still interesting for potential customers

 

3. Many customers do a small check on the site before they buy. They check the about-us-page, looking for customer-reviews, checking the terms & conditions etc.. You should asap write more text under "about us". Give customers a chance to get to know you before they make a purchase. They DON'T want to get to know you BY purchasing. They want to purchase WHEN they know you already. Make your customers feel safer about giving you their money, by taking the time to write some good information about your company and yourself. Feel free to also include a picture of your warehouse / or your products in stock - or of yourself!

 

4. Put your telephonenumber at the top left - first thing to see - visible for everyone! You won't get any more calls - but the customers feel trust as soon as they see someting they can identify you by. And not have to search around for your telephonenumber.

 

5. Be personal, and honest - you are not the biggest, but you definately have the time to give your customers the very best service available. You are always there for them if anything goes wrong!

 

6. Category-pages:

http://www.shopmost.co.uk/289-decorations <-- drop this, it has only one product. Put this product and every other categories with less than 5 products in the main category like this  --> http://www.shopmost.co.uk/155-halloween

 

7. More on category-pages:

Your site is very interesting as I said. Both front-page, and when hovering / giving your categories a brief check.

However I personally loose a little interest when visiting your categorypages: http://www.shopmost.co.uk/155-halloween

I don't loose all my interest, but the huge interest I had when I first came in to your site, is somewhat gone once I get to your categorypages.

 

Things to try on category-pages to keep customers interested:

a. 3 or 4 products across, 5 is too much. 3 would give much more space for larger images, so that I would want to click it and see the product page.

b. A cool category-image above all the products, with a small category-text would do wonders for the design, interest and orientation.

c. Show up to 50 or 60 products per page. Keep it simple for the customer.

 

8. Productpages: This is where the customers decide to put your products in the cart, remember!!

a. Be sure that your product descriptions are unique! Don't copy the suppliers text (don't know if you've done that, but that is an important tip for seo)

b. Put the description - at least the short one, further up for the customer to see. Prerably above the add-to-cart-button.

c. If possible, try to make the product-images bigger.

d. Add some form of security on the product-page. A banner for your payment processors would make a huge impact. E.g a paypal-logo, and a logo for your carrier too. It shows that you have "partnered up" with companies your customers already are familiar with. THIS ALONE can make or break it. Make your "in stock" more visible! And think about loosing the "usually" in "Usually Dispatched Within 24 Hours" Just "Dispatched Within 24 Hours".

 

9. Cart:

a. Try removing the "Create an account", and just go for "Guest checkout". However - remove the guest checkout-button as well, and just have the form showing up as soon as the customer enters the checkout.

b. Try removing ANY unnecessary form-fields. Do you really need to know if it's a woman or man shopping? And why do you need my birthday-address, what are you going to do with it? Maybe add the fields after you have worked your way into the market.

 

Last but not least:

Work hard to get more facebook-followers. 40 isn't too many. Try to reach at least 3-500 people with advertising - this should be possible within a couple of weeks on a low budget, and run contests / giveaways to grow your facebook-page even further from that point. When you have more people interested in your site, more people will talk about you, and more people will be comfortable shopping from you.

 

You can think about putting the gender and birthday back on your checkoutpage after you feel people are getting to know you.. Don't know if you need them, but they can be good to have for statistics

 

The first million is the hardest, good luck - hope to hear from you anytime soon that your sales are taking off

[Nick20000]

hi.

 

just thought I would update everyone on how I have been doing.

 

I have had some sales and some new customers. Sold some Video Games and Soft Toys. I am getting lots of organic traffic from both Bing and Google. I have been building high quality backlinks and now it is starting to pay off. e-commerce is really hard and can take years to make it a success. It has taken me over a year and a half to finish the site and make some sales. Just letting people know it is not easy and takes lots of time and patients.

 

thank you.

[Guest]

Try YotPo for your testimonials. The ones you have on the site are static and not timebound, so you could have just typed them in. Yotpo (free) will automatically email your customers for a review which in turn will appear automatically on your site.

 

Type Yotpo into the forum  search and you will find the thread for it

 

If you want to see how it works you can have a look at my sites (links below)

[Nick20000]

hi haylau.

 

we will be of course adding that feature sometime soon and our testimonials are indeed real

[Nick20000]

hi.

 

After a few weeks there has been no new sales only the few I had. I think I know why I had those sales because the items were cheaper on my website then anywhere else and also because you can not buy them anywhere and I had only a few in stock. This sucks if the only sales I can get are things that you can not buy anywhere else and not things that are widely available. Are my items priced too high or something?

 

thank you.

[wakabayashi]

You should understand the customer...

 

You can only sell if your price is the lowest or if you have other advantages. Our business doesn't have allows the lowest price. But we have biggest sortiment. We are specialized in board games. We make own product descriptions, own product images. With that way we show the costumer that we are the best onlineshop in that kind of field. So they are willing to pay more.

 

Only to put products in a shop and have a higher price than the other shops will never work.

 

In short there are 2 ways:

1) lowest price

2) best service (with pics, description and SEO) 

[Nick20000]

You should understand the customer...

 

You can only sell if your price is the lowest or if you have other advantages. Our business doesn't have allows the lowest price. But we have biggest sortiment. We are specialized in board games. We make own product descriptions, own product images. With that way we show the costumer that we are the best onlineshop in that kind of field. So they are willing to pay more.

 

Only to put products in a shop and have a higher price than the other shops will never work.

 

In short there are 2 ways:

1) lowest price

2) best service (with pics, description and SEO) 

Hi.

 

I dunno if I agree with that. I have plenty of organic traffic from SEO all from google, bing and yahoo. My only problem is people come everyday but never buy anything. I am sure it is not just because of the price, but it does make me think the worse. CDWOW are much more costly on products then Amazon and many other websites and they are still selling lots of items.

[hectorlandaeta]

Such an instructive post! I've learned a lot from the different POV's.  As soon as the OP is asking for the collective's 2 cents I'm tempted to pitch mine in.

I believe there's a bit of an unfocused goal set operating here.  If I had access to merchandise which I can sell at significantly lower prices than what is posted in Amazon, I would concentrate on making a killing INSIDE Amazon as an associate seller, definitively not on my own lousy start-up. What's your goal? You want to make money or you want bragging rights in the Big Box omni-merchant plaza?

E-commerce is a MARKETING tool, not a business end on itself. Nowadays you can sorta digitally "create" markets on your own. Once in a leap year.  I've seen this a lot. People get enchanted by the e-commerce mirage, loosing sight of the fact that a lot of the big, successful names began at a time when all you had to do to succeed was to put something nice online. Market research and funneling budgets are not as evident as "the other" sellers success stories about making money selling the same stuff you sell at higher prices.

Wakabayashi and some others gave you sound advice in that your store is virtually indistinguishable from other big name ones, without the dynamic, browsing history content adaptation gadgetry. I fully concur: the only way you can distinguish yourself is through content enhancing. That process alone would clarify your store's vision and cull your catalog of dead weight as you will tend to ladle more content weight on those products that personally interest you more.

In my opinion you don't need to spend on advertising but make some marketing introspection first. You are wasting your money and effort if you just advertise without a marketing plan. Answer the big questions first: Who's your target? Where do they get their information and research for their shopping? How can you lure them to your shop? You can't just rely on good prices as shopping experience is way more important in your particular line of business. Online consumers are gluttons for value, and, as mentioned before, highly paranoid on their security.  Market presence-wise you seem to be suffering from the ostrich's head in the sand syndrome.  It seems to me that you have to make more efforts to appear in other SERP's than the ones you're looking at right now.  Please forgive the stark similitude but imagine yourself standing in the sidewalk in front of Selfridges, with a rickety table strutting your stuff. How can you get people to pay attention to you and what you're selling? I believe you can, but you have to become a street wise shark.

Generally speaking, aversion to swift target (and means) change is not the right attitude to have in this business.