It’s that time once again when everyone is thinking about their resolutions for the new year.  While others are vowing to cut back on carbs, exercise more, or spend less money, eCommerce store owners are looking to improve the wellbeing of their business. Of course, many business owners struggle to come up with actionable goals for their online store, and this can hold them back from achieving measurable results. Take advantage of the new year by making some resolutions that will push your online business in the right direction.

Are you ready to put your best foot forward for the year ahead?  Here are our top resolutions for every eCommerce merchant in 2017:

1. Fully Prepare Your Site for Mobile

If you’ve been in the eCommerce game for a while, then you’ve no doubt kept up with mobile commerce trends and worked them into your marketing strategy.  Mobile searches outnumber desktop searches, which is one reason why it’s critical for online retailers to improve their mobile experience if they want to compete online.

There is a lot to think about in terms of mobile commerce this year.  The rise of voice search and how it might affect your keyword research, Google’s mobile-first index, and the removal of interstitial ads are all updates that may cause you to rethink your mobile strategy.  Make a resolution this year to get ahead of the competition and prepare for mobile search as much as possible.

2. Decrease Shopping Cart Abandonment Rates

Online retailers are always trying to find ways to lower their shopping cart abandonment rates.  There are plenty of reasons why shoppers decide to abandon the checkout process, and you can start to recover lost sales by implementing an abandoned cart email campaign and optimizing the timing of your emails.

3. Offer Customers More Payment Options

Flexible payment options need to be a priority for your online store this year, and doing so can help streamline the checkout process and significantly increase your conversion rates.

This year, go above and beyond by offering popular payment services such as PayPal, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and more.  The convenience you provide can result in more conversions, of course, as well as customer loyalty and satisfaction.

4. Make the Move to Automated Marketing

When your eCommerce store has expanded over the years, you may find that it has become increasingly difficult to maintain the level of marketing you once had.  Now, you need a marketing strategy that scales. Emailing new leads, posting to Twitter, selling on Instagram—all of these tasks can be streamlined.  Wouldn’t it be nice to shift your focus from tedious daily tasks to bigger and better things this year instead?

5. Give Your Content Marketing Strategy the Time It Deserves

No one said content marketing was easy, but sometimes the more difficult resolutions are the most rewarding to master.  This year, take the time to improve your content marketing strategy and build authority in your niche.  Not only will this provide your customers with valuable information, but it will reward you with increased brand awareness, new and repeat customers, better customer engagement, and more.

6. Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews

We’re telling you right now—if you don’t have customer reviews or testimonials on your eCommerce site, make 2017 the year that you get them!  A Local Consumer Review survey found that 9/10 consumers read 10 or more reviews on a site before making a purchase.

Scared of a negative review?  Don’t be.  You may be surprised to learn that they can actually work in your favor.  Some consumers read negative reviews and think, “That’s the worst?  Okay, I can handle that,” and end up purchasing the product. Others are comforted when the business owner responds to negative reviews and view them as trustworthy as a result.

7. Start a Customer Loyalty Program

Repeat business is the lifeblood of many businesses both online and off.  A customer loyalty program is a great way to incentivize customers to stick around and make your eCommerce site even more profitable. You can also strengthen loyalty by targeting your customers who are already frequently purchasing from your store. Identify these shoppers with RFM segments and send personalized email campaigns that give them the VIP treatment with product line sneak-peaks and exclusive sales.

No matter how big or small your online store is, it always pays to have solid, actionable goals.  To identify areas in your store’s marketing strategy that need more attention in the new year, use Springbot’s eCommerce Scorecard to see where you stack up against other stores of your size.