Ecommerce USP: Unique Selling Proposition Made Easy

Updated on January 21, 2023 in Ecommerce by Nishant Shrimali

Running an eCommerce today is tough for two reasons.

• Cut throat compition to acquire customers.
• Creating a loyal customer base to scale the eCommerce.

Here, having a Unique Selling Proposition for eCommerce can really ease the work. You are able to easily stand out among your target customers and are able to share deals they can’t refuse. Moreover, if you add a little wittiness to your strategy you gain customers for years as well as word of mouth that acquires more customers than ever.

So to help you get started, we are sharing everything about eCommerce USP that you must learn and practice.

• How a Unique selling proposition is an ultimate eCommerce strategy?

• Some of the best examples of USP

• How do you create a Unique Selling Proposition for eCommerce?

And let us assure you that by the end of this article, you would know the exact step that you need to take. But before jumping right away, allow us to answer some of the most common questions that you too should know.

What is a Unique Selling Proposition for eCommerce?

A Unique Selling Proposition for eCommerce is a marketing strategy that is a way to inform your customer about how your brand is different from your competitors, and what makes you “Unique”.

This helps your eCommerce to stand out in the market when compared with the competitors, and showcases “Why a customer should buy from you?”

In addition, having an eCommerce UPS that is based on your strengths, gives you a strong foundation for brand building, brand recognition, and all the marketing strategies you have been planning.

What is the Purpose of a Unique Selling Proposition for eCommerce?

The purpose of an eCommerce USP or unique selling proposition is to tell your customer Why are you the best option for them and what makes you unique when compared to your competitors, who are selling the same product & service that you are.

Being unique grabs the attention by itself, which helps you to stand out. 

Moreover, if your eCommerce USP is based on the customer experience or customer satisfaction, it can help you build a loyal customer for your brand. Hence bringing you returning customers and growing your sales.

What are the Benefits of a Unique Selling Proposition?

While the eCommerce USP for each and every online store is different from one another, the core benefits stay the same. Here are the top 5 benefits of a Unique selling point that can help you grow your eCommerce exponentially.

Easily Distinctive

The internet is a huge marketplace, where building a distinctive identity is not at all an easy task. But an eCommerce USP makes you unique and gives separate recognition. USP literally means unique.

Hence when one comes across your brand, the chances of remembering you increase. Your brand becomes easily distinctive, hence increasing your branding without a need to put a lot of effort into it.

Showcases Benefits

 “Why should a customer buy from you?” – a unique answer to this question is what your eCommerce USP is. Your Unique Selling Point is a benefit that your customers get when purchasing from your eCommerce.

And as you know, a customer might not remember the name, but if you attach a benefit with it, it becomes unforgettable.

Improves Revenue

Having a distinctive brand identity and showcasing the benefits result is one particular advantage that you can’t overlook. That is the growth in revenue. Having an eCommerce USP gives your customer a specific reason to buy from you. 

If combined well with the pricing and benefits of the product itself, your eCommerce USP can be considered as a gold mine for the opportunity to grow your eCommerce.

Generate Loyalty

Your USP is an eCommerce strategy, curated in order to hook your customers to your brand name. It gives them the reason to build trust in you and purchase only from you. This tends to generate loyalty, hence helping to grow your eCommerce.

Streamline Sales

Not only an eCommerce USP helps you deal with external factors, but it also helps your team to streamline the sales. It can help you determine the potential customer, right marketing campaigns, and copy used to convert a potential customer into a lifetime client.

Best Unique Selling Proposition Examples

Geico Unique Selling Proposition

Geico is an American insurance company that offers affordable insurance coverage. But that is not it. As you can see above, along with the affordability the company focuses on “Fast service.

Geico is a perfect unique selling proposition for eCommerce example for fast and affordable insurance service, which easily resonates with the people who have ever tried to purchase car insurance on the internet.

USP of FedX

FedX if you are aware is the epitome of a unique selling proposition example for a delivery business. They offered an overnight delivery service, no matter where the location of delivery was.

You must have heard “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”. The tagline was clear and dealt with the problem of the people directly, which made the brand such a giant in today’s world.

Starbucks Unique Selling Point

What is the Unique Selling Proposition of Starbucks? Well, one might think it’s the premium coffee that they offer or the ambiance they serve the coffee, or if not that, the miss-spells would be the USP.

You are not at all wrong, and somewhat all this together has made it such a huge brand. But the core USP is delivering the perfect beverage for every individual. They say, “Love your beverage or let us know. We’ll always make it right”. Simple yet the most crucial factor in the industry to be known as the prime unique selling proposition example.

USP of Gucci

If you are unfamiliar, the tagline of Gucci is “Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.” which is perfectly aligned with their unique selling point. Their USP is to deliver beautiful Italian craftsmanship, with the high quality of the product.

Not only the brand claims it but also delivers what they promise hence keeping the trust and building loyalty within the customers.

Domino’s Unique Selling Proposition

We all remember Domino’s Unique Selling Proposition very well. It was “Delivery in 30 min or less, else it’s free”. This unique approach spread like the fire and made it the brand that it is today.

USP of M&M

The chocolate used to melt in the hands itself, before the introduction of M&M’s. They patented their unique sugar coating, which also is their Unique Selling Point. It sounds like “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”

How do you write a Unique Selling Proposition?

With all the benefits that we discussed and the unique selling proposition for eCommerce examples that you just went through, we hope you are all set to learn how to write down your own.

In order to help you get started, here are the final steps for you to write your eCommerce USP that can align completely with your eCommerce strategy.

Step 1: Do your SWOT Analysis

The first step here would be to analyze your brand and all your product and list out your SWOT. SWOT stands for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threats. You must be all aware of your brand and the products or the service that you are selling.

Be completely fair and list all the advantages your customer gets when purchasing from you. Same with the weakness that is the drawbacks of your eCommerce and lastly the opportunity you have to improve your weaknesses.

Here threats would be your competitors which you must keep an eye on to stay prepared.

In the end, you would know everything about your brand which is the right starting point, write a unique selling proposition, and grow your eCommerce.

Step 2: Do a Market Research

Next, before you start creating your eCommerce strategy we recommend doing thorough market research. This means checking out for your competitors, doing their SWOT analysis, comparing, prices, benefits, and services, etc.

Also, look out for the practices your competitors are using to generate sales and add them to your brand’s opportunity section.

Moreover, look out for the upcoming trends that you can adopt to attract new, upcoming customers and create your unique identity aka your unique eCommerce USP.

Step 3: Create your ideal Customer Persona

After understanding you and your competitors, it’s time to look out for your ideal customer. In order to do so, create your ideal customer persona and understand what they would be most interested in.

For example, is your ideal customer a man who would prefer to buy in bulk or a pack? In this case, your eCommerce USP could be the discount on combo packs or something related to it.

The core goal here is to know what your customer is looking for. What are their common buying patterns and how much or less are they willing to spend for the value you are giving.

Step 4: List out your Competitive Strengths

Now that you are all aware of your brand/product, competitors, and your ideal customer, it’s time to find out what’s unique about your brand. It may not always be that you would find extraordinary on the first go.

But list out all the strength compared to your competitors that your ideal customer would surely appreciate, and make a purchase. Remember that your eCommerce USP would directly impact the eCommerce strategy so keep your focus on your selling points only.

In case you are unable to find one, may it’s time to do research again list your strengths. Or else work on the opportunities and weaknesses and find something unique that can make people buy from you.

Step 5: Match the Strength and your Customer Needs

Finally, now that you have found out your strengths over your competitors that your customer would be interested in, it’s time to present it. Most commonly, it is presented in the tagline where the needs of the customer are matched with your USP.

But here’s the thing. No USP is a complicated formula that one understands only after taking the service. Your eCommerce USP should directly address the issue your ideal customer is facing.

An ideal USP shall fit seamlessly here – {Your Brand} Offers {Product or the service} to {ideal customer} for {VALUE PROPOSITION}

Here the “VALUE PROPOSITION” is the reason why one would buy from you.

Your Next Step for Perfect eCommerce USP

While in the whole article we have discussed developing your eCommerce USP and understanding the importance of a unique selling proposition for eCommerce, here is one last thing you shall remember.

Make sure that your research is fair, and counts out all the strengths and weaknesses of your eCommerce and your competitors fairly. In addition, while writing your eCommerce USP ensure that you are aligning your eCommerce strengths with your customer’s preferences and not yours.

This is where the customer persona would come in handy and help you know what your customer wants.

After reading this article we highly recommended reading this article eCommerce Statistics in 2023