Why E-Commerce Brands in Restricted Categories Need Smarter Digital Strategies
Are you trying to build an e-commerce brand in a restricted category?
Good luck with that.
Restricted category brands selling CBD, supplements, vape, kratom or any other high-risk products face roadblocks the average online store will never experience. Between crackdowns on payment processing and demonetization from digital advertising platforms… let’s just say that there are plenty of hurdles standing between most restricted brands and growth.
If you’re running a store selling products in a high-risk category then chances are you’ve already dealt with at least a few of these issues.
It’s easy for online stores to get dropped by payment processors and lost sales because of clunky vendor payment integration.
Imagine how much success you could have if that wasn’t the case.
For restricted e-commerce brands stuck in that boat… there’s good news.
You CAN compete with brands who haven’t been kicked off PayPal a dozen times. You just need smarter vendor payment integration and digital marketing tactics than your competition.
Below are five digital strategies EVERY restricted category brand needs to know if they want to build a successful e-commerce store.
Here’s what’s covered:
- The Challenges of Running a Restricted E-Commerce Brand
- Why Vendor Payment Integration is So Important
- 5 Digital Marketing Strategies for Restricted Brands
- Building a Restricted-Friendly Payment Setup
The Challenges of Running a Restricted E-Commerce Brand
Running an e-commerce brand in a restricted category presents unique challenges that few other online stores face.
Online businesses selling CBD, vape, supplements or kratom have a laundry list of difficulties holding them back that most other stores don’t.
For starters… restricted products often face massive payment processing hurdles. Major brands like Stripe and PayPal refuse to work with businesses in certain industries simply because of how their particular business is categorized.
That means potentially having your online store’s account frozen or shut down at any given moment.
It doesn’t stop there either.
Payment providers who DO accept businesses in these “risky” categories charge premium rates and hold reserves for months on end. According to Airwallex, nearly 71% of businesses reported experiencing payment fraud attacks in 2023. For high-risk merchants the scrutiny is even tighter because processors already view them as a liability.
All vendors with restricted inventory are likely familiar with the struggle to simply ACCEPT payments. That’s exactly where providers like 2accept come in, offering kratom business payment processing and vendor payment integration solutions built specifically for restricted industries.
Speaking of accepting payments…
Why Vendor Payment Integration is So Important
Most store owners don’t realise just HOW important vendor payment integration is until their payment methods suddenly stop working.
If your store sells items that are deemed “high-risk” by processing companies then you know this struggle all too well. The biggest problem with running an online store that falls into one of these categories is simply FINDING a processor that will work with you.
Large payment companies don’t want to touch high-risk clients like vape, supplements, CBD brands or kratom stores. That leaves store owners everywhere searching for payment processing alternatives they can trust.
You can imagine what happens when an online business can’t accept payments.
Suddenly customers can’t checkout. Revenue is stuck in rolling reserves. Stores can even wake up one day and lose access to their OWN money.
One report from Baymard found that the average cart abandonment rate sits at around 70.2%. For stores selling cannabis or restricted products with limited payment options this number is significantly higher.
Here’s how you can avoid that problem.
Partner with a payment processing provider that specializes in high-risk accounts. Not only will this give your store more flexibility when it comes to vendor payment integration but it also prepares you for any future issues down the road.
Ideally, you should have multiple backup payment processors just in case your main gateway suddenly drops your store.
If you don’t have some sort of payment redundancy in place your store will eventually get shut down. It’s as simple as that.
Think of vendor payment integration as the foundation of your store. Everything from traffic to sales funnel optimization IS pointless if your customer can’t checkout.
With that out of the way let’s review some marketing tactics restricted brands can use to boost sales.
5 Digital Marketing Strategies for Restricted Brands
Here are five must know digital strategies that will help your restricted brand grow online.
Diversify Payment Methods
Seriously.
Don’t run your business depending on a single payment processor.
If your payment gateway decides to drop you because you sell “kratom tea” (true story) then your business will be stuck unable to accept payments.
It’s happened to plenty of vendors before. And it can happen to any store if they’re not careful.
That’s why every restricted online store NEEDS multiple payment gateways they can route transactions through.
Building in vendor payment integration redundancies like this ensures that your business can weather any storm.
Focus on Content Marketing
Running an e-commerce brand that’s unable to run ads on Google or Facebook? Welcome to the world of content marketing.
If you’re selling anything that falls into a “restricted” category chances are you’re already well versed in creating blog content.
Content is your bread and butter for driving traffic to your website. Everything from long-form guides, product reviews, blog posts and educational articles will skyrocket your organic traffic when done correctly.
Just make sure all of your content is fully optimised to be found by Google.
Double Down on Email Marketing
Email marketing is hands down the best thing ANY restricted category brand can do to boost revenue.
Unlike social media or paid ads where restricted content gets blocked outright, email marketing is something you have 100% control over.
You can build an audience through organic traffic. Drive them to sign up for your email list. Then keep them coming back to your store with engaging email campaigns.
As long as you’re providing real value in your emails your subscribers will continue purchasing. Product education, exclusive discounts, and tips all work to ensure your email subscribers remain engaged.
Optimise the Checkout Experience
Believe it or not… your checkout experience plays a huge role in converting customers.
Flawed payment methods, slow loading times, and confusing checkout flows are the death of conversions. If you want customers to COMPLETE their purchase you need to provide them with the best checkout experience possible.
A few things you can do to optimise checkout:
- Provide alternate payment options
- Reduce unnecessary steps
- Display security badges
- Shorten the entire process to 3 steps or less
Lean Into SEO and Organic Visibility
Unless you’re selling bespoke clothing you can’t buy your way to the top of Google.
Restrained from running ads on Google and Facebook your restricted brand has no choice but to focus on SEO.
Both on page and off-page SEO tactics should be central to your digital strategy. From optimising individual product descriptions to competitor backlink analysis you need to drive organic visibility wherever possible.
Building a Future Proof Payment Setup
Far too many restricted category brands make the mistake of ignoring their payment setup.
Don’t be that brand.
Everything from traffic, revenue funnels, product listings matters little if your customers can’t checkout.
Make sure you setup:
- Multiple gateways so that you always have a backup.
- Partner with a payment processor that works WITH you and understands HIGH-RISK industries.
- Invest in chargeback prevention tools to keep your disputes low. Chargebacks are THE easiest way for vendors to get dropped by payment processors.
- Utilize transparent checkout flows that build trust with your customers.
Now that you know how important payments are you can finally start scaling your e-commerce store.
Wrapping Things Up
Restricted category brands face unique challenges that the average online store will never encounter.
Just running a CBD brand comes with hurdles few vape or supplement stores will understand. The struggles restricted category stores face when integrating reliable vendor payment options are enough to make anyone go crazy.
But they don’t have to be.
Implementing smarter vendor payment integration while focusing on growth hacking digital marketing tactics allows restricted e-commerce brands to compete with bigger mainstream brands.
Here’s your strategy summary:
- Use multiple payment processors
- Optimise your checkout flow to reduce friction
- Invest in content marketing to boost organic traffic
- Build an email list
- Focus on SEO, SEO, SEO
There’s a ton of struggle that comes with selling in a restricted category. But if you can outsmart the giants by leveraging digital marketing and paying attention to your payments game you can find success.
