The digital space has opened so many new doors for businesses to connect with their customers. With the rising demand for online shopping, eCommerce giants are engaging with their audiences in the masses and as a result, are generating revenue in so many ways they never thought possible.
If you are an aspiring or established eCommerce retailer, here are 10 practical tips you can incorporate to further boost eCommerce website sales.
A good eCommerce website sales strategy involves removing full stops for purchases. This is the first rule of boosting your online sales. Even after a purchase has been made, your website should engage customers in a full circle cycle, allowing them to quickly find additional interesting and related products.
A way to achieve this is to introduce a call to action on the checkout page before a client confirms their order – usually in the form of a “continue shopping” link. Another method is to compliment the confirm order page with a sidebar populated with additional or related products. This way, you are inviting customers to check out other products before they finally confirm their orders – thus increasing their cart checkout value.
If you’ve ever given in to buying a piece of a chocolate bar at the supermarket counter when paying, well, the store’s complimentary product strategy has worked on you. This clever trick also works effectively on eCommerce and you can apply it to your website to increase eCommerce website sales.
Popular shopping sites promote their extended warranties and instant delivery services for appliances and items such as Blu-ray discs. In addition, promoting products based on previously viewed items will also give you a chance to increase their basket value order.
Furthermore, if you are selling novelty items or gift ideas, it is also wise to include a gift-wrapping service as a complementary product within the checkout process. With this, you can also tailor multiple buys or packages to increase basket value.
In the digital market where users can interact without facial recognition, your reputation will speak for your company. That’s why it is essential to start building on your reputation from day one by regularly getting customer feedback.
You can integrate product warranties and the installation or set up of electronics and appliances. Another reliable way of promoting your reputation is by displaying awards and respectable reviews on your footer. Additionally, showing independent customer ratings and testimonials which will be further discussed in the next chapter will also reinforce your reputation for the general public.
Keep in mind that you are not only protecting and promoting your company’s reputation but your products’ as well. People who are confused about buying a product or another will most likely use “external conscience” or others’ opinions about the different products. Thus, those with high ratings and reviews are most likely purchased than items with none.
That’s why it is important that you encourage purchasers to give feedback and reviews to highlight the products for new customers.
Furthermore, you can also include a sidebar which uses real-time customer data to show currently viewed products to other users as well as your best-sellers.
You have to understand that new customers dislike registering for an account on their first purchase. By removing checkout registration or giving users the option to fill out the form later, you are apparently giving them a pain-free experience and this is likely to drive up your conversion rate.
On another hand, it is still more convenient for repeating customers to log in to their accounts and gain access to saved addresses and payment methods. That’s why you can always explain why registration is important and let them create an account later.
In reality, a huge portion of online shoppers use their mobile phones to browse the web. This is known to be a good pastime for people who are fond of online shopping or are curious about the latest prices.
Moreover, research shows that 40% of mobile users have bought something through their devices and that 63% of millennials shop on their phones. If you’re a determined entrepreneur, you don’t want to ignore these figures.
A smart way to convert these numbers to potential sales is by using responsive and flexible web design. Fluid layouts and scalable images allow your eCommerce webpage to be viewed in any screen dimension without clutter. That includes smartphones and tablets.
Finally, you can take a leap forward and design a stable mobile app that users can log into. This way, users can conveniently shop online without having to reload the same website over and over again. A mobile app will also store their personal information so loyal shoppers don’t have to input their credentials and addresses for every purchase.
One year holds tons of special occasions and holidays that encourage more people to order online. These are the times when shopping malls are jam-packed and customers find it convenient to order online. That’s why eCommerce sites ramp up their promotions for these dates.
Usually, you should notify customers about your promotion event a month before the date and give them vague hints about the discounts your prices will go. You can do this by sending emails to subscribers or by a non-distractive popup on the homepage. By promoting the event a month early, there is enough time for the hype to build up and guarantee good sales throughout the event.
Avoid showcasing all sorts of products and services on one page. You can use user research to identify different visitor types and tailor your products by choosing the most valuable and targeting them with relevant content on your landing page and homepage.
Moreover, you can display a variety of categories on your homepage such as furniture, fashion, or cosmetics, so you won’t focus on a single product type for one gender or specific occasion.
If you’ve done well in inviting visitors to your product page, giving attention to small details will contribute to converting them into sales. Displaying useful product details such as prices and discounts, stock availability, and delivery options will greatly help.
If a visitor is interested in a product and finds that the latest stock levels are low, their chance of purchasing increases. This works similarly to showing the original and discounted price comparison.
Another detail that can be overlooked by many is image quality. People don’t just judge the thumbnail, but they will most likely zoom in to the photo and observe the fine details of the product. Providing a set of high-quality photos for every product will let them look at it on different angles and give the feel of actually testing the product in their hands.
Providing specific dimensions for a sized product such as a piece of furniture or clothing will increase their chances of purchasing – especially if they find the size to be ideal for their preferences. It’s all a matter of attention to detail that can make a huge difference to your business.
We can’t deny the fact that design trends are evolving at a considerable speed. Although it pays homage to retrospective designs, many elements are changing and people are hooked with a web environment that is appealing and is timely. That’s why you need to always make room for design improvement while considering all the above factors so you don’t lose your users on the way.
Whether you have been venturing into eCommerce for the first time or are an established brand, these practical tips for eCommerce website sales are guaranteed to act as a crucial checklist to your eCommerce store.
At G Squared, we provide custom eCommerce solutions to suit all brands. Call us on (02) 9339 4500 and speak with us today.
More brands that we’ve helped.
Featured insights from our team.