It takes more than offering great products to get people to actually buy them. A number of factors can get in the way of e-commerce growth, tough competition and low customer awareness being some of the biggest. On the positive side, when you know exactly what you should keep in mind and do in order to increase your sales, it’s just a question of making it happen.
For this blog post we’ve reviewed some of the popular recommendations for growing e-commerce business and combined them with our own knowledge and years of digital marketing experience. Whether you are a start-up or an operating business, these ideas might shed some light on what to do if your sales are not as high as you would like them to be.
Evaluate your traffic
How many people visit your site every day? This is the first question you should answer to get an idea of why you have as many or as little sales as you do. Latest research on retail conversion rates found that only 3-4% of your site visitors will actually buy something. If the average amount of visitors to your site per day is somewhere around 20-50 people or less, you know that you simply do not have enough views to expect a large number of sales.
Once evaluated, think about how you can attract more visitors. Social media, back links, publicity, advertising, etc. – choose any, or test how each of these channels affect your traffic and stick with the ones that work for a longer period.
Understand your market
Take your time to think about what kind of audience you are targeting because this will help you decide on the best marketing strategy. For example, if you are selling women’s clothes, remember that the majority of Pinterest users are female, with fashion being one of the most popular Pinterest topics. 2015 stats showed that 53% of pinners made a purchase online after seeing a product on Pinterest. Instead of investing your time and efforts into marketing your products on each and every channel, be smart and do your research first to find the channel that can get you ahead. It is also important to know how many potential customers you can have. You might want to check out social media activity of some of the most successful competitors to get an idea of what is achievable.
Embrace social media
A huge amount of traffic to your site can be driven from social media pages. Remember that Instagram is a great marketing tool not only for visual industries. Even if you aren’t selling something that has a great visual impact, as long as your page is interesting and useful you will always find your fans. Post pictures of how your products are made or create some tips for your customers, and most importantly – engage with your followers to show them that you truly care.
Think of user experience
Make sure your website makes the shopping experience easy and enjoyable. Try to think of yourself as a customer browsing through your store. Are product images good enough to give a clear idea of what you are buying? Is there a detailed description for each item? What is the delivery cost and return policy? Is it easy to navigate through the site on various devices? These are just some questions to start with.
Be attentive
When you focus on reaching out to new customers, do not forget about the existing ones. Every time someone makes a purchase, treat them with care. This is especially easy to do when you are a start-up and do not yet have a large number of orders. Try packaging inserts – it can be anything from a product sample to a small relevant present. If your service exceeds customer expectations, they are more likely to buy from you again, recommend you to their friends and share their experience on social media.
These are just a few general thoughts on growing your e-commerce business. Good SEO and monitoring Google Analytics will make an even bigger difference. The best strategy, however, will always depend on your industry, the specific products you sell, your USP, business values, etc. We would be happy to help.
