The Internet has transformed the way people shop. While it has enabled small e-commerce businesses to compete alongside giants like Amazon, it has also increased competition. Increasing traffic to your website and actually converting visitors to customers may seem like a huge hurdle, but these 7 steps can help you increase e-commerce sales and breeze past the competition.
1. Address Abandoned Shopping Carts
According to a study by the Baymard Institute, more than 67 of shopping carts are abandoned when customers add items but never check out. That means that for every 100 potential customers you have, 67 will leave without buying anything. The key to fixing this problem is first understanding why it happens.
According to Statistica, there are more than one dozen primary reasons this may happen. The biggest reasons shoppers abandon their cart includes:
- Unexpected costs
- Just browsing
- Found a lower price elsewhere
- Overall price too high
- Decided against the purchase
- Complicated website navigation
- Website crashed
- Process took too long
- Excessive security checks
- Concerns about security
So, how can you address these problems? Here are some steps to take.
- Make it easy to edit the cart.
- Offer many different payment methods.
- Avoid required registration. A study conducted by User Interface Engineering showed a 45% rise in purchases when necessary registration was removed.
- Offer free shipping.
- Start an email shopping cart recovery campaign. This will send personalized emails to shoppers who didn’t complete purchases. Craft good emails that convince shoppers to return to their cart to complete their purchase.
2. Add Product Reviews
Put effort into getting more product reviews to increase e-commerce sales and your conversion rate. According to Jupiter Research, 77% of online shoppers read user reviews and ratings before they make a purchase.
Product reviews on your website can directly increase your conversion rate by eliminating doubts customers may have and offering them social proof of how great the product is. According to Internet Retailer, you can boost your conversion rate by anywhere from 14% to 76% by adding reviews. Product reviews also increase the amount of content on your product pages to improve your SEO efforts.
3. Practice Upselling
Upselling is offering customers a slightly more expensive product during checkout. According to Econsultancy, upselling is 20x more effective than cross-selling — or suggesting a related product — for online retailers.
To make upselling most effective, offer to upsell customers to the following:
- Your most reviewed products because you can convince customers they are better.
- Your most popular products, as they may be the most attractive or relevant.
- Your most relevant products for what your customer is buying.
Make upselling a breeze with the use of plugins. If you use Shopify, you may try Product Upsell or Unlimited Upsell. Magento shop owners can try the “Customers who bought this also bought” or “Customers Who Purchased” extensions.
4. Improve Your Product Pages
Your product pages should have clear copy and quality images. Use your product pages to address any potential concerns shoppers may have such as whether sizes are accurate or whether you accept returns. You may want to include a pop-up sizing guide that doesn’t direct shoppers away from the page to address sizing concerns. Make sure customer reviews are clearly visible, then focus on your copy. Avoid flowery or complicated language; your product page copy should be relatable, fun, and to the point.
5. Invest In Quality Images
You’ll have trouble getting anyone to buy something they can’t see. Because online shoppers can’t touch and hold what they’re buying, you need to go the extra mile to compensate. Always include a default image in full size with plenty of clickable and enlargeable thumbnails. Show as many images as you can from many angles. Don’t forget to add context; show the product in use so shoppers can get a better idea of how it will look and the product’s size and dimensions.
Put some thought into adding 360-degree rotating images as well. According to Internet Retailer, DueMaternity.com increased their conversion rate by 27% after replacing two-dimensional photos with 360-degree spin images.
6. Market On Instagram
Many of your potential customers are probably on Instagram, which now has well over 300 million monthly users. While it’s important to spread your marketing strategy over several social media platforms, a study conducted by L2 Think Tank found that Instagram gives brands 25% more engagement than any other social media website with an average order value of $65 — higher than almost any other platform!
Social media marketing can take some time to master, but it’s worth the effort. Experiment with hashtags, filters, and scheduling to build a following and engage with your audience. Don’t be afraid to try contests, behind-the-scenes videos and images of your business, and pictures of customers wearing your products.
7. Set up a Facebook Store
Facebook isn’t just a great way to drive traffic to your e-commerce store; you can also sell products directly on Facebook. Of all social media orders, 85% come from Facebook. If you have a Shopify store, you can integrate it directly with Facebook to sell products and let customers checkout without leaving Facebook.
Not only will a Facebook Store allow you to sell directly to Facebook users, it also encourages people to follow your Facebook page and share products they like with friends.
Succeeding in e-commerce can be difficult, but it is possible to compete online against even large, established businesses if you put your effort in the right areas. A successful e-commerce site requires a good SEO foundation, high-quality content, social media and email marketing, and many other elements coming together in harmony. These 7 strategies will help put you on the path to boosted sales.