Regardless of whether your e-commerce business is new or it’s been years since its establishment, there’s always room for improvement. Where any business is concerned, you can always tweak a strategy, or add a new one altogether, to boost your overall sales.
There isn’t any online business owner that’s 100 percent satisfied with the way things are going. In fact, every business owner is always looking for ways to increase revenue. With the world rapidly evolving and new technologies coming into the picture, the need to evolve with the changes is becoming more and more critical.
Given the technologically-driven landscape we operate in, we need to constantly stay updated with trends and figure out ways to generate more traffic and sales. More opportunities mean more customers, too. What does this mean? Well, this means there’s potential for a greater chunk of the market share, too.
Keeping everything in mind, here’s a list of four sure-shot ways of increasing your sales and revenues:
Address The Cart Abandonment Rate
Approximately 69.89 percent of shoppers choose to leave a site without purchasing anything. Do you realize how much potential revenue that is? A lot. The cart abandonment rate is something you should definitely pay attention to. According to research conducted by the Baymard Institute, there are a number of reasons why people choose to not go through with their purchases.
There are a few things you could work on to reduce your cart abandonment rate:
- Display shipping costs early in the process. The number one reason for cart abandonment is people underestimating how much shipping will cost.
- Keep your checkout process as simple as possible.
- Give customers a variety of payment options, such as PayPal payments, credit cards, etc. Many customers abandon their carts due to limited payment methods.
- Don’t make registration compulsory. Making account creation a mandatory step just creates additional hassle for customers.
Twenty-seven percent of users plan on shopping around after abandoning their carts; forty-one percent say they’re not convinced enough to make a purchase and twenty-four percent of users want to follow up on it later.
So, what do you do if, even after these preventive measures, customers still abandon their carts? Well, one thing you can do is send recovery emails. Ensure you’re sending them at least immediately and the next day to remind your customer they’ve left a purchase incomplete.
You can even go a step further and offer customers a discount or promotion and send a personalized email to remind them of the cart they’ve left behind. You can take it up a notch and reach out to customers directly, too.
Understand The Importance Of Social Proof
How many times have you bought something after reading great reviews online? Or how many times have you changed your mind from purchasing something after hearing negative reviews from your friends or family?
Social proof is an important phenomenon many businesses tend to overlook. Research conducted by Salesforce shows 54 percent of users trusting reviews and recommendations from their peers as opposed to 20 percent who trust the brand. Hence, it’s crucial for e-commerce businesses to take advantage of social proof to instill confidence and trust in their consumers.
There are many ways to use social proof to boost your revenue and sales, including recommending other products, similar to what Amazon does with its product recommendations. You can also list testimonials on product pages and display the number of reviews.
Many businesses also use social media to leverage social proof. Using user-generated content, such as posting pictures of customers who have purchased your product, should definitely be a part of your content marketing strategy.
When prospective customers see people like them or, even celebrities, trusting your brand, they feel more secure about their decision.
Step Up Your Email Marketing Game
So, you’ve collected a few email addresses, and you think your job’s done, right?
Wrong.
To keep perspective and existing customers engaged, you need to send them emails on a regular basis to ensure you stay on top of their minds. Email marketing has a median ROI of 122 percent, which is four times higher than other marketing mediums, such as direct mail, paid search, and social media.
Many businesses view email marketing as redundant, and it’s true for those who don’t execute it the right way. However, when done right, email marketing is an excellent example of content marketing.
Here are the different ways you can send emails to your customers:
- Send a welcome email as soon as a customer makes an account or a purchase.
- Send regular newsletters announcing discounts, promotions, and company news.
- Thank regular customers by sending personal notes, expressing your appreciation for their loyalty.
- Ask for feedback, especially in cases of cart abandonment.
Once you get the hang of email marketing, you’ll be generating a high ROI in no time.
Take Advantage Of Upselling
You’re placing an order for food, and the customer service representative asks you, “Would you like to upsize your order?”
Do you know what that is? It’s upselling.
Upselling is a famous technique in which businesses aim to sell a slightly more premium version of the product or service you’re considering.
For many businesses, upselling has proven to be more effective than acquiring a new customer altogether. Sometimes, your customers may simply not know there’s a better version available. It saps into the age-old psyche of “If I’m already spending so much, why not just spend a little bit more and get a better version?”
Upselling is useful if it’s related to your original product and if it’s within the price range of your customer. This means that the premium product you’re trying to sell shouldn’t be drastically different from the one your customer’s already considering.
E-commerce is a competitive arena and getting a sizable chunk of the overall market share isn’t an easy feat. However, with these four effective strategies, you’re definitely going to increase your revenues and sales and have a larger market share than you did before!
Do you have any other tactics in mind? Let us know in the comments below!
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