To sell online it is not enough to set up a nice e-Commerce site and wait for customers to arrive on their own, but you need to build a marketing strategy and implement it in practical activities that result in an increase in turnover. In this article you will find 7 tips to improve the performance of your e-Commerce and increase online sales, the result of real experiences of those who, before you, started an online business.
Launching a new business is not easy, neither offline nor, much less, online. Those approaching the world of e-Commerce for the first time might think that it takes little to make an online store work: a nice site, an interesting product range, a Facebook page, that’s it. The reality, however, is quite different and (we will never tire of repeating it) to avoid a colossal hole in the water you need a strategy.
Developing an e-Commerce that works is a difficult undertaking, but there is good news: others, before you, have taken this path successfully. Why not take advantage of it?
7 practical tips to increase online sales
1. Build brand awareness
Brand awareness affects customer confidence (which in turn affects sales), repeat purchases, and even SEO. Simplifying as much as possible we can say that the more people know (and trust your brand) the greater the sales.
To improve your brand awareness, focus attention on quality:
** Of the content you produce;
** Of the partners you work along side;
** The suppliers you rely on;
** Of the influencers you choose.
Evaluate each aspect wisely, always considering the long-term impact it could have on your online reputation.
2. Create engagement with email marketing
Build a database of qualified contacts, segment the lists according to the characteristics or behavior of the users and create email marketing campaigns to communicate with your customers in every moment of the purchase process.
Email marketing is a tool that is as dated as it is effective, but too often it is misused by companies, which limit themselves to sending discounts, promotions and commercial messages. Change your perspective and start using emails to build relationships with your customers, offering them really useful and interesting content to guide them towards the purchase decision.
3. Talk to your customers on social media
Advertising on Facebook is one of the most effective ways to bring traffic to the site, convert leads into customers and engage them to eventually repeat the purchase.
Based on the behavior of your e-Commerce visitors, you can create personalized messages to engage people even outside your site. Set up Ads using custom audiences and options of exclusion or inclusion: Facebook offers increasingly refined targeting options, not exploiting them means missing out on many opportunities.
4. Test to improve the conversion rate
An online store is never finished. Continuously optimizing the website and the online communication channels is essential to increase the conversion rate. Try changing some parameters and assess the impact of the change on sales and analyze the data on user behavior to experiment: from the color of the call to action buttons to the product photos, each element can be tested. Remember that even the smallest change can generate an increase in sales.
5. Offer excellent customer service
Customer service is also a form of marketing. To be successful it is not enough to acquire new customers, the real challenge is to maintain lasting relationships and ensure a high level of satisfaction over time. This is why customer service is so important.
Invest in technology at the service of customers: apps, chat bots, artificial intelligence … The options available to assist users are many, identify the one that best suits the way your audience interacts, trying to offer support where, how and when it has need.
6. Use delivery as a competitive advantage
Free shipping is one of the most effective levers to incentivize the purchase, more than a percentage discount on the total. In addition, delivery costs are one of the main causes of cart abandonment: finding out that you have to pay a heavy amount only at the last moment is never pleasant.
Explain the delivery conditions immediately on the home page of your e-Commerce, trying to be as clear as possible. Take advantage of the potential of free shipping, offering it on the entire product catalog or upon reaching a predetermined amount. And if you have an international business, don’t forget to also include customers outside the country, who, understanding the rarity of free delivery, will buy two or three times more than normal.
7. Create strategic promotions
Create promotions for a limited time, leveraging the sense of scarcity and urgency to attract customers. But beware: promotions must also be used strategically. Always offering the same discount can be counterproductive, which is why you have to study different types of promotions to be offered at different times of the year, with specific duration’s and frequencies.
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