There are two high-risk moments for any business with an online store or multiple sales channels in e-commerce – sales are going so well that no further action seems necessary and sales are going so badly or are suddenly slumping that the alarm goes off in panic. Interestingly, the solutions for both scenarios are the same. Jorge Zuñiga, a successful businessman from Costa Rica, describes the solutions and offers insight on how eCommerce businesses can increase their sales.
Asserts Zuñiga, “Resting on your laurels can be even worse than experiencing a slight decline in e-commerce sales, as this may be due to seasonal reasons and fluctuations typical of any omnichannel business.” When online sales stagnate, we tend to think that the customer base no longer works and that they have fled in terror. However, it is much easier to retain and convince customers who already know your brand and products than it is to get new buyers from scratch.
On average, a former customer spends more in an online store, adds more products to their shopping cart, and offers more sales conversion for each visit to your online store. Develop marketing actions that refresh the memory of these loyal consumers and make them feel cared for, such as mailings of recommended products from previous purchases or searches made in their history, information on products that are out of stock or that will be launched soon, coupons and congratulations for his or her birthday.
It is the most expensive action to increase online sales, but expanding the business is a way to multiply the conversion in e-commerce. However, you need to have enough resources and time, as a new product takes up to 12 weeks of preparation. Of course, if your business is selling or retailing products that are easier to manufacture or whose strategy is based on the recurring launch of collections (such as clothing or shoes), this action is essential so that your brand is not out of date.
If you do not want to launch a product from scratch and prefer to study customer reaction first, you can post tokens in your e-commerce sales channels with products in presale or out of stock. In this way, you can collect information on the number of people actually interested in that product (by number of visits and the option of warning when the product goes on sale).
Selling related products represents 35% of the profits on Amazon. Apply this rule to your own online store and think about offering more information about your catalog to buyers in each product file and purchase process. Cross-selling involves recommending complementary products and accessories: what products do your customers usually buy together or what can be highlighted in conjunction with a certain product?
It is also useful to apply this strategy of increasing sales online in the marketplaces themselves, looking for which listings and star products you can make your own products appear as related suggestions. Adds Zuñiga, “The upsell means that you offer the customer the possibility of choosing a superior category product or a more complete service.”
Aside from price, the big reason buyers behave the way they do, for better and for worse, is because of the information they receive about products. And this applies to all your catalog materials: the more you offer the customer, the more rigorous and complete, the better online sales conversion you will achieve.
Video is the future: it makes the permanence of an online store page grow up to 88%. Even a short video of a few seconds can make a big difference, explain your product more clearly and get more impact on other channels and social networks.
Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube and Reddit are the social networks with the highest sales conversion for e-commerce businesses, depending on your niche and type of audience.
Also, take advantage of the influencer phenomenon, not necessarily with millionaire personalities: there are young people with audiences adapted to very specific niches that have a broad, smaller effect but with a higher conversion rate. Offer raffles, discount codes or invitations to events, while expanding your network of followers and getting advertising through reposts.
Having more reviews and user ratings on an e-commerce channel increases sales conversion by between 14% and 76%. For this action, it is very important to serve your regular customer base and remain alert to complaints that can improve your sales: what tends to frustrate your buyers the most and how can you solve it?
Improve customer service and offer personalized responses with a fast response margin, including compensation in the event that an online product or process goes wrong. Explains Zuñiga, “Failures do not matter, but your response to them: customers will be more willing to forgive them and continue buying.”