10 e-commerce strategy tips for growing your online sales

written by Aleksandar Debeljak

More and more people today choose to buy goods online. Therefore, many companies are investing in an e-commerce site where they can sell their products. E-commerce sales amounted to just over 1.9 trillion dollars in 2016, the figure is expected to double by 2020.

For smaller businesses it can be difficult to get into the huge e-commerce market. But do not give up! There are many tips to help you sell through and streamline your e-commerce. Keep in mind that any strategy you choose to take that it should deliver a smooth and seamless experience for your customers.

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1. Have a content strategy ready before you start

To attract customers you need content on your page that is relevant to what the visitor or customer is looking for. Think about creating a smart strategy and content that appeals to your audience. Make sure you set the the right content marketing expectations and review the appropriate metrics to make sure you are meeting your goals.

2. Upsell and cross sell your products

For instance, if you sell computers, it’s important that you give the customer different suggestions on what might be best for them. Price plays a big part for most when shopping, so it’s important to explain why buying a more expensive product is better. Upsell is a strategy to get the customer to spend more money. Keep in mind, however, that you do not always need to try to sell the most expensive goods to the customer. Depending on what they want to use the computer for, it is important that you provide them with relevant products.

For example, if they just want to surf the web and check their email, you can give them suggestions on the cheapest computers. But if they want to do video editing, streaming or playing games instead, you need to show them computers at a higher price range.

When the customer is about to or decided to purchase a computer, it is important that you show them additional products that they might need in connection with the computer. For example, it could be a computer screen, mouse or keyboard. This is called cross selling, it is a strategy where you try to get the customer to buy additional products that are relevant to what they want to buy.

These strategies make up more than a third of Amazon’s total revenue. Therefore it is worth investing in.

3. Reduce shopping cart abandonment

A common issue with e-commerce sites is that many visitors who add items to their cart abandon it. To overcome this, there are various solutions that allow you to reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts. A smart way is to send out an email to them to remind them that they were close to buying something. In order to get them to follow up their purchases, it might be good to give them a discount code to get the deal through.

Another way is to use an A/B test. You have several variants of the same web page to test which one works best. This is a smart way to find out what your customers like and what needs to be removed. It is an effective way of converting visitors into customers.

Image Source: ConversionXL

4. Create a unique email marketing campaign

When sending emails to your customers, it’s important that it’s personal and unique to get their attention. Content marketing not only helps you create content on your website, it is also a healthy strategy to use when creating newsletters for your customers.

5. Invest in user generated content

User generated content is a perfect way to connect with your customers. It also gives your company free exposure from real, unpaid customers who enjoy your product. Statistics show that user-generated content is very effective, in social media only, 68% of users between the ages of 18-24 believed it affected their purchase decisions.

6. Give your loyal customers rewards

Reward your most loyal customers with discounts and special offers. Show that you appreciate their loyalty. This is a great way to gain and maintain loyal customers.

7. Use video content to show your products

An effective way of displaying a product is by using video. Video content can give your business more customers. Statistics show that 73% of visitors are more likely to buy a product after they watched a video. Additionally, statistics showed that 96% of customers felt that video content helped them make a purchase decision.

8. Make an effort to be seen on different social media

It is important to try to see which platform works best for your company. Your company may not have many Facebook followers, but it may still be worth having a presence there because there is a chance that you will find a loyal customer. In retrospect, it may be worth skipping some social platforms because it simply is not worth your time.

9. Create your own content

This relates to my first tip – by creating unique content, you not only distinguish yourself from other sites, but your visitors will also appreciate the meaningful information you share. An excellent way to create your own content is by blogging, podcasts, ebooks and video.

10. Optimize your e-commerce for mobile users

Keep in mind that your e-commerce needs to be optimized for mobile phones and tablets. Google announced that more people searched online via mobile and tablets than on standard desktop computers in 2015. The average order value via the mobile market increased by 15% between 2014-2015.

Conclusion

To ensure that your e-commerce site stays consistent on bringing traffic to your site – it’s important to understand what your customers want to see from you. It is also good to experiment with content marketing, SEO & SEM, inbound marketing and analytics tactics that can improve the overall experience and process in which you do things.

By following these tips it will give you a better chance to boost your e-commerce and grow your business.