There is no denying that e-commerce platforms have changed drastically over the last few years. And not only do they offer a better experience, but they also make it easier for the competition. So, if you want to stay ahead of the pack and increase online sales, take this advice from Chloe Thomas, an expert from eCommerce MasterPlan.
1. Always Have A Plan/Strategy
There are a lot of things to think about before you can get your online store open is opened to the public. For example, what type of structure are you going to use, and will you only be making products available online? In other words, do you want to combine the e-commerce site with a physical store?
Another element you want to pay attention to is the range and type of products you’ll be selling. Are you going to be a specialist and put all your focus on a small range of products? Or do you want to be more diverse and cater to the needs of your audience?
2. Don’t Get Stuck On Mobile
A big mistake e-commerce site owners make is to only care about the experience for mobile users. Where the focus used to be on desktops, now, it’s all about making the site responsive to all the different mobile devices. And this is great, but don’t forget about keeping the experience great for desktop users as well. Remember, for consumers there won’t be a big difference between mobile and desktop shopping if the site can handle it.
3. Go With The Right Software
The last thing you want to do is make things more complicated than they have to be. In other words, you can start an e-commerce site from scratch, you will also pull out quite a big chunk of your hair while you are at it. If you are new to this, why not start with user-friendly platforms that are already established? Shopify and WooCommerce are great examples of how you can put the technical difficulties aside, at least for now. If you’re more into creating an auction model, then choose the right auction software for your needs.
4. Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Good Customer Service
Any successful business relies on clients coming back. And if clients didn’t like the service, products, or the setup of the site, nothing is going to stop them from walking over to the competition. Keeping clients happy from the moment they reach your site to infinity is like putting money in the bank.
5. Put Extra Effort Into The Delivery Experience
It’s nice getting a sale, but getting a repeat sale from the same customer is even better. And you’ll notice how your conversions start to pick up once you perfect the delivery experience. In other words, you make your products available at competitive prices, you might add something special like free shipping if the product is expensive enough, and you make sure the customer’s package gets delivered on time. If these elements can flow smoothly, people will definitely keep coming back.
6. Don’t Stop At The First Purchase
After you get the first sale, try to market a repeat sale. Once again, many e-commerce sites only care about the initial sale and turn their focus on gaining new clients. The fact is, you spend less money retaining clients, and you have a better chance of getting a repeat sale if the client was happy with the first one.
7. Build Trust
The most critical element you need in order to boost online sales is trust from your customers. How do you do this? By posting content people will find valuable and useful. Or maybe you need to network a little more and make your online presence known. If possible, use genuine reviews and testimonies on your site.
8. Never Stop Experimenting
Trends are always going to change, and you need to be able to change with them. This means you have to keep testing your strategy in order to figure out where the next trend is going. Otherwise, you are going to get stuck with no sales and no growth.
