These days, everything seems to have gone online, especially shopping. According to the US Department of Commerce, eCommerce sales are at an all time high.
With a steady, exponential growth year after year, it’s no wonder why marketers are focusing most of their sales and acquisition efforts onto online stores.
Seeing how online sales totaled just over $97 billion last year, jumping on board and joining the winning team would be a great idea right about now.
As a small business owner, your venture into the world of eCommerce starts with creating a website and setting up an online store. These first steps, while of the utmost importance to the overall success of your business venture, will have very little to do with aiding with your acquisitions and conversions or cac.
If you still haven’t set up a website for your business, now’s the time to do it. We recommend going with SITE123, a favorite platform of ours. Not only does SITE123 make the setup process a breeze, it also makes all of the following step like adding and optimizing your online store as smooth and as uncomplicated as it can be. They also have a great piece on their blog with a detailed checklist for your online store – a must read for all aspiring entrepreneurs.
To boost your online store, and make sure your sales are always consistently high, you need to resort to a few different tactics. We came up these 6 easy tips you can implement in no time that will help your sale skyrocket.
1.Don’t overlook the design of your store
While your store exists to provide your customers with a simple and uncomplicated way to buy goods from you, you shouldn’t see it as just a necessary utility.
Although it is online, your store should be a digital reflection of what your brick and mortar shop would look like. Designing your homepage, banners, ads, menu bars, etc. is the same as designing an actual storefront. It’s the first thing your customers see and the thing that will either entice them to shop or deter them from visiting again.
Spend some time tweaking the look and feel of your online store and make sure it’s in line with your brand’s identity and what your target audience finds attractive and engaging.
Make sure to balance the design as well as the convenience, it would also be a great idea to add a Thank you page. Aftersell can help you design the perfect thank you page.
2. Make shopping easy by adding different types of payment
If you’re a one-man/woman operation, adding multiple types of payment to your online store might seem like it won’t make your job any easier.
However, offering your customers more than one way of paying will actually help your sales grow and make it easier for you to manage all of the payments.
Apart from the regular credit card payments, make sure you include online payment providers such as PayPal, Payoneer, Skrill, and Apple Pay. You can also include offline payments on delivery for local customers.
All of these payment providers offer business accounts with extra benefits and the ability to withdraw your funds to a single bank account.
3.Make it easy for your customers to reach you
One of the main reasons people love to buy from small businesses is the customer service they get and the connection they make with you and your employees. Don’t overlook this incredibly important aspect of your store, and make sure you enable your clients to reach you with ease.
You can do this by adding a live chat app to your store. If you’ve built it using SITE123, there’s a wide variety of third party chat apps available in their App Market, so there’s bound to be something that fits both your needs and your budget.
If you don’t have the time or the manpower to manage a live chat app, you can include a simple contact form on your website. Browse SITE123’s App Market to find a form builder you like.
4.Establish trust by adding a privacy policy and shipping info
With so many online stores popping up across the web, finding one that is safe, reliable and trustworthy isn’t an easy feat. Project a trustworthy image and ooze professionalism by including a privacy policy to your store.
You can also add a link that leads to a page or a .pdf document containing your shipping policy, info and rates on the checkout page. This will help your customers see that you’re serious about their safety and privacy and that you’re a trustworthy and reliable shopping choice.
5. Send out customized email receipts
The email receipt your customers get after purchasing is a valuable piece of marketing real estate and you shouldn’t take it for granted.
Instead of sending out generic, boring order confirmations, invest a bit of time into coming up with witty, engaging copy for your emails. Follow it up with customized sales, promotions and special offers, as well as a list of recommended products.
Include a 10% off coupon with every first purchase, or offer returning customers $5 or $10 off the next item they buy.
6. Add videos
Sketchy online stores await behind every corner of the internet, and differentiating between good and bad ones can be tricky. Let your customers know that you take your job seriously and that you approach each item you sell with incredible care and dedication by adding product videos.
Not only will adding videos help your customers get a better look at the item, it will also help establish you as a serious business that’s always in line with the latest eCommerce trends and practices. This video marketing agency can help you create great content which engages your audience. Making sure you are consulting with professionals is important. Doing this will help your campaign become a success
If adding elaborate videos or 360 images to each and every product you sell is out of your reach, don’t worry. You can create homemade videos of a few of your most popular or most expensive products and give them the authenticity they need to sell better.
Not only will adding videos help your customers get a better look at the item, it will also help establish you as a serious business that’s always in line with the latest eCommerce trends and practices. This youtuber agency can help you create great content which engages your audience. Making sure you are consulting with professionals is important. Doing this will help your campaign become a success.
Conclusion
Seeing how creating a website and setting up an online store are so simple and easy, optimizing your sales strategy always seems much harder than it actually is.
But, in reality, boosting your sales and ensuring they’re always on the rise isn’t that hard of a feat, especially when you’ve got a few tips and tricks up your sleeve. We’ve analyzed dozens of online stores, some more successful than others, combed through all of the latest marketing and acquisition practices and trends, and came up with these unbelievably simple, yet incredibly useful tips you can start implementing right away.
Ready to boost your online store sales? Start by creating an amazing free website, or if you’ve already done that, read through this incredibly comprehensive online store checklist.