The most popular Ecommerce portals are Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc. Furthermore, there are a few Ecommerce portals like Myntra, Jabong, Koovs, Shopclues etc, which are solely dedicated to fashion clothing. And a few dedicated to industrial products and other miscellaneous stuff. Thus creating a huge space for Ecommerce players as well as buyers.
There are a few secrets you need to keep in mind in order to develop a perfect equation with your potential buyer. So that you don’t just make sales, but a long lasting relationship which can help you survive in this competitive market for a long, long time.
Without wasting any further time, let’s take a look at those 11 secrets to help you increase Ecommerce sales
1. Keep it simple:
Do make sure that your landing page is not filled with graphics and too many High Definition images as it could take time for the page to load, hence the needy customer will quickly switch over to another website where things would happen like a speeding Ferrari!
Use graphics wherever necessary and a High Definition picture with different angles beside the product details. Also make sure not to clutter the page with too much data as it could be burdening on the buyers eyes. The best way is to put yourself in the buyers shoes. As a buyer I’m sure you would expect the webpage to be seamless, hassle free and user-friendly for a smooth online shopping experience.
2. Make an offer they can’t refuse:
Don’t forget to offer mouthwatering discount options and price comparison with other websites to increase Ecommerce sales. Also, elaborate on the benefits of buying that particular product in a simple yet friendly manner. Being unnecessarily creative and using too many flowery words could make you lose a potential customer.
Remember, he’s here to buy a product, not to read some witty lines.
By including a demo video of the product, chances are that the buyer will become tempted and hence one step closer to purchasing it.
3. Build Relationship With Customers:
Remember what I mentioned earlier in this article? Don’t just make sales, but an everlasting relationship that could sustain for a very long time.
To do so, you should device ways to directly communicate with your customers to give them a more state-of- the-art experience. Few examples are given below;
- Live Chat Options
- Comment Reply
- Social Media Interactions
- Dropping emails and newsletters
4. Offer Replacement Guarantee & Return Policy:
By emphasizing on replacement guarantee and easy return policies, you have almost won your customer’s trust. If the product does not match up to the customer’s expectations, he/she will not feel compelled to keep the product. This will surely grab the buyer’s attention and purchasing would be a stress-free task for him/her.
So that buyers don’t misuse this offer, you can add a ‘conditions apply’ note where you can mention that goods damaged by the customer’s won’t be replaced or returned.
5. Promote Your Products On Instagram:
According to a recent study, it has been found that the highly popular photo sharing platform Instagram gives brands 30% more endorsement than any other social media portal, including giants like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Hence, a sure shot way to increase Ecommerce sales.
It has a staggering 300 million monthly active users with approximately 30 billion photos in its database! An epitome of mass popularity I must say!
To engage with your audience on Instagram, you can try running campaigns or contests with eye catchy hashtags, and most importantly, displaying pictures of your customers wearing your products.
These are basically known as user-generated photos, and a brilliant way to demonstrate that you have happy current customers! Let the conversion begin!
6. Stay On Top Of SEO:
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is an integral and most valuable way to generate traffic to your store. It gives search engines something to index and well-chosen keywords ensure that you can be found.
The method of success in this case is pretty simple. You should choose a right target audience and then generate the most relevant SEO keywords and strategically add them into the right places. (For example: T-shirts for men, Tank tops for women, Blue denims for boys)
Of course, nowadays because of strict regulations by Google, it is really important to write original, quality and media rich content to attract more Ecommerce traffic.
7. Go Mobile:
We live in the age of digitization. And a fascinating trend called ‘mobile shopping’ has gripped the entire world.
At least half of your customers search for items from their tablets or mobile devices while going for work, chilling in a cafe or laying on the sofa. We were familiar with mobile shopping for several years, but now mobile shopping becomes a default way to purchase the product you need.
Keeping this in mind, you must optimize your web pages for mobile devices and tablets. Mobile site visits are increasing steadily just as PC sales are declining. A seamless mobile sales flow will help you secure your part of this crucial new channel.
8. Endorse On Social Media:
This is an absolute must for any Ecommerce organization as social media continues to grow as a major part of Internet marketing.
With almost 93 percent of consumers turning to social media to help make buying decisions; and 90 percent of them saying they trust product recommendations from their peers and colleagues, avoiding social media simply isn’t an option if you want to compete online.
Social media is the perfect platform for interacting directly with prospects and customers. Monitor posts and engage with them on a daily basis to ask questions, respond to their comments, thank them for sharing your content, and participate in discussions to know about latest Social Media Tips. It’s an amazing way to show you truly care about them and are interested in catering to their needs.
9. Invest In Quality Product Descriptions:
“Customize the description with your brand tone and personality – this will differentiate your store from your competitors” says Aideen from xsellco.
The significance of product descriptions is continually underestimated in Ecommerce. Organizations that don’t invest time in writing accurate, descriptive and informative descriptions are missing out on revenue because competitors are writing them out of the game.
Product description tells a story of what the product is, what it does, how it benefits the customer etc. Without an eye catchy description, you will not convince the potential customer to make a purchase.
To get your eyes out some creative and mind boggling product description writing, you can check out the following website
10. Offer Multiple Payment Options:
Consumers are becoming savvier by the day and they demand a more user-friendly experience. Offering only paypal checkout or one payment option is no longer sufficient to be successful.
Make sure your customers can check out with Paypal, credit cards, debit cards as well as any other options that may be more convenient for some customers.
Cash on delivery (COD) option should be a must! It has emerged as one of the most sought after payment options among consumers shopping online. More than 50% orders are placed through this method.
Some other indirect ways of online payments are rewards points. On certain items that are purchased by a customer, a number of rewards points will be awarded which will get added to the buyers account. In the next transaction, the buyer can choose to pay for their next purchase using the accumulated rewards points.
11. Create A Blog:
It might be contradictory to focus your efforts on a blog if you have an Ecommerce store because your main priority is driving users to products, not static content. However blogs offer tremendous SEO and other benefits that will help drive more and better traffic to your website and increase Ecommerce sales.
You can also utilize your blog to promote your industry, products and newsletters which will in turn help you expand your Ecommerce store.
Conclusion
Ecommerce is a burgeoning industry that is continuing to grow at a rapid speed. But building your own Ecommerce business is no ball game. From chalking out a business model, evaluating viability and sourcing, to building, launching and growing sales. There are a lot of jigsaws to put together.
If you take into account that consumers now have a multitude of online stores to rely on for their shopping spree, you can understand why you have to develop both a short term and a long term strategy. However, following these 11 secrets should provide you with a clear roadmap to help you build a financially rewarding Ecommerce business.
