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E-commerce has enabled businesses to reach a much wider audience. And this is the reason companies are now working to increase eCommerce sales more than other channels.
The e-commerce Industry is growing at such a rate that consumers in the United States will spend up to $632 billion online in 2021, according to a study by Business Insider.
One of the major eCommerce platforms, Shopify boasts to have powered more than 500,000 eCommerce stores worldwide whereas another platform named PrestaShop powers around 250,000 eCommerce stores. So you can understand the amount of competition out there.
And at the same time potential is also huge, according to research 67% of Millennials and 56% of Gen Xers prefer to shop on online rather than in-store.
Now that you’ve set up a store, you can’t expect sales to come in automatically. You need to make some efforts in order to increase online sales to your platform.
Since the growth of every business depends on the customer experience, you can also check these eCommerce Metrics which can help you measure customer experience.
So, I’m going to share some tips which will help you increase your eCommerce sales:
1. Don’t Ignore mCommerce
According to a study of more than 500 global retailers, 51.3% of traffic comes from mobile devices, and this traffic accounts for 36.8% of sales.
This metric alone can make you understand the importance of moving to m-Commerce and improving e-commerce customer service. Having a mobile responsive website is good but providing a fully functional and mobile website with a better user experience will take your store to the next level.
Start testing your website user experience on mobile for various tasks such as product search, CTA, mobile checkout, payment processing, etc. It affects your conversion rates from mobile at a very large scale. You need to start optimizing your mobile website if you want to stay in the game.
Plus, no matter which platform you use, you may use a chatbot for Shopify or WooCommere, or for any other e-commerce channel and drive the rate of conversational commerce.
2. Provide Live Chat Assistance
There are times when website visitors do not convert because of some doubts or questions which went unanswered. This has led to lost customers since most of them would not connect with you over the call or email for clarification.
What could have stopped them is a solution to their questions. You can do it with a live chat solution on your website. In fact, according to a report, 49% of respondents prefer using live chat for online shopping questions. Live Chat has been there for a while for businesses to provide instant assistance for website visitors and to provide support.
It increases customer satisfaction rate, and conversion rates and lowers the wait time for customer resolution. It also increases the chances of customers coming back to you as 63% of customers said they were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat as opposed to one that doesn’t. Some other eCommerce tools can also help in boosting sales.
3. Optimize Conversion Funnel
You know people are coming to your website but somehow not converting. They may be losing at a particular step. You need to find out the page from where people are exiting. It could be a cart, payment page, etc.
You can track this using Google Analytics conversion tracking. All you need to do is create conversion funnels in your Google Analytics platform and then start tracking it.
One of the conversion killers is the Shipping costs. 28% of shoppers will abandon their shopping cart if presented with unexpected shipping costs.
You’ll be able to find out the page from where you are losing people. You can do further research of finding the root cause of these leaks.
4. Use Social Media
Social Media has been really important in recent times to drive sales to e-commerce stores. People tend to rely on social media more and are more likely to engage and purchase with you.
If you’re still thinking about the role of social media in your sales then this study will clear your doubt. It says 61% of organizations engaged in social selling report a positive impact on revenue growth.
Customers are quick to share their views and tag other people from their social circle while they are on your social media page.
One of the ways to engage people on social media is by organizing simple contests or hosting giveaways in for free merchandise in return for asking for a few details. You can also ask people to tag their friends in the comments or share their images using your product. It creates a buzz among them and their friends which helps in your branding and hence increases your reach.
5. Offer Personalized Deals
Everyone loves personal attention. And when dealing with customers, you need to make them feel special by offering them exclusivity. According to the Infosys survey, 67% of those who have experienced personalization highly prefer personalized coupons.
You need not give only discounts but you can personalize by offering other services like “Free Shipping! It’s your 5th purchase with us”
This small gesture will go a long way and make the customers feel special. But keep in mind the CLV of the customer while offering discounts. You can also offer some discounts like “Additional 5% Off since it’s your Birthday Week”.
Always remember that these small gestures make a big impact on Customer Lifetime Value and Customer Satisfaction Score.
6. Reviews Are Important
You know people tend to believe what other customers are saying more than your advertisement. So, when they do not find any reviews on the product page, the chances of them converting becomes very low.
A review shows an honest opinion about the product and that you’re transparent about the quality. While it is also important to keep a tab on what’s being said and answer the queries there and then.
A study indicates that nearly 63% of consumers indicate they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews.
Apart from reviews on the product detail page, you can use social reviews for your help as well. Reviews on your social media pages are proof of coming from real people hence increasing the trust of people on your website.
Since social media has lately been used as a customer service channel. It shows a great opportunity to increase your conversion rates.
Conclusion
Now you know these secret tips which can help you increase your eCommerce sales. These tips have helped many businesses and have been time-tested.
If you know of some more tactics which can work and are worth sharing, please share them in the comments section below.
