Across the globe, ecommerce sales are forecast to hit $6.5 trillion in 2023, up from $4.9 trillion in 2021. Although this growth is fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, online shopping was already a big part of our lifestyles pre-pandemic.
As an entrepreneur, there couldn’t be a better time to run an online shop. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in for a killing. In fact, many ecommerce stores are recording poor online sales.
If your e-store is in the same problem, you might be wondering what you can do to increase online sales. Worry not. We’re here with the solutions you need.
Read on to learn what you can do to spur your website sales.
1. Drive More Traffic to Your Ecommerce Website
Selling online is similar to selling offline (brick-and-mortar shop) in a couple of ways. In both models, you need people to visit your site. The more foot or web traffic your store gets, the more sales you’re likely to make.
When you look at your website’s analytics, how’s the traffic doing? If your website is attracting a handful of visitors, that’s probably the main reason your online sales are poor.
The good news is there are plenty of steps you can take to send more traffic to your ecommerce website, but the most important is boosting the site’s search engine rankings. Find out more about how to take your site to the first page of Google.
Another effective way to increase site traffic, especially if you’re looking for quick results, is to run a pay-per-click campaign. Your PPC ads can show up on top of search engine result pages, giving your ecommerce site the visibility it needs to get plenty of traffic.
2. Diversify Your Online Selling Channels
Setting up your own ecommerce website is a quick and easy way to start selling online. It also gives you complete control over your operations.
However, if you’re selling exclusively on your website, there’s a good chance you’re doing your sales a disservice. Embracing other online channels, such as social media sites like Facebook or Instagram, as well as established ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon, can expose your business to more potential customers.
Did you know 61 percent of online shoppers in the U.S. go directly to the Amazon website when they’re doing a product search? If your store is on Amazon, your page will get more hits.
This, though, doesn’t mean you start selling on as many online channels as you can find. The secret is settling on channels that are most relevant to your business. If you’re selling handcrafted items, for instance, you’ll likely find better success on Etsy than on Amazon.
And if you’re a clothing store, having a shop on Instagram can increase your online sales, since the platform is popular with fashion shoppers.
3. Make Your Website More Ecommerce-Friendly
It’ll be of little gain to put effort into driving lots of traffic to a website that’s not shopper-friendly. When visitors (potential customers) land on your ecommerce website, they want to find what they’re looking for in the fewest clicks and check out seamlessly.
If you’re seeing an increase in the number of abandoned carts, your site’s design is the likely culprit.
This issue can be fixed with a design refresh. Hire an experienced ecommerce website designer to build a site that ticks all the boxes in terms of user-friendliness.
In addition, ensure there’s live chat support on the site so that shoppers can quickly get human help without leaving the site. Offering multiple payment options also goes a long way. You don’t want a buyer to abandon a cart simply because their preferred payment method isn’t supported on your site.
4. Enhance the Shipping and Delivery Experience
Many online shoppers will look elsewhere when an e-store is offering longer delivery timeframes. This tells you all you need to know about the importance of fast shipping in ecommerce.
In a world of instant gratification and diminishing patience, shoppers want their orders delivered now – or the next day, at the latest. If you’re not offering same-day and/or next-day shipping, you’re losing many customers to competitors offering quicker shipping.
Besides fast shipping, the delivery experience also influences a customer’s experience. Ensure packages arrive within the promised shipping timeframe and in perfect condition. Partner with a shipping service provider with well-trained staff to ensure last-mile communication is excellent.
A high-quality experience will turn a first-time customer into a repeat customer.
5. Fix Any Product Quality Issues
If you have taken care of website issues and invested in digital advertising, but sales aren’t improving, perhaps your product is the problem. Consumers won’t buy a product that doesn’t solve their problem, especially if there are better alternatives in the marketplace.
Fortunately, it’s easy to detect product quality issues. Just ask your customers for feedback about product quality and they’ll pour it out. Armed with the feedback, fine-tune the product to ensure it meets your target customers’ needs.
Also, examine your competitor’s product and use your findings to develop a product that tops all, both in terms of functionality and value.
Increase Online Sales the Easy Way!
Selling online is the future of commerce, no doubt. As an ecommerce business owner, you’re already ahead of the game, but if your online sales aren’t impressive, there’s work to do. Make use of the strategies fleshed out above and you’ll increase online sales in no time.
Browse the rest of our blog for more ecommerce tips.
