It should come as no surprise when we say eCommerce will eventually overtake retail. One report published by Generix Group predicted that this will happen in 2024.
With Amazon cementing their position as the leading online retailer, that doesn’t mean other retails can’t compete with. The online world has made it easier for brands to open their e-Commerce stores and there are certain strategies that you can incorporate that will help you boost your sales.
Here, in this article, we list the top 10.
1. Using Good Descriptions of Products and High-Quality Photographs
There’s no middle man when it comes to selling your products online. The main factors that will help you sell is the content that you use to sell your products. And this includes a good product description and use of high-quality photos.
With images, the more eye-catching they are, the better. You can also make use of videos as well.
As for the product description, it needs to really showcase the benefits of the product to persuade the customers to buy their products.
Also, the design, which encompasses the overall look and feel of your product pages goes a long way in creating a lasting impression on the minds of the customers and can actually draw them in purchasing your products.
2. Have an Intuitive Search Bar
It is imperative that you organise your e-Commerce store to cater the needs of two groups of customers:
- Customers who want to browse the website.
- Customers who are aware of what they want to buy.
If you can cater to these two customer groups, then you are providing an optimum search experience.
Designing a seamless search experience accompanied by a smooth-flowing purchasing experience is important. Otherwise the customers will jump-ship to another online store.
3. Have a Captivating Content Marketing Strategy
By implementing a content marketing strategy that resonates with your e-Commerce brand, you play a huge role in providing more value to the customers.
Content marketing is not about selling. It is more about creating content that informs, educates and entertains. One example of an e-commerce brand that is delivering value is Scotts Menswear. Their content marketing strategy is focused on delivering content that is around sports, films and fashion via their blog.
Image source: Scotts Menswear
For good content marketing to prosper, brands need to understand what their customers want and then create their content around those needs accordingly to cater to them.
4. Personalise the Home Page
Image Source: Amazon
Personalisation is a necessity for e-Commerce customers.
People like to receive a personalised service. As a matter of fact, according to a recent Epsilon study, 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that offers a personalised experience.
By personalising the home page of a registered visitor, you will provide them with specially tailored suggestions based on their previous purchase history and real-time data such as time and location.
5. Be Active on Social Media
Your social media strategy should be in coherence with your content marketing strategy. For improving your brand’s visibility, your content needs to be posted on various social media platforms to reach out to a large audience.
That said, you don’t need to focus on every social media platform, you need to take some time to understand the demographics of each platform and decide whether the platform would be suitable for your brand.
To give you an example, if your brand’s target audience is over 55s, then formulating a social media strategy for Instagram would not give you much return, since most of their users are under the age of 35.
But whatever platform you decide to use, you need post consistently to engage with your customers. And if you decide to use ads, use them sparingly to avoid spamming your consumers’ feeds.
6. Simplifying Checkout
In order to keep your customers from straying away, you need to design your online store so that your customer can seamlessly move from adding products to basket to completing the transaction within a few clicks. By doing regular tests, you can remove any glitches on the checkout page and your e-commerce store can be updated with the distractions removed.
Ideally, your checkout procedure should be no more than 5 steps. Below we share an example Nordstorm’s checkout page.
Image Source: QeRetail
7. Make Use of User-Generated Content
The use of user-generated content can greatly improve the image of a brand.
User-generated content is content that is created by your customers. Usually, this content is either a review or testimonial in form of video, photo or text. In most cases, this type of content is used on a brand’s website as a form of social proof.
However, you can can utilise user-generated content to create a social media campaign and generate exposure. This is what Starbucks did with their #WhiteCupContest where they encouraged their customers to draw their own design on Starbucks’ own takeaway cups and share it on their social media pages.
8. Email Marketing
By using email sign up forms, you can build an email list where you can nurture a strong relationship with your audience. With email marketing, you can provide the latest information of discounts, promotions and perks to those who voluntary joined your list. You can also use this channel to promote new content as well.
That said, it is important that marketers seek consent of the customers before sending emails. This is essential for your brand to come in line with GDPR, an EU regulation that oversees how brands handle consumers personal information. Failing to meet EU regulations will result in a huge fine.
9. Create Strategies for Advertising
It goes without saying that if you want to spark up your sales, you need to have a very dynamic advertising strategy. E-commerce advertisements helps in improving sales by increasing visibility online. For any brand considering an ad campaign for their online store needs to gauge the no. of visitors required for successful conversion.
By using Facebook Ads and tracking on Google Analytics, you can get a better understanding of your demographics of the customers. Using methods such as retargeting and A/B Testing can also help in reaching the customers and increase sales which is the prime focus of businesses.
10. Invest in Omnichannel Commerce
Omnichannel commerce is where you can deliver your omnichannel channel experience across multiple channels as seamlessly as possible. In today’s digital age, this is very important since customers are no longer purchasing on websites.
They’re making purchases on Alexa devices and mobile apps. According to OC&C strategy consultants, voice commerce sales are predicted to reach $45 billion by 2022 across the US and UK. And as for mobile commerce, Invespcro reported that there are over 2 billion people who have made some form of transaction over their mobile phone in 2017.
That said, it is crucial that you make your e-Commerce available on a multitude of channels. We advise that you invest in an e-Commerce platform that caters for this.
Make Your e-Commerce Presence Count
eCommerce is the now the norm, but competing with the giant online stores is possible. By applying the above strategies, you stand a better chance of seeing your revenue increase.
