Ecommerce is a vast world of opportunity for millions of companies worldwide, even those that run simply from the ecommerce platform. Have you been considering the possibilities, yet you’re not sure what to have in order to succeed?
Not every single small business will find success using ecommerce, but with these essential ideas your chances of beating the odds will skyrocket. The bottom line for ecommerce is that sites improve business opportunities and sales, only if you know what you’re doing and how to capitalise on your chances. Follow these tips to improve your success:
Give Your Customers A Deal
Your ecommerce site should always have something to give to the audience: offering an incentive for buying, regardless of how big or small, is always a good way to bring in customers. Things like free shipping, money off coupons on their next orders or a percentage off their total amount are all good things to offer. Not only does this give customers incentive to buy, it also gives incentive to buy more.
Shoppers who are looking to buy that £15 item will often browse elsewhere when they know they’ll receive a 20% discount off a £25 or more order on another store. Free shipping gives people the ability to buy items online just as they would in store, removing any worries of additional charges.
Make Your Advantages Known to the Customer
Keep your products in their categories, making those easy to search.
You can place your categories on the homepage, along with the specials. Have browsers click through to the specific items they are looking for from the homepage. Always having your categories labelled i.e. Clearance, New Items and Deals, just so that those customers coming to your website and looking for a bargain don’t have to cycle through page after page to find them. Showing the customers your deals from the go is a great way to bring them in to your website, as they will often cycle through your other products whilst they’re there.
Lock Down The Sales
To inspire trust and loyalty among your shoppers, make sure that the ecommerce section of the site where there payments will be processed is encrypted with https and not http.
The “s” in the URL is a secure website, which reassures shoppers that their information is safe and they’re not at risk of being compromised. There are many shoppers that check this part of the URL before going through the payment process and if the “s” isn’t included, many will not go through with the sale. No encryption is bad for business and security alike.
Shopping Carts
While you may not remember the last time you visited a website that doesn’t hold a shopping cart feature, be aware that there are still some out there. Don’t let your company be one of them.
Offer registration for customers (a great way to bring in email addresses for newsletters about offers) and then offer shopping carts so people can browse and place items in a cart simultaneously, so they can return later for purchase. It makes it convenient for shoppers and it makes it easier for you to not lose sales.
Most Importantly… Don’t Forget the Social Media
Having social media buttons on your site will allow browsers to share and tweet your products on their social media platforms. Having customers share items with their friends and family from your store is a fantastic way of free advertising. This can result in even more sales and potential customers. Without these buttons, you’re throwing away potential profits for your store.
Hopefully these essentials will give you a better understanding of what it takes to be a successful ecommerce store, especially for those that do sales.
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