5 ways to boost traffic to your online store
.png)
This article is published in partnership with IDEACommerce who prepared this article for our readers.
With the ongoing migration of products and services to the web, it should be clear - online sales are the underbelly of commerce. Today, many e-businesses are racing for the top spot in sales, using all means to increase conversions. Online business is a complex concept that requires equally complex activities and tools.
In this article, we will present 5 ways to increase sales based on proven methods.
The current problems of online sales
Success! Your company has set up an online store - you and your team have worked hard to create a complete range of products and implement a new marketing strategy. However, after a while, the store does not grow and you wonder what went wrong?
Let’s see what you can do to improve your sales activities.
Use a tool that automates your sales
Many store owners have more than one sales management tool. This often includes a separate checkout system, a separate WMS, several marketplaces (e.g. eBay/Amazon), ending with several courier platforms. Efficient management of all of the above requires a lot of team resources and excellent coordination between departments. But what if you could manage all of that using only one tool?
This is where a solution from our partner comes in handy. IDEAerp is an all-in-one tool that combines all the above functionalities in one coherent ecosystem with internal integration of sales and courier platforms. All operations in the sales management cycle are automated, saving time and resources. In addition, the system is fully web-based, so you can manage your company from anywhere in the world using a phone or computer and a web browser.
If you would rather use a tool that automates sales processes mainly, Meetsales Video Commerce Platform may be a great solution for you as well. With our Scheduling, Video meetings or Data & analysis features you get the only source of truth of your sales team activities.
Implement marketing and/or sales automation
The automation of marketing and sales is becoming more and more important every year. In the face of the multitude of offers and recipients, above-average analytical skills are needed to efficiently inform the customer about the possibility of purchasing a new product or service. Fortunately, there are more and more opportunities for automation in this area using the potential of artificial intelligence. Let's not be afraid to say that artificial intelligence is increasing sales as well!
It is no different in the case of IDEAflowbox, which is also an online tool that allows you to create personalized product recommendations for each visitor to your online store. Research from Monetate Ecommerce's quarterly report shows that nearly 70% of new customers who click on featured products are more likely to make a purchase during that session. This allows the system to earn money for you without your intervention. So it's a great way to increase conversions. In the case of marketing automation, IDEAflowbox has powerful capabilities to create personalized marketing campaigns (mailings), allowing you to reach many groups of customers based on aggregated data.
Opt for a solid hosting
One of the main complaints of online store owners is poor web hosting. Hardly anyone pays attention to the quality of the server backend, which results in frequent problems with maintaining the integrity of databases and negatively affects the customer experience when navigating the store. The problem is the lack of proper planning, which often does not assume increased traffic on the website, e.g. due to sales, pre-Christmas period, etc. It should be noted that when implementing new tools or growth hacking strategies, the number of visitors and interested parties increases proportionally. These solutions must be accompanied by appropriate technical facilities.
Thinking about such cases, IDEAcloud was created, providing unlimited transfer and support for all the most commonly used sales platforms. Depending on your needs, the server can host multiple domains simultaneously with adequate storage space and a free security certificate.
Look through the eyes of the customer - the buyer persona
Let's put aside the topic of sales for a moment and move on to how the customer perceives the online store and what influences his attitude towards your product/company. It is worth highlighting the most important aspects your clients pay attention to. The top example is the policy of returns and complaints, which, depending on the type of business, can generate up to 70% of returns and complaints in relation to the sales made. When we buy products (e.g. clothing), we order them impulsively, in several variants, to finally choose the one that meets our expectations, with the intention of sending back those that did not meet our expectations. We expect our complaint/return to be processed as soon as possible, and we ourselves want to be kept informed about its status.
The aforementioned IDEAerp system includes a dedicated RMA functionality that manages the returns and complaints process holistically, reducing the steps performed to a minimum while remaining fully transparent to the customer. At the time of purchase of a given product, the customer receives a unique RMA token, which allows them to make a claim in a dedicated panel. Once the request is made, an employee verifies the validity of the return/complaint in the system, while informing the customer of the status of their request. In cases where the customer does not complete the web form, IDEAerp generates QR codes unique to each order, created at an early stage of the order, so that returns can be processed without customer intervention. This way, you will provide the customer with appropriate after-sales care, while strengthening the consumer relationship.
Adapt your sales platform
When entering the world of e-commerce and wanting to distinguish your brand and products, you should not forget about choosing the right sales platform. It's quite possible that you haven't learned all the secrets of setting up your platform yet and are wondering what else you can do to make the use of your online store more pleasant for others. Here is a short list of steps you can take:
The more payment integrations, the better
Customers are increasingly paying attention to payment methods. Payment may vary by country. In Poland, it is popular to use the BLIK online transfer or alternative payment gateways, such as PayU or Przelewy24. Globally, we all know and use PayPal or Stipe (that one is also implemented for Meetsales in-app payments).
Choose the most popular product
Labeling and distinguishing products as bestsellers helps to build a sense of customer satisfaction and awareness of their sustainability.
Use product recommendations
Product recommendations allow you to quickly increase conversions without the need for frequent intervention. You can use different tools (e.g. IDEAflowbox to fully automate the process and let the AI earn money for you.
Free delivery
The National Retail Federation indicates that over 75% of customers expect free delivery on survey orders even below USD 50. Due to the cost of this method, you need to analyze the average value of customer purchases and make improvements.
Streamline the purchasing process
One of the most daunting aspects of online shopping is the complexity of the steps from the moment you 'put' an item in your shopping cart until you complete your payment. It is worth considering shortening the stages as much as possible so that they are as little engaging as possible for the client.
Carry out a User Experience audit/survey
There is no better person to give you feedback than your customer. It is worth cultivating their involvement by addressing active consumers, asking about their shopping experience and implementing real solutions. You can use surveys or A/B tests for this purpose. An additional option is to commission a UX audit to an external, specialized company.
Adapt your shop for mobile devices
Statista.com reports that 73% of e-commerce sales are made via smartphones. It is worth ensuring the responsiveness of your online shop to provide the best possible navigation experience for the customer.
Adapt product descriptions
Needless to say, customers buy with their eyes. In order for your product to sell better, it is important to provide good quality photos and accurate descriptions. So take care of unique content that will result not only in greater trust, but also in better, organic positions and conversions in the search engine. A blog section where you can create marketing content can be an essential tool.
Increase the focus on abandoned baskets
Pay attention to your customers' shopping carts and at what stage they are abandoned. Analyze and draw conclusions. It is a good practice to increase engagement and create personalized mailings for customers who abandon the cart to convince them to come back and complete the purchase.
Summary
As you can see, there are many ways and it is worth implementing them. If it requires too much work or your possibilities are limited, you should consider choosing the right solution that combines all the above activities in one platform.
Thinking about such situations, IDEAshopbox was created, which guarantees the implementation of an online store in its full glory with additional possibilities of integration with IDEAerp or IDEAflowbox. Within 4 weeks you can enjoy a fully operational, functional store based on a stable Magento 2 platform, tailored to your business profile and your products.
