Modern e-commerce is developing rapidly, competition in every niche is growing, and new buying and selling sites are growing. That is why marketers have to devote more time and effort to distinguish the company from competitors and increase sales in the online store. One of the essential points is to study the psychology of online shoppers and identify the aspects that influence the decision to make a purchase.
Having a unique, high-quality product is only half the battle. The remaining 50% is an excellent online store with a well-thought-out convenient structure, properly designed product cards, and quality photos. In this article, we will try to give a detailed answer to the topical question for many: “How to increase online store sales?”
How to increase online store sales, and what scares potential buyers?
The number of users of online stores and their trust in online services is increasing every day. Shopping through online stores has become an integral part of everyone’s life. It is necessary to understand that there is massive work on eliminating various problems and obstacles to purchase. Let’s know how to increase site conversion and online sales. Most repulsive users:
- the absence of goods that interest the visitor
- the price of the product is incorrect
- incomplete set of goods
- incompetent service
- no quick response when ordering
- difficulties with the ability to return or exchange goods
- delivery problems.
These are the most common problems in online stores that need to be addressed first. If you are not familiar with any of them, you are on the right track to increase online sales. Now you need to understand how to sell more finally. Imagine yourself in the user’s place and analyze what else can hinder the attraction of new customers. Let’s look in more detail at the factors that are definitely worth paying attention to.
1. Correct operation of the site and ease of use
Attractive design is not enough to shop through an online store. It should also be user-friendly and understandable. Statistics show that 75% of users close sites and never return to them if it is difficult to find the right product or any information. Here it is imperative to understand the psychology of visitors. Check that all online store features work correctly: whether there are no errors during registration, whether the “Add to cart” button works, whether e-mails arrive to confirm the order, or whether some 404 pages give an error.
Also, a key point is the “Buy” button. Add it on the page correctly (not on the side or bottom of the page), but in the upper right corner. The presence of any of these problems can lead to the loss of the buyer. If you are not a technician, it is best to order a usability audit from experts who research the site and give detailed recommendations for improving its performance.
2. Convenient catalog
A visitor to your online store should not get lost in the endless list of products. Create separate categories and subcategories for each product group. If you are engaged, for example, in the sale of furniture, then for sofas, beds, cabinets, etc. Each category should be subcategories. For instance, if there is a category “Beds”, there should be subcategories “Double beds”, “Single beds”, “Baby beds,” and more. It will make it easier for your visitors to find the products they need and improve the behavioral factors that affect the site’s promotion to the top Google.
3. Pay attention to the quality of photos (video)
Users of online stores are pretty demanding of visual information. It should understand that images of goods play a crucial role. It is the photos that allow the visitor to get acquainted with the products visually. Use only high-quality widescreen images that will enable you to view any item.
4. More informative content
Each page of the online store should carry helpful information for the user and answer all his questions. If this is a section with a specific group of products, let him know what effect he can find and what manufacturers. Do not forget about the importance of texts in product cards.
The presence of unique meaningful texts in them increases the conversion of the site as a whole. Let’s give more specifics for each product: detailed characteristics by composition, materials, weight, size, information about the manufacturer. The visitor who opened a certain card should receive the full details of the product.
5. Write texts for people, not for search engines
Modern search engines are designed to have readable and useful texts with more priority than resources with reloaded materials. In addition, spam is a direct path to the “ban” of search engines. Various filters analyze the text composition and impose sanctions on such articles. And this leads to the disappearance of the pages of the site from search engines. Write only such texts that will be understandable to people, and that will benefit them.
6. Divide all textual content into blocks using headings and subheadings
99% of users never read the text entirely from beginning to end. Everyone has their individual questions to which they seek answers. You must separate the text with headings and subheadings on each page of the site. When writing each title, it is best to read the main queries that find the page. Headings help the visitor to understand in what part of the text to find the information he needs.
7. Information main page
For all sites for making purchases and sales on the Internet, the informativeness of the main page is essential. No unintelligible phrases, just specifics! When a user goes to the site’s main page, he should immediately receive information about where he went, what he will find here, what will be helpful to him. It is essential to reflect on the page the company’s competitive advantages and the benefits for potential buyers to prove that the store can meet its needs or solve the problem.
Show the visitor the best-selling products, add related products to them. You should show all the benefits of your product. You can post a quality video. Make sure that the internal site search works correctly: each query should lead to the desired page. Your company logo and signature are also important (preferably placed in the upper left corner).
8. Emphasize the safety of the purchase
Since now in the network “thrives” fraud, users of online stores must be 100% sure that they will not be deceived. Give him as many facts as possible about the fact that shopping on your site is safe. Visitors often pay attention to such points as the company’s physical address, telephone number, information on delivery or return (replacement) of the goods, a guarantee of confidentiality. You should also post honest feedback from your customers (preferably with your name and photo). It will be good if you show the faces of your employees on the “About the company” page. In this way, visitors will understand that real people are behind the brand. Product warranty is also an essential factor in making a purchase decision.
9. Offer related products
Always offer customer-related products. Often there is an unpleasant situation when a customer, for example, buys shoes in one store and a bag, scarf, or belt – in another. If a person purchases from you, offer him additional products that will be useful in combination with the first. Don’t forget to talk about promotions and motivate them to make a purchase.
10. Allow the visitor to “touch” the product online
Unlike stationery stores, a potential customer does not have the opportunity to assess the product’s quality entirely. Therefore, it is essential to write a detailed description indicating all the characteristics. It will be ideal if you do reviews for each product (at least the most popular video). That will help to form a clearer picture of the product.
11. Accompany the potential buyer throughout the visit
Use psychological calls to action on every page of the site. Wherever the online store visitor is, offer various promotions, special offers, bonuses, etc. Constantly encourage him to buy.
12. Always offer help
If a user is on the site and looking for a particular product, often, he needs help or advice. Online consultants will help you with this. Using an online consultant who regularly offers chat help has a positive effect on on-site conversion. It allows the user to get an answer to a question instantly. But this is an option only for those sellers who can answer questions immediately. If this is not possible, it is better not to use an online consultant.
The only thing – do not overdo it. Too often, pop-up forms, in most cases, irritate visitors. Everything should be in moderation. Again, don’t forget about prompt feedback. Be online around the clock because not all potential buyers can go to the site and place an order in the morning and afternoon.
13. Reduce the number of fields in the feedback form
One of the most common mistakes of most online stores: you need to enter too much data (name, surname, phone number, e-mail address, message box) to get feedback. Most users do not fill out this form and often leave the site for this reason. To be asked to contact, one field with a phone number is enough.
14. Share helpful information with the audience
Content marketing helps sell. That’s a fact. You can start a blog, write interesting and valuable articles, do product reviews, and give advice. Modern users appreciate the care and receiving free helpful information. It will increase brand loyalty and trust. If you give people useful or interesting information, they will often share it on their social media pages. So let them do it.
15. Get rid of your visitors from third-party advertising resources
Everyone wants to make money and sometimes resorts to some actions that only harm the site. In the case of online stores, this is allowing search engines to place ads on their resource. Remember that most users don’t like pop-up ads.
At this stage, we have analyzed what internal factors need to pay attention to to increase sales in online stores. But do not forget that in addition to internal factors, there are also external ones. It is necessary to resort to marketing moves and work on brand recognition and increase loyalty and trust in the company by potential customers.
External factors that affect the efficiency of the online store and increase sales
For more people to learn about the brand, it is necessary to use external tools to attract customers. Disseminating information about the company on various online platforms will help get closer to the target audience and reach more users. Consider the most effective tools to increase online store sales.
Contextual advertising
Well-tuned search engine ads bring in new customers within hours of launch. In addition, the most popular and powerful search engines, such as Google, have their networks of partner sites that allow you to place contextual ads. It is a profitable way of advertising that requires constant investment. The speed and efficiency of obtaining the result is an attractive advantage of contextual advertising.
Email marketing
Allow your audience to learn the news of the online store, get acquainted with the new products in the catalog, get information about discounts and promotions, read helpful articles because such mailings do not lose their effectiveness. Email distribution becomes a powerful and relatively inexpensive tool for attracting new customers and is also an excellent motivator for repeat purchases.
Native (natural) advertising
It is famous for the lack of direct annoying advertising. In this case, you agree with favorite bloggers and sites to mention your brand’s name in their articles and videos. This presentation of information is unobtrusiveness and naturalness. It found that 53% of users like native advertising, not banners. And 18% more people who are ready to make a purchase just after watching such advertising. This method’s effectiveness also manifests in the fact that most popular bloggers, for example, are “opinion leaders”, and any information they say is instantly picked up and remembered by fans.
Social networks
Social media is an effective tool to help make friends with the target audience, increase its reach and establish direct communication. Create posts, advertise products, conduct contests, and surveys. All this will positively affect the promotion of the online store and increase the level of loyalty and trust in you. The main thing is not to turn the site into a landfill for continuous advertising of goods. Audiences should be interested and comfortable following your activity. Also, most popular social networks offer convenient advertising rooms for launching targeted advertising. Flexible features allow you to customize your advertising campaign to a narrow target audience.
Video channels
With a platform like YouTube, you can reach a large audience by shooting and posting useful videos, such as reviews of the products you offer.
Media
Publications of advertising articles in print media and on news sites will increase brand awareness. Materials should useful or entertaining information that may interest your audience. Mention of the online store and its range is more relevant to place at the very end. It should take the form of an offer of assistance in solving the problems mentioned in the article.
Catalogs of online stores
Another way to express yourself is to place the site in specialized directories. But here, you also have to try because most sites work on the principle of rating. And the most popular are online stores with the highest positions in the ranking. The ratings themselves are often based on reviews, prices, number of orders.
How to increase sales in the online store? The answer is simple: use the tools listed above.