Boost Your eCommerce Sales With These 4 Strategies

1. Optimise your checkout for mobile conversions

Thanks to the recent rise in mobile-first websites, customers are now confident completing the whole shopping journey on their phone. Take advantage of this by ensuring your mobile checkout is as easy and pleasant to use as possible.

Complete regular testing and analysis of the checkout funnel to identify areas for improvement. Mobile users can easily become frustrated so make sure that their checkout journey is made clear and simple to follow.

At the account creation page make sure that you aren’t asking for any unnecessary information such as date of birth or gender. If you’re asking for the customer’s mobile phone number, make sure they know why you need this. If the user has already registered with you, prepopulate any known fields.

Ask yourself if your delivery options are as convenient and competitive as they could be. If not, speak to your suppliers to see if they are offering any new services such as same day delivery or if they are willing to negotiate on rates. Don’t forget to offer click and collect from either one of your physical stores or a local delivery collection point e.g. CollectPlus or DPD Pickup.

Finally, reduce the amount of typing the customer needs to complete by offering 1-click-payment options such as Apple Pay, Amazon Pay and PayPal.

For more ideas on how to improve the shopping experience on a mobile, read our post – 6 Essential Mobile First Features For Your eCommerce Site

2. Develop a better post-purchase relationship with your customers

It costs five times as much to convert a new customer yet many retailers focus the majority of their marketing efforts on acquisition. To make more of your marketing budget and give your revenue a boost, make it a priority to nurture your existing customer relationships through your eCommerce CRM.

Excel at post-purchase customer service – give your customers several ways to get in touch with you so that they can choose their preferred method. Some customers may want to speak to you on the phone whereas others may prefer to get in touch via live chat or email. Remember that if new customers aren’t provided with the level of service they expect, they will be less likely to place further orders with you.

Host focus groups, send out surveys and request customer reviews to get feedback on the quality of your products and services. Address any issues raised and provide additional training based on any negative feedback.

Delight customers by sending out relevant and personalised follow-up content, either about the products that they’ve bought or complementary items. Tell stories about your brand and products so that you are always front of mind when the customer is looking to replenish, replace or order similar items. For example if you have customers who bought school shoes last August, the chances are they’ll need to order replacements 12 months later, so send out marketing towards the end of July showcasing this year’s styles and offers.

At the checkout, always make sure that you are requesting consent to use the customer’s data for marketing purposes.

Design and automate the post-purchase funnel utilising customer data from all selling channels. This will ensure that every opted in customer receives a consistent but personalised experience based on their orders, location and interests.

Reward loyal customers with a tiered loyalty scheme that will make them feel special and encourage them to spend more with your brand.

3. Look out for international growth opportunities

International eCommerce presents huge growth opportunities for retailers. If you already receive orders from overseas then you could be missing out by not optimising your offering for those audiences.

For countries where you think there could be a growth opportunity, complete some analysis into the competition to see if you could compete on price and delivery. If you can then make sure that you accept the favoured payment methods for that market. For example, if you think your products could be popular in France, offer the option to pay with Cartes Bancaires. Similarly, for Japan offer the option to pay with JCB.

To increase awareness of your brand in the new market, partner with local influencers and complementary businesses who can showcase your products to your target audience.

If not an English speaking country, consider investing in website translation so that you are able to provide your new customers with an experience that competes with local retailers.

For more advice on expanding overseas, read our 7 Step Guide To International eCommerce Success.

4. Offer a subscription model

Subscription models for TV streaming, car leasing and mobile phone contracts have been part of consumers’ lives for some time now, but the past couple of years have also seen a boom in eCommerce subscriptions. Royal Mail forecast that the subscription box market will be valued at £1 billion by 2022, putting its popularity down to convenience and flexibility.

Look at your order data, are there any products that customers purchase on a recurring basis? For example, beauty products, vitamins, pet food or contact lenses. Take advantage of the possibility that customers might welcome the saving in time and money that a subscription model could bring. By automatically replenishing their products when they run out you reduce the threat of them shopping around and potentially being enticed by one of your competitors offers.

In addition to replenishment plans for products, consider offering an annual subscription for delivery. This works particularly well for next-day or international delivery which would normally cost the customer a significant amount. Instead of paying for delivery each time they order, they pay a larger one-off cost that gives them access to free delivery on all their orders throughout the year. This can help you to offset the cost of free delivery while still making sure that the customer feels like they are getting a good deal. This strategy has been particularly successful for Amazon (Amazon Prime) and Selfridges (Selfridges+ global delivery charge). By having an annual subscription with your brand, you will always be their first choice as they want to ensure they get value!