The process of starting an e-commerce store has been simplified in recent years. Products like Shopify allow almost anyone the opportunity to quickly build an attractive store that functions well. Finding products does have its challenges, but you can make use of drop shipping if you are not yet ready to develop your own items.
Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer. As a result, the merchant never sees or handles the product.
Most stores, however, still face an issue with increasing revenue. You might start to make some sales, but find it hard to gain a consistent flow of purchases that makes a big difference to your business. Using some of the following methods, though, can be enough to grow your revenue substantially, allowing you to scale up your operation significantly.
Maintain Relationships with Customers
It is important to find new customers across a range of marketing channels. In most cases, though, it is far easier to turn existing customers into repeat buyers. Your store should have strategies in place to encourage further sales, starting immediately after a purchase. You can offer a discount code with the receipt, follow up with related products, and send occasional emails with the best deals you have available. If a customer has recently made a purchase, there is a good chance they will make additional purchases with the right marketing strategy in place.
Improve Your Customer Service Experience
A poor customer service experience won’t just impact a single customer, with the possibility of your entire store developing a bad reputation. Customers are able to leave reviews across a range of sites, potentially impacting sales. Most issues, however, can usually be resolved by a quick customer service response, reducing the frustration and handling any issue. While it can be difficult to maintain a 100% positive experience, effective customer services is one factor in offering exceptional service.
Update Product Pages
You may be getting a lot of traffic to your store, but still find it difficult to convert many visitors into buyers. A common issue is the product pages, with various elements failing to secure sales. Improving descriptions can be a significant factor, focusing on benefits ahead of a simple listing of features. Improving product images will usually have an impact, while video demonstrations can also benefit. If you don’t have a review section, adding this to your pages offers the chance to benefit from the positivity of actual buyers.
Simplify Shipping Charges
Shipping charges can be detrimental to sales, but there is no guaranteed approach to take. In most cases, simplifying your policy regarding shipping charges is the best option. You may choose to remove the issue by absorbing the costs within the item price. Alternatively, you could charge fees, but make the process as transparent as possible. When you detail your shipping charge policy, use straightforward language that every customer will be able to understand quickly.
Speed Up Your Site
The longer visitors have to wait for a page to load, the fewer sales you will make. You cannot expect people to be patient when there is so much competition for attention online, so loading time needs to be a priority. You can use the Google PageSpeed Insights tool to measure your loading times, taking their recommendations for improvements you can make.
Promote Related Offers
One of the quickest ways to grow revenue is to increase each order size. Many products will have complimentary items that buyers would like if they were made aware. Promoting related offers is a way to benefit the customer, while also making more income from a purchase. You could show related offers on each product page and even during the checkout phase.
Study Reasons for Cart Abandonment
Cart abandonment is an inevitable part of running an e-commerce store. However, there are ways to reduce abandonment levels, ensuring you reduce the impact of lost sales. You could take an email address at the start of the payment process, following up with a message showing the items left in the cart. You could also run a retargeting campaign, displaying advertisements tailored towards people who left right before making a purchase.
Create an Affiliate Program
Your best customers can often do more for you than simply buy products. Developing an affiliate program can be used to encourage customers to promote your store. Affiliates can gain an attractive commission, while recommending your products based on their personal experience. If you grow your store to a decent level, you will also find professional affiliates who will be willing to work with you, often coming with experience and large ad budgets.
Developing an e-commerce store is one of the most popular online ventures at the moment. While this popularity means there are plenty of products to assist you, it is also means there is a great deal of competition in most niches. You can usually make some sporadic sales with a quality product, but growing revenue can become a problem. By implementing these techniques, though, it is possible to impact your bottom line, helping to build your business into a recognized brand!
You may also like to check out our previous blog post Convert the casual browser into a paying customer!
Reach out to Easthall Design today for a free eCommerce business consultation!
