When it comes to driving sales to your e-commerce site, it can be hard to narrow down your ideal customer and know exactly how to target them. With the e-commerce sector booming right now and the number of people switching from shopping in person to shopping virtually growing, you may as well give your custom to your competitors if you aren't optimizing your efforts.
With this in mind, what are the best ways to increase sales and drive profits for increased profitability?
Understand your ideal customer
The first step is to understand your ideal customer.
Many studies and research show that price, convenience, and emotional connection are the three most important factors for purchasing decisions.
These three factors help determine what type of customers you will have. For instance, if you're selling food or clothing, your ideal customer may be female and between 21-35 years old. If you're selling luxury items, like diamonds or watches, your ideal customer might have a high income and be between 30-50 years old.
Once you have done your research and discovered your target market, you can then look at how best to reach them and get your company in front of her eyes. Again where it is best to do this depends on your target audience; for example, Gen Z is frequently found online on social media sites like Tiktok or Instagram. At the same time, the older generation prefers to use search engines, meaning focusing on SEO and paid ads to appear in the search results can pay off better than social media ads.
Improve your website for an improved customer experience
The first step to driving sales is ensuring your website is easy to use and provides a great customer experience. A bad website will result in unhappy customers, who will go elsewhere.
Put yourself in the shoes of your customer. Can you quickly find what you want? Is your layout clear and uncluttered, your navigation working as it should, and easily accessible. Make sure you have all the features of e-commerce websites as a minimum.
Use discounts and coupons
It's no secret that buying online is becoming more and more popular. The number of people shopping online has increased by almost 26 percent since last year, so you need to be doing everything you can to make your sales count.
When it comes to driving sales, discounts and coupons are the easiest ways to do this. So why not use them? One study found that 43 percent of consumers make purchases on a site even if they're not interested in the product because they want discounts or free shipping.
Coupons are an affordable way to increase conversion rates and drive sales. Offering coupons incentivize people to buy your products because they're willing to trade their time for money or some other form of compensation. It also gives them a reason to share your product with their friends or family members so that they can get a coupon themselves too.
Have a reward scheme
Offering a reward scheme to incentivize customers to complete an online task can be one of the best things you can do for your business.
Incentivising customers with rewards is a great way to take them by surprise and entice them into completing tasks they may not normally do. It also helps increase engagement, which increases brand awareness and customer loyalty.
For example, if your business offers free shipping on orders over $50, but it's only available during specific times of the day, you could make it possible for the customer to receive their free shipping by providing them with a coupon code. The increased engagement over this can drive more loyal customers and sales.
Social media is one of the most powerful tools in an e-commerce marketing arsenal. This isn't just because it's an excellent tool for reaching potential customers, either. It's also because it has a massive influence on current customers and can deliver your message to them in a more personal way than you could through traditional marketing channels.
Not only that, but social media is also one of the best places to show new product launches and tips & tricks for improving customer conversion rates and overall brand awareness. So if you're looking for ways to increase sales, you should consider utilizing social media as part of your strategy.
Work with influencers
Influencers — people who have a large follower base on social media and are seen as influential for their followers — can be a great way to target your audience for your e-commerce site.
There are many ways in which you can use influencers to increase sales, including:
- Sponsoring content on the influencer's channel
- Promoting the influencer's content through your own channels
- Purchasing an ad campaign with the influencer
Influencers are perfect for high-value customers who may not be easily reached via other methods. They're usually highly sought after by brands, so you must work closely with them and establish a mutually beneficial relationship with them.
Remember, you need to research the influencer thoroughly you partner with to make sure their values align with that of your company, they will appeal to your ideal customers, and you will be getting value for money. Draw up a contract that specifies what both parties agree to and what is expected. Genuine influencers will have no issue with this and can provide proven track records of previous campaigns with other brands.
Use existing customers to bring in new customers.
There are many ways you can use your existing customers to bring in new customers.
Let's say your current customer is interested in a product you've just added to your site, but they're not interested enough to buy it at the moment. You can send them an email about the product and how they can get one for themselves before anyone else does. Or you can add share options to product listing so even if they don't buy, they cna contact contacts who might.
Customer reviews are a great marketing tool; either share reviews via your social media or email newsletter or add testimonials to your website for people to read at their leisure. A great product or service can boost the likelihood of positive word of mouth. The more feedback people see from genuine customers, the more likely they are to purchase.
The more familiar people with what you offer, the more likely it is that someone will purchase from you.
Simplify the shopping experience
It's time to simplify the shopping experience. With the growing trend of online shopping, it's essential that your e-commerce website can keep up with the ever-changing demands of customers. If it doesn't, you're leaving money on the table.
By simplifying your site and making it more customer-friendly, you'll make it easier for your customers to find what they need and buy it. It will also be easier for them to browse through your site and find products that interest them without having to click through multiple pages.
Use feedback to continually improve what you do.
Customers have a lot to say these days, and they're quick to share their opinions via social media or other methods. As a result, you should be listening to what your customers are telling you and acting on it.
Your customers can give you feedback in the form of reviews if they've had a positive experience with your service.
Feedback can also come in the form of social media posts on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter that show how happy customers were with your business. You can look at this information and note what makes them happy so that you know how to improve for future clients.
If you're looking for more information about customer satisfaction, start by asking them what is important to them when purchasing from a company like theirs. Keep notes on their concerns when shopping online. If customer satisfaction reflects these concerns, you'll know exactly what needs improvement so that you can provide the best possible online experience for them.
Matt Hoffer is a crypto enthusiast and gamer. When he's not de-constructing the blockchain, you can find him chilling with some lemonade in the shade or playing a round of golf.
