10 Quick Ways To Drive More Customers To Your E-Commerce Store
10 Quick Ways To Drive More Customers To Your E-Commerce Store
E-commerce is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. It's also one of the most competitive, and it's getting more competitive every day. In fact, 50% of retail sales are now made online.
However, as exciting as it is to launch your new e-commerce site, it’s disappointing when your sales aren’t skyrocketing as quickly as you had hoped.
I have also gotten quite a few questions about how to attract more shoppers. Hence, the idea for this substack.
In a world with more options than ever, it can be overwhelming for consumers to decide where to spend their money.
What are some of the easiest ways to get customers to choose your brand?
Keep reading to find out.
Create a good first impression
When it comes to e-commerce, the first impression is everything. An eye-catching home page can set up your brand for success.
If you're struggling with finding ways to attract more customers and increase sales, it might be time to redesign your store's user experience and overall look and feel.
Consider the following to help you create an unforgettable impression:
Make sure your homepage looks clean and professional—it should give your visitors an accurate representation of your business and what kind of products or services you offer them.
Ensure that the page loads quickly.
Use precise language with your text content and check for grammar. Using proper spelling and grammar are small things you must do to build trust with your customers.
Engage your customers by telling your e-commerce story
It is crucial to know what your “back” story is and how to convey it to your target audience. In addition, it's not just about telling people what you do—it's about telling them why you do it.
Think about the last time someone asked you for directions. You probably answered with, "I'm on the corner of Main Street and 5th Avenue." But if they asked why would your answer have included anything more than "because that's where I am"?
The same thing applies when thinking about your brand story: If someone asks why they should choose your brand over another, they want more than "because we're better."
They want to know what makes your business special, how you are different from other options available to them, and what makes buying from you worth their time and effort.
TL;DR: Telling your customers your e-commerce back story isn’t just about telling them what your product does—it's also about telling them why they should buy from you instead of your competition.
Add customer testimonials
You’ve probably heard this phrase, "If you want to make your customers happy, give them what they want." And what do your customers want? They want to see how other customers have used your products and services.
Customer testimonials are a highly effective way to show prospects how well your products have worked with your shoppers. They also give your potential buyers confidence in your product and helps to increase trust that leads to more sales.
Ready to add testimonials?
Take these simple steps for adding customer testimonials:
Find your most loyal customers. Whether they're personal friends or just people who left a lot of positive feedback on their orders, encourage them to write an honest review of your business.
Make sure they know they're being considered for a testimonial and give them a deadline (preferably at least two weeks after their order).
Set up a form where these customers can submit their reviews. It should be easy for them to fill out so that when they’re done, all they have to do is click "Submit."
Also, the more fields there are on the form, the less likely they'll complete it.
Include only three or four questions:
What do they like most about [company name]?
Why did they choose [company name] over another company?
What was their experience with our customer service?
Want some good news? You don’t have to add every testimonial manually.
I recommend integrating one of the apps listed below to automate the process:
Perform A/B testing
A/B testing is a great way to learn about your customers' preferences and needs, so you know exactly what you need to do to update your e-commerce site.
With A/B testing, you get to analyze varying elements of your site, such as colors, images, layouts, and more. Through these tests, you'll see which portions of your site are driving the most sales and which are turning shoppers away from making purchases.
There are two main types of A/B testing: Controlled and statistical. Controlled A/B testing involves comparing two different versions of a page on your website to determine which one leads to more sales or conversions.
Statistical A/B testing involves using statistics to analyze data from multiple groups to determine what works best for your business.
Three of the most popular A/B testing tools, include:
Here's how to conduct A/B testing for your e-commerce site:
1. Decide on the variables that you want to test.
2. Create two versions of the same page with different variables.
3. Make sure both pages are similar when it comes to layout and design.
4. Choose an appropriate sample size based on your traffic volume.
5. Use Google Analytics to measure how visitors interact with each page (i.e., which version gets more clicks on specific links or buttons).
Still confused?
Try this: Create two versions of your landing page, one with a new element and one without it. Then, split your traffic between these two pages—for instance, by sending half of your traffic to each version.
Finally, measure how many people converted on each version by tracking how many sales were made per visitor (or another metric that reflects conversion).
After you have data on how many people converted on each page, you can compare them side-by-side to gauge the differences.
Also, these are the most areas for using A/B tests:
Checkout process
Landing page/home page
Navigation
Product descriptions
Customer forms
Attract customers with a dedicated blog that answers their questions
Many people have a hard time remembering the exact name of a product they bought online, or they may have a vague recollection but don't know exactly what it is. Fortunately, there is a resolution: Create informative blogs that convey how to use your products.
For example, if you sell bath towels and bath accessories such as soap dispensers and shower mats, you could write blog posts about how to decorate your bathroom with these products
To help customers find the perfect bath towel for their needs (and avoid getting something too small), you could create an article comparing different kinds of towels based on size and materials used in manufacture.
The more blogs you produce, offering helpful advice about your products, the more your target demo will view your brand as an expert in your industry. And if consumers view you as an expert, they are more likely to shop on your site.
Create a referral marketing program
Referral marketing is a popular way to increase your customer base. With it, you can ask customers to tell their friends and family about the products they love and, in return, give them something great (like a discount or free shipping) when they do so.
Here's how to launch a referral program:
Choose rewards that are specific to your brand. For example, if you're selling mugs online, offer customers who refer others $5 off their next purchase if someone signs up using the referral code provided by the initial customer. If you sell clothing online that's custom made, maybe offer 10% off their next purchase for each new customer who comes through your selected referral link.
Track your referrals carefully so that you know exactly how effective they are at increasing sales--and determine whether there are any trends in terms of which types of rewards are most popular or what kinds of people tend to share more often than others (for example men vs. women; older vs. younger). With this type of customer data, you can improve your future marketing campaigns because they’re based on real end-user feedback.
Craft compelling product descriptions
E-commerce product descriptions are the first thing customers see when looking at your products. Whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or you sell exclusively online, it's essential to have working knowledge of how to write profit-driving product descriptions.
Here are some tips on how to make your product descriptions stand out:
1. Use descriptive language that will appeal to your target audience. Avoid using clichés and buzzwords in your descriptions—they make your product sound generic and bland.
2. Include keywords that customers search for in your product titles and descriptions so that Google will rank you better in search results. If you don't know what people are searching for, research by looking at competitors' websites and seeing what keywords they use in their titles or meta tags (which are hidden from view but search engines read anyway).
3. Give examples of when someone might use this product (i.e., "This pillow is great for reading on airplanes," or "These socks work well with boots"). This helps your customers visualize how they might use the item in real life instead of seeing it as an object without context.
Optimize your e-commerce site for SEO
If you want to rank higher in search results and drive more traffic to your e-commerce site, you need to optimize your site for search engines. This makes easier for potential customers to find you on Google, which means more sales for you.
Here are some simple steps you can take to optimize your site:
Start with a keyword list that includes long-tail keywords related to the products or services you sell and short-term keywords that are more likely to be searched by users.
Add these keywords in the title tags, meta descriptions, and body text of any pages on your site where they are relevant (such as product pages).
Make sure that all links on your site have descriptive anchor text (e.g., "click here") instead of just being "click me."
Ensure your URL structure is simple and easy to remember (e.g., /product-name/ instead of /product-name/p_id=970928).
Optimize images for search engines by adding alt text that describes what's in the image if it's not immediately apparent from the image itself (e.g., an image containing a product description).
Create relevant content: This is the most crucial part of SEO because it helps people find what they're looking for when they search on Google. Make sure all your content is relevant to the keywords you want to rank for; don't just create content because it sounds impressive or looks pretty—make sure it answers questions people might have when searching for products like yours.
Offer freebies and discounts
One of the best ways to attract more customers to your e-commerce store is offering freebies or discounts.
It's a simple concept: If you give something away for free, people will be curious enough to check it out. They may even buy something from your site if they like what they’ve received.
Apart from freebies, discounts are also helpful for attracting new customers. Offering discounts on selected items can help you eliminate excess inventory sitting around in storage space while still bringing in extra sales—a win-win scenario.
Make sure you start by discounting items with excess inventory.
Host a flash sale
A flash sale is a short-term promotion, (typically one day), that generally features discounts of 20% or more. You can also use flash sales to promote seasonal products, or products that tie into an upcoming holiday or event.
And flash sales are great for creating buzz around your brand.
If you’re ready to host a flash sale, follow these tips:
1. Create an email list for your customers. The more people who receive your emails, the more likely they will participate in your flash sale. Try tools like MailChimp or AWeber to send emails with links to your flash sale page easily and quickly.
2. Set up a landing page for your flash sale with links that lead directly to it from your email list and social media pages. This page should include details about what items are being offered during the sale and how long it will run (for example: "Today only! Get 20% off all products!").
3. Include an incentive for customers who purchase items during your flash sales—such as free shipping or additional discounts if they buy multiple items during this period—to encourage them to take advantage of this opportunity while it lasts.
Final thought
I hope these tips and tools will propel your e-commerce business forward and help your site achieve maximum growth. Also, by focusing on the smaller details, you can build a solid foundation for your business that will attract more visitors and drive more sales.