Do you think that people make their decisions rationally? Not always! Rather, they listen to their gut or their instinct and allow themselves to be guided by emotions, often unconsciously. If you want to increase your online sales, keep this knowledge clearly in mind when developing marketing campaigns.
To support you in the future, we have prepared an article, where we list and discuss 6 simple conversion tips for existing and prospective online retailers and explain how you can use the right techniques to maximize your conversion rate and thus increase your online store or e-commerce sales.
Your online shop will only attract the attention of potential customers, and search engines for that matter, if you also offer relevant content for search queries. After a user lands on your website, it is your responsibility to convince them, with an attractive and easy-to-understand design, you’re your store is the one they should buy from – and then, the purchase is as good as done.
Don’t forget: a buying decision usually only takes 3 seconds. Think first impressions! Yes, you read that right – three seconds! If you want to increase your sales, follow these 6 tips!
1. Inspire Customers
The number of online shoppers increases every year, following 2020, and into 2021, we have seen a boom. Google has developed many algorithms that make it possible to allow us to get an exact answer to our wide variety of questions. Keep in mind, that search engines are no longer only about buying, but rather information-oriented content surrounding a product or brand. It is therefore particularly important to address the right target group. If you want to increase your sales, the prerequisite is that the right people find and visit your online store. Does your e-commerce store provide relevant content and offer potential customers added value, on top of product descriptions and attributes? To do this, not only should you add articles to your website but also help your potential customers with great answers about the product and industry.
How do you best do this and inspire customers? A blog, for example, would be perfect for this. By communicating tips and tricks, you give your customers a lasting impression throughout the articles advertised and related topics. You can use internal links to promote your online shop and products and also point out other related blog posts. However, it’s worth noting that it can be time-consuming and difficult to consistently write blogs, but one thing is for sure: it’s worth it! It will set you apart from the rest.
2. Use the Right Pricing Strategy
As you may have already heard, the first impression on a website counts and influences everything that follows. This phenomenon is also known as the anchor effect.
“What is the normal price for an XYZ product?”
Every person can answer this question differently based on their anchor. If online shoppers are looking for certain products, they will also receive several offers with different prices. Customers will always choose the product that is priced within their budget. If your online shop also offers cheaper alternatives, this ensures a positive surprise for the visitor and the lights are green for a successful conversion. If you incorporate the anchor effect into your online shop and use the right pricing strategy, this will increase your conversion rate considerably and, consequently, your sales too.
3. Use The Marketing Psychology of FOMO
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a topic that we have all had to struggle with at some point. Did you know that this term comes from psychology and that the feeling of missing out or losing something weighs twice as much as the joy of receiving or gaining something? CRAZY!
Make use of this knowledge and use it to your advantage. In reality, it can look like this: a car dealer will always sell the model with the integrated special equipment faster than the individual options in addition to the standard car. If the special equipment is already available, potential buyers find it a kind of loss to acquire the car without features such as air conditioning, seat heating, etc…
This phenomenon can be reflected in limited-time offers on your online shop. For example, offer temporary sales promotions or signal a low-stock product. As nasty as it may sound, you generate a certain amount of FOMO in the customer and ensure that potential customers will decide on a purchase quicker than normal. Conversion and sales increase success!
4. Use Social Proof and Customer Ratings To Your Advantage
People orientate themselves to the behavior of others. Hotly debated topics or trendy fashion have therefore always been and will continue to be very high value in the future. So what others think of certain things has a huge impact on our buying behavior. For you, this means that the more people that talk about your e-commerce store, the higher the social proof. A good example of this is booking.com.
Mentioning how many customers have already booked individual hotels through the site creates trust. Furthermore, customer reviews play a very important role too. After all, who doesn’t like to be guided by credible recommendations these days? With this type of social proof, you increase trust and subsequently the conversion and your sales. However, you should pay attention to the following aspects:
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- Security: Reviews should always be honest. Co-operation with partners such as Trustpilot can help here to show real customer reviews.
- Relevance: Show how many customers have already bought the product and thus appeal to the group feeling. This is how you show potential customers that they need this product too.
- Visualization: Images and photos help to identify the products you are looking for. A visible rating bar, often in the form of stars, also contributes to a successful purchase decision.
5. Minimize Shipping Costs
Shipping costs are a sensitive issue in e-commerce and are absolute conversion killers. Cleverly include this factor in your marketing strategy to save customers from shopping for others that offer it for free.
Customers often find it more attractive to receive free shipping than a $10 discount!
Studies show that many online shoppers abandon the purchase when shipping is associated with additional costs. So the word “FREE” plays a decisive role here. For example, the effect of a single word lets customers switch from a competitor to your online shop. From a customer perspective, free shipping is of course always the best option.
For you as an online retailer, this has the disadvantage of lower margins. So why not set a certain value limit and also clearly communicate that you are offering free shipping? The desire to get something for free is so strong that customers tend to keep filling the shopping cart until the said value is reached. Free shipping therefore not only promotes customer loyalty or increases sales figures, but also increases the conversion rate and offers you the opportunity to increase your sales.
Online retailers need to find ways to ship cheaper to win over potential customers.
6. Offer Discounts and Additional Accessories
Let’s consider the following case: a potential customer wants to buy a new camera online.
First, they look for the right model based on their requirements. They later realized that a new case and an additional battery would be nice. You can take advantage of this fact by offering suitable and complementary accessories for them, from your store, a one-stop shop.
Increased sales? High likelihood! With a discount on the entire package, you also encourage customers to buy and bring about a higher conversion.
The dynamics of e-commerce marketing are constantly changing. While these tips can help you achieve better conversions from your online store, you can grow it tenfold with a little help from an
e-commerce marketing agency.
Contact our team at OptiWeb Marketing and let us ensure the best results for your online store!
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