The world of e-commerce can be a bit tricky but with a few easy steps, you can be on the way to making a good profit given the right strategy. There’s a fine line between having a website that people visit and a website that leads to conversions. Find below what you should be thinking about when setting up a shopping site.
1.Create Trust
When it comes to online shopping, trust is a very important issue for consumers. There are so many fraudulent sites so it is important to make an immediate distinction from the fraudsters. No one wants to part away with their money and not receive any goods, especially when its a very costly item. Giving customers a guarantee for security will put their minds at ease. By joining the ‘Safebuy’ or the ISIS scheme your site will be checked against safety criterias and given a safety logo that can be displayed on the site. It is a yearly sum of between 100-125£ and is well worth it.
2. Add on/relate/upgrade purchases
When customers order an item, there may be a complimentary item that they may be interested in, why not recommend it to them by integrating an add on and related products feature in your shopping cart.
3. Offers, coupons and special promotions
There is nothing like giving customers a bargain! and lets face it we all love it don’t we? and often gain a sense of achievement when we get some thing cheaper than the original price. So why not give out coupons and run regular promotions for your products. This especially effective when offers are circulated via a mailing list. What you find is that traffic is generated by the promotions and can also lead to an increase in the sale of products that are not included in your promotion.
4. An ongoing relationship and member benefits
Create a community for your products, making use of social networks is a very good way to get people involved. By using social networks such as Facebook and twitter, you can run promotions and appeal to your customers. For example you can encourage customers to join your mailing list and offer coupons or discount vouchers specially to members. Create an ongoing relationship with existing customers by offering special deals make them loyal to your brand.
5. Payment options and contact details
There are a wide range of payment options. Most people want to use a trusted payment option and Google checkout is a very good choice. You may also use PayPal for easy checkout which is another secure option, most will involve credit and debit card details.You could consider accepting payment over the phone, your phone number should be displayed in clear and bold letter on the header of your website.
6. Make it easy to buy from you
You don’t want to want to make it difficult for your potential customers and that is why checking out should be an easy and straight forward procedure, clear buttons are ideal with the option of adding to the shopping cart and checking out. Afterall no one likes their time being wasted. For more on shopping cart usability do check our blog for more about what to consider when adding your shopping cart.
7. Use pay per click budget wisely
In managing your pay-per-click campaign, it is ideal to focus on a few keywords, to send potential customers to your site. For example, if a searcher wants to find home furnishings, they’re much more likely to buy if they see an advert that specifically mentions home furnishings on it. Target each ad group to a specific landing page for higher conversions.
8. Clear terms and conditions
Again, this is simply best practice, but far too many companies ignore it. If you want to qualify for a “trust” logo then you’ll need to include this information in any case, but doing so establishes trust and credibility. And if your product and service is good, why not?
9. Have plenty of photos, videos and clear description
Given that it is an online platform, it is impossible to feel the products and understand the product as it could be if it were in a shop. The only alternative is to use lots of photos and videos if necessary. Good and clear description helps in assisting the buying, make sure you write good product description.
Giving as much information as possible about the product is a good idea but of course it has to be relevant. Making the assumption that customers already know that the product is useful can lead to a loss in conversions because you have not explained to the customer why they need the product. If possible, try to add keywords in the product description.
10. Add personality and humanity to the site
Adding personality to a site is very effective in the same way as you would have bright and cheerful staff in a shop. Identifying a human being with the site and its products is hugely effective if it’s done genuinely. It’s especially valuable in building up a long-term relationship with your customers. Don’t make the mistake a lot of small businesses make of trying to appear corporate.
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