Five clever ways to boost your eCommerce sales

In my experience, online sales are never constant.

There will be times of year (like Black Friday) when you’re making more money than you ever imagined and others where sales are few and far between.

The good news is that there are things you can do to increase the chances of customers not just making their way through checkout, but buying more products.

Here are five of my favourite strategies to try.

1. Implement a smart upsell or cross-sell

One of the best ways to increase your average order value (AOV)? Cross-selling and upselling.

A cross-sell is when you sell additional products to customers who are ready to buy – like in the screenshot above. An upsell is when you sell an upgraded or larger version of a product. For example, if your customer plans to buy 12 cans of hard seltzer, why not encourage them to buy 24 instead?

The benefit of upselling and cross-selling is that you’re encouraging customers who are already on the way to making a purchase to buy more. This means it’s easier to sell – when done right, upselling and cross-selling can drive an average of 21% of revenue.

The trick to successful upselling and cross-selling is to know your customers – you want to promote the products they’re interested in buying. Ecommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce offer useful extensions that will show the right products to the right people.

(Want to see how to nail that post-purchase upsell? Check out this article!)

2. Add customer reviews and ratings to your pages

Did you know that 93% of shoppers read at least one online review before buying a product? Whether it’s a high-ticket item like a car or a holiday or a lower-price product like a pair of socks or a dog toy, more and more people rely on reviews.

The more information you can offer shoppers, the more likely they are to buy from your store. In fact, 45% of people say they won’t buy a product if there are no reviews.

Adding reviews and ratings to your product pages is a fantastic way to increase trust in your business and entice customers to click the ‘buy now’ button.

Not sure how to get reviews from customers? Just ask. You can even offer a discount code to sweeten the deal, like Schuh does.

3. Launch a flash sale

The fear of missing out, or FOMO, can be a powerful marketing tool. 60% of people admit to buying something because they were worried they would miss out!

That’s why running flash sales can be a brilliant way to make money. You’re encouraging customers to buy in a short amount of time.

You can run a flash sale any time you like – in the case of the email above, the store owner was celebrating their birthday!

While flash sales are great for enticing shoppers to fill their carts, you can have too much of a good thing. It’s best to use them occasionally, otherwise customers may stop buying your products when they’re full price.

4. Treat your best customers like VIPs

It can be hard finding new customers for your store. You need to determine which marketing channels they use, identify if they’re a good fit for your business, and encourage them to buy your products. It’s a lot of hard work!

An easier solution is to encourage existing customers to buy more. Repeat customers spend two-thirds more than new customers, so it pays to keep them sweet. Plus, loyal customers are more likely to recommend you to others.

One of the best ways to entice your best customers to spend is to treat them like VIPs. Send them special discount codes, spoil them with free delivery, and give them early access to your latest products.

You can also introduce a referral scheme if you want to thank them for sending new customers your way.

5. Introduce a guest checkout

According to Capterra, 82% of shoppers will happily abandon their online cart if the account registration process is too complicated. However, only 69% of eCommerce websites offer guest checkout as an option.

Guest checkout reduces friction in your online store, making it easier for customers to buy what they need without spending time creating an online account. Interestingly, 72% of people who use guest checkout would still use it even if they had an account with a store!

Of course, guest checkout does mean you lose out on valuable customer data.

However, you can still ask customers to provide an email address to send marketing campaigns to, and you can also ask them to sign up after they’ve made a purchase.

There are so many different ways you can increase sales on your website – this article is just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg.

(If you want more ideas, why not check out this article on the Xigen blog: 30 quick-fire tips to enhance the eCommerce experience?)

The trick is to look at your analytics – whether that’s Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or your SEO platform of choice. Investigate the customer journey and where shoppers are dropping off your website.

For example, let’s say customers are visiting your product pages but aren’t buying. You might need to makeover your pages with better photos, clearer descriptions, or a more impactful call-to-action button.

Want more help getting sales on your eCommerce store? Drop me a DM, and let’s talk shop!