Source: Freepik

Your ability to succeed as an ecommerce brand relies on implementing effective strategies that drive online sales. Every click counts, and every conversion is a victory. While the thriving online marketplace offers unparalleled opportunities for businesses to prosper, it waits for no one.

So, are you equipped to survive in today’s digital era?

If you want to learn how to increase online sales, this blog post is for you. It offers tips to help you remain competitive and propel your business toward success. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started.

How to Increase Online Sales

Online shopping is on the rise. According to research, global ecommerce sales in 2024 will exceed $7 trillion. And this figure is likely to keep growing as the popularity of mobile shopping and the ease of online payments increases. Shopping on the go couldn’t be easier.

Your customers and competitors are all online. So, you need to find ways to sway more people to your brand and get ahead of the competition. As an online brand, that means you need to deliver a flawless online experience that caters to the needs and preferences of your customers. The following tips can add more value to your brand and help increase sales.

1. Understand Your Target Audience

The foundation of successful online sales lies in understanding your customers. The more you know about your customers, the more effectively you can tailor your products, messaging, and overall online shopping experience to meet their needs.

So, the first thing you should do is to invest in customer analysis tools like Google Analytics and Kissmetrics. They can help you identify who your customers are and segment them according to their pain points, preferences, and behaviors. This information helps improve online marketing strategies by designing a customer-centric approach that enables you to meet customer needs effectively, improve shopping experiences, build trust, and increase loyalty. These factors not only elevate conversion rates but also help predict future behaviors and allow you to deliver products or services that drive growth.

2. Invest in SEO

Before we discuss more ideas on how to make sales online, let’s address the obvious. If people are shopping online, they need to be able to find your business. This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can help since it has the power to improve your website’s visibility in search engines.

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SEO is not based on one criterion. There’s a whole science behind it. For instance, the content and web pages you upload need to be of top-notch quality. The content needs to be original, informative, valuable, and engaging. Plus, it needs to be sprinkled with the right keywords so people searching for relevant information can find you. But equally important are page loading speed, readability, backlinks, mobile optimization, and much more.

3. Improve Loading Speeds

Yes, it’s true. Humans are more impatient than ever. If a page does not load quickly, customers simply abandon the site and head over to another one – possibly your competitors. Unfortunately, a slow website is often correlated with being unprofessional. On the other hand, a fast website is considered professional and reliable, building trust and confidence in shoppers.

On average, most people expect content to load within a couple of seconds. Anything slower, and you’ve made a bad first impression. A whopping 79% of customers said they wouldn’t go back to an online brand if their website speed was slow. Have a look at the numbers below to get a more clear picture:

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Some ways you can improve loading speeds are:

• Load important content above the fold
• Compress images
• Improve server response times
• Optimize CSS and JS files

4. Incorporate Top-Notch Visuals

Your customers are online, and they cannot physically touch your products. So, make it easy for people to fall in love with your products and complete a purchase as quickly as possible.

While compelling product descriptions can provide essential details, high-quality visuals can convert visitors into paying customers.

Consider uploading larger pictures taken from various angles so shoppers can zoom in to view the details more closely.

Source: Kohls

Also, create videos of the product in use to give buyers a better sense of product specs. Studies show that 55% of shoppers watch product videos before making a purchase, while 73% who do watch them end up buying.

5. Optimize Your Website for Online Shopping

Your website is a virtual storefront. So, you want to encourage as many people as you can to browse through your store. And the longer they stay, the greater the chances that they will buy.

Right, so your website should be aesthetically pleasing. That’s a given. But its design and functionality are also important factors that impact conversions.

For instance, a user-friendly website that offers seamless navigation and intuitive design ensures your customers can easily roam about your store. Besides this, streamlining the checkout process is an easy way to increase website sales.

Don’t believe me?

According to Baymard Institute, the average conversion rate for websites with a clean and simple checkout experience is 22%, whereas websites with a complex one have a conversion rate of a mere 2.6%.

To increase online sales, consider optimizing your website for conversions by:

• Make your website easy to navigate.
• Reduce the number of steps it takes for a customer to complete a purchase.
• Create a simple checkout process.
• Offer multiple payment options.
• Implement responsive design so people can shop from their mobile devices.

6. Embrace Personalization

Believe it or not, personalization is another key driver of online sales. According to Epsilon, 80% of buyers are more inclined to buy from brands that provide individualized experiences.

So, this is where your customer analytics tools can help. Using the data from these platforms, you can customize shopping experiences for individual customers by adding a personal touch to their interactions.

Features such as personalized product recommendations and targeted promotions based on user behavior can make the experience more engaging and relevant. Your online sales marketing team can create personalized offers that are hard for your customers to ignore, boosting the chances of a sale. And if you do this enough times, you can increase repeat interactions and customer loyalty.

Source: GAP

Similarly, you can personalize other aspects of the customer’s online buying journey. For example, a personalized CTA button has the power to boost conversion rates by 202%. Incredible, right? So, designing the right personalized CTA can propel your website visitors towards a conversion.

7. Enhance Customer Experiences (CX)

In this day and age, shoppers have a lot of options. There are so many brands online that they can literally find your replacement within a few minutes. But if you make your customers feel valued and special, they are more likely to come back to your brand.

Customers using mobiles expect a faster and more intuitive experience. Make browsing simple for your customers so that they are more tempted to buy. For example, the design elements should not hinder the browsing experience.

A few aspects that can improve CX and help consumers view details are:

• A fixed navigation bar stays on top as users scroll through your website.
• A search option that makes it easier to find products.
• Legible fonts and color schemes.
• Clear product description listings with bullet points.
• Web pages should connect seamlessly with other pages.

8. Provide Excellent Customer Service

It’s not only about winning over your customers before they make a purchase. You’re going to have to take it a step further. If you want to improve online sales, you should also offer exceptional after-sales customer service.

The following are some easy ways you can offer better customer service:

• Answer inquiries and address concerns promptly
• Offer ongoing support during the purchasing process
• Incorporate live chat on your website for real-time assistance
• Allow hassle-free returns

Good customer service not only helps build trust among your customers but also creates a positive brand image and online reputation. Satisfied customers are more likely to leave raving reviews about your brand. This leads to repeat customer interactions and more referrals, amping online sales.

9. Leverage the Power of Social Media

Social media platforms have become powerful, versatile tools for driving online sales. Some ways you can tap into the potential of social media include:

• Find the platforms where your target audience is the most active and establish a strong, consistent presence. Engage with your customers by sharing relevant content or participating in conversations.
• Create seamless shopping experiences by directly selling on your social media platforms. Features like Instagram Shopping, Facebook Marketplace, and Pinterest Buyable Pins encourage users to buy displayed products.
• Promote user-generated content, such as reviews and testimonials, to build trust and credibility.

Source: Instagram

• Onboard influencer marketing. Identify influencers from your industry that align with your brand’s values and whose followers match your target demographic. Create authentic and engaging content to showcase your products or services and influence purchasing decisions.

10. Implement Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing sounds so old school, however, it remains a powerful marketing tool that can increase online sales. With the help of email automation, you can segment your email list to send timely and relevant targeted messages to specific customer groups, such as personalized product recommendations, promotions or exclusive offer announcements, abandoned cart reminders, etc.

Remember, your emails should nurture leads and encourage repeat interactions to keep your brand at the forefront of customers’ minds. So, make sure to set the tone and style of your emails accordingly.

Your Turn

To succeed in the global market as an ecommerce store, you need to commit to satisfying your customers. After all, you want them to stay engaged with your website long enough to find what they need and make a purchase.

So, optimize your site to drive more conversions by implementing the tips mentioned above. Don’t forget to share your tried-and-tested ‘how to increase online sales’ strategies in the comments section below.