Global e-commerce sales are expected to grow by 39% by 2027, reaching the insane $8 trillion mark. But does ‘global’ necessarily include your online store?
With over 24 million e-commerce stores worldwide, competition is intense. Simply driving traffic is no longer enough to increase sales on e-commerce sites. With average cart abandonment rates reaching 70% and conversion rates lingering around 1.9%, most visitors leave without purchasing.
To see greater success in your seasonal marketing campaigns and achieve sustained financial growth overall, you need to increase conversions of visitors into customers, improve your post-purchase support, and encourage repeat business.
This guide offers hands-on tips to optimize every aspect of your e-commerce sales strategy and drive revenue. And for those who want even more ideas, we’re glad to provide a free PDF sales-boosting checklist!
E-commerce Sales Funnel or Sales Hourglass?
The e-commerce sales funnel is a journey a customer takes from the moment they become aware of your brand to the point where they purchase and beyond. It’s typically broken down into 4 stages:
- Awareness
- Engagement
- Conversion
- Loyalty
However, some more recent studies advise looking at this journey using the ‘hourglass’ model. In this model, ‘purchase’ is the middle point, and the ‘beyond’ stages matter as much as – if not more than – those preceding the conversion.
As a result, we now have an improved model, which can be broken down into the following stages:
- Awareness
- Acquisition
- Activation
- Advocacy
- Acceleration
Each stage represents an opportunity to win over a potential customer or lose them to a competitor. For example, if your website fails to capture interest at the Acquisition stage, you miss the chance to hook a visitor. Similarly, a complicated checkout process can turn a ready-to-buy customer into an abandoned cart statistic.
Let’s look at how you can optimize each stage of the sales hourglass to help more visitors complete their journey, increasing your sales and customer retention rates. Feel free to jump right to the step you feel you have more issues with (using the Table of Contents) and learn how to optimize it.
Awareness: Enhance Your Visibility
The first stage – awareness – is all about getting your brand, company, products, or services out there. Mind the key 4 components:
SEO for E-commerce
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the cheapest ways to drive organic traffic to your e-commerce site. All you need is to have your website pages appear among the top answers your potential customers pose to Google.
That’s easier said than done, though, since there are many uncontrollable factors to page ranking. Still, here’s what you can take care of to increase your chances for success:
- Conduct thorough keyword research and identify the terms your potential customers are searching for. Leverage both Google and Bing keyword rankings.
- Focus on long-tail keywords that are specific to your products, as they often have lower competition and higher conversion rates.
- Optimize page titles, meta descriptions, product descriptions, and image alt texts with relevant keywords.
- Use schema markup to help search engines better understand your content, increasing the likelihood of your products appearing in rich results, such as Google’s product carousels.
Content Marketing
Content marketing goes hand in hand with your SEO initiatives. Consider creating a blog that focuses on topics related to your products both to attract visitors from search and to establish your brand as an authority in your niche. For instance, if you sell outdoor gear, write articles on camping tips, gear comparisons, or adventure travel guides using popular search queries.
In addition to blogging, improve e-commerce sales by creating and/or sharing:
- Buying guides and comparison pages to help potential customers make informed decisions.
- User-generated content, such as customer reviews, photos, and videos to boost your site’s credibility.
- Success stories and case studies to instill trust in your customers.
Read More: Crafting a Content Marketing Strategy for E-commerce Success
Social Media Marketing
Use social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook and prepare high-quality images with engaging captions to showcase your products or services through visually appealing posts, stories, and ads directly to your target audience.
To improve sales in e-commerce through these platforms, consider collaborating with high-reach influencers and leverage shoppable features (like product feeds) to reduce the steps between discovery and conversion. Let users purchase products right from your social media profiles.
Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is highly effective in capturing the attention of potential buyers and giving your products a significant visibility boost. Google Shopping Ads allow you to display your products at the top of search results with images, prices, and links to your product pages.
Social media ads are also effective, especially when you leverage Facebook, X (Twitter), and TikTok pixels for retargeting. Pixel-backed retargeting helps increase sales on e-commerce websites by reminding customers, who have previously interacted with your site, to return and complete their purchases.
Acquisition: Leverage Data and Analytics
Once you’ve done your best to spread the word about your company, it’s time to find out how to get them hooked. The goal of the ‘acquisition’ stage is to understand your visitors, learn their behavior patterns and preferences, and nudge their interest forward to considerbuying from you.
Let’s look at what you need to do to acquire the interest of your potential buyers:
Track and Analyze User Behavior
Data and analytics show how visitors interact with your site and where improvements are needed. Meanwhile, heatmaps and user flow reports can help you visualize this data, making it easier to identify problem areas.
Rely on tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar,Matomo, and Microsoft Clarity to gain insights into where visitors drop off and which pages perform best. Use this data to optimize pages with high bounce rates and simplify complex navigation paths.
Read More: GA4 Ecommerce: How Your Business Can Thrive in the New Reality
Offer Personalization
On-site personalization, such as dynamic content that automatically changes based on user behavior or browsing history, can boost e-commerce revenue through effective cross-selling. You can also implement personalized email campaigns that feature products based on a customer’s past purchases, complementary items other customers bought, or wishlist data.
In quite a paradox, as customers are demanding tailored shopping experiences, they’re also growing concerned about sharing their private data. Personalization can’t be done without data but saying that won’t save your business from a heavy fine. Tread carefully and use add-ons like GDPR or Cookie Consent to make sure you’re collecting data only from consenting users.
Run A/B Testing
A/B testing, or split testing, is a method for improving your website’s performance. It involves creating two versions of a webpage or elements (headlines, placement, or even button colors) and testing them against each other to see which performs better. The key to effective A/B testing is to change only oneelement at a time – then you can accurately measure its impact. Some helpful A/B tools for you to try are Google Optimize, Pendo, Adobe Target, and Crazy Egg.
Activation: Optimize Your Website for Conversions
If you’ve handled the two previous steps right, your customer should be ready to make a purchase. Your job now is to give the final push and activate the dormant purchase click while preventing any hitches that can get in the way of a conversion.
Improve User Experience (UX)
The easier it is to browse your site, the more likely visitors are to explore your products, discover what interests them, and make a purchase. Here’s what to pay attention to:
- Start by ensuring that your site is mobile-responsive. Over 50% of global e-commerce sales are now made on mobile devices, so you definitely want to cater to that audience.
- Focus on crafting a clean layout and intuitive navigation with effective search and filtering to help your visitors find what they’re looking for without friction.
- Compress images, leverage browser caching, and eliminate all other reasons for slow website loading to improve site speed According to Google, as page load time goes from 1 second to 5 seconds, the chances of a bounce increase by 90%.
Polish Landing Pages
Landing pages are where conversion happens, so to drive sales, they need to be meticulously crafted. Start with high-quality, 360° images that show your products, and consider adding videosor AR features to give customers a better sense of what they’re buying. Highlight key features, benefits, and any unique selling points in text – but be concise and avoid fluff.
Use Trust Signals
Trust signals can significantly increase e-commerce sales as they reduce various customer hesitations.
- Display security badges prominently during the checkout process to reassure customers that their payment information is safe.
- Include social proof. Products with reviews are 270% more likely to be purchased than those without.
- Share customer stories and case studies to reassure potential buyers that others have had a positive experience with your product.
- Ensure your return policies are client-oriented to calm customers down, letting them know they can get a refund if a product doesn’t meet their expectations.
Simplify the Checkout Process
The checkout process is a critical step in the customer journey. Any friction here can lead to cart abandonment. For instance, here are the top 10 reasons why US customers abandoned their shopping carts in 2024:
To reduce this revenue-killing metric, aim to streamline your checkout process as much as possible:
- Make sure you offer a guest checkout option and don’t deter first-time buyers. Offer guests to save their details or make an account after the purchase is made.
- Verify that your website shows a total cost before nudging the customer to check out.
- Aim for a one-step checkout that raises the chances of impulse purchasing.
- Offer multiple payment options to cater to different customer preferences, including credit cards, PayPal, and digital wallets like Apple Pay.
- Try to cover several delivery options, from premium to economy, to meet various budgets.
Read More: 5 Steps to Seamless Checkout Experience
Advocacy: Build Customer Loyalty
You’ve now got customers who buy from you! That’s a win but not the end of the sales journey. Your next goals are to encourage repeat business, increase LTV, and achieve referrals. Here’s what you should do to improve e-commerce sales from your existing customers.
Provide Excellent Customer Service
The best way you can thank your customers for doing business with you and encourage them to shop more is by granting them excellent post-purchase service. Provide multiple support options, such as live chat, email, and phone support, to let your clients reach out to you and get help whenever they need it.
Implement a Loyalty Program
Loyalty programs have a range of goals and purposes – from encouraging repeat purchases and upselling to attracting new customers. A well-designed loyalty program rewards customers for their continued business through:
- Points systems like store credit.
- Exclusive discounts or promotions.
- Referral programs, where customers earn rewards for bringing in new customers.
- VIP tiers with additional benefits for continued engagement of the most loyal customers.
Leverage Email Marketing
Regular newsletters that offer exclusive deals, early access to sales, and useful content can keep your brand top-of-mind and encourage repeat visits to your site. You can also send targeted campaigns that resonate with your audience by segmenting your email list based on customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history.
Grow and Improve with Customer Feedback
Listening to and implementing customer feedback leads not only to product improvements, better service, and business growth. It also shows customers that you value their opinions, which can increase loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals. Tools like Net Promoter Score, SurveyMonkey, Zoho Survey, or even just simple Google Forms can help you gather insights into customer satisfaction.
Acceleration: Drive and Scale Conversions
While customer loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals are significant achievements, you still have room to improve your sales in e-commerce further. The last stage is all about fine-tuning and scaling your success to increase your revenue even more.
Leverage E-commerce Automation Tools
As your e-commerce business grows, manual processes can become time-consuming and prone to errors. Automation tools can help you scale efficiently by streamlining repetitive tasks and reducing manual workload, letting you focus on strategic growth activities rather than day-to-day operations.
- Email marketing platforms like Klaviyo or Mailchimp allow you to automate campaigns based on customer actions, such as sending a welcome email to new subscribers, reminders to cart abandonees, or re-engagement emails to dormant customers.
- Inventory management tools can automatically update stock levels across multiple sales channels, reducing overselling or preventing stockouts.
- Customer service automation, such as chatbots, can handle routine inquiries, freeing up your team to focus on more complex issues.
What’s more, automation enhances the customer experience by providing timely, accurate service. Your customers can receive shipping updates or an answer from a chatbot even during the hours when your business doesn’t operate (a significant perk for global businesses).
Expand to Marketplaces
Expanding your reach through online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and similar platforms can be a powerful way to increase e-commerce sales. These platforms already attract millions of shoppers, providing immediate access to a broad audience that might not find your store otherwise. Here’s what to keep in mind when selling on marketplaces:
- Analyze the competition and define your unique selling proposition.
- Consider the platform fees associated with listing and selling products.
- Ensure your pricing is competitive, and consider using marketplace-specific promotions or advertising to stand out.
- Optimize your product listings with high-quality images, detailed descriptions, and relevant keywords.
- Avoid depending on a single marketplace and have a buffer for platform policy changes\s.
Stay Ahead of Trends
Early understanding and adoption of trends like AR, VR, voice commerce, AI, and others can give your business a competitive edge. Regularly monitor industry news, attend webinars or conferences, and participate in online communities to keep up with emerging technologies and consumer preferences.
Consider Dropshipping
Dropshipping is an appealing model for many e-commerce entrepreneurs that lets you sell products without holding inventory. Instead, when a customer orders a product from your store, you purchase it from a third-party supplier who ships it directly to the customer.
To successfully implement dropshipping, you need to 1) choose high-demand dropshipping products to sell and 2) partner with reliable suppliers who offer quality products and timely shipping.
This approach reduces upfront costs and the risks associated with unsold inventory. However, consider how dropshipping fits into your overall business strategy. While it’s a low-risk way to start or expand, margins can be thinner compared to traditional retail models.
Read More: How to Set Up Dropshipping on Shopify
Start Selling Internationally
Entering new markets can be complex, but it’s often worth the effort. By reaching international customers, you can diversify and enhance your revenue streams.
- Start with in-depth research of potential markets to understand local consumer behavior, preferences, and legal requirements.
- Explore international shipping carriers, VAT and other taxes, and customs duties to ensure you comply with regulations in each country you sell to.
- Finally, offer clear information about international shipping costs and delivery times to avoid surprises that could lead to cart abandonment.
Get a Free Checklist for Boosting Your E-commerce Sales!
To truly boost e-commerce sales, you need to go even further than just implementing the strategies we've discussed. The real growth happens when you can consistently apply all these tactics, especially during peak sales periods.
That’s why we’ve created a Sales Season Checklist packed with more actionable ideas to help you boost your revenue. This checklist will guide you step-by-step through optimizing your store's health, security, performance, checkout functionality, payment options, and more. With our checklist, you'll have zero weak spots and be 100% ready to step up your revenue flow!
Download the Sales Season Checklist for Free!
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