2020 has surely been the year e-commerce established itself as the world’s chosen method of shopping. While the traditional high street has been in decline for many years, online shopping has gone from strength to strength in recent years and the signs are it is not slowing. Coupled with the effects of the coronavirus lockdowns and isolation, e-commerce now stands supreme in the retail landscape and most experts believe there has been a seismic change in how we will shop in the future.
However, while the internet promises tremendous opportunities for growth, it also presents threats in terms of giving your clients (existing and potential) a range of choices and options like never before. While once your customers were limited by geographical location, the internet allows competition from a global marketplace – making it all the more important for your company to stand out online.
Here are a few tried-and-tested methods to drive more traffic to your e-commerce website and subsequently translate those visits into sales.
The Importance of Search Engine Optimization
It’s all well and good having an all-singing, all-dancing website but if you’re not getting visitors, you’re never going to get sales. Bottom line, if your website isn’t seen it also isn’t working and will bring no tangible benefit to your company.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) serves to address this quandary by encouraging visits to your site and making it easier for clients to find you online. Using a variety of tricks and tools, good SEO will see your website appearing top of the search engine results under the queries likely to be used by your customers.
Currently, Google accounts for around 90% of all online searches – so this is the engine you should prioritize highest. A good Google ranking can mean the difference between gaining a new sale and relative obscurity and can have a huge effect on your company’s overall exposure and online image.
Furthermore, industry experts suggest only the first page Google results matter (94% of all clicks are made on first page results), meaning a high ranking is vitally important.
While there are a great number of things you can do yourself to boost your SEO (making regular updates to content, using targeted keywords in text, encouraging backlinks to your site, etc), really, for the best results you should look to hiring an online marketing and SEO specialist.
Stay Honest in Your Sales Text
Today, people are more aware than ever of hyperbole so avoid using overblown statements in your web copy. First impressions count and your visitors will be far more likely to leave if they sense that you’re exaggerating or making unsubstantiated claims.
Rather, make an effort to keep your web copy open and honest – chatty even. If a customer feels they’re reading text from a real person rather than a salesman, they’ll be much more likely to engage positively with you.
Think About Installing a Chat System
On the subject of customers feeling like they’re talking to a real person, you might also consider installing a live chat system on your site. Chat systems are becoming more and more common online – particularly with e-commerce sites – as a way to help consumers make more informed product decisions or offering background information.
A recent study found that over 30% of customers found live chat systems more informative and helpful than email dialogues or phone calls while a further 79% reported receiving information that helped them in the purchasing process.
Installing live chat to your e-com site is now simpler than ever with an increasing number of off-the-shelf systems available that integrate directly with your existing pages. Partnering with a specialist chat provider will allow you to add a chat button in a matter of hours to your site and have you talking live with clients in no time.
Display Customer Testimonials and Feedback
It’s human nature to be swayed and influenced by the opinion of others so, if you have positive feedback from existing clients, be sure to place the comments in a prominent place on your website. Rather than doing as so many others do and placing this valuable feedback under a separate link, think about putting your customer opinions and comments on your front page – so they’re seen quickly by visitors. Recommendations from past clients can be one of the most persuasive selling tools – don’t bury them away.
Instill a Sense of Urgency
Again, it’s human nature to react to time-dependent offers or one-off bargains so don’t be afraid to include call-to-action buttons to encourage quick sales. While it’s important you remain honest in your online web copy, there’s no harm in helping customers along the purchasing process. Stressing a time-limited sale period or exclusive offer can go a long way to promoting your products.
Make It as Easy as Possible to Checkout
While consumers are becoming more accustomed to shopping online, there’s no reason to make the process overly-complicated. According to a report by BI Intelligence, around $4 trillion worth of products were abandoned in online shopping carts in 2015. While one might think that figure would have improved, specialist online statistics company Statista, found that 88.05% of all e-commerce potential e-commerce transactions in March 2020 resulted in an abandoned shopping cart.
The process of search to purchase should be as simple as possible on your site to avoid consumers giving up or losing interest. Remove any unnecessary steps in your shopping process, including simplifying forms and removing time-outs caused by inactivity.
Offer Multiple Payment Options
Not so long ago, pretty much the only payment options online were by bank transfer or credit card. These days, payment services are offered by a huge range of providers – from mobile devices like Apple Pay and Google Wallet to independents like WePay or Stripe.
Offering your customers the widest range of payment options will make it far more likely for you to convert a casual browse into an eventual sale. In particular, if you find your site has high traffic numbers over mobile devices, be sure to offer the facility of mobile payments. Regardless, having multiple ways to pay will increase your sales.
Final Thoughts
E-commerce is most definitely here to stay and the sooner you adapt your sales website to current trends, the better equipped you’ll be to take advantage of the immense opportunities that lie in online commerce. As consumers become more savvy internet shoppers, their expectations have raised. Staying one step ahead of the game and giving them exceptional online service will help future proof your company while increasing profits.
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