How to sell online? Rules and strategies to increase sales of your e-commerce.
Online purchases have increased by 15% exclusively in the last two years. Consumers are looking for simplicity during the purchasing process and e-commerce stores are the ideal solution. Finding out how to sell online effectively is essential for any business.
The latest Nielsen survey, carried out in November 2018, clearly highlights the particularly positive trend of online purchases. The way e-commerce ensures users experience intuitive and simple consumer and proves able to meet the needs of the consumer directly at any time. Every company should find out how to sell online effectively!
Nielsen research data is an excellent basis for all merchants wishing to start an online store. Being online, promoting your e-commerce and creating a network of e-customers are fundamental activities for all businesses with the aim of increasing your turnover. The online presence is able to bring more visibility to the brand and to build an image of the business tailored to the needs of each consumer.
How to sell online? Undoubtedly building a platform or a personalized web page is the first important step, but it is not enough. To hope to increase sales through web channels, it is essential to plan a communication and promotion strategy, trying to make the most of the products compared to those offered by the competitors.
Here are 10 useful tips to find out how to sell online and increase sales of your e-commerce …
1# Optimize the site for mobile devices
Most consumers buy products online using their smartphone. For this reason it is essential to choose a responsive template for your e-commerce, in other words a graphic that can perfectly adapt to any type of screen without losing its effectiveness. Many online stores lose customers and do not sell due to the lack of appropriate responsive templates. The customer’s buying behavior is often based on the first visual impression and communicating effectively on all types of devices is essential for concluding sales.
2# Choose a simple graphic and in line with your target
How to sell online? Simple. Graphics are an element of fundamental importance. The colors of the site, the layout of the products and the navigation methods must be clear and intuitive. All products must be graphically divided into distinguishable categories and the colors should reflect the corporate image and its target audience. It is important to use shapes and colors in which customers can recognize themselves and that are able to communicate security and familiarity.
3# Use user reviews to improve the corporate image
By sharing customer reviews (both good and less positive) it will be possible to improve the perception that users have of the company. A positive review can convince consumers that the products offered by that business are of excellent quality; a neutral or slightly positive feedback will instead be useful to testify to the transparency and truthfulness of the company.
4# Improve the usability of e-commerce
An indispensable feature for successful e-commerce is undoubtedly the ability to satisfy users’ expectations, in other words to be user-friendly. To make your page simple and intuitive it is essential to divide the products into clearly visible categories, not to ask too much data from the consumer and to set up a free search bar. Users love to research freely and reach the desired product directly, which is why a space used solely for free research is essential for every online store. Another important feature for a user-friendly site is the ability to check out without registering: guaranteeing a “guest check-out” option is essential to facilitate and improve the customer’s shopping experience.
5# Uses SEO and Content Marketing
Traffic from search engines is the primary channel for getting new visitors and consequently new customers. Making your e-commerce visible to search engines means optimizing it from an SEO perspective. SEO is based on several factors: page structure, technical features and above all valuable content and relevant keywords with high search volume. To obtain good results with your online store, it is therefore necessary to carry out an analysis of the potential keywords to be associated with each product card: it is advisable to choose appropriate keywords for your services and above all not too generic. To optimize your online store in SEO, the main e-commerce platforms offer the possibility of implementing specific plugins and modules. Content Marketing. Producing interesting and engaging content is an important activity not only to entertain its users, but also to get a good ranking within search engines.
6# Customize your store with Call To Action and Landing Page
To find out how to sell online in an excellent way it is necessary to structure your e-commerce in order to attract the attention of visitors. Setting up product data sheets as Landing Pages could prove to be an essential activity in order to involve the consumer and explain in detail the characteristics and plus points of each product. The Call To Action buttons are undoubtedly other essential tools to attract the attention of consumers. Pushing the customer to perform a practical action (like clicking on a “button”) can be very useful for collecting users’ personal data and structuring particularly personalized marketing campaigns.
7# Allow multiple payment methods
Each customer prefers a different payment method: credit card, PayPal, bank transfer or cash on delivery. There is no perfect payment method for e-commerce, successful online stores are the ones that implement the greatest number of payment options in their check-out procedure. Allowing multiple transaction methods can prove to be an initial expense for the merchant, but will in the future prevent losing potential buyers.
8# Implement a chat service and Customer Care
Every successful e-commerce is able to actively communicate with its users. Adding to your online store a chat or a space dedicated exclusively to customer support is essential to be able to meet all the needs of consumers. The chat can be an automatic response space managed by artificial intelligence software (chatbot) or a real space in which physical operators can answer users’ questions. Being always present and available is essential to communicate a positive image of the company and its brand.
9# Propose different types of shipping
Many consumers base their purchasing choices above all on shipping methods. Guaranteeing fast and rapid shipments is essential for any online store. It is necessary to propose multiple shipping alternatives: some economic and less rapid, others more expensive and faster. Offering more types of shipping makes the user participate in the purchasing process: the buyer will in fact select the shipping method he prefers.
10# Use Social Media
How to sell online? Using Social Networks is without doubt an indispensable activity! Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and all online sharing platforms are great allies for any e-commerce. Creating sponsored campaigns within the Social is an essential activity to highlight their flagship products. Instagram also proves to be a perfect direct sales channel: selling on Instagram is simple thanks to the possibility of inserting specific tags in your posts that can bring followers directly to the online store.
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