E-commerce is all about offering customers convenience. The past 2 years have been full of massive changes, which also include changes in consumer behavior. Before the pandemic, nobody would have thought e-commerce and online shopping would become as popular as they have. Slowly but surely, more and more brick and mortar store owners understand the importance of having a well-run e-commerce store. This trend will significantly increase in 2022 and beyond and many analysts believe that now is the best time to step up your e-commerce game to get ahead of your competition.
If you are an e-commerce store owner and are wondering what it would take to become successful in this ever so competitive playing field, continue reading this piece as we will discuss the top hacks for e-commerce success.
Make the Most of Email Marketing
Many people think that email marketing is slowly fading away and is being replaced by other strategies. While there may be some truth to it, but it would be unfair to think that it is obsolete. In fact,if you utilize email marketing the right way, it could make a massive difference. You can start by regularly updating your email list and send people questionnaires regarding in-demand products or any other item customers have been looking for.
This is a surefire way to gain deep insights, which will help you position your e-commerce store better. Remember, the more value you add to your emails, the better. A lack of value is one of the biggest reasons why many email marketing campaigns fail. So, instead of merely creating template newsletters and articles, it would be better to personalize or humanize your emails according to your customers.Sure, it will take some time, but it will yield a better ROI eventually.
You can even take things up a notch by adding incentives. This could be in the form of a subscription link or box that offers free gifts or exclusive discounts, an excellent way to make customers feel welcomed and valued. Most importantly, make sure you pay special attention to your existing customers and retain them through meaningful mails, early bird offers and seasonal discounts.
Generate Traffic with Strategic Giveaways
World renowned e-commerce stores like Flipkart and Amazon often have giveaways to generate traffic. You can do the same by choosing a product that a huge chunk of your audience finds appealing and organize a giveaway. Doing so can greatly improve your e-commerce store’s traffic and generate leads for a better ROI. Here are a few things successful e-commerce stores do to attract traffic.
- Providing sample products
- Offering free trials for particular items
- BOGO offers
- Reward based incentives
Performing A/B Tests on Product Pages
Successful online stores often run A/B tests for learning which product page works and which one does not. This method heavily depends on trial and error and is perfect for testing your ecommerce store’s product pages. Many of you may be wondering if performing these tests is worth the hassle. Well, the answer is simple, YES. Product pages are vital, and a well-performing page can make a huge difference for your bottom line.
A/B tests can help you spot issues, ensuring you can improve your product page’s performance by making slight changes to the content, font, images, design, layout etc.
Utilizing Multi and Omni-Channel Marketing
In simple words, multi-channel marketing includes making your service or product available for customers through numerous channels like your website, Instagram, Amazon etc. Omni channel, on the other hand, includes every channel customized to improve a user’s experience. This means, if a customer uses their phone for shopping a product, they should be able to use their iPad or laptop without having to start over.
Contrary to popular belief, merely using one of these marketing channels is not enough. Instead, you should take advantage of both. Why? Because it will increase your customer base, resulting in more conversions. Being available on multiple channels means that you can cater to your customer’s buying experience according to their preference.
What’s more, being present on more than one channel greatly increases your brand’s exposure, resulting in more sales. As far as omni channel marketing goes, customizing your channel for the user will provide customers a smoother and better user experience while offering a good degree of personalization. By analyzing the behaviors and patterns of the consumers, you can spot important touch points to create an effective omni channel strategy.
If you want your e-commerce store to be successful, you must ensure it is responsive, loads quickly, is easy to navigate and provides users with a pleasant shopping experience. In addition, make sure the experience is unified across every platform, which means maintaining the same tone of voice, quality, content, product availability, etc.
Remember, multi-channel and omni-channel strategies work hand in hand. However, you must ensure you have the technical skills to apply these marketing strategies as it will help sustain your e-commerce store’s future.
Use Psychology to Create Pricing Structure
Many brands make use of tiered pricing structures to influence the purchasing decisions of their customers. This is often referred to as a decoy pricing structure. Using psychology is a great way to price your products effectively. This could be in the form of different options like expensive menu products or subscription models. A strategy like this is ideal for attracting customers as it offers them “better” prices once they subscribe to your website or perhaps follow your brand’s Instagram account.
Final Thoughts
If you want to reduce bounce rates, generate and convert leads and maximize retention of your e-commerce store, following the hacks discussed in this piece would be a great place to start. Other things like add extensions and content marketing can also prove to be incredibly handy. You can even take things a step further and use social media influencers to introduce more people to your brand, significantly increasing your sales in the process.