Boost your sales

If you’re not experiencing the level of sales you want or if you’re just looking for a way to increase your sales, there are a lot of things to take into consideration. We made a quick checklist that you can use to find out what points you can improve. Simply answer the questions with yes or no. Whenever your answer is ”yes”, that means you’re doing great. Whenever your answer is ”no”, that means you might need to improve something. Any time your answer is ”no”, you can read the information on how to improve it.

Is there a high demand for your products?

You can put all your time, energy and savings into marketing a product, but if the demand isn’t there, the product just won’t sell.

If you’re not experiencing the amount of sales you hoped for, try to sell a variety of products so you can try out exactly what works for you and what doesn’t. Finding products that sell well, takes time and a lot of effort.

It’s also important to add new products to your webshop every now and then. By doing this, you keep your website visitors interested and engaged.  

Are your products easy to use?

Don’t sell over complicated products. Sell products that are easy to use and ergonomic. By doing this, you save yourself a lot of time answering questions on how to use a certain product. This also prevents you from getting a lot of returns. 

Do your products solve problems?

When selecting products for your store, try to find products that add value to your customers. One way to do this is to help solve problems your customers experience. At the end of the day, that’s all any product does really. The key is in finding out exactly what your customer’s problems and needs are, so you can find them the best solution. 

Are your product prices attractive to your targeted audience?

When setting your prices, it’s crucial that you know exactly who your audience is and how much budget they have to spend. You don’t need the exact numbers, you just need to have a global estimation. This way you get an idea of how high you should set your prices.

Also remember, just because you found the same product cheaper elsewhere, doesn’t mean you should lower your prices as well. Price isn’t the only thing that causes a customer to shop with a certain company.

Do you implement temporary offers on your webshop?

When time is limited, it makes people act faster. There’s less time for second-guessing which means your webshop visitors act faster.

One of the best ways to implement temporary offers, is through adding a countdown offer on your products. For customers, this adds urgency to make a decision. People hate missing out and the thought of losing a deal can trigger the actual purchase. 

For your higher ticket products, you can choose to temporarily offer a free bonus when purchasing the product. This free bonus will generally be a lower ticket item. This can be a great tactic to pull people in who are still doubting whether they should purchase the product or not. 

You can also use seasonal offers as a way of increasing your sales. Reseach by an NPD group has shown that seasonal offers do not only spur purchases, but they also produce higher average order size. It’s the “treat yourself” mentality that says, “I’m already buying this special item, why not go all in?”.

Do you use scarcity to your advantage?

The more scarce an item, the more people want it. Limited supply in an online shopping environment makes visitors believe scarce items are more popular than items high in stock. Therefore, shoppers are more likely to choose a scarce item over a non-scarce item. 

You can implement scarcity to your webshop by adding low stock notices. You can manage stock settings under the “inventory” section in your product editor.

Apart from limiting the stock quantity, you can also choose to add limited edition items to your webshop. ”Limited edition” sounds exclusive and luxury, therefore making a product seem more special and scarce.

Are your product images accurate representations of the product?

In order to keep returns at a minimum, it is important that your pictures provide an accurate image of the product. Customers are also more likely to purchase from you again if the product meets their expectations.

Do your products have enough quality images?

If your pictures are not clear enough, the customer might not be able to assess whether the product meets their needs or not. Always make sure your pictures are of good quality. 

In case you’re dropshipping and your supplier doesn’t provide you with usable images, try finding the same product from a different supplier. If you still don’t manage to find good images, try using Google, Amazon or eBay.

In case you're dropshipping, do you remove logo's on copied images?

Sometimes, when copying images from your supplier, you’ll find that those images still have logo’s and perhaps even writing in foreign languages and / or characters on them. This is probably something you’d want to remove from your images, as this can be confusing for the customer and cause them to bounce off.

Do you know how to sell your products?

Ask yourself this; do you describe your products or do you sell them?
Sure, it’s important to describe your product in your description, but just giving an accurate description of the product isn’t enough. You’ve got to sell it. 

So how do you sell something?

First of all, its important to know exactly who your targeted audience is and what their problems and needs are. Once you got this figured out, try to sell the solution or experience that fits their needs, not the product itself.

For example, let’s say you’re selling a navigation system for a car and you’re writing a headline for your description. Instead of writing ”this gps car navigation system works worldwide”, write something like ”imagine navigating your car anywhere in the world without losing gps signal”. 

By using a catchy headline like this the customer visualizes the experience and acknowledges the problem you just solved for him / her. This way they’re much more likely to purchase the product from you.

Are your descriptions complete?

A good way to find an answer to this question is to ask yourself: ”does the description answer all the questions the customer might have about the product / service?”. To be able to answer this question, it’s really important that you know exactly who your targeted audience is and what their needs are. 

Is your layout optimized?

Your description should be plain and easy to read. Start with a catchy headline that triggers a feeling with your customers. Explain the exact problem your product solves or the specific need your product fulfills. You can clarify this by adding images or GIF’s to the product description. It’s also important to include a list of product features in the description. Make sure you don’t leave any information out of the description that might be relevant to the customer. End your description with telling the customer exactly why they need to place the order with you and add your call to action. Your product description is your sales pitch, it’s your chance to convince the customer why they should purchase with you, so make sure you put some time into this.

Do you have reviews enabled on your webshop?

With so many online stores nowadays, it’s crucial that you build trust with your customers. Customers can’t just take your word for something you state, they need to hear it from others as well. Thats why reviews are so important.

For those of you dropshipping via Aliexpress, there’s always the option to import product reviews from Aliexpress to your webshop. Just make sure the reviews are in the desired language, so your customers won’t be confused when scrolling through the reviews.

Do you have pictures enabled on your webshop reviews?

Sometimes, an image says more than a thousand words. When a customer sees a picture of the actual product taken by another customer, they are more likely to trust your webshop. 

Do you have a social media account connected to your webshop?

Adding a social media account to your webshop can be a great way to add social proof to your business. However, that is only if you do it the right way. If you have a social media page that doesn’t really interact with its visitors much, than it might actually work to your disadvantage. In such cases it would be better to shut down the account, unless it gets you a lot of traffic to your store.

Do you offer sufficient payment methods?

From a customers point of view, there’s nothing more annoying than not being able to purchase a product, due to limited payment options. Always make sure you have multiple payment methods enabled. If you don’t have sufficient payment methods connected to your checkout page, you’re really going to miss out on revenue.

In case you do business with foreign countries, have you checked their preferred payment methods?

Foreign countries often don’t use the same payment methods your own country uses. Make sure to research this, so that foreign customers will have an easy time shopping with you.

Do you accept subscription based payments?

Selling products or services on a subscription base is a great way to ensure a steady stream of income. Since we don’t offer recurring payments in our standard webshop plans, we ask you to contact us if this is something you want to implement on your webshop.

Do you offer free shipping?

Adding free shipping to your products is perhaps one of the easiest ways to increase your sales. When companies offer free shipping, it’s actually never really free, the shipping costs are just calculated into the product price. Try adding free shipping to your products yourself and watch your sales explode!

Do customers receive their order within a couple of weeks?

Another thing to take into consideration is the shipping time; how long does it take before your customer gets their product? The shorter the shipping time, the more likely a customer is to place an order with you again in the future.

Especially with dropshipping, shipping times can take longer than usual since you’re shipping products directly from the manufacturer to the customer. When using Aliexpress, or any other platform for that matter, make sure to also take processing time into consideration. Processing is the time the seller needs to fulfill your order. During this period the supplier will check your payment, prepare the package and bring it to the courier. Processing time does not include shipping time! 

Are the products packed decently?

In order to keep return rates to a minimum, always make sure that the products are properly packed properly, as this decreases the change that a product will be damaged during shipment.

If you’re dropshipping, you can find out how well a product is packed by either looking at the product reviews or by ordering the product yourself.

Do you have an affiliate program?

Offering affiliate programs is perhaps one of the best things you can do to increase your sales while keeping expenses at a minimum.

Unlike paid ads, affiliate programs don’t require investments upfront. Affiliate programs are commission based. When an affiliate signs up for your affiliate program, they’ll be assigned a unique affiliate ID. This affiliate ID is used when generating a custom affiliate URL. Our system automatically recognizes the affiliate when someone clicks the affiliate URL.
It is only when a referral makes a purchase, that you’ll have to pay the affiliate their commission. Commission can either be a flat rate or a percentage of the total order value, this depends on your agreement with the affiliate.
 

Do you run paid ads?

Running paid ads is something every business will probably have to do sooner or later. Many e-commerce stores run paid ads via social media platforms such as Facebook, and for good reason. With Facebook you can reach your target audience extremely accurately. 

Do you collect data with regards to advertising?

Collecting advertising data gives insights in customer behaviors with regards to marketing campaigns. It is extremely useful to understand how customers are engaging with and responding to advertisements. If you know how your audience reacts to certain advertisements, you can optimize your ads to produce more results. 

One way to collect data is by installing Facebook pixel onto your website. The Facebook pixel is code that you place on your website. It tracks visitors from your website and allows you to retarget them via Facebook. It also collects data with regards to the type of actions visitors took on your website. For example, it allows you to retarget people who visited your website and added a product to the cart, but didn’t finish their order. Furthermore, the pixel allows you to analyze results of individual Facebook ads. If you know how your audience responds to different types of ads, you can optimize your ads in order to get the best results.

Do you offer customer support?

The importance of customer support is often underrated in e-commerce. Negative posts from a dissatisfied customers can ruin your reputation. Besides that, you’re also missing out on future revenue when you leave customers dissatisfied.

To some people, customer experience is even more important than the actual product and price. If you keep your customers satisfied, they’re less likely to post negative comments and more likely to shop with you again. Just remember; people won’t always remember your product, but they’ll always remember the way you treated them.

Do you answer questions within one day?

When you receive questions about products or services you offer, it’s super important to answer them as quickly as possible. The longer the potential customer has to wait for your reply, the more likely they are to find their solution elsewhere.

Are customers happy with the support they receive?

To some people, customer experience is more important than the actual product and price. Just remember; people won’t always remember your product, but they’ll always remember the way you treated them. Since satisfied customers are more likely to shop with you again, it’s super important you make sure customers remain satisfied. One way of doing this is by inviting customers to fill in a survey after you concluded their inquiry. You can use this feedback to improve your customer experience even further.

 

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