If you’re selling absolutely anything under the sun and on the online platform, you need to have a rock-solid eCommerce Marketing strategy in place. Here’s why:
- Growth of digital buyers y-o-y: According to Statista, the number of global digital buyers is set to reach 2.14 billion people by 2021.
- Rising popularity of online shopping: In terms of the share of retail spending, “E-retail revenues are projected to grow to 6.54 trillion US dollars in 2022.” Plus, Nasdaq predicts that “95% of purchases will be facilitated by e-commerce by 2040.”
Clearly, online shopping is here to stay, and if your brand wishes to get ahead of the curve, you need to improve your eCommerce strategy. To that end, let’s look at the top-4 strategies that can skyrocket revenues, enhance user satisfaction, and help your company build an unshakable (and unforgettable) online presence.
Top-4 Strategies to Boost Your E-commerce Site’s Performance
Use the Right Platform
Let’s say your brand sells vintage craft embellishments online. You’ve created a Facebook page and are actively promoting your ecommerce websites. However, your footfall seems to be at an all-time low. Perhaps, it’s time to take a step back and revisit your eCommerce business strategy.
To start with, consider other marketing channels and social media platforms. For example, it would help to promote your brand on Instagram more than Facebook as the former is a more visual, aesthetically driven platform and sits well with your offering.
So here’s the first rule of eCommerce marketing 101: Do your homework and figure out the right platform for your product/service and reach out to the correct target audience. Plus, it also helps to note that you need to establish an integrated omnichannel presence that’s constantly updated with real-time information.
Enhance Your Design and User Experience
Think of your eCommerce website design as the ‘first impression’ it will make in the user’s mind. Apart from the aesthetics, you’ll need to focus on simplifying the navigation and creating a clean and minimal website that gives form to functionality:
The central idea is to instill confidence and trust in the users by building a user interface that feels intuitive and truly adapts to every customer’s needs (by offering custom deals, offers, information about new products, etc.). For instance, you can integrate a virtual chatbot into your website, which can assist users 24x7x365 and act as their personal shopping guide:
According to research by KPMG, the ability to shop 24/7 is one of the main advantages of shopping online.
Pay Attention to the User Data
Gaining quality leads from your website can also steer you in the right direction. Consider the following scenario:
A first-time user lands on your website. They’re immediately greeted with a bot or a pop up that offers a 10% discount on their first purchase in exchange for their email:
The user provides the data and continues to browse the website. This is one effective way of collecting vital user data that you can store in your CRM. The bot can analyze the data to provide actionable insights on user preferences, shopping habits, past purchases, etc. This information can be used to drive personalized marketing campaigns and recommend suggestions to customers on the website so that you can engage with users in a more customized, intimate capacity:
Consumers are really complex in needs and expectations, but if you segment them accordingly and understand their behavior, you will know how to treat your customers and increase the number of loyal ones.Take a ride with
to get the full potential out of your business.
Top-5 UX strategies to embrace right away:
- Make your website mobile-friendly as “Mobile wallets are forecasted to grow to $500 billion by 2020, witnessing a growth of 80% over the last five years.”
- Ensure that your page loading speed is quick (anywhere between 1-3 seconds).
- Build convenient and simple navigation which includes the main menu, search option, cart, contact, CTA button, etc.):
- Design a product page that’s detailed, informative, and easily accessible.
- Create a single-step checkout process to ensure a seamless, speedy experience.
Make It ‘Personal’ and Go After An Abandoned Cart
“53% of online shoppers abandon their carts due to unexpected extra costs.”
Baymard Institute
Let’s face it. Many customers abandon cart midway. This might happen if customers realize there are additional unexpected costs they’ll need to incur (such as shipping rates, taxes, etc.) or if customers suddenly change their minds about the product in question. As an eCommerce brand, you should capitalize on this opportunity and connect with potential customers by rolling out personalized abandon cart emails that ‘nudge’ them to complete the purchase (as shown below):
Moreover, it helps to automate your abandoned cart emails. How so? You can simply trigger these emails to go out within 15-minutes post the cart abandonment by a prospect. When drafting your email, include all the cart items and strategically place relevant calls-to-action so that the user can be redirected to the cart within seconds and without much effort.
To make the offer more enticing, you could throw in a discount offer and encourage potential leads to make the purchase. Or better still, you could offer customers free shipping above a minimum cart value – a strategy that works wonders according to HubSpot as “24% of shoppers are ready to spend more to qualify for free shipping:”
In a Nutshell
To wrap up, here are the top-4 strategies to keep in mind when creating an eCommerce strategy that keeps customers at the heart of its core:
- Use the right marketing and social media platforms
- Enhance your design and user experience routinely
- Pay attention to the user data
- Make it ‘personal’ and go after abandoned cart prospects
Think we’ve missed out on any useful eCommerce hacks that have worked for you? Do tell. We’re all ears.
Author bio:
Ashwini Dave is passionate about Business, Entrepreneurship, E-commerce, emerging technology and Digital Marketing. She is working with Acquire ( https://acquire.io/ )as a digital marketing expert. She is a free soul and adventurous scholar who spends her free time with herself, loved once, music, as well as watching & playing sports. She is ocean addicted and on roads being a thrill-seeking traveler to get new experiences as she looks at life as our very own works of art.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AshwiniDave1
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