ECommerce is crucial to business success in 2021. Thanks to an ever-growing reliance on online shopping, accelerated due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are increasingly living in a digital world. With competition more fierce than ever before, businesses need to do more than ever to stand out from the crowd.
Here are some simple steps that any business can take to drive its online sales.
Implement A Referrals Program
A referral system allows customers to recommend your products to family and friends and receive a reward. The reward can be whatever you think will motivate customers best. Discounts and free gifts are common and popular referral rewards.
Referrals from friends and family are high up on the list of influences for buying products, so having a referral program can help capitalize on this influence.
Simplify Your Checkout Process
A complicated checkout process is one of the leading causes of basket abandonment for online retailers. It may help to ensure that your checkout process is quick, easy and as painless as possible. Review the process for checkout that you currently use, and look at it as a customer would. Decide if there are any elements that you could remove, such as a requirement to create an account.
You could consider implementing payment methods such as PayPal that can streamline the process and reduce customer frustration.
Keep An Eye On Your Data
You should be using all of the data at your disposal to ensure that you are making the best use of your eCommerce platform. Many eCommerce platforms come with integrated dashboards to help you analyze data.
It may help to enlist a professional commerce agency to get the most out of your sales data. An experienced agency will show you all of the vital information you need in one simple to use place. Check out the eCommerce Dashboards reporting from CAKE Commerce to get an idea of how your business could benefit.
Use Chat Services
Customers will frequently require assistance as they navigate your eCommerce platform. It may help to use chat services to aid customers as they browse, in addition to traditional FAQ and support pages. This allows customers to get the help they need quickly and easily.
It is worth ensuring that your customer chat service is discreet and unobtrusive to prevent frustration in customers who do not require it.
Interact With Customers On Social Media
Social media can be a huge asset when used well. You should aim to have a presence on all major social media sites and be active on your profiles. Where possible, you should interact with users on social media and answer any questions or issues honestly and openly.
Having a policy of open dialogue with customers on social media can strengthen your image among your followers and show that you are a company that cares about its customers. It is essential to be cautious with your social media approach to ensure that your interactions with customers are positive and friendly.
