Ecommerce Tips
What Profit Boosting Ecommerce Tips?
In the following please find some ecommerce tips and techniques that will take you only a few hours to implement and will DRAMATICALLY BOOST YOUR SALES!
Ecommerce Tips #1:
Add a Benefit To Your Headline
If the headline on your web site isn't grabbing your visitors'
attention as soon as they read it, YOU'RE LOSING SALES.
That's a fact. And nothing grabs visitors' attention like a
compelling headline with a clear benefit.
Here's a great example from: John Bogs' site, www.MyBubbleBag.com, sells novelty
bags and purses. For the longest time, the headline at his site
read "Looking for love?" Now, that's not necessarily a
bad headline, but it had nothing to do with his product!
So we did an in-depth site analysis for him, and one of the
first suggestions we made was that he change his headline
to:
"Steal the Spotlight with these Super-Huggable,
Grape Bubble-Gum Scented Handbags & Backpacks
in SIX Funky, High-Gloss Metallic Colors"
You'll notice that this headline clearly states the benefit
of the product. You won't just get noticed with these
handbags, you'll actually steal the spotlight. We also
mentioned a couple of the product's best features (grape
bubble-gum scented, funky colors) in the headline.
IMPORTANT NOTE: An ecommerce tips placed at the top of your page
that reads something like "Welcome to MySite.com" is NOT
a headline. Your copy MUST emphasize a clear benefit
of your product. If you don't have a headline at your site,
make this your gift to yourself! A well-written
headline has the power to LITERALLY DOUBLE -- OR EVEN
TRIPLE -- YOUR SALES OVERNIGHT!
Ecommerce Tips #2:
Feature Seasonal Specials in the First Fold of Your Homepage
There is never a better time of year for special offers than
around the holidays. Not only are people surfing around,
actively looking for products to buy, they are also very
receptive to discounts and specials. After all, everyone
knows it's tough to find good deals at this time of year!
It's important that your special be featured in the first
fold of your homepage. (The first fold is the first screen
of your homepage that is visible without scrolling.)
Remember, you want to make it EASY for your visitors to find
and buy your products. The best way to do this is by making
sure that every single visitor to your site sees your
featured specials.
And be sure to choose a product for your seasonal special
that is A PROVEN BEST-SELLER. Now is NOT the time to be
trying to unload products that you haven't been able to
sell during the past 10 months. Feature products that have
been GENERATING SOLID PROFITS for you all year long.
Ecommerce Tips #3:
Send Out an E-mail Promotion
Remember: The clock is ticking! You really don't have time
to go out and acquire a bunch of new traffic in time for the
busy holiday rush. The good news is that you don't need to.
If you have a list of customers and/or subscribers, you
already have an incredibly powerful database of PEOPLE WHO
ARE JUST WAITING TO MAKE PURCHASES FROM YOU!
The reason they can't wait to buy from you? It's the 80/20
Rule: 80 percent of your sales will come from 20 percent of
your customers. People who have already bought from you are
much more likely than anyone else to buy from you again,
because you've already earned their trust.
Whenever possible, you'll want to send out two different
promotions -- one to your existing customers and one to your
subscribers. This allows you to approach each group from a
slightly different angle. Here's what I mean:
Your existing customers, who have already bought from you,
will want to be rewarded for their loyalty. What better way
to thank them than by giving them a great deal on one of
your most popular products?
They'll appreciate the fact that your offer is being sent to
them and them alone because we all like to feel special!
If you sell a product that people need to buy only once,
you can give your customers the opportunity to purchase
your product as a gift. Remind them how your product has
benefited them, and then explain why it would make a
wonderful gift for their friends or family.
Of course, if you sell a product that people don't commonly
give as a gift (fax toner, for example), you'll need to take
a slightly different approach. Try something like this:
"We know money can be tight around the holidays, so we've
decided to offer our customers a generous discount on fax
toner until the beginning of the New Year!"
Your subscribers should be sent a slightly different offer.
Tell them that this is a special value being offered only
to your newsletter subscribers. Again, you'll want to make
sure that you're offering a special on one of your proven
best-sellers.
This little touch of personalization can go a really long
way. It's been proven over and over that people like to be
offered deals that few others are going to see.
By making your customers and subscribers feel special,
you can DRAMATICALLY INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SALES
that your e-mail promotions generate.
Ecommerce Tips #4:
Consider Replacing Third-party Ads
Take a moment and think about whether or not you are
using the first fold of your web site effectively,
especially if you're hosting advertising for other
companies.
Figure out approximately how much you'll earn hosting
third-party advertising. Include
all revenue from any banners ads, skyscraper ads, text
ads, etc., that are located within the first fold of
your site.
Now, ask yourself if you could make more by replacing
these third-party ads with ads for your OWN products. For
many businesses, even ONE SALE would be worth more money
than their third-party ads generate for them in a whole
month!
If it turns out that you could make more money advertising
your own products in place of the paid advertising, drop
those third-party ads NOW and replace them with ads for
your own products or services. This way, visitors who
click on them will be taken to a product page on YOUR site-not someone else's!
Ecommerce Tips #5:
Launch a "Win Your Purchase" Contest
Anyone who tracks how many of their orders are abandoned
before completion knows how frustrating it can be to lose
customers at the last minute. For whatever reason, some
people get "cold feet" just before finalizing a purchase.
So here's a GREAT WAY to compel people to go through with
their order: Tell them that they might not have to pay for
it. Set up a contest where one lucky winner will receive a
full refund on their holiday purchase.
Make sure you advertise this contest prominently on your
site, as it's a REALLY POWERFUL WAY TO GET PEOPLE TO BUY!
Even more important, you'll want to mention the contest on
the page where customers COMPLETE their purchase.
Right beside the "Buy Now" or "Confirm Order" button, you'll
want to remind them that their name will automatically be
entered into your "Free Holiday Shopping Draw."
Then simply select a customer at random a couple of days
before the end of the holiday season and inform them that
you'll be issuing a full refund to their credit card. You'll
have made their day, believe me!
Ask the lucky winner if you can post their name and comments
on your site for a couple of weeks after the end of the draw,
too. It will add credibility for all your other visitors to
see that you followed through with your contest.
Ecommerce Tips #6:
Offer Fast, Flexible Shipping
According to a report from Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive,
and Nielsen//NetRatings, customer satisfaction with online
purchases was at about 86% for the 2001 holiday season. Now
that's pretty good, but it still means that 14% of online
shoppers weren't satisfied. And do you know what one of the
biggest complaints was?
You guessed it: Late delivery. There's nothing that drives
customers offline and out to the shopping mall faster than
the idea that their kids' Christmas presents won't arrive
until the 28th of December.
If you use a major nationwide delivery service, such as UPS
or FedEx, you'll want to feature this information
prominently on your web site and ordering pages. People will
feel much more comfortable ordering from a site that uses
one of these services than one that ships through the mail.
Also, be sure to tell your customers that they MUST order
by a certain date in order for you to ensure delivery by
Holiday. THIS WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF HEADACHES when
disgruntled customers call you on Holiday morning
wondering why the products they ordered three days before
haven't arrived yet!
Ecommerce Tips #7:
Offer to Ship Gifts Directly to Recipients
If possible, offer to ship your customer's purchase directly
to the gift recipient. You'll save your customer the hassle
of waiting to receive the package from you, and then sending
it out to someone else. This is a great way to add value to
your service WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU!
If you do offer to ship gifts directly to the recipient, I
promise that people will ask if you offer gift wrapping.
This is another way to give your customers a little extra
attention without much additional cost to you. Of course,
if you are expecting thousands of orders and you work by
yourself, gift wrapping may not be practical!
You can also offer your customers the option of adding a
holiday card to the package that you send out. Simply ask
them what they want written in the card, and then include it
with the package. You can charge an additional fee for this
or offer it as a free service.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Each package that is sent out as a gift
from someone else should include a flyer, brochure, or
coupon from your company. After all, the recipient of this
gift is the PERFECT POTENTIAL CUSTOMER!
They've already seen that you offer great products and
prompt shipping, so you stand an EXCELLENT chance of
converting them into a paying customer. But only if they
know where the product came from! Always be sure to include
some information about your company in gift packages!
Ecommerce Tips #8:
Offer Online Gift Certificates
Gift certificates can be an easy way to boost sales for sites
selling products and services to niche markets. Here's an
example: Joe knows that his Uncle Frank is a serious camera
buff, but Joe doesn't know anything about cameras himself.
Joe wants to spend $50 on a gift for Uncle Frank, but has no
idea what Uncle Frank would want or need for his camera at
that price.
So, if Joe finds his way to your photography web site and
sees that you offer online gift certificates, his problem is
solved! He knows that his uncle will love the chance to spend
$50 on camera equipment, and this way Uncle Frank will be able
to pick out exactly what he needs.
And the best part is that you've not only made $50 from Joe,
you've also acquired Uncle Frank as a customer! Offer him
good value on products that he needs, and you can bet that
he'll be back again when he needs to shop for more camera
equipment.
If you are selling a service online, gift certificates are a
great way to TURN YOUR SERVICE INTO A GIFT! No matter
what you're selling -- it could be spa packages or landscape
design -- I can promise that your service would make the
perfect gift for somebody out there.
Plus, you can remind your customers and subscribers that,
since gift certificates can be delivered electronically,
they make great last-minute gifts. In fact, online gift
certificates have saved the day for me a few times!
Ecommerce Tips #9:
Explain Why Your Product (Or Service) Would Make a Great Gift
At this time of year especially, it's important to remind
people why your product would make a great gift. Of course,
sites selling products like neckties or Christmas ornaments
won't need to worry about this as much, but what if your
site is selling something like office supplies?
Write a quick tip article about why your product or service
would make a practical or unusual gift. You might want to
tell a story about how people who received your service as
a gift last year couldn't stop talking about how unique it
was!
You may also want to consider putting together a quick tip
"Holiday Buying Guide" for your visitors. This is a great
resource for people who visit your site to buy a gift for
someone but don't know much about the products you sell.
For example, if your site sold wetsuits, you could offer
some information about how to choose the right wetsuit as a
gift. That way, people who know nothing about them wouldn't
end up buying a water-skiing wetsuit for someone who needed
one for Scuba diving.
Ecommerce Tips #10:
Offer a "Book Now And Save" Promotion
One of the biggest problems encountered by some online
businesses is that they suffer from what I call a "Holiday
Hangover." Not only does business fall off in the month
BEFORE the holidays, it also suffers during the month
AFTER, when people don't have any money left!
Because of this, it can be a real challenge for some
businesses to get revenues back on track in the New Year.
One of the best ways to deal with this is to motivate your
customers to purchase your product or service NOW for the
New Year in exchange for a discounted price or value-added
bonus.
You'll be able to rest a lot easier over the holidays if
you know that you've managed to LINE UP A TON OF BUSINESS
for January.
Final Thoughts on Ecommerce Tips
The holiday season is a make-or-break time of year for many
online businesses. And just because you haven't found the
time to set up a comprehensive holiday marketing strategy
doesn't mean that you can't TURN A GREAT PROFIT OVER THE
NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS.
But you do need to take the time to implement some of these
ecommerce tips IMMEDIATELY. I mean within the next 24 hours. Stay
up late, lock yourself in your office this weekend, do whatever
it takes to get your site ready for the holidays now! EVERY DAY
YOU WAIT IS ANOTHER DAY OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES AND
LOST PROFITS!
The great thing is that all of the ecommerce tips I've just given you
can be implemented quickly and easily. Most of these should
only take you an hour or two to set up on your site, and the
results will make you wish you had started much sooner.
And remember to keep using what works in the New Year. Sure,
the holiday season may be over, but it's just a matter of
putting a new slant on those promotions that worked.
If you find that the "Win Your Holiday Purchase" contest
causes a significant decrease in the number of abandoned
orders, you'll definitely want to think about making the draw
a monthly occasion. If the value of the prize is less than the
increased profit from all those completed orders, it's the
perfect win-win situation!
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