How to Increase Ecommerce Sales – Top 10 Ways to Achieve

Introduction

Increasing sales is the goal of every ecommerce business. With the right strategies and tactics, you can drive more traffic, convert visitors into customers, and boost revenue. This comprehensive guide covers the top 10 proven ways to increase ecommerce sales.

1. Optimize Site Speed

Site speed is a major ranking factor for Google. Studies show that 53% of mobile site visitors leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Slow load times lead to high bounce rates and lost sales.

Some ways to improve site speed include:

• Use a content delivery network (CDN) like Cloudflare to cache assets and serve them from local servers
• Enable compression to minimize file sizes
• Optimize images and media
• Minify CSS, JavaScript and HTML files
• Limit HTTP requests by combining files
• Upgrade to a better hosting plan

Improving page speed has an instant impact on user experience and conversions. Google recommends keeping load times under 2 seconds on mobile.

2. Improve Site Search

Most ecommerce sites rely heavily on internal search for product discovery. If your search isn’t intuitive, customers won’t be able to find what they need.

Make search smarter with features like:

• Autocomplete suggestions
• Spelling corrections
• Synonym matching
• Related searches
• Filters like price range, brand, etc.

Also show search results based on relevancy, not just keyword matches. Promote high-converting products and new arrivals over slow sellers.

Consider offering advanced search features like faceted navigation and comparison shoppers to enhance the experience.

3. Personalize the Experience

Online shoppers appreciate a personalized shopping experience tailored to their preferences and behavior.

Personalization tactics include:

• Using geolocation to display country/region specific content
• Making product recommendations based on purchase history and browsing
• Showing pop-up offers or email discounts on abandoned cart items
• Segmenting customers based on demographics, interests, and more for targeted marketing

Services like Optimove and Evergage use AI and big data to offer robust personalization platforms for ecommerce.

4. Optimize Category and Product Pages

Most of your site traffic will land on category and product pages. Optimizing these can directly lift conversions.

For category pages, use:

• SEO title tags focused on the category
• Detailed meta descriptions summarizing the category
• 100+ words introducing the category
• High-quality category images
• Logically structured sub-categories
• Refinements like price range, brands, ratings, etc.
• Sorting options (price, popularity, ratings, etc.)

For product pages, optimize with:

• SEO title tags with target keywords
• Detailed meta descriptions highlighting USPs
• Engaging product descriptions covering features, benefits, and uses
• Image galleries showcasing the product
• Sizing charts, demo videos, 360 spins, etc. to engage visitors
• Customer photos, reviews, and questions to build trust
• Clear call-to-actions like ‘Add to Cart’ and ‘Buy Now’ buttons

Also use on-page SEO best practices like header tags, site links, alt text, and Schema markup.

5. Retarget Shoppers with Ads

Retargeting involves serving ads to users who have already visited your site. This targets high-intent audiences likely to come back and complete a purchase.

You can re-engage visitors who:

• Searched for a product but didn’t buy
• Viewed specific product pages
• Added items to their cart but didn’t checkout
• Reached checkout but didn’t complete their order

Retargeting works across Google, Facebook, Instagram, and most digital channels. Dynamic remarketing lets you serve ads with the exact products a user viewed.

6. Leverage Loyalty and Referral Programs

Loyalty programs encourage repeat purchases and brand loyalty. Common programs include:

• Points-based programs rewarding purchases
• Tiered programs with privileges for high spend customers
• Rebate programs providing cashback on purchases
• Free shipping rewards for members
• Exclusive promotions and early access to sales

Referral programs incentivize existing customers to promote your brand to new buyers. Popular options include:

• Signup incentives like credits or coupons
• Shareable referral links and promo codes
• Rewards when a referral makes a purchase
• Contests for top referrers

Tools like Smile.io and Referral SaaSquatch make it easy to run modern loyalty and referral programs.

7. Leverage User-Generated Content

User-generated content like customer photos and reviews builds trust and social proof.

You can encourage UGC by:

• Emailing customers asking for reviews
• Offering incentives for reviews like credit or discounts
• Making it easy to upload photos on product pages
• Showcasing UGC prominently across your site and ads
• Curating and featuring your best content on social media

Authentic photos and videos from real customers help new visitors make purchase decisions. User photos also improve your visual search presence.

8. Offer Free Shipping

Free shipping is consistently one of the most powerful ecommerce promotions. Research shows:

• 88% of shoppers consider free shipping important
• 52% are likely to abandon their cart without free shipping
• 20% will buy more to hit a free shipping threshold

You can experiment with:

• Free expedited shipping for orders over a minimum
• Free standard shipping with no order minimums
• Free return shipping to reduce barriers
• Free international shipping to expand your audience

Loss leader pricing where you absorb shipping costs helps overcome sticker shock and shopping cart abandonment.

9. Provide Multiple Payment Options

Offering preferred payment methods removes friction during checkout. Must-have options include:

• Credit/debit cards – Visa, Mastercard, American Express
• Mobile wallets – Apple Pay, Google Pay
• PayPal – Makes checkout easy for millions of users
• Buy now pay later – Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna

Consider niche payment methods popular in your region like bank transfers, cash on delivery, UPI payments in India, etc.

Enable easy guest checkout options as well – requiring a login detracts many first-time buyers.

10. Retain Customers with Email

Email marketing provides recurring touchpoints to engage customers after purchase.

Post-purchase emails can:

• Thank customers for their order
• Request product reviews
• Provide helpful tips for using the product
• Recommend complementary or accessory purchases
• Share new arrivals and sales based on past purchases
• Offer loyalty discounts for future purchases

Schedule a series of lifecycle emails to build relationships with customers. Personalize messaging with purchase data like order totals, products bought, and order history.

Wrap Up

Implementing even a few of these tips can generate impressive ecommerce sales growth. The most impactful strategies are optimizing site speed, search experience, product pages, and checkout.

Retargeting visitors and sending post-purchase emails also provide high returns. Testing and iterating on these tactics allows you to identify what resonates best with your audience and continuously improve conversion rates.

FAQ

What other tips have helped you increase online sales? Let me know in the comments!