This is a guest post from Emily Carter at WebFX.
This year, US ecommerce sales are projected to reach more than $604 billion.
But with more online sellers in the market, how can your ecommerce store stand out from the crowd?
Read on to discover seven proven strategies for turbocharging your online sales this year.
1. Optimize product pages with SEO.
If you want to sell more in 2020, you need to make sure people can easily find your website.
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps you meet online shoppers at the top of results when they search for your products online.
Since SEO helps you reach people actively searching for your products, you won’t have to worry about wasting marketing spend on people who don’t want your items.
A few simple SEO tweaks can help your product pages rank higher in search results, so you can boost website traffic and sales.
When optimizing your product pages with SEO, be sure to add:
- Page titles and meta descriptions that include your target keywords
- Creative, keyword-rich product descriptions
- Descriptive content and product specs
- Engaging product photos with descriptive alt text
- Product reviews and ratings to inspire trust with shoppers
Get extra value from your optimized product pages by linking them in emails, like fashion retailer Topshop.
Optimizing your product pages with SEO and linking them in emails helps you boost website traffic and ultimately sell more online.
2. Send automated emails to connect with shoppers.
Crucial for boosting online sales in 2020, automated emails allow you to connect with shoppers at every stage of the buying funnel.
With automated email marketing, you can trigger emails to send when shoppers take specific actions on your site.
For example, you can use automated emails to:
- Send welcome messages and special offers
- Inform subscribers of important business updates and product launches
- Remind people of products they viewed or placed in their carts
- Recommend related products when people purchase
- Encourage product reviews
With automated email marketing, you can reach people directly in their inboxes with personalized information that moves them down the purchase funnel.
You can also use automated emails to encourage repeat purchases, as you have a 60-70% chance of selling to an existing customer—and segmented, personalized emails inspire customer loyalty and repeat purchases too.
Whether you’re looking to engage new subscribers or encourage people to buy again, automated email marketing is vital to selling more online.
The best part? Automating your email marketing saves you time and money, so you can maximize your marketing spend and sales in 2020.
3. Showcase product reviews in abandoned cart emails.
Cart abandonment emails remind shoppers of items they added to their carts and, with ESPs like Campaign Monitor, you can automate abandoned cart emails with one click.
With CM commerce, you can easily add product reviews to personalized email messages to encourage shoppers to buy.
For example, try adding product reviews to abandoned cart emails. Or, when people leave your site without buying, you can send automated emails with reviews of products they viewed or placed in their carts.
Product reviews can make or break sales—especially for on-the-fence shoppers. So go the extra mile to inspire trust by adding reviews to your emails and product pages. It could be your secret weapon for selling more online this year.
4. Leverage online selling platforms.
In 2020, you have more options than ever for maximizing sales with online marketplaces like Amazon, Shopify, and WooCommerce.
Just starting to sell online?
Platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce allow you to create and customize your digital storefront easily. CM Commerce seamlessly connects with these platforms too, so you can make the most of every customer interaction.
With CM Commerce, you can easily send:
- Supercharged receipts to encourage upsells
- Automated abandoned cart emails
- Follow-up emails to showcase recommended products
- Personalized newsletters to keep your brand top of mind with buyers
- Product reviews to encourage purchases
- Emails to encourage product feedback
Connecting your online selling platform with automated email services from Campaign Monitor will help you maximize product sales and repeat purchases this year.
If you run an established ecommerce site and want to sell more online, consider leveraging online marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart.
Ecommerce store owners may be hesitant to sell on online marketplaces in addition to their own websites. But keep in mind that you can leverage the site traffic of ecommerce giants like Amazon, which receives more than 150 million unique monthly visitors in the U.S. alone.
So, if you want to boost awareness and sell online, don’t discount online marketplaces—even if you have an existing ecommerce site.
Online marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart also offer fulfillment and shipping options that can help you maximize profits.
5. Make sure your ecommerce site is mobile-friendly.
Today, mobile devices account for nearly 60% of online searches.
This means, if your ecommerce site isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re missing out on valuable traffic and sales. And, with Google’s mobile-first indexing, it’s more important than ever to make sure your site is mobile responsive.
Not sure if your site’s mobile performance is up to par? Just enter your website URL into Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to find out if your site is mobile-friendly, as well as identify any page loading issues.
Making your site mobile-friendly allows people to purchase from their mobile devices seamlessly. They can also click to view your site and buy directly from your marketing emails.
In 2020, mobile-friendly design is essential for boosting sales, so be sure to test your site and product pages to make sure they provide a great mobile experience.
6. Streamline your conversion flow and online checkout.
A complicated checkout process will send your cart abandonment rate through the roof.
To sell more online in 2020, consider testing and streamlining your online checkout.
Tools like Google Analytics allow you to identify weak points in your conversion funnel.
Take a look at site pages with high exit rates. Can you identify trends that contribute to poor user experience (UX) and abandoned carts?
Remember to pinpoint pages driving the most conversions for your ecommerce business too. You may discover messaging or UX elements you can use to revive low-performing pages.
You can also conduct user testing to uncover pain points in your checkout process that cause shoppers to abandon their carts. Maybe your fancy new pop-up distracts shoppers or perhaps you require too many form fields.
Frequently testing and streamlining your checkout process makes it easier for shoppers to buy. By identifying and fixing weak points in your conversion flow, you can sell more online this year.
7. Share products on social media.
Finally, be sure to share product offerings on social media to increase online sales.
In addition to organic posts and social media ads, consider selling directly on social media with platforms like Facebook Marketplace for Business.
With Facebook Marketplace for Business, you can:
- Showcase inventory for retail items
- Advertise your store on Facebook Marketplace
- Show items from your Facebook Page shop on Marketplace
- Allow people to purchase without leaving Facebook
Selling directly on social media allows you to streamline the conversion process to make it easier for people to buy.
You can also leverage your email list to encourage social sharing. Try adding social sharing buttons and calls to action to your marketing emails or include a recap of top social posts in your newsletters.
In the example below, surf company Rip Curl added easy-to-spot social sharing buttons at the top of their email newsletter.
This is a great way to increase brand exposure and highlight your product offerings to sell more online.
Social media gives you instant access to ready-to-buy shoppers, so make sure you have a robust social strategy in place to help maximize online sales.
Wrap up
Ecommerce sales show no sign of slowing down any time soon. But, with more people selling online, you need to make your store stand out.
If you want to maximize online sales in 2020, try these strategies:
- Optimize product pages with SEO
- Send automated emails to connect with shoppers
- Showcase product reviews in abandoned cart emails
- Leverage online selling platforms
- Make sure your ecommerce site is mobile friendly
- Streamline your conversion flow and online checkout
- Share products on social media
Set yourself up for success and start selling more online in 2020 with these tips and CM Commerce from Campaign Monitor.
Emily Carter is a Web Marketing Consultant at WebFX. With an M.S. in digital marketing, she specializes in content and email marketing. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, road trips, and drinking strong coffee. Follow her on Twitter @emcarter16.