The question that most torments and keeps new entrepreneurs or veteran traders awake at night is “How can I increase sales in my online store?”
Virtual stores were growing, but due to the events that occurred last year due to the pandemic, their use has now gone from being a whim to a necessity.
We discovered the great benefits that virtual stores offer us, not only as consumers, but also as entrepreneurs and veteran merchants.
But sales are needed to sustain a business, whether it is physical or virtual. And this is where things get a little complicated.
We know that you have invested time and effort in your new digital business, so we will give you some tips on how to increase sales in your virtual store that you can apply little by little.
Conduct an audit of your online store
If you feel that your online store is not generating the sales you expected, it is highly recommended that you first analyze it in detail to identify errors that prevent purchases from being made.
There are very noticeable errors, just as there are errors that are barely noticeable, but which, regardless, negatively affect the functionality of your virtual store.
Remember that the success of a virtual store depends on the good shopping experience it offers, that is:
- How easy it is to navigate.
- How easy it is to find the information I am looking for as a user.
- How fast the website loads.
- It is easy to place an order and pay for it.
If you want to know more about the topic, we invite you to read our blog “The 8 most common mistakes when creating virtual stores”.
Attract audiences through social media
A good social media strategy is one of the ways to increase sales in your virtual store.
Although social media has evolved and has become a direct sales channel, the best use you can give it is as a tool for visibility for your brand.
It's not about being on all social networks (because that would be impossible), but rather about being on those where both your commercial focus and your target audience have the greatest presence.
Once you create your brand's social networks, start create a content strategy that helps you build a community around your brand.
While you can use them to promote your products and services, don't let that be the only focus.
Try to humanize the brand by showing the work team. You can also give advice, make infographics, explanatory videos and even memes and some humor related to your sector.
Implement SEO strategies
SEO is one of the best medium and long-term strategies to help increase sales in your online store.
People feel much safer entering virtual stores that are in the top spots, since, if they are there, it is because they are very good (Google puts them there for a reason, right?).
It is a strategy that requires a series of optimizations and activities (inside and outside the virtual store), which help to increase authority and, therefore, position on Google.
It is a very effective strategy that you can do on your own, but it is best to hire a Marketing agency specializing in SEO positioning, which is capable of carrying out the work in the most optimal way.
Testimonials, your best validators
The trust and professionalism that you reflect as a brand is important to increase sales in your online store, and testimonials are one of the best ways to highlight these attributes.
It is a natural purchasing behavior: before buying anywhere, we first look for and read other people's opinions, and based on these opinions, we decide whether or not to give the business a chance.
How can you get these testimonials? The key factors are to offer a good product and/or service and good customer service.
Customer service in a virtual store is achieved by:
- Offering multiple communication channels.
- Responding to customer messages as quickly as possible.
- Communicating all your policies in a clear and accessible way.
- In case of disagreement, we can provide a timely solution.
Once you have these testimonials, place them in your online store and publish them on your social networks so that new users can read them and help you gain their trust.
Simplify the purchasing process
If you want to increase sales in your online store, you must pay special attention to the entire purchasing process, from the form to the payment on the gateway.
People are very protective of their personal information, so if they feel that you are asking for too much information or that the payment method is not the most secure, they will abandon the purchase immediately.
Try to simplify the purchase registration forms to only the data necessary to complete the shipment.
Besides, There are many payment methods on the market, so try to choose one that fits your needs as an owner, and that offers the most payment methods to your clients.
Create a featured products section
This section is perfect for giving visibility to those products that are the best sellers and that can be a great hook for other products similar to these.
It is very common to add this section after the banner on your online store's home page, as it will be the second thing they see if they decide to continue exploring.
Use paid campaigns
Paid campaigns, along with SEO strategies, are another of the most popular ways to attract traffic to your online store and, therefore, increase sales.
The best place to run these paid campaigns is Google, but with the increase in users, social networks like Facebook and Instagram are also good places to advertise.
One of the advantages of these paid campaigns It is its great audience segmentation, which allows us to direct the message to those people who are looking for products similar to what we can offer.
These campaigns require a great deal of planning and maintenance in their execution if you do not want to lose money.
Run remarketing campaigns
Following the previous advice, remarketing campaigns are another way to increase sales in your online store.
Have you ever visited an online shoe store, for example, seen some shoes you liked but didn't buy them, and then those same shoes appeared on Facebook or other websites?
These are the famous remarketing ads. They are made based on the information obtained from Google and Facebook tracking codes, to tell you who visited your store and what they are interested in.
These campaigns are very good because you directly attack people who already know you and to whom you can offer a gift to increase the possibility of a sale.
In conclusion
How to increase sales in your online store requires work and a series of optimizations and strategies that increase the visibility of your online store.
These tips, if applied correctly, can help you increase your sales month after month. They require time and dedication, so don't lose heart.
And if you need help with this task at Gulupa Digital we can help you.
Our experts are ready to help you improve your online store sales. Let's get in touch and schedule an appointment.