The ultimate guide to boosting your eCommerce sales

Looking to increase the amount of revenue you get through your eCommerce store? We hear you! We’ve put together a definitive list of ways you can enhance your online store, increase conversions, and encourage customers to come back time and time again.

Article topics

1. Start a blog
2. Implement a referral programme
3. Remind customers about abandoned carts
4. Build an email marketing list
5. Use cross-selling and upselling
6. Add trust signals to your website
7. Ensure an exceptional user experience
8. Offer discounts and promotions
9. Launch a flash sale
10. Use retargeting ads
11. Operate in line with your target audience’s values
12. Offer an outstanding customer experience

1. Start a blog

A blog might not sound like the best way to increase eCommerce sales, but you’d be pleasantly surprised. According to HubSpot, 56% of people have bought something from a company after reading a blog post from them.

So, why does setting up a blog drive sales for your business? You can:

• Create fresh content for your website, which can increase your search engine visibility
• Establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, building trust and credibility with your target audience
• Use blogs to capture leads for your business, for example, encouraging visitors to sign up for your newsletter
• Write your blog articles so they target specific keywords
• Link to particular product pages, driving traffic from your blog to your store

2. Implement a referral programme

When loyal shoppers love your brand, it pays to encourage them to promote your store!

Let’s say that customer A tells customer B about your eCommerce site. When customer B buys something online for the first time, both customers get a nice reward. This means you get a new sale without spending money on marketing.

Whether you’re B2B or B2C, referral schemes are a great way to increase sales. 91% of customers say they’re happy to give referrals, but only 11% of businesses ask for them.

3. Remind customers about abandoned carts

Did you know that the average cart abandonment rate is about 70%?

People can leave their shopping carts for various reasons, from a poor user experience, to getting distracted, to just changing their minds at the last minute.

One of the easiest ways to entice customers back to your store is through an abandoned cart email. This is an automated email sent out to customers, reminding them they still need to check out. You can even send a discount code or offer free shipping to sweeten the deal.

According to Klaviyo, these emails can recover up to 14% of lost sales!

4. Build an email marketing list

Email marketing has one of the best return on investments around. For every £1 you spend, you can get £36 back in return!

Why is email marketing such a great way to increase your eCommerce sales?

• You can personalise your emails to get your customer’s attention. For example, you can send them a curated list of products based on items they’ve previously bought
• You can segment your emails to target particular customers. For example, you can send an email to customers that buy from you regularly and a different email to customers that have not bought from you just yet
• You can track open and click-through rates, identifying the customers that are most likely to interact with your emails
• You can send exclusive offers, discount codes, and event invites, making your email subscribers feel like part of an exclusive group

The great thing is that building an email marketing list doesn’t have to be challenging – just remember to gather addresses in line with any data protection regulations in your country.

5. Use cross-selling and upselling

Cross-selling and upselling are brilliant tactics to use if you want to grow revenue. This is because you’re targeting customers that are already in the process of buying something and offering them an item that provides extra value.

In fact, upselling can increase your revenue by up to 43%.

The key to successful upselling and cross-selling is to sell the right products. Use your customer data and order history to recommend items that they really want to buy.

6. Add trust signals to your website

A trust signal is a piece of information that shows prospective customers that you’re trustworthy and reliable. They’re a fantastic way to bring in sales, with two-thirds of shoppers saying trust signals make them more likely to commit to a purchase.

The most commonly found trust signals are ratings and reviews; however other examples of trust signals include:

• Awards and accolades
• Industry-specific accreditations and certificates
• Security seals and SSL certificates
• Social media accounts
• Logos of companies you work with

7. Ensure an exceptional user experience

The easier you make it to buy from your online store, the more likely you are to make sales. Testing your site to make sure it provides customers with a solid user experience is essential.

According to Forrester, a well-design site and high-quality user experience can boost sales by up to 200%.

Here are some of the ways you can enhance the user experience of your eCommerce store:

• Check your website speed
• Ensure your website works well on mobile phones
• Offer a guest checkout for customers that don’t want to create an account
• Only ask for the information you need
• Check for broken links and complicated navigation
• Make your website accessible to those with disabilities (for example, adding alt text to images)

8. Offer discounts and promotions

We all love a bargain, and offering a discount can make the difference between a customer buying from your store, or from your nearest competitor.

Not quite ready to slash your prices? An alternative is to offer free or expedited shipping. Nine out of ten shoppers say that free shipping is the top incentive when it comes to buying online.

Of course, be careful when offering discount codes online. You don’t want customers to abandon your site to find the code they need!

9. Launch a flash sale

Have you ever got an email from your favourite online store that says they are drastically reducing their prices for a couple of hours?

A flash sale can be an excellent way to encourage new customers to take the plunge and buy from your brand.

However, it’s important not to overdo them. Repeated flash sales can devalue your brand and mean customers start refusing to pay full price for your products. It’s best to run them a couple of times a year.

10. Use retargeting ads

Earlier on, we mentioned abandoned cart emails and how to use them to entice customers back to your site.

However, they only work if your customer logs into their account. What do you do if a prospective customer uses a guest account or hasn’t bought anything from you?

If this is the case, retargeting ads, either on social media, or the Google Ads display network, can help boost sales. With retargeting, you can show ads to people who have already visited your website or looked at a specific product page.

(And yes, they still work even without using third-party cookies!)

Retargeting ads can increase conversion rates by up to 150% – making them a fantastic way to remind customers to make their way through the checkout process.

11. Operate in line with your target audience’s values

In the past, customers used to shop with stores that offered the best value for money. Nowadays, they’re more likely to shop with stores that share their values.

17% of UK shoppers have stopped buying from, or have bought less from, a business lacking brand purpose.

Take a look at your target audience and see what they want from the businesses they shop with. For example, if shoppers value sustainability, you can take steps to make your store a greener place to make a purchase.

12. Offer an outstanding customer experience

While getting new customers is great, a better strategy for increasing eCommerce sales is encouraging existing customers to return to your store. It can cost up to ten times more to acquire a brand new customer than to keep an existing one.

Providing a stellar customer experience doesn’t just keep shoppers happy, but can increase the amount they buy online. It can even encourage them to promote your store to other prospective customers.

You can enhance the customer experience you provide by:

• Providing as many ways as possible for customers to get in touch. For example, email, social media, phone, and even online chat
• Responding to customers as quickly as possible
• Keeping customers up to date about the status of their order
• Offering hassle-free returns and exchanges
• Going the extra mile. For example, take this wholesome story of Sainsbury’s renaming its Tiger bread ‘giraffe bread’ after a letter from a three-year-old girl

We hope you enjoyed this comprehensive list of ways to effortlessly boost your eCommerce sales. Which ones will you try?

Remember, if you need a little extra help improving your online store – we specialise in eCommerce. Get in touch with us today, and let’s work together to bring in the sales!

Need help with your next big eCommerce project? Find out how we can support.