User Review
( votes)When an e-commerce store struggles to generate sales, most people think it is a traffic problem. When in fact this has nothing to do with traffic. Traffic is easy to get. There are scores of both free and paid methods that can be quickly implemented to generate traffic.
The culprit here is the funnel. Your sales are probably suffering because the funnel is missing out on some key ingredients that can help you get more sales. To help you fix these issues I have compiled a list of top hacks to create a profitable e-commerce funnel.
So, before you begin spending all that money on your next round of ads, implement these hacks and fix your funnel. You will generate more revenue from the traffic you send.
Add videos to your landing page
Adding visuals to your e-commerce landing page is an essential step. When people usually buy products at a store, they get to see them. They can even touch and feel them. Therefore, it is necessary for you to transfer this experience to your e-commerce store by adding visuals.
Most e-commerce stores do this by adding pictures to their landing pages. But if you want to get more conversions, you should add a video(s) as they can increase conversion rates by 80%.
Videos have this effect because they provide a better experience that images alone won’t provide.
So, create a simple video of the product shown from different angles or a video of a model using the product. And display it along with the images.
Add reviews to your landing page
Online trust is dwindling right now as there are too many scams out there that are regularly tricking people into parting with huge amounts of their hard-earned cash. This why it is vital to make social proof a component of your online marketing strategy. People won’t automatically trust what you say about your product because they know that you will naturally talk it up. But they will trust recommendations from someone who has no affiliation with your product.
This is why you should make it easy for buyers to leave reviews of your products (with stars and comments) on your e-commerce store. As you get more reviews, more people will begin to trust your product and buy it. This will also boost your own company’s reputation and soon visitors will begin to trust your own recommendations too.
Use cross-sells and upsells
Several studies have shown that when people are buying something, they are likely to buy even more stuff. This is one of the reasons why when you go to McDonald’s or another fast-food chain, they ask you if you would like a drink and fries with your meal.
E-commerce stores also implement this. You might have noticed this when you are shopping on Amazon.
They let you know the products that are frequently bought together and add a button that conveniently lets you add all the items to your cart with a single click. This is known as cross-selling where companies suggest similarly priced products to the ones you have already purchased or are just about to.
These can help you maximize profits. You too should implement them in your funnel to get more sales and increase your revenue.
Another technique you can try is upselling where you suggest products that are more expensive. This can help you get even more revenue.
Create a shareable “thank you” page
The thank you page is the page people are redirected to after they make the purchase. Most e-commerce stores mainly use it to thank people for their purchase and inform them to expect an email with the receipt. But you can make a couple of simple modifications to it to get even more out of it.
One is to add share buttons and ask all the people who make a purchase to share on social media by simply clicking the share buttons. This will inform their friends that they bought a product from your website. When you do this make sure their social media post links back to the product page (or at least the home page) and not the thank you page.
Also, only add buttons for a few sites that are already part of your social media marketing strategy. Don’t add links for all the social networks. This will lead to the ‘paradox of choice’ and people won’t click any of the share buttons.
Another thing you can do is cross-sell and upsell relevant products that the buyer might have missed out on while shopping on your store.
Follow up with an email sequence
After someone makes a purchase it is important that you follow up with them via email and nurture them. You should create a sequence of 5 emails at least and get your email service provider to automatically follow up with them. In these emails, you should share some tips related to the product they purchased. You can also upsell products in these emails.
You should also have a few other sequences written for people who abandon the cart (but provide you their email address). To these people, you need to mainly suggest that their product is waiting for them in the cart. If they ignore your emails you can also offer a discount to see if that will spur them to make a purchase.
Also, make sure you send a newsletter once a week at least to all the people on your list. Let them know about the latest tips you have shared on your blog, any discounts you are running at the moment and if you have some new products coming out.
Retarget with Facebook ads
You can also retarget buyers and abandoners with Facebook ads. To buyers you can display ads that upsell more relevant products and to those who have abandoned the cart you can show ads that promote the products they abandoned, or the cart itself.
Ensure your customer service is in tune with your funnel
An important aspect most e-commerce stores lack is excellent customer service. When you offer great customer service that is in tune with your e-commerce funnel, you will stand out from the competition and convert more of your visitors.
So, get a good CRM tool that stores data such as customer interaction records (that are obtained from the activities they perform within your funnel). You can then use the data and along with the CRM itself to offer a very personalized service.
When you offer quick and personalized customer service based on the data you have collected you will be able to develop a stronger relationship with your customers. This pleasant experience will not only convince them to purchase more of your products but will also turn them into brand evangelists who will recommend your brand and products to everyone.
Now set up a profitable e-commerce funnel
Traffic is an important component of an e-commerce marketing strategy, but if your funnel isn’t set up properly, all that time and money you are investing in driving traffic will go to waste. This is why setting up a profitable e-commerce funnel is one of the first things you must do before launching an e-commerce store. After you have a funnel that works you can invest the rest of your time into driving traffic and tweaking the funnel till it becomes even more profitable.
