So you’ve set up a fantastic online shopping website and are all set for the cash register to start ringing? But nothing seems to be clicking? Selling online is an art and as with selling goods in the real world, you need to learn the art of selling on the Internet as well. Here are some great tips for selling more online.
- Ensure that your shopping website is extremely user friendly for people shopping online. It must be easy to browse and navigate, well organized and provide accurate and adequate information. Follow the four-click-rule where a customer should require no more than four clicks to find and buy the product he or she is looking for. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel – follow well-established rules of selling on the Internet and keep things simple.
- Creative product descriptions are vital to selling online. The biggest drawback of the selling online is that the customer cannot touch, feel or see the product. The onus then falls upon the vendor to describe the products in a manner that appeals to the customer. If you are selling jewelry then instead of describing your product as ‘wedding rings’ describe them as ‘exquisitely designed wedding rings made with 18 carat gold and a craftsman’s commitment to his art’. However, be careful not to ‘oversell’ the product as that can result in a high callback rate.
- Photographs are a great way to sell more online. Ensure that the photographs are of high quality and showcase the products in their best light. It is better not to put a photograph than to put a poor quality photograph.
- Create ‘package deals’ or ‘hampers’ and put them up for sale on your online shopping site. By bundling together a set of complementary products like a bottle of champagne, a long stemmed red rose, some chocolates and a candle and selling them for a discounted price you can sell more online. This is a great way to sell multiple products to a single customer.Create an urgency to buy online within the customer by offering deals for a limited period. So you could offer a fantastic holiday discount of 10% for all gifts bought before 15th December! This encourages the customer to act immediately and results in impulsive purchases on your online shopping website.
- Ensure that your online shopping website is up to date and current. Nothing is more annoying than selecting a product only to find out that it is no longer in stock. Broken links, slow loading sites and outdated products are also discouraging to customers wanting to shop online.
- Almost 40% of all online shopping attempts are abandoned at the check out stage simply because the check out procedure is too lengthy or complicated. Simplify your check out process as much as you possibly can. Provide clear pricing information including shopping and taxes to increase sales on your website. Ensure that you have a secure certificate in place and display it to create trust in the customer.
- Put up a privacy policy, return policy and a FAQs section to instill trust in customers and troubleshoot any problems they may have. Good customer support is the very basis of a successful business and if you hope to have repeat clients to sell more online then a reliable customer support system is imperative.As is natural with any shop, you cannot hope to get customers without some marketing effort. A well-planned and executed Internet marketing program is a must to boost sales on your online shopping website.
