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Can You Boost Ecommerce Sales Without Ads?


A common tenant that most business owners believe is that to make money you need to spend money – specifically through paid advertising. While this may have been true for earlier businesses, it is not necessarily true for eCommerce sites. Of course, spending money on paid ads can definitely help boost sales, but it is not a requirement. With a robust eCommerce platform, smart SEO, creative social media, and a positive user experience you can drive sales organically and without a large advertising budget.

Gaining loyal customers and a steady flow of purchases is a process and can take time, however, the results are long lasting. By slowly increasing your visibility, you can focus on organic growth that will take your brand to success. There are low-cost and no-cost promotional tactics that you can implement to leverage greater sales.

Whatever may be the niche of your eCommerce site, you can adapt tips and strategies to suit your business needs. Enhancing sales without spending on advertising can be done at any stage of the lifecycle of an eCommerce site. From planning before the site goes live, to the start-up stage, and even for established eCommerce brands, there is always a way to increase sales with minimal spending.

In this blog, you can learn all about boosting eCommerce sales without paid ads, including:

What Are Ads?

The concept of advertising can be traced back to ancient civilisations with earlier forms of advertisements posted on walls in ancient Egypt, printed on papyrus. Over the centuries, the format of advertising and its medium has certainly changed but the end goal is the same. Advertising is a marketing tactic that promotes a product or service by displaying a message on a specific medium. The messages can be displayed in print form on billboards, newspapers, and magazines, in audio form on radio, or audio-visual format on televisions and theatres.

Depending upon the medium, and other details such as size of message and displaying location the costs of advertising can vary significantly. Advertising aims to increase brand visibility, promote products or services, and encourage customers to shop. As competition increased across industries, the cost of advertising grew, and greater attention was given into crafting an ideal message and choosing the right medium. Growing into a massive industry, advertising is currently estimated to be worth billions of US dollars.

A major change in advertising came with the development of digital marketing. Instead of costly and limited availability mediums, the internet opened a massive market of low-cost advertising. As the market penetration of internet grew, the costs rose slightly, while still remaining comparatively cheaper than non-digital forms of advertising. Unlike traditional advertising where costs depend upon the mode, location and duration of display, online advertising is based on keywords, cost per click, cost per action, and cost per impression.

For eCommerce businesses, most brands tend to opt for a larger concentration of online advertising and occasional offline advertising. Since eCommerce transactions take place online, it makes sense to invest in advertising to customers online. However, based on the industry, niche, and keywords, the costs can add up, and results are not guaranteed. Even if you are paying per click, action, or impression, the maximum advertising can accomplish is getting customers to your site. Conversions are not involved in the costs.

Prepare for Sales Without Ads

Advertising is considered such an important part of a business that budgets are designed to manage costs. While budgeting is the responsible way to plan for advertising, there are alternatives for eCommerce sites. With creativity and conscientious work, it is possible for an eCommerce site to increase sales without a dedicated advertising budget. Before implementing any tactics or tips, it is essential to make your eCommerce site ready for sales.

Strategies replacing advertising and advertising itself can bring customers to your site, but if your site is not performing optimally, you will lose out on sales. If you do decide to invest in advertising at any point in the future, an eCommerce site prepared for sales will help increase conversions. Improving and refining your eCommerce site can be done at any stage of your eCommerce journey, even if your site has been running for years.

Here are the steps to follow to prepare your eCommerce brand for sales:

Step 1: Clearly Identified Customer Personas

Defining target customers is a crucial part of any business plan, and involves outlining the characteristics and demographics of potential customers for your brand. Customer personas go a step further in identifying your ideal customer, examining in-depth their preferences, habits and needs. There can be multiple customer personas that make up your target customer group, and clearly identifying each type of customer persona is important. In eCommerce, personalisation is a powerful tool to gaining regular customers and understanding customer personas enables you to offer personalised service.

Specifying detailed customer personas can provide your eCommerce business with tremendous insights that can be used to increase sales. Consider your overall niche, catalogue offering and products available to identify suitable customer segmentation. Based on customer personas you can prioritise customer groups to focus on. To create effective customer personas, consider the needs of the customers, and how your brand can be positioned as a solution to those needs. Conduct market research and analyse competitors to learn as much as possible about your customers and to categorise customer personas.

Step 2: Robust eCommerce Website

For an eCommerce business, your eCommerce site is your storefront and creates the first and last impression for customers. It is vital to have a robust eCommerce website that is fully secure, has adequate speed, and offers an adequate user experience. Before implementing any strategies for increasing sales, or even investing in advertising, ensure that your eCommerce site is performing at optimum level. There should be no broken links and the navigation should be streamlined and straightforward. Ideally, there ought to be multiple payment options for customers and a fast checkout process.

There is a plethora of eCommerce platforms available, including free and paid platforms. Choosing the right eCommerce platform is integral to the scalability, management, and success of your business. If you are not fully satisfied with your current eCommerce platform, consider migrating to a more suitable platform. For eCommerce sites that have been around for a few years, consider investing in an independent audit to scan, highlight and repair any issues. Ensure that you have reliable hosting and full security measures have been implemented.

Step 3: Streamlined Backend Operations

A visually appealing and impressive eCommerce website is important for customers however, it is equally important that you have streamlined backend operations. With an optimised backend, you can offer your customers better quality services while reducing your operating expenditure. Most eCommerce platforms are relatively easy to manage, but if you are facing difficulties, consider integrating to another platform. Platforms such as Magento and Adobe Commerce are extensively customisable and you can integrate desired tools in the backend for simpler management. 

Streamlined backend operations facilitate easier inventory management, shipping, order management, and processing of returns. Before you offer any feature or functionality to customers, confirm that you can meet your promises. Unexpected hidden costs or delays can damage your brand image and discourage customers from shopping with you again. Typically, an eCommerce platform provider supports a centralised dashboard for easier management. According to your business size and structure you can allocate different roles to employees, reducing the pressure on yourself. Test out the backend frequently and stay up-to-date with latest software releases to get the best performance from your eCommerce platform in the frontend and backend.

Step 4: Assess Your Assets

Accurate assessment and in-depth analysis of your assets will give you the best chance at leveraging them for success. Depending upon your niche and the level of competition you face, you can identify the key differentiators for your business. This can be anything from specific products you offer, to expertise in the field, fast service, competitive prices or more. Analyse your Unique Selling Proposition or USP and figure out what customer problems you can offer solutions to.

Apart from the advantages you can offer to customers, consider the assets you have from an operational perspective. Do you have reliable shipping in place? An adequate team for customer service? Space for storage of large volumes of products? Also consider your assets in terms of personnel. Do you have a creative and experienced team? By focussing on the assets that you already have you can look towards maximising their impact without spending extra money. Clearly identified customer personas, a robust eCommerce site, streamlined backend operations are all assets that can help you succeed in eCommerce.

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Tips for Boosting Sales Without Ads

Every eCommerce business is unique, regardless of whether they are in a similar niche or using the same eCommerce platform. Any strategies and tips need to be adapted and customised to suit the individual eCommerce site and audience. Nobody knows better than you as to what will appeal the most to your customers. Utilise creativity, market research, and experience to implement tactics to increase your sales without spending money on advertisements.

Here are some top tips for boosting sales without ads:

1.  Utilise Your eCommerce Site for Promotions

Modern eCommerce sites are fully dynamic and when carefully designed, there is immense scope for including space for promotions. Prime real estate for advertising on your eCommerce site include the site headers, homepage widgets, new columns, banners, and more. Incorporating advertising into your eCommerce site layout itself does not involve any advertising expense. On-site advertising has proved to be effective in encouraging sales from customers who visit your site.

Depending upon the current design of your eCommerce site, you can use contrasting colours, flashing messages and other forms of messages for advertising. Focus on clear and concise deals, where customers can instantly understand the benefits that they are gaining. According to the results of past promotions, you can revise the types of discounts and deals you want to offer. For example, buy one get one type deals, fixed dollar amounts off, or percentage discounts.

To avoid overwhelming users, space out the advertisements throughout the homepage and overall eCommerce website. Based on the average amount of traffic you receive you can adapt the frequency of changing the promotions. Some eCommerce platform providers support periodic changes to the eCommerce site design, allowing you to directly change and view the new updates before implementation. Although discounts may cut into your profit margins, they generate goodwill and encourage customers to purchase. With a strong customer base, you can slowly increase prices as desired.

2.  Support Multiple Payment Options

Payment preferences of online shoppers tend to vary, particularly based on the region and locally popular payment options. By supporting a wide range of suitable payment options, you can encourage customers to complete their purchases. Prominently displaying the supported payment modes on your eCommerce website acts as informal advertising. They can be displayed on the homepage in the form of icons in addition to the product pages.

Apart from traditional payment methods of credit/debit cards, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) options are gaining immense popularity. Supported by brands such as Afterpay and Zip, BNPL is interest free and facilitates larger payments with ease, encouraging customers to spend more. Based on the BNPL service provider, you can also gain access to merchant directories that further drive leads for eCommerce businesses. Online wallets such as PayPal are another in-demand payment mode, as e-wallets offer customers greater peace of mind and protection against fraud.

Clearly visible and accessible payment options can also help in speeding up the checkout process by supporting one-click checkouts. By knowing the multiple payment options your eCommerce site supports, customers are likelier to shop with confidence and complete their purchases. Lack of clarity in payment modes or limited payment options can result in customers avoiding purchasing on your eCommerce site. When customers have the option to choose their preferred payment method and one-click checkouts, repeat and frequent purchases are boosted. 

3.  Leverage Your Social Media Presence

Social media usage is growing day by day, with people around the world spending hours on different social media networks. According to Statista, in 2021 are 3.78 billion social media users worldwide, and the numbers are expected to reach 4.41 billion in 2025. With the wide range of social media networks available, it is more than likely that some are frequented by your target customers. It can be anything from Facebook and Instagram to Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, Quora or more.

Opening an account and creating a presence on social media as an eCommerce brand is free and can bring massive benefits and increase sales. Social media accounts can be used for publicity, promotions, generating a buzz, and communicating directly with customers. Based on your niche and targeted customers you can explore the capabilities of different social media platforms by joining specific groups on Facebook, or using suitable hashtags on your posts.  

Gaining followers and likes on social media organically can take time, but the benefits are immense. An active social media presence increases your brand visibility substantially. With witty and authoritative posts, you can establish your brand as an expert in your field. When users interact with your brand or become impressed with your posts, they are likelier to visit your site and purchase. Social media networks are designed to be sharable, and so users can easily expand your reach by sharing posts they enjoy.

4.  Create Winning Content

An often-overlooked aspect of eCommerce sites is the written content it uses. Some eCommerce sites have minimal and poorly written content, while others go overboard with lengthy content pieces that are not relevant or engaging. Every piece of content on your eCommerce site should be meticulous, accurate, and effective. This is particularly important for any sales copy, taglines, or promotional content as it is in the forefront and highlighted for customers.

All promotional content should be direct and easy to understand with no room for confusion. Customers that can understand the promotions and deals, and the benefits they provide are likelier to purchase. Always be honest in the content for sales, and avoid lofty language that is too self-praising or that makes promises you cannot uphold. Reliable content builds customer trust on your brand. If your content is clearly unrealistic or too hyperbolic, customers are likely to be sceptical and distrustful of your eCommerce site.

Apart from promotional content, also focus on the other content on your eCommerce site. This includes the home pages, product pages, category pages, customer service pages, About Us page, and any other page on your eCommerce site. Use language suited for your niche and aim to answer any questions customers may have proactively. Engaging and catchy content can hook customers and increase time spent, reduce bounce rates, and overall enhance sales and customer loyalty. 

5.  Incorporate Multimedia

Success and sales as an eCommerce business involves creating a big impact on potential customers, enticing them to purchase from you. Even the most creative and enticing content can fail to catch the eye of customers if there is only written text available. Use multimedia to instantly spark the interest of customers from the start. With robust eCommerce platforms, you can utilise a wide range of quality images, graphics, and even videos into your overall site.

Pay special attention to your product pages as they have the biggest impact on converting casual site visitors into purchasing customers. Equip each product with good quality images that optimised to not reduce page loading speed. For premium or your leading products, consider adding videos to give customers a better feel of the product. Apart from product pages, also ensure that the home page has a hefty amount of multimedia.

Utilise good quality multimedia wherever possible. This extends to your social media posts, email marketing, and any other format of interactions with customers. By sharing quality and high clarity multimedia forms on your social media accounts, it serves a similar result and impact as paid advertising. Avoid using too many generic images or stock images supplied by manufacturers as its likely your competitors are using similar content. Simple changes and adaptations can customise your multimedia at a low cost. Whatever multimedia you use, ensure that the file sizes are not too large that they slow down the page loading speeds.

6.  Optimise SEO

Search engine optimisation or SEO acts as a driving force for gaining organic traffic directly from search engines. With adequate SEO, you can increase your rankings on search engine result pages, gaining visibility in front of targeted customers looking for products you offer. Since users of search engines have already expressed an interest in the particular product or category of products, they are likelier to purchase.

Most eCommerce platforms offer some form of support for SEO, for example through customisable URLs, Meta descriptions, and tags. Based on the level of competition in your niche and the average search volume for your related keywords, the complexity of SEO can grow. For a more competitive industry, it may take longer to get adequate rankings on common keywords. If there is stiff competition, you can consider focusing on less common keywords and slowly build your brand presence.

Effective SEO requires on-page and off-page efforts, including optimisation of all the content that is available on your eCommerce site. Off-page SEO takes time but yields strong results. Building off-page SEO involves setting up links on other sites, guest blogging, and social media presence. Examine your eCommerce platform provider to understand its potential and prioritise keywords that you want to target. With regular efforts you can gain organic traffic, interested customers, and higher sales without ads.

7.  Highlight Customer Reviews

When you sponsor or release any form of promotion, marketing or advertisement, customers expect somewhat of a bias showing your eCommerce site in a positive light. Feedback, reviews, and ratings from other customers on the other hand, is largely trusted as unbiased. Any type of customer feedback, even negative, shows customers that you are willing to listen, and increases their trust in your brand, encouraging them to purchase.

Ensure that your eCommerce site has a mechanism in place to accept reviews from customers, and that the feedback options are clearly indicated. If your site is relatively new and does not have much customer feedback or you want feedback for new products, reach out to customers directly. Supporting easy feedback options increases customer engagement and interactions with your brand even after their purchase. According to your preference, you can offer a rating system, detailed reviews, prompt-based reviews, or open feedback. Products like Yotpo and Trustpilot can help to generate genuine customer reviews.

Once you have started getting customer reviews, it is important to consider how you will display it. The customer reviews can be displayed on your product pages, category pages, homepages, or anywhere else you desire on your eCommerce site. Analyse the feedback and examine its potential for impact on customers to decide placement. Regularly update all the visible customer feedback to keep your eCommerce site fresh for new and returning customers. Trusted by potential customers, reviews from other customers can be more effective in boosting sales than flashy ads.

8.  Accentuate Your Value Proposition

A mistake made by many businesses, including eCommerce sites is that they focus too much on themselves rather than on the value they can provide to customers. Ultimately, what customers are looking for is a solution to their problem and anything that makes their life better. Accentuate the value proposition your eCommerce site offers customers in a simple and straightforward manner to boost sales. The value proposition of your site is the reason why customers should choose you for their purchases instead of a competitor.

Before you can highlight a value proposition, make sure that you have chosen the right value proposition for your brand. As the eCommerce market has evolved, generic statements such as ‘quality products’ do not hold much importance. An effective value proposition should be fully customised to your niche and be a key differentiating factor from your competitors. It should focus on customer needs and unresolved concerns and provide a clear-cut solution that has measurable results.

With a clear and concise value proposition that has relevance, quantifiable value, and differentiation, you can focus on highlighting it. Incorporate the value proposition into the content of your eCommerce site, home pages, sales materials, promotional materials, social media content, and wherever else possible. A well-emphasised and easy to understand value proposition increases the perceived value of your products, and customers are likelier to spend more money.

9.  Generate a Sense of Urgency

A big factor contributing to the popularity of online shopping is the convenience it offers with round-the-clock accessibility. As a result, customers can browse and shop whenever they like. Unfortunately for eCommerce businesses, this extensive availability can often delay sales. Customers often browse and view products, even adding them to their carts, then leave the site planning to purchase in the future. This abandonment can be short-term or long-term, and customers may cancel their purchase altogether or buy from a competitor.

Inspire customers to complete their purchases faster by creating a sense of urgency on your eCommerce site. Knowing that a particular deal or discount, or other form of benefit is about to expire can often incentivise customers into purchasing quickly. There are many ways to generate an atmosphere of urgency, such as including specialised banners, countdown timers, limited edition deals, extra discounts, or limited stocks left.

Depending upon your niche, you can experiment with different types of urgency indicators. Too many urgency indicators should be avoided to prevent overwhelming customers or their budget. By generating a sense of urgency for customers, you can increase customer engagement and interactions. They are likelier to have a positive experience with your eCommerce site and can feel accomplished for meeting your time limited offers. Customers are also likely to share urgent and time-bound offers that appeal to them with others, supporting word-of-mouth marketing for free.

10.  Support an Effective Return Policy

Returns are not exactly pleasant for eCommerce sites as they involve additional hassles, time, and money spent. However, they are a substantial motivating factor for many customers purchasing from your site. Particularly new customers purchasing from your eCommerce site for the first time who are not sure of product quality can be encouraged to purchase with an effective return policy. These policies can range from money-back full refunds to exchange offers and store credit.

By supporting return policies, you can reduce the risk customers feel when purchasing from you, increasing their chances of purchasing. Consider the types of returns you want to offer, and make sure they are clearly visible on your eCommerce site. Display your return options on the homepage and product pages, and also mention them on social media platforms. Consider setting up a dedicated page on your eCommerce site that explains all the details regarding your return policies. This page can then be further linked wherever needed.

Over time, as your brand reputation grows and you gain loyal customers, the frequency of returns can also reduce. With every return opted for by a customer, use it as an opportunity to learn how to improve. Request customers that return products to give their feedback either for internal use or for display on your eCommerce site. An adequate return policy is especially useful if the average price of your products is relatively high, since customers are likelier to have more hesitations in purchasing.

11.  Limit the Direct Choices for Customers

It can be tempting as an eCommerce seller to display a large range of products to showcase your full capabilities and stock. While logically it makes sense to increase the number of products to increase the likelihood of sales, too many choices can have a counterintuitive impact. With too many options and choices, customers are often overwhelmed. Confused with the wide range of products, they may end up leaving your site altogether, reducing sales. Make it easier for customers by limiting their choices.

By showcasing a limited range of similar products, specially in specialised niches, it is easier for customers to understand. For customers that do not have extensive knowledge of the specific niche, they are likelier to choose and purchase from a relatively selected range of products. They get to exercise their choice and preference without becoming overwhelmed and abandoning their purchase.

Limiting the choices for general customers does not mean that you have to let go of your vast range of products. Some customers, particularly those with in-depth knowledge of the niche, prefer having a wider range of choices. Cater to both types of customers by carefully structuring your site navigation in a way that gives options for selected products and all products. Highlight and promote specific products while offering all of them in broader categories. By only promoting specific products, you can achieve a targeted impact similar to that of paid advertising.

12.  Expand Your Audience

Customer interests and preferences tend to vary over time, and with the easy accessibility of online shopping, customers can explore new products and niches. Even with the most comprehensive profiling and customer segmentation, expanding your audience further is an effective way to boost sales. Social media in particular is an excellent way to expand your audience at a minimal cost. Keep in mind, since the new audience is not necessarily a part of your target customer group, the conversion timeline may vary, but consistent efforts will yield results.  

Once you have a reasonably sized following on social media platforms, carefully analyse the characteristics of active users to find users with similar interests. If you notice a sizeable subgroup within your target audience, incorporate it as a customer persona to cater to. Finding similar audiences can be time-consuming or fast, depending upon the platform. For example, Facebook offers a dedicated feature to target lookalike audiences that are similar to existing customer base.

Referral marketing, especially through social media platforms like Instagram or YouTube can yield fast results and significantly expand your audience. While paying for famous influencers or sponsored posts can be expensive, along the lines of traditional advertising, there are low-cost options. Partnering with the right personalities, influencers, and brands is vital, so that you can work out a low expense deal, such as free products for a review. With referral marketing, you instantly get access to a wider audience.

13.  Use Email Marketing

New forms of online communication such as social media and messaging services have not been able to replace the role of emails. While the speed of growth in numbers of email users may have slowed down, it is still a primary means for long-form communication. For an eCommerce site, email marketing is an effective and economical way of reaching out to customers. Depending upon your target customers, the frequency and response levels to emails can vary, but in general the results are favourable.

Many eCommerce platform providers support email marketing tools and integrations for easier management of large volumes of email addresses. The most common applications of email marketing in eCommerce are for abandoned cart reminders, new marketing campaigns, and customised offers. Entire marketing campaigns can be conducted just through emails, with sharable options so that customers can expand your reach farther.

The high rates of abandoned carts are a problem many eCommerce businesses face, where customers withdraw from the purchasing process after selecting items. Email marketing tools can be programmed to automatically send reminders to customers at a prescribed interval after they abandon their shopping cart, encouraging them to resume the checkout. Any new products you start to offer, new discounts, promotions, or deals can be conveyed to customers through emails. Based on individual customer browsing and purchasing history, you can send personalised offers over email.

14.  Target Existing Customers

Cultivating new customers is necessary for growth, but for stability and a sustainable brand, it is also important to target existing customers. Once a new site visitor has completed conversion and purchased from your eCommerce site, they have shown faith in your brand. Leverage this trust for repeated sales and higher value orders. There are many ways you can encourage repeat purchases from existing customers and also increase the likelihood of them sharing your brand with others.

Offering customers personalised recommendations based on their purchase history and search history is supported by most eCommerce platforms. This helps in upselling and cross-selling, increasing customer satisfaction along with the average order volume. Providing customised deals and offers that suit their needs and preferences can also be used to encourage sales, particularly if the customer hasn’t purchased in a while. These deals can be shared over email or other contact options, or can be shown in the form of pop-ups to your site.

Supporting loyalty or rewards programmes are an effective way to build a steady customer base. According to your preference and expectations of customers you can experiment with points-based systems, number of purchases, or any other parameter to offer rewards. Advertising to existing customers through email or other contact methods provided is low cost and high impact. Personalised recommendations, customised offers, and availability of loyalty programmes all increase customer trust and generate long-term loyalty, boosting your sales.

15.  Interact with Customers

Shopping online is generally a solitary experience with customers interacting primarily with a one-way eCommerce site where they can browse and purchase. While many customers may prefer the independence and convenience, others may have doubts and back off. Encourage a two-way communication and interactive shopping experience by supporting direct conversations and engagement with customers. Ensure that the customer support options you provide are easy to find and accessible so that customers can reach out to you in case of doubt.

Apart from waiting for customers to reach out to your support, there are proactive ways that you can increase interaction. Online chat can be programmed to display pre-set messages when customers open specific pages. By initiating the conversation, you can encourage customers to open up about their needs and preferences. This data directly from customers can be used to facilitate better service and boost sales. While advertisements hope to be able to address customer needs, direct interactions can accurately solve customer concerns.

Social media networks are an effective way to interact with customers even before they visit your eCommerce site, or between site visits. Monitor trending topics and conversations to identify ways to involve your brand and open discussions with customers. Depending upon your staff size and bandwidth, clearly specify how frequently customers can expect a response. Even if your replies are delayed, make sure to respond to each customer query and discussion to initiate a long-term relationship between your brand and customers. 

16.  Offer Freebies and Bonuses

Everyone likes getting something for free; whether it is a small sample, accompanying product, trial for a service, or even free shipping. Carefully consider your offerings to check if there is anything that you can give away for free or as a bonus. There are many ways to incorporate freebies and bonuses into your eCommerce site. They can be offered to new customers, loyal customers upon reaching specific targets, or on specific purchases.

Offering something extra for free to customers is an effective way to generate goodwill, and encourage customers into forming a positive association with your brand. Freebies are also great for introducing new products, or removing older items from your inventory. For new customers, it gives them a better glimpse into the quality and service they can expect from your eCommerce site. If you notice that long-term customers haven’t purchased in a while, a freebie or bonus can inspire them to purchase again.

Any deals with free items, samples, trials, bonuses, or other offers can be promoted on your eCommerce site, social media networks, and over emails. Although freebies and bonuses can cut into your profits, they can be used periodically to effectively increase sales quickly. Once customers are hooked to your eCommerce site and trust in the quality you offer, you can return to full-priced products. To minimise the expenses of freebies, consider ordering sample products in bulk from your manufacturers, but space out the offers.

17.  Provide Tiered Pricing

Customers enjoy being in control of their shopping spending, offline and online. A common tactic implemented by offline businesses is to setup tiered pricing, with budget, mid-range and expensive options available. Customers tend to avoid the cheapest and most expensive products, and choose the mid-range option. If only the mid-range option were available, customer may find that too cheap or expensive and skip the purchase. The technique of offering cheaper and costlier options is known as decoy pricing.

Tiered pricing has proven to be effective in eCommerce as well, and depending upon the range of products you carry, can be easy to setup. Keep in mind that all products should have reasonably accurate pricings as compared to competitors. Any clearly under-priced or over-priced product can act against you and cause distrust amongst customers. However, if you have products in different price points, find out ways to highlight and compare them. The eCommerce platform you use can be configured to show comparison pages.

Displaying tiered pricing offers multiple benefits for an eCommerce site. Availability of several products at different prices indicates to customers that you have expertise in the niche and a wide offering. They can choose and pick the product with the price point most suited for their needs. With tiered pricing, you can also cater to customers who may otherwise have a lower budget. Purchasing patterns can be used to adapt future pricing.

18.  Setup Mobile Commerce

Mobile devices are becoming smarter, and people are spending more time than ever on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and iPads. Online shopping is no longer restricted to only desktop and laptop computers but is also accessed through mobile devices. When you already have an eCommerce site, expanding to mobile commerce is a natural extension. Many eCommerce platforms offer mobile-optimised sites that can be accessed through mobile devices. 

Through mobile commerce, you can increase sales significantly by reaching out to wider audience and supporting sales wherever and whenever the customers prefer. As an eCommerce site, you can offer customers a mobile-optimised site, a native app, or a progressive web app. A mobile-optimised site is typically free, depending upon your eCommerce platform provider, while a native app can be expensive and involve extensive development. Progressive web apps or PWAs have been gaining rapid popularity as they offer a native app like experience without requiring extensive development or downloads.

By setting up mobile commerce, you can open up another avenue for customers to interact with your eCommerce brand. To encourage purchasing on your mobile eCommerce site, you can offer dedicated promotions and deals. With a PWA, you can also send push notifications directly to customers and they can access your eCommerce site through the PWA online and offline. Mobile commerce is growing at a steady pace, and you can increase your overall sales by incorporating it into your eCommerce business.

19.  Prioritise Successful Conversion Paths

Growing your eCommerce business will involve a certain degree of hit and trial, since each business is unique and has a different growth trajectory. Focus on analysing and understanding the strategies, tactics, and conversion paths that have brought you maximum success. Accordingly, you can prioritise and invest in successful conversion paths and boost sales with minimal expenses. Reporting and analytics provided by eCommerce platforms are a storehouse of useful data and statistics.

Consider the sources for eCommerce traffic, and the path that users typically follow. For example, leading sources could be search engines, social media networks, links, or direct sources. If a particular social media network is bringing you high volumes of traffic, you can invest more time and effort into that network. Also examine the path users follow; do they browse and leave, add to cart and purchase, add to cart and abandon, or any other action. This can help you find out where you can further improve.

Any particular traffic source that is not bringing you adequate traffic doesn’t mean you should abandon it. All that it indicates is that you might have to adapt your strategy. If your SEO is focussing on specific keywords without results, try changing the target keywords. If social media networks are dull, try to find effective ways to reach your desired customers. Learn from experience to find out what works best for your eCommerce brand and customers.

Conclusion

Boosting sales of an eCommerce site requires creativity and effort, without necessarily needing expensive advertising campaigns. By leveraging the capabilities at your disposal, such as your eCommerce site itself, social media networks, and email marketing, you can increase sales. At the core of increasing sales is understanding the customer and convincing them of your ability to add value and offer solutions for their needs.

It can take time to grow a strong base of loyal customers and setup incoming streams of new customers. However, with time and effort, you can build your eCommerce site into a reliable brand in your niche and gain the trust and loyalty of customers. A slow and steady attempt at growth is more sustainable than sudden rapid growth that can fall equally quickly. Examine your competitors to find out ways you can offer you customers superior service, and study customers to understand what they need. For any type of sustainable eCommerce growth, with or without advertisements, it is vital to have a robust eCommerce site. At 18th Digitech, we are experienced in end-to-end eCommerce development and can help you by designing and developing a customised eCommerce solution. Reach out to our team today to discuss your eCommerce needs, from launching a new site, to improving an existing one.