Need your ecommerce sales to explode?

If much of your business comes through ecommerce sales, you are likely aware of how disappointing they can be at times. Consistency is everything in business and that can be no more true than through ecommere sales which can often become the proverbial roller coaster of a ride. The challenge has always been that you could have the greatest products and/or services in the world but if no one knows about them you may as well contemplate your return to 9 to 5 cubicle world. Many entrepreneurs who rely heavily on ecommerce just don’t know how much marketing, SEO and advertising can do for them. Among, of course, other things…

• Some recent research done at Forrester Research has found that almost 75% of all of the users they spoke with would rather engage with live chat than with any other form of customer service. Live chat can explode your sales as conversions are there for the taking. You can immediately engage a potential customer and show them exactly how your product will improve their lives or solve an immediate problem for them. In fact, Forrester found that 44% of their respondents said that a live chat feature was crucial to their visiting the site and if live chat was not offered, they likely ventured off to a competitor that does.
• Perhaps the largest factor with regard to sluggish ecommerce sales is a cumbersome checkout procedure. Too may sites make it too complicated and long for someone to actually buy something that nearly 80% of all shopping carts are abandoned before the conversion. That, of course, is a ridiculous number that is still daunting for many companies. Forget the sign ups and two pages of personal information. Just have just the basics with as few fields as possible for them to fill out. Also, be certain that your calls to action are everywhere. Make sure you are holding their hand and walking them all the way to the conversion.
• Email marketing is the number one most effective way for ecommerce sites to make conversions and to gain new customers. Research explodes with stats ranging from a ROI in the 4300% range to research that finds email marketing to be more than 40 times more effective than trying to drive traffic at Facebook or Twitter. Email allows for long term engagement which allows for the building of trust which, in the long run, exposes your brand to more potential customers.
• Finally, invest in paid ads to jump start and to support a long term ecommerce business. In addition, cultivate your social media platforms and create contests that never fail to drive traffic. Contests stirs the buzz, encourages shares and drives traffic like few other social media strategies. Combine your contests with some great prizes and coupons and you will see your traffic explode in a very short time.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer