I’ve been building ecommerce Web sites since 1997 and have launched online shops for 1800flowers.com, Scholastic, US Ski Team and many more. Over the past 18+ years I have amassed an extensive set of tricks of the trade, today I will share my top 10 secrets that every ecommerce shop should be utilizing.
Top 10 Ecommerce Secrets
1) Establish Security & Confidence
This may sound like ecommerce 101 but it is often ignored or overlooked. If you are a small to mid-sized online shop you need to establish confidence with your customers so there is no question that you are legitimate. This includes 256-bit encryption, a trusted SSL seal, credit card logos, and a trusted gateway (Paypal Pro or Auth.net).
2) Special Offer Automated Lightbox
An automated lightbox is a function that automatically overlays a box with content on any Web page. This should popup only once per visit or even stagger so that it pops up after X number of visits. The box should include some request of the user to access a special offer; this includes Facebook Like, Share or Tweet buttons, email sign-up or refers a friend.
3) Friends Suggested Products
Friend-to-friend ecommerce recommendations is one of the best ways to promote products since the recommendation is coming from a trusted source. There are multiple ways to implement this function. The easiest is using the Facebook Recommendations Feed. More advanced functions can be built at the product level.
4) Up Sell at Check Out
This is an ecommerce oldie but a goodie. Just like when you’re checking out at the supermarket where you’ll find products surrounding you at the checkout counter. You can take this one step further and feature recommended products based on what’s in their cart or recommended by a friend.
5) Email Follow-Up (Multi-day)
Of course you send a customer a thank you email, maybe even a “order shipped email” but how about a “how do you like it” email or “recommend your purchase to a friend”. This is a key element for any ecommerce shop that you should not miss. Getting a return customer is easier than a new customer and creating automated follow-up emails requires no additional work once the function is built.
6) Free X Order Tracking
The best way to raise your average sale is to track how much is in the consumer’s cart and remind them that they are X dollars away from getting something for free. This could be free shipping, a free product or a discount.
7) Ecommerce Subscriptions
Now this depends on your product type or service you offer, however whenever possible you should offer consumers a subscription option with every purchase. If you are selling flowers offer them flower arrangement sent every other week, or if you are selling crafts offer them a special craft of the month. There are many ways to implement subscriptions for almost any product type.
8) Groupon Style Coupons
This is a great way to create buzz and get people to share your product information with friends. The idea is to get X number of people to purchase a product so that everyone receives the special offer or discount.
9) Ecommerce Tracking
While this is not a marketing function the user sees it is the most important part of your ecommerce marketing arsenal. There are several tools available, check out one of them: Improvely. You should also be implementing conversion tracking from Adwords & Facebook.
10) Facebook Shop
There are many ecommerce software platforms that include the built in ability to sell on Facebook. If you’re not do this than you are missing out on great viral opportunities to sell.
So while there are many more ecommerce ticks of the trade these will at least get you thinking and implementing some very beneficial features. Want to know more of them, contact me