Sure fire strategies to grow your online store
If you’ve been reading our blog for a while you’ll know we like to branch out and talk about other things than just shipping.
Don’t get us wrong, it’s our number one passion to offer shipping and freight services to people all over Australia.
But sometimes you want to learn a bit more than tips for shipping heavy items.
We’re big fans of learning from others’ successes, so today we bring you the short and sweet version of a video from Ezra Firestone from Shopify’s Ecommerce University.
He has a fantastic Youtube series called A Beginners Guide to Content Marketing: Shopify Ecommerce University.
So today we’ll run you through one of his lessons – five things you need to know to grow any online store.
This lesson can apply to any ecommerce business model across any industry, so sit tight and put your learning hat on.
Visibility
You need to be reaching those customers who would be interested in your online store. If these potential customers don’t know your shop exists, there will be no traffic to your website, and no conversions.
You can increase visibility to your website in a few ways:
- Google Adwords
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Social Media Advertising
- Offline Advertising (Radio/interviews/news etc)
- Networking
Increasing the visibility of your website is the first and most important step in this process. Don’t skimp out on promoting the visibility of your website – you do so to your own detriment.
Conversion
It’s all well and good having people coming to your website, but if they’re not converting they’re not super valuable (especially for your back pocket!) There are a few ways to convert your customers and keep them coming back.
Ways to convert your customers:
- Optin popups with a discount
- Automated email flows
Offering your customers a little discount when they first enter your website helps them to find a connection with your brand (and no one likes to miss out on a discount). Help your customers cross the line with those handy tips.
Order Value
So now people are on your website, and now they’re converting. There’s another thing which can help you grow your online store and drive profits – average order value.
Guide your customers to add to their cart and increase their average order. Succeeding will show you positive results.
Ways to increase average order value:
- Suggest products which complement the order (e.g. a belt with jeans, a screen protector with a phone case etc.)
- Cross-sell email automation flows
- Set a free shipping threshold (e.g. free shipping over $50)
It may seem pushy, but you didn’t get into the game of selling things if you weren’t willing to make a sale. Gentle actions like suggesting products or setting the free shipping threshold will help you increase your order value.
Frequency
Are you seeing a pattern begin to emerge?
You’ve got customers coming to your website, they’re converting and their order size is bigger than what they’d normally order. So now you want to increase how often someone is ordering with your business.
Ways to increase purchase frequency:
- Communicate regularly – a simple email every now and again or detailed email monthly newsletter.
- Create special or limited time coupons
- Develop loyalty programs for repeat customers
This is when you really start building a long term relationship. You need to create an automated email flow to winback customers who haven’t purchased in a while, or a loyalty program if you haven’t already.
Margin
Now the number crunching. Growing your profits by increasing your margins. Whether this is buying products in bulk or optimising your product offerings based on popularity, you’ll soon see improvements in your bottom line. Pay attention and analyse your margins, your ecommerce store will only benefit from the extra attention.
Ways to optimise your profit margins (straight from the folks at Quickbooks):
- Know your margins
- Cut costs
- Raise your prices
- Heed the 80-20 rule
So there you have it – the five rules you need to know to grow your online store.
As part of improving your margins, find a courier that works best with your ecommerce store. For the choice of the best couriers on the market- pick Transdirect.
Contact us today and learn how you can cut your shipping costs.
