13 Essential Strategies to Increase E-Commerce Sales in 2020

Only Having an E-Commerce Site is Not Enough!

You have an e-commerce website. Good for you. Hopefully, you have great content, breathtaking product images, and a smooth and intuitive checkout process as well. But even if you do, you are barely getting started as a digital competitor without certain essential e-commerce elements and strategies. In addition to the above, they include mobile-friendly designs, a sense of security and transparency, social media integration, and customer reviews.

We work with many e-commerce clients, and we noticed a consistent if somewhat alarming trend. Many businesses think they simply need to throw up an e-commerce website, add products and pricing, and start selling. In reality, many things that go into building and maintaining an e-commerce store. Today I want to focus on a few useful strategies to help you increase e-commerce sales.

It is easy to understand why e-commerce site owners focus on sales only; they are ready to sell the moment visitors arrive on their site. But consumers may not be prepared to buy at that stage. Especially if they are new to your business, they are at a different step in their journey of conversion. Instead of being an overly pushy salesperson, you can use effective e-commerce strategies to align your selling process to your consumers.

13 Ways You Can Increase E-Commerce Sales

An e-commerce website requires so much more than just a shopping cart, simple images, or descriptions. It requires you to provide a fluid and robust user experience. Great user experience will dramatically increase conversions on your website.

The following tips will provide your e-commerce consumers with the best possible user experience and increase e-commerce sales. And this experience is precisely what the modern and increasingly finicky social, mobile, and local shopper (So-Mo-Lo) expects. Most of these strategies should be obvious, but others are less obvious. Let’s help you do better!

Businesses should optimize digital strategy for conversion. BigCommerce

Conversion Optimization

No matter what you sell, chances are you have some competitors. Staying ahead of them means not only getting more potential customers to your site but also converting them once they’re there.

54% of shoppers will convert if items left in shopping carts are offered at a discounted rate. Toonimo

Conversion optimization is a growing concern in 2020 as businesses look to finetune their product pages. One effective strategy is to make sure your products stand out across multi-channel marketing avenues. Conversion optimization includes dynamic ads on Facebook, shopping ads on Google, and on-site digital marketing efforts.

Mobile-First Design

To increase e-commerce sales, you simply must have a mobile-first e-commerce site in 2020. Currently, 68% of online shoppers are visiting your website from a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone. Mobile viewing includes initial browsing, actual shopping, social sharing, and return visits. Make sure your visitors have a rewarding and engaging user experience across all devices.

You can quickly check if your e-commerce site is ready for mobile consumers by using this mobile-friendly test tool.

Voice Search

If you want to increase e-commerce sales in 2020, you need to focus on voice search usability. Mobile shoppers are increasingly relying on voice assistants like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to do everything from check the weather to buy products online.

75% of U.S. households will own a smart speaker by 2025 Loop Ventures

More and more households get this technology and grow more comfortable using it to make purchases. There is great potential for e-commerce businesses looking to get in on the ground floor.

Artificial Intelligence

Another aspect of brick-and-mortar shopping that is missing in online shopping is a helpful in-store associate. This assistant or helper can offer product recommendations and personalized guidance based on the shopper’s needs or requests. Therefore, to increase e-commerce sales in 2020, you should utilize artificial intelligence to act as your virtual in-store associate.

To generate more leads and to provide excellent user engagement, the e-commerce business is joining hands to artificial intelligence. TowardsDataScience

As artificial intelligence and machine learning increase in sophistication, many e-commerce businesses have started leveraging it to make smart product recommendations. Not only will this likely increase in 2020, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of ways AI can contribute to retail and e-commerce.

Chatbots

A chatbot can serve the role of the brick-and-mortar greeter and salesperson. Chatbots allow stores to communicate with thousands of customers while giving them the feeling of personal attention and thoughtful recommendations based on their responses.

85% of customer interaction will be handled without human agents by 2021. SmallBizGenius

A growing number of shoppers prefer to converse with bots and other digital self-service tools. One study found that more than 60% of customers report preferring having websites, apps, or chatbots answer their more straightforward inquiries. One of the primary reasons for this is because of the faster response time.

Experts predict that 80% of businesses will be using chatbots in 2020. In addition to just increasing in frequency, there are several ways experts predict bots will evolve in the coming years.

Quick Load Time

If you want or need to increase e-commerce sales, you must have a fast loading website. Studies show that you lose 40% of your customers if your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load. There are many things you can do to increase site speed.

Start by using a content delivery network (CDN) like Cloudflare or StackPath. Optimize product and other images by using a compression plugin such as Smush or ShortPixel. Image editing programs like Adobe Photoshop enable some image compression tools.

A 100-millisecond delay in page response time decreases conversion rates by 7 percent Akamai

Other steps, like minifying your codes and restructuring your data, usually require professional web developers.

Call to Action Buttons

When your customers arrive on your website, they begin a journey of discovery. And they will need someone to lead them. Make it easy for your visitors by providing them with call to action (CTA) buttons on every page. By creating effective CTAs, you can steer your customers towards the buying decision and increase e-commerce sales.

On-Site Personalization

As I mentioned earlier, AI is increasing in e-commerce and various related applications. To increase e-commerce sales, AI can be used to gather information about visitors and then help adjust the site to their expectations and requirements. Humans value experiences and products customized for them. This personalized service went missing in the switch to online, self-service shopping.

80% of shoppers are more likely to buy from a company that offers personalized experiences. Instapage

Implementing personalized experiences on-site or in marketing efforts has been shown to have a substantial effect on revenue, with one study finding it had a 25% revenue lift. Recent data also indicates that personalization efforts can reduce bounce rates by 45%.

Secure Checkout and Payment Options

Of course, leading your clients towards your shop doesn’t work if your checkout process is overly complicated or time-consuming. 59.8% of all buyers abandon their shopping carts before checking out if the checkout process involves too many or repeated steps. We consider a transparent and secure checkout process to be essential if you are looking to increase e-commerce sales.

In 2020 many mobile consumers are also expecting more and better payment options full stop. For example, when shopping from an overseas business, they may expect to be able to buy using their preferred local payment provider.

Additionally, mobile consumers are used to the ease of shopping on big online retailers like Amazon and Walmart. They save the customers’ billing and shipping information to make for a fast and simple checkout experience without a lot of data entry. Ecommerce sites are increasingly using payment options such as Square, Stripe, Apple Pay, Paypal, and other financing options that enable a frictionless checkout.

Security Certificates

To increase e-commerce sales, you must have a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificate for your e-commerce domain. You can easily recognize sites that have them by the https:// prefix and the green padlock in the browser bar. Not only have SSL Certificates been a Google requirement sine 2018, but your potential shoppers will also get a sense of trust and security from them.

It also helps if you can list other certificates, such as BBB Licenses or VeriSign. By adding as much transparency and certification as you can, you tell your potential customers that you are not a risk.

Many domain registrars like GoDaddy and website hosting providers like BlueHost and WPEngine offer free SSL Certificates as part of their hosting packages. And we do as well!

 In May 2019, 84.2% of pages loaded in Chrome, on all platforms, were over HTTPS. Hosting Tribunal

Contact Information

Another simple way to increase e-commerce sales is to list your contact info. But many e-commerce websites lack easy to find contact information! Your potential clients and existing customers need your contact information to inquire about your products and services and resolve any problems. Make sure you list at least the following: phone, email, mailing or store address, Skype, Line or WhatsApp (if applicable), and fax (if applicable.)

79% of consumers prefer live chats because they offer instant responses. 99Firms

Social Media Links

Here is another simple way to increase e-commerce sales, social media integration! Social media has a significant impact on your e-commerce website and can help drive traffic, as well. 77% of companies say they acquired customers through Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

87% of e-commerce shoppers believe social media helps them make a shopping decision. SmartInsights

Be sure to promote social sharing on your site through apps like Monarch or AddThis. And offer your clients social check-in as an alternative to creating an actual account to enhance user experience further and increase e-commerce sales.

Customer Reviews

And finally, don’t forget about customer reviews if you want to increase e-commerce sales. 92% of buyers consider reviews before actually buying your product, so be sure to make your customer reviews stand out. A customer review can be as simple as a sentence or two or as elaborate as a video testimonial or case study. Consumer comments will also help your site rank for the review keywords.

92% of consumers will hesitate to buy a product if there are no reviews left by customers. WebsiteBuilder

How to Increase E-Commerce Sales Yourself

Now that you have a list of recommendations to help you increase e-commerce sales, it is time to add and implement them on your website. You should already be able to maintain your e-commerce website as far as adding product information and images, and updating content are concerned. You can implement some of these e-commerce tips as part of that process, such as adding testimonials and current contact info.

Social media integration should be part of an organic social media strategy. You may also want to consider what other social media options you wish to add. And some of my recommendations to increase e-commerce sales may require some additional help from your web designer or developer. If you don’t have a web designer or developer, here is a Guide To Hiring a Web Designer.

Increasing online conversions must be a primary objective in 2020 if you want your online store to support your business objectives. But this is not a one-time effort. To meet the user expectations of ever more demanding and sophisticated mobile consumers, you need to keep working on it. If you want to increase e-commerce sales, we are here to help!

Additional E-Commerce Resources

If you are just starting with your online store, or you need more tips to help to increase e-commerce sales, you may like some of these posts on our blog:

• How Fixing Common E-Commerce Design Mistakes Can Increase Sales
• The Ultimate E-Commerce Checklist Every E-Commerce Store Should Use
• How to Reduce E-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• Using Effective E-Commerce Web Design to Increase Online Sales
• Key Elements of E-Commerce UX Design and How to Apply Them

Not Sure How to Increase E-Commerce Sales?

Of course, we would be happy to add and implement any or all of the e-commerce strategies listed in this post. We are experts at carefully crafting custom mobile-first websites and e-commerce solutions to meet (almost) any budget. Our team works directly with the client to prepare them for the ever increasingly social, mobile, and local consumers and increase e-commerce sales. Why not get started by requesting your free estimate?

And if you are still not sure exactly how these essential e-commerce elements will benefit your visitors while increasing revenue, don’t worry! Simply reach out and contact us. Our expert team will listen to you and answer any questions. andThis will allow us to determine the best way for your e-commerce site to provide your visitors with the fluid and user-friendly experience they expect. That is one of our specialties, after all!

Did You Increase E-Commerce Sales?

Did you finetune your e-commerce site to increase engagement and conversions? Which strategies worked best for you? Do you have any tips of your own you would like to share? Please leave your comments below so our audience can benefit as well. And grab our feed so you don’t miss our next post! Please help your audience increase e-commerce sales by sharing our essential website elements with them!

Thank you! We appreciate your help to end bad business websites, one pixel at a time!

By Gregor Schmidt
Co-Founder / CXO
@gregorinsendai