10 tips to guarantee eCommerce success!

Just like all things in the digital space, eCommerce is always changing! More recently, eCommerce setup has become a no brainer for New Zealand businesses, with stats showing that during COVID-19, New Zealand saw a 275% increase in eCommerce store demand - hello online shopping!

But is your DIY eCommerce store really successful? Have you been able to monetise in the way you dreamed? Has implementing an eCommerce store converted to a boost in sales? At Terabyte we specialise in building custom platforms and strategies that convert and take your user on a journey, we don't just meet an eCommerce need and hope for the best. From simple sites to custom integrations, it's safe to say we know what works.

A really important phase for us before we start building any marketing platform or integration is the ideate phase. Believe it or not, we don't just roll up our sleeves and get our devs to work on a new project. We sit down with new businesses and get inside the problem they're facing or a new idea they want to tackle, so we can offer solutions that will truly help.

Top 10 Tips for Guaranteed eCommerce Success!

We've checked in with our experts and pulled together some of our secret insights and must-have features to work into your eCommerce store that should definitely help with sales.

1. Abandoned Cart Recovery

How many times have you, as a user, got to the end of a purchase and then not clicked through to buy it? Clearly, you were interested enough in the product to get that far, so having features to remind or remarket to these users is a must-have for eCommerce conversion. Sending an automated email reminding the shopper about their cart can often be enough to finalise the sale, plus it's a great opportunity to offer discount codes or special offers to really seal the deal too!

2. Implement Seo and Schema on All Products

It's common knowledge that SEO works wonders for web copy, but did you know it applies to eCommerce products too? When setting up your store, make sure all your images have alt attributes and have identifiable image names too. Remember, Google can't read images, so being specific about your store name and product in the image alt text will help Google find your store when someone searches for your product. It is also vitally important to ensure your product schema is set up on your store to ensure Google knows its a product for sale and can index it appropriately.

3. Add a Search Bar

It's no secret that forcing users to scroll through endless products when they're looking for something in particular, won't drive conversions. The solution? A simple search bar. This is even more essential for those with a large product range. Some of our favourite search systems are Site Search 360 and Sajari. Need a hand with search? Let's chat.

4. Keep Checkout Simple

A sure-fire way to lose conversions is a lengthy, complicated checkout process! With each additional step you run the risk of turning customers away, in fact, 28% of consumers said they had done just that! All you really need is a) billing info and b) a shipping address - anything more than that might be overkill!

5. Don't Forget Your Mobile!

Now more than ever, your eCommerce solution needs to be looking and working its best for mobile devices - especially with the changes Google's about to make! Stats show that in the last six months, over 62% of online purchases have been made on a smartphone, so you can't afford to tap into this audience. Mobile users also thrive on speed so make sure your site and server are optimised to deliver products as fast as possible, it has been proven that improving site speed equates to more conversions.

6. Offer Free Shipping

It's simple - words like FREE attract more customers and make them feel like they've got something in return. Plus, unexpected costs at the checkout phase of the buyer journey can cause them to click out and abandon their purchase (we've all been there!). Instead, consider increasing the prices of your products slightly to cover any shipping costs and then ramp up the use of the word FREE on your site to draw your customers in.

7. Use High-Quality Images

Beautiful images increase conversion so it's a good time to invest in some product photography to blow your audience away! We mean, would you ever buy something you hadn't seen or was pixelated? Nope, so don't expect your audience to. The good news is that high-quality images can drive your social commerce and get you set up to drive sales elsewhere!

8. Highlight Reviews or Testimonials

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful conversion tools and 61% of online shoppers have reported to taking testimonials or reviews into account before hitting purchase. Use these to your advantage and display them front and centre on your eCommerce store or product pages as a quick and easy way to promote sales.

9. Experiment with FOMO

Ahh FOMO (the fear of missing out). We've all experienced it in one way or another and bringing it to your eCommerce store is genius. When a product is in pre-sales or sold out, many stores will hide it from the site but this is a missed opportunity to drive popularity, and increasing newsletter subscription for updates on when the product is back! Win, win.

10. Provide an Unparalleled Customer Experience

Customer relationships are oh-so-important at every level of the journey. Make sure you stay on top of your social media, emails, and site comments to continue to build the relationship post-sale. If you build up trust with your customer, it's the easiest way to keep them coming back for more!