Tips to help you increase your e-commerce sales
So you have set up an amazing e-commerce website with a great design, products updated and are ready for the sales to come in.
But so far your results are nothing but short of underwhelming.
Getting your e-commerce store up and running is only the first step of launching a successful business online. You need to know how to market your store so that you can start making sales.
Many businesses are taking their business online and you should definitely stay ahead of your competitors. These tips will help you define tactics that you can put into action and get you those sales.
Let look at the tips that can help you increase your e-commerce sales in Kenya.
Social Media
Having a business, you cannot sit in the corner and keep quiet. Social engagement is essential in today’s world. The more people talk about you the more they buy. Social media is the best way to drive new visitors to your store, convert them into paying customers and reengage them to buy more.
Open social media channels that suit your brand and start posting your products there. For most e-commerce stores Facebook, Instagram and Twitter work best. On Facebook and Instagram, you have the option of creating a shop where you can post your products by categories and people can easily browse through them and later go to your website to buy the products. Facebook and Instagram provide a wide-open window of sales opportunities mostly if your store’s visual branding is on point.
Brand Awareness
Be everywhere. The more people know and trust your brand the higher your sales will grow.
Brand awareness impacts trust which in turn impacts sales and repeat purchases. Be active on your social media, invest in paid ads that can reach more people, focus on quality content, consider partnering with influencers who have a following that can consume your products and partner with other businesses in your industry whose products compliments yours. Doing this will give you more audience, brand authority and affinity which will, in turn, give you more sales.
Paid Ads
Utilizing online advertising on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and google will give you more visibility to your potential customers. Paid ads are one of the best ways of generating sales quickly for your e-commerce store. Even if people will not click on your ad, they will start becoming familiar with you which is the first step of building brand awareness.
You might think that paid ads are expensive but you can always start small before you find your footing.
If done well, paid traffic can, in fact, be quite affordable and once you have a winning campaign on your hands, paid traffic can really take your business to the next level.
When you are starting, you can set aside a budget of ksh.5,000 which you can use to test different ads and then increase the budget of the most performing ads.
Email list
Building a tribe of loyal customers is very critical for your business. It means that you are targeting people who are already interested in your products and creating an opportunity of building a community.
In an era where competing is a norm, being able to directly contact customers to encourage repeat purchases is very important.
With an email list, you can update your customers when you have discounts, sales and new products which is a great way to upsell other products.
People opt into your email list because they like your products, so use it to engage and make sales.
Provide excellent customer Service
Your customer’s opinion matters a lot. Online reviews can make or break your business. Most people look at products reviews before making a purchase and if they don’t find any review their probability of buying the product is minimal.
Respond to comments and messages on time on your social media as well as your online reviews. If people can actually talk to you they will realize they are speaking with a real human, rather than just a faceless business.
Reviews or testimonials show you’re open and honest. Showcasing both good and bad reviews shows your customers that you have nothing to hide. If you get a bad review you can use it to showcase your excellent customer service by resolving the issue in a professional manner.
Listen to your customer’s feedback and improve your products so that your product ratings and sales can improve. Great products with great service will build your brand in the long term.
Add Live chat
You can also add a Live Chat option to your e-commerce store. Automate the live chat to answer most of the questions people ask. Having an automated chatbot will decrease the number of chats you have to answer manually and increase the number of orders you get. In case of complaints send personalized email messages to your customers and reply to them immediately.
Live chat allows your customers to directly speak to you in case they have a question. Sometimes your customers might have a question that they need to be answered first before they make a purchase and making them go through many processes to get an answer might make them not buy from you.
There you have it. Make a big impact on your e-commerce business. Just remember that increasing the number of orders you get is a gradual process. You won’t see a change in a day or two. However, you will see a significant increase in your store’s order volume with time.
We offer digital marketing services in Kenya as well as developing e-commerce websites in Kenya. Give us a call for a free consultation.
Also Read: The ultimate E-commerce website checklist
The ultimate E-commerce website checklist
As more people go online, the e-commerce business in Kenya is growing with more people trusting online products mostly when offered an option of paying on delivery.
When you start an e-commerce site you realize that there are loads of items that need to be checked, cross-checked and tested to ensure that your customers have a nice experience.
Customer experience remains paramount with an e-commerce business, then, before launching, make sure your platform fully provide the customer with values.
If you are having your e-commerce website developed or if you are in the process of getting one, here are some of the things that an e-commerce website should have to help you grow your business in Kenya.
Make a good first impression
It takes about 50 milliseconds for a user to decide if they will stay on your website or not and you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Your website design is the first point of contact between your store and your customers.
You need to invest in a great and reliable web design with the right structure that is visually comfortable for your users. If your homepage interface and navigation are not appealing to your users they will definitely leave.
Ensure your website is responsive
Most people are on their mobile devices these days so it is crucial that you ensure that your e-commerce website is responsive on both a personal computer and on a smartphone/tablet. Responsive means that your website appearance changes depending on the screen size and orientation of the device being used to view it. Most web design companies in Kenya can develop a responsive website but be sure to ask.
A prominent search bar on every page
An e-commerce website will definitely have tons and tons of products therefore having a search bar on top of every page will enable users to find products in your catalogues easily. If you are able to provide alternatives search terms while your customer types, that’s even better.
Cart icon must be on every page
In most e-commerce websites you will find the cart icon on the top right corner of every page. If your customer adds an item to the basket, it shows how many items are in the basket. This is very convenient for your customers while navigating through different pages. Give customers an option of adding or removing items from the basket.
Clear checkout button
E-commerce checkout button is normally found next to the basket icon. Make it easy for people to check out after they are done shopping otherwise you will have so many abandoned carts.
Clear navigation menus
Navigation menus help your customers identify the different types of products that you sell on the website. If you sell electronics you can identify your products range by ‘mobile phones’ ‘tablets’ ‘accessories’ etc
Contact information
Most people in Kenya still have doubts and anxieties while buying products online. Therefore having contact information and mostly on every page can help reduce their anxiety as they are assured they can contact you.
Include a Live chat
Having a live chat on your website is very important. It means that people can ask questions if they experience any challenge while shopping in real-time and this can help you sell more.
Indicate stock availability
Indicate stock availability on the product listing page instead of having a customer click through to the product page and finding out the product is out of stock.
Make the ‘Add to basket’ or ‘Buy’ button prominent
Incorporate the 3-second rule whenever a customer visits a product page. Therefore make the ‘Add to basket’ or ‘Buy’ button visible on the website and if possible use bold and bright colours to make them stand out.
Add ‘wishlist’ button
The wishlist button should not be as prominent as the ‘buy’ button but it should be there to help a customer put aside items that they would like to buy later.
Use products images and videos
Show a variety of clear images showing different angles of the products and if possible add a zoom-in feature for customers to get a closer look. Use videos as well to demonstrate how to use products.
Show estimated delivery time and cost
Give your customers an accurate or estimated time when they can expect to receive their items as well as the delivery costs. You can as well include a premium for the customers who would want same-day delivery.
Return policy
Don’t forget to include a return policy on your website, it gives customers confidence that in case of anything they can return the product.
Showcase customer reviews or testimonials
Customer testimonials are usually found at the bottom of the products page. Reviews give potential customers confidence and affirmation before buying a product. Using customer reviews on products can help you sell more.
Payment options
Add more than one payment option such as a credit card or debit, PayPal or Mpesa.
Order process
To ensure the order process is smooth for your customers, you can break the process into the cart interface, customer’s details and delivery address, payment information then the confirmation page. You can as well automate emails such that after their order is confirmed on the website they also get an email for the confirmation of their order.
We hope this checklist will help you optimize your e-commerce website for conversions. We also develop e-commerce websites that can help you generate sales. Give us a call today for a free consultation.
