When you’re running an online store, selling more products is your obvious goal. The more products you sell, the more money you make, and your business is more stable. What can you do to encourage customers to put more products in their carts? In this post, we have five proven methods for you to test. Let’s get right to it.
In most cases, you can’t just expect people to buy more products on their own. No one wants to pay more than they have to, correct? So, you have to give them a good reason. Let’s take a look at some such reasons.
Customer loyalty tools
In e-commerce, loyalty programs can have many faces. In the most obvious form, you create a program that enables customers to collect points every time they purchase something in your store. The more points they get, the more discounts they can use. But loyalty can go further than that! Online stores frequently create VIP clubs where customers have access to far more perks. Here, H&M is a good example. Their loyalty program offers access to:
- Free shipping (for purchases over $30)
- Bonus vouchers
- Extra discounts on sale
- Early access to select sales
- Exclusive offers and discounts
- $5 rewards for every 150 points earned
This way, members can save money in different ways. And free shipping for orders over $30 is also a well-thought-out incentive encouraging people to order more products. Let’s discuss this point further.
The specific threshold for additional benefits
If you provide customers with information that reaching a specific spending threshold gives them access to some nice benefits, many of them will be willing to put more products in their carts to get something “for free”. Such benefits are typically:
- Free shipping (just like H&M does)
- Freebies (here, the element of surprise is also vital – customers are curious about what they will get, so they want to meet the conditions for a free gift)
- Access to a higher level in the loyalty program (“spend $50 more and you will become a gold member with a 10% discount on everything!” – take a look at the screen below, the “Plus member” section)
- Free vouchers for family and friends (it’s also a great way to get more customers!)
Promotions and discounts
Everyone loves promotions and discounts; that’s a known fact. If there is a chance to pay less for the product that you want, you won’t think too much about it. Promotions and discounts are just perfect for giving your sales a boost. There are a few options here. First off, you can decide to create a so-called flash sale. In this model, you offer attractive promotions but just for a short period of time (no longer than just a few days). Secondly, you can offer discount sales – in this model, all of your products (or just some of them) are available for a discounted price, typically up to 50%. And thirdly, you can create product bundles, where you offer two or more products combined into one. That’s how FMCG products are frequently available, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot think of something in other sectors, too.
The more attractive your promotion is, the more products you’re going to sell. However, you have to keep something in mind here. Beware of revenue cannibalization. It’s a situation where you enjoy growth in sales, but it happens at the expense of your revenue. In other words, you’re the one funding the promotion. Make sure that discounted products are still available for a price that will give you a profit.
Time-limited offers
They work brilliantly as well. How are they different from flash sales? Truthfully, the difference isn’t significant. When it comes to flash sales, stores typically offer their entire inventory (or at least a large part of it). Time-limited offers can be introduced for just a few products or even one (e.g., your bestsellers or new arrivals). Such offers work on two levels. For starters, there is something called FOMO – the fear of missing out. People don’t want to miss a chance to buy a heavily discounted product. And secondly, time-limited offers evoke a sense of urgency – “there is no time to lose, the offer will soon end, buy now!” And many people do just that!
Stay in touch with customers
How worrying that may be, people are likely to forget about your store, especially when they are not regular visitors. If you want to sell more products, you have to stay in touch with your customers. Send them personalized messages about special offers, discounts, new arrivals, and abandoned carts (here, retargeting is extremely useful). This way, more people will visit your store and buy more products.
How can you communicate with your customers? You should try at least three options:
- Social media – Facebook and Instagram. People use these platforms to discover new products and offers.
- Newsletters – you can send emails (not too often!), but don’t just concentrate on selling products. Give some valuable advice. Many online stores analyze current market trends and inform their customers about new products on the market. Try to be a useful source of information for your customers.
- Mobile app and push notifications – today, almost every decent store has a mobile app with the whole offer. Push notifications can be teamed with it so that your customers get notifications on their phones (so-called mobile push).
- Personalized offers – providing users with offers that are compliant with their interests can also significantly improve your sales. You can combine personalized offers with other techniques, such as upselling and cross-selling. Read more about that in our article about product recommendations.
Of course, you can automate many of these actions. Take a look at our marketing automation offer to find out more.
Give each of these five methods a try. Many stores have increased their revenue only thanks to these techniques! Most likely, they will help you make more money as well. However, you can’t forget that there are specific prerequisites to successful sales in the e-commerce sector.
What do you need to sell more products?
First off, you need an effective marketing strategy. Sales and discounts are efficient only when customers know about them. Use every channel you have to inform your target audience about planned discounts. Use performance marketing strategies to reach more people.
And secondly, you have to make sure that your store works properly. Ineffective search engine, unintuitive menu and product categories, low-quality photos and product descriptions, and unfriendly or too complicated purchasing process – all these elements can discourage people from buying at your store. Before you start anything, make sure your store works correctly and is 100% user-friendly.
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