Nov 10
5
Tips to increase online sales and customer loyalty
Selling products online can be economical and easy if you use a popular Content Management System such as OS-commerce or Zen Cart. But too often businesses ranging from small start ups to established companies want a free solution and are relying on the default settings of the before mentioned free systems, which can result in a loss of sales and customers. As opposed to a small investment in a consultant or practitioner many e-commerce sites are losing sales and customers.
To have an effective e-commerce store you must make changes to the default settings and install or add various bits of code that will allow you to see how your store is being used and to adapt to your customers ever changing requirements. Often additional add-ons are required and are available for free download from the Content Management Systems web site.
A common response from business owners is “well our tech guy said this was free and it looks good, so we installed it”. Your tech guy is just that – a techy. They fix your computers and network. They are usually not web and business minded though they probably are web savvy for using the Web for personal use.
Such attitudes regarding the tech guy or cutting costs can cause more damage to your customer relations than not having an e-commerce site to begin with. Imagine your customers giving up on an online purchase because it was simply too hard to complete a transaction and you had no idea about it.
Google Analytics or other tracking software when installed correctly will allow you to track how your site is being used and what pages your visitors are exiting the site from. If there is a record of visitors abandoning their sign ups or leaving shopping carts then this alerts you to a major issue with your e commerce strategy and the data will allow you to rectify the issues.
Based on local e-commerce sites here are some basic tips to increase sales and customer loyalty.
Payment – Only one method is available usually PayPal. Offering a method to send a cheque or a physical address to make a cash order is not always possible but offering your bank account number for Internet banking and other deposits will increase sales.
Sign Up Address – Often we are seeing sign up forms that require the user to add a “State” to their address and will not progress further till this is stated. Turn this off unless you want to exclude all New Zealand sales.
Verification – Some sites require a verification of account before you can purchase a product. Often the verification is marked as SPAM and never reaches the recipient. There is no logical need for the majority of e-commerce sites to require authentication and it only adds one more step in the process for you customers. If you still require further verification then we suggest a CAPTCHA.