You want to increase sales in your online shop? The good news first: It's definitely possible! Because people don't always make their decisions rationally. They often follow their intuition or make purchasing decisions based on emotions. You should internalize this knowledge and use it in every step of your online shop. In this context, we have 10 tips for you to get the most out of your online shop and thus increase your sales.

These 10 tips will help you increase your online shop sales

Before you implement our tips, it's important to remember that each of the following actions will ultimately increase your conversion rate. The conversion rate is the biggest lever in your online shop to increase your sales. The conversion rate is an important key figure for online shops because it shows you how many of your visitors ultimately convert into customers. It describes actions that you have defined in advance and that have a value for you. Examples are downloads, registrations (e.g. newsletter) and purchases in your online shop. The higher the conversion rate, the more efficiently your online shop deals with its visitors. The conversion rate can also help you to make a statement about the traffic on your online shop. If the conversion rate is low, it does not always have to be due to your online shop. You may simply be targeting the wrong group with your marketing measures. Therefore, you should test different marketing measures or website elements against each other and see which of them achieve the highest conversion rate for you.

1. product descriptions with focus on benefits instead of features

Product descriptions are more challenging than they seem at first glance. Many ecommerceers focus on the features of their products instead of emphasizing the benefits. However, features are usually less important to customers. The critical question you should answer is, "How can the product make the customer's life easier?" Highlight the added value of the products. Do they save time? Do they make transportation easier? Are they easier to handle?

2. increase the average basket value

Another way to increase sales in your online shop is to increase the average shopping cart value. There are different ways to get your online shop visitors to buy larger shopping carts with different incentives. We have written a detailed article on this topic, which would go beyond the scope of this article. But you can read more about it here.

3. professional product photos

It sounds obvious, but is nevertheless far too often forgotten or neglected. Especially in times of Instagram and other visual platforms, high-quality and above all beautiful product photos are of great importance. After all, online shops live from visual stimuli. So present your products from different perspectives and focus on interesting details. They help your customers to better recognize and compare the products. Good photos can also complement product descriptions and reviews, increasing the motivation to buy. Besides, with high-quality smartphones it has become easy to take great photos of your products.

4. reduce the loading times

Quite a few customers abandon their purchase if the loading times in an online shop are too long. The loading time of a website is therefore an important factor for the user experience and the conversion rate. The longer your online shop takes to load, the greater the likelihood that visitors will leave without making a purchase. We also talk about bounce rates here. One third of online shoppers in Germany, for example, state that they would abandon an online purchase if the loading time was longer than three seconds. The loading time therefore not only influences the ranking of your online shop on Google, it also has a direct influence on your conversion rates and thus on your sales. A study conducted by Google/SOASTA in 2017 (see figure) illustrates this connection impressively: with a loading time of up to 3 seconds, the bounce rate already increases by 32%. With a loading time of up to 5 seconds, the bounce rate increases by 90%.

Long loading times not only have a negative impact on your bounce rates, they also negatively affect the ranking of the website in search engines as well as the company's sales. Therefore, it is important to optimize the loading time of your online shop and provide visitors with fast and smooth access to the desired information or offers. In summary, short loading times have a positive influence on buying behavior in online shops. They can reduce the bounce rate, increase the conversion rate and improve visibility on Google. In addition to loading times, there are a number of other points that significantly influence the user experience of your customers. You can learn more about this in our blog "Understanding and sustainably improving bounce rates".

5. trust is worth its weight in gold

Trust and seals of approval are very important in ecommerceing because they provide customers with orientation and security that the online shop is reputable and reliable. In contrast to physical shopping, you can't see who you're dealing with on the Internet. This has the disadvantage that it is often impossible to distinguish fraudulent from legitimate online shops. This can be remedied by seals of approval or ratings on platforms such as Trusted Shops or Trustpilot. If you don't have enough reviews here, then ask satisfied customers for a review after shopping. Other wholesalers run very successful similar email campaigns and invite their customers 1-2 weeks after the purchase to rate the product. Trust can have a positive influence on the purchase decision and increase sales in the online shop.

6. optimize checkout process

The checkout process is the last step in a customer's buying process and therefore crucial for the success of an online shop. If the checkout process is too complicated, too long or too uncertain, this can lead to abandonment and lost sales. There are various tips and tricks for optimizing the checkout process. For example:

• A clear and concise design of the shopping cart
• A simple and quick entry of customer data
• A choice of different payment and shipping options
• A transparent presentation of shipping costs and delivery times
• A confidence building through safety and quality certificates
• A possibility to change or cancel the order
• A confirmation of the order by e-mail

By taking these actions, you can increase customer satisfaction, reduce abandonment rates, and thus increase your sales.

7. short delivery time & free delivery

The delivery time has a not insignificant influence on customer satisfaction and the final purchase decision. If the delivery time is too long, customers may become impatient or change their minds. They may cancel or return the order, which conversely leads to lost sales and higher costs on your side. On the other hand, if the delivery time is short, customers can enjoy their product faster, are less likely to reconsider their purchase, and have a positive experience with your online shop. They are also more likely to order again or recommend you to others, which leads to higher sales and better customer loyalty.
Another important point in this context is free deliveries. As can be seen at the bottom of the article, 50% of respondents to a Statista study state that they have already abandoned a purchase because the delivery costs were too high. Free delivery encourages customers to buy and at the same time lowers the abandonment rate. However, costs and profitability should be considered in advance. For example, it makes no sense to offer free delivery of a kitchen if this requires a shipping company. For this reason, some online shops offer free delivery only for orders above a certain value or only for certain products.

8. different and well visible means of payment

Means of payment are the various ways in which a customer can pay for their order with you. There are many different payment methods, such as purchase on account, credit card, PayPal, instant bank transfer, Google, Apple or Amazon Pay. The selection of different payment methods has a great influence on the sales of online shops:

• If the payment methods are too few or too insecure, customers may lose confidence or not find their preferred payment method. They may abandon the purchase or switch to another online shop, resulting in lost sales and customers.
• If the payment methods are many and secure, customers can gain confidence and choose their preferred payment method. They can complete the purchase or order more, which leads to higher sales and more customer loyalty.

So you see that different payment methods can have a different impact on the sales of online shops. They can influence the buying decision of customers and determine the competitiveness of the online shop.

9. well placed discounts

Discounts are beneficial to sales, but used incorrectly can also be damaging to business in the long run. Many online shops overdo it and offer too frequent or easily predictable discounts. If existing customers get used to a certain discount pattern or even recognize it (example: new products are always discounted after 4 weeks), they may simply wait for the next sale instead of buying directly. Discounts that lend themselves are for example:

• New customer discount for those who place an order in the online shop for the first time
• A discount code for signing up to the newsletter
• An exit popup that suggests a small discount for those who try to leave the online shop without making a purchase
• A small discount by mail for existing customers who have not shopped in the online shop for 2-3 months and you want to get them back

10. clearly defined right of revocation and return

A clearly visible right of cancellation and return can have a positive impact on online shop sales because it increases customer confidence and makes it easier for them to make a purchase decision. You should therefore always give your customers the opportunity to return something - even if you don't actually want them to. However, in most countries, the right to return goods is not a legal obligation for retailers, but a voluntary service. So the retailer can usually set his own conditions for the exchange. However, due to the Internet, customers today are smarter and better informed than before. That means they also compare you with other online shops. All the more important that customers know that they can also exchange with you at any time. In cases where this is not possible, it should be clearly visible in the shopping process.

Why customers abandon their purchases

Statista has conducted a small case study on the topic of why visitors to online shops abandon their purchases. The answers are not only interesting, they also underline the usefulness of our 10 previous tips.

Conclusion

online shop optimizations are important measures to increase your sales. You can improve various aspects of your online shop, such as: the design, the user experience, the product presentation, the payment methods or even the marketing. Since marketing has fallen short here and needs its own execution, we recommend our blog"Shopstory software vs. agency: the marketing alternative for online shops". In any case, through the preceding optimizations, online shops can address many of the points that cause customers to abandon orders. If you are looking for more tips on how to increase sales, just follow the link below to our blog "Increasing shopping cart value in online shops made easy".

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