Whether you sell products or services online, there are a lot of things you can do to increase online sales. Use these five tips to help you increase your online sales easily:
1. If you sell products, offer discounts or free shipping for larger orders. Amazon.com is great at this by offering free shipping on orders over a certain dollar amount.
2. Hire a copywriter to revamp your sales copy if your website isn’t converting well into sales.
3. List your prices. A lot of people get annoyed when a service provider won’t list their rates on their website, and they don’t want to take the time to request quotes, which can hurt your sales. If you have any kind of standard rate system, make it public.
4. Offer sales and specials for limited periods of time. I personally find these to drive a lot of sales (even for very small sales, like 10% off of a service). When people know the sale is going to end, they’re more inclined to rush and place an order. The same strategy can work well with product sales.
5. Offer comprehensive descriptions of your products and services (including things like photos, excerpts, and testimonials or reviews when appropriate). People aren’t going to be as likely to place an order through your website if they don’t know what they’re getting. One of the biggest disadvantages of shopping for products online specifically is that the buyer can’t look at the product and hold it in their hands (basically “inspect” it) first. Let them feel like they’re able to do just that without having to leave your website.
Always think about the user experience above all else when you want to increase online sales. Think of it this way: If you were the customer, would you buy from you over your competitors based on their sites? If not, figure out why and fix it.
