Not getting enough sales through your eCommerce store?
Unfortunately, all businesses go through periods of time when their sales slow down or decline.
Sometimes it’s because of things we’ve done: maybe we’ve run a promotion that fell flat, or we’ve got the wrong product in stock and our customers want what’s out of stock.
Sometimes it’s because of things outside of our control: there’s a pandemic, or a global financial crisis, or even an election, and customers are too wary to buy.
Whatever the situation, and whether this is a sudden thing or a long term issue… No doubt you want to boost your eCommerce sales – FAST!
I remember that feeling. And even though you know that whole “build it and they’ll come” idea is never gonna happen, it’s still a bloody hard pill to swallow when you experience it yourself.
The journey from here to success is never a smooth, upward line!
So – if you feel like you’re the guy wearing the sandwich board standing outside the empty café spruiking a meal deal while the joint across the road is absolutely pumping – this is for you.
Here are my 12 best ways to boost eCommerce sales FAST!
#1. Run a clearance sale
If you have a pile of slow moving or old stock that’s sitting on the shelf, a Clearance Sale is a good idea.
All this means is – offer a generous discount to encourage people to buy. I like to offer volume discounts where possible (such as ‘Buy 3 Get 1 Free’ kind of thing).
Or, you could put together some discounted value packs or bundles.
I recommend only running a really big sale twice a year (such as end of financial year and Black Friday/Cyber Monday). If you run big discount offers too frequently, you’ll train your customers to wait for the next discount and that just erodes your profitability.
But other incentives such as volume discounts or bundles can be run more frequently than that.
#2. Hold a “garage” sale event on social media
Similar to a clearance sale, but held as an event on social media. I’m sure you’ve seen these types of thing before?
How it works is: the business owner posts photos and details of the product with a generous low-price offer, and the first person to comment ‘BUY’ gets the deal.
Or, simply add items to Facebook Marketplace (or good old Gumtree)!
This is another effective way to shift slow-moving stock, OR if you have odd bits and pieces (like one or two left in the size/colour).
#3. Do a live video to demonstrate a product
Live videos on social media get fantastic organic reach at the moment, so take advantage of that to show your audience a product in detail.
You don’t always have to get in front of your camera yourself either if you’re shy! Just show off the product and talk your audience through the features and benefits of that product.
And make sure you remember to tell them how they can buy it!
#4. Do a paid collaboration with an Influencer
I have clients who experience up to 30% spike in sales in a month when they run a paid promotion with an Influencer!
Generally speaking – you will always get the big traffic and sales results from working with a paid Influencer (rather than a free collaboration).
#5. Run a themed promotion
There are numerous important ‘Days’ during the year – from Easter to Mothers Day to World Environment Day to Christmas (and plenty more in between).
Run your own promotion that is themed around one of these days. Essentially, you’re using the special day of the year as a good excuse to make your audience a really great offer to buy from you.
For example, I once sold green and gold baby swim nappies as an Australia Day promotion.
#6. Run a ‘Buy X Get 1 Free’ promotion
This offer depends on the price point of your product and the quantity customers usually buy.
I’ve had clients run a ‘buy 4 get 1 free’ and others run a ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ (and other variations).
#7. Offer free shipping (express is better!)
People hate to pay for shipping, so a fairly reliable way to encourage customers to buy is to offer free shipping.
I see big ecommerce retailers do this frequently on a weekend during a slow-sales period, or at the end of month when you need to make budget.
#8. Remind loyalty point holders of soon-to-expire points
This is a great idea for those of you who run a loyalty point program on your online store.
On a monthly basis – send an email to the contacts whose points are due to expire next month.
This works best if you can email personally (rather than using an automated email campaign). That way you can include the specific number of points that are due to expire for each contact.
#9. Do a product launch campaign
Making a big song and dance about a new product is an awesome way to drum up sales!
Equally, this works well for stores who have a top seller – do a ‘launch’ once a year and you’ll find your sales to new customers spike!
Read more about launches here, here and here.
#10. Run a giveaway (yes this can boost sales!)
Run a giveaway to win a prize with a pretty big value.
To enter the giveaway – customers need to spend over a certain $ in your store within the month of the giveaway.
The deal is, if the winner has already bought the item you’re giving away, you would refund them their purchase amount.
I’ve had clients run this promo and boost sales with great success!
#11. Use scarcity!
With all your offers and promotions – make sure you have a clear expiry date on the offer!
Don’t ever run an offer that is valid indefinitely.
The reason is – ‘fear of missing out’ is the best incentive that gets customers over the line with buying.
That means – always email your list multiple times about each offer, with the last email emphasising that it’s about to end!
#12. Use targeted Facebook ads
When you need a hit of sales quickly, your best bet is NOT to boost a Facebook post and NOT to run ads to a cold audience. (A cold audience is people who don’t know your business or brand and have never been to your website before.)
Instead, run Facebook ads to your warm audiences. I like to use a custom audience of email subscribers, a custom audience of people who have engaged with your social media pages within the last 90 days, AND a custom audience of your customers (as your happy customers are highly likely to want to buy again!)
Bonus strategy: Use User Generated Content
In the last few months, the brands who have enjoyed the fastest growth have one thing in common: They concentrate on collecting (and using) user generated content.
Think – getting your customers to share photos and videos of themselves using your products.
Or – working with content creators to produce Tik Tok style videos demonstrating and reviewing your products.
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Updated: 13th December 2021
Love this! Just came across this whilst doing some research! Some great points in here!
Lots of great ideas Cath – reminded me of a few I need to try!