The 42 must-have marketing optimizations of e-Commerce
Part 2 & 3
What are the giants of e-commerce doing and how to imitate them?
Summary:
Part 1: Increase the number of visitors who become customers
1.1 General Optimizations
- Build trust
- Return Policy
- Live Chat & Customer Support
- Side Cart
- Product page
- Omni-channel strategy
1.2 No more abandoned baskets
- Shipping cost
- Local payment methods and local currencies
- Express delivery
- Optimized checkout
- Create an account
- Email & SMS follow-up
1.3 Marketing Optimizations
- Customers’ review
- Limited time offers
- Buy One Get One
- Express Checkout
- WishLists
- Gift cards
- Limited stocks
- Email marketing
- Exit Offer
- <3 our planet!
- Create a community
Part 2: Increase the money spent per order
Part 3: Loyalty, increase the number of orders per customer
Part 2: Increase the money spent per order
Now that you have optimized your store and your offers to convert your visitors into customers, it’s time to see how we can increase the value of each order!
The idea here above all is not to “be pushy”, we don’t want to lose the hard-won trust of our client, but rather to highlight offers that could also please our client, based on what he has already chosen.
To Know
Some numbers
%
Chance to sell to an existing customer
%
Take a more expensive option at airlines
%
Take a more expensive option at hotels
%
Amazon's sales come from its cross-selling strategy
%
Chance to sell to an existing customer
%
Take a more expensive option at airlines
%
Take a more expensive option at hotels
%
Amazon's sales come from its cross-selling strategy
Essential
Create Upsells
The idea of an “Upsell” is to offer a premium version of your product, which is more expensive. Your customers are already convinced by your brand and your offer, they want to buy from you, and some of them are ready to also buy a premium, more complete, and even better (and more expensive) version of your product!
For example, the iPhone exists in 64Gb, 128Gb, 256Gb, and even 512 GB! If that’s not upselling…!
Think about what you can do to create a premium, more expensive, more stylish, faster, more complete… version of your product (s), and offer this new version to your customers. You will be surprised at the number of interested people!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Create a variable product
- Or use the “Product Add On” application
Essential
Cart “Add On”
Once your visitors have chosen the product (s) they want to buy and have added them to their cart, and they go to the cart page, it’s the perfect time to offer them complementary products of their choice that they could greatly appreciate!
This is the idea of Add On on the cart page. You can define products that will be automatically suggested on the cart page based on what your visitors have chosen. These suggestions are therefore personalized for each visitor, which makes them very effective!
So take a little time to set up these additional offers, and you will see your sales soar!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Use the “Cart Add-Ons” application
Essential
Cross-Sells:
You might also like, Customers also like, Frequently Bought Together
When your customer is on the page of a product that interests them, it’s the perfect time to suggest other products:
- “You may also like”: display products that they might like, through personalized recommendations based on what they are looking at.
- “Frequently bought together: display products that match the product that interests them, and thus complete their order.
- “Customers also like”: display products that other customers like, to suggest the best sellers in your store (which, by the way, reassures your customer. If they are the best sellers -> the products are great – > they will not be disappointed)
Thus, you can display these product categories in several places on your site, for example:
- On your product page
- On your home page
- On your shopping cart page
These are the 3 most effective places to post these suggestions.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Visual Builder and Theme Builder to add these elements to your pages, module to use: Woo related products and Woo upsells
Order Bump
“And with this, coke and french fries ?” “
“Maxi best of”?
If you have ever been to a MacDonald, you are familiar with these questions. All cashiers at a MacDonald are trained to ask them, for a very simple reason: a significant number of people will say yes! And thus spend more than expected, after placing their order.
The idea of the Bump Order is to add an offer, let’s say a “last-minute” offer, directly on the checkout page at the payment moment. Your customer has already chosen their products, they are on the payment page, they have entered all the information, they have entered their payment information and … this is the time when they might be interested in extending their warranty for one additional year for 10$ more? Or an express delivery in 1 day for 5$ more?
This is the idea of the Order Bump: an offer that is very easy to understand, that you add to the order in 1 click and that allows you to offer even more value.
However, be careful of 2 things, because if your Order Bump is done badly, it will cause you to lose customers!
– You must offer a consistent offer, this is not the time to sell a new product for example! It has to be something simple and add value to your customer’s order. You can also add a discount to this Order Bump, why not with a limited time too, to increase the chances of purchase!
– This offer must not tarnish the quality of your offer without Order Bump! Customers should not think that it is a mandatory option because, without it, your product is much worse, otherwise they will believe that you have hidden things from them, they will not be happy, and they will give up their orders.
Here are some effective Order Bump ideas:
- Extension or new warranty
- Express delivery
- Complementary option (and I insist on the complimentary!) For example, if you are selling a book, you can sell the PDF or audio version as Order Bump.
- Offer automatic delivery via a subscription: very effective if you sell consumable products, your customers will surely be delighted that you automatically deliver them to them every month!
- Maintenance, training, or additional support. If you are selling a complex product, which requires support, include basic support in your offer and offer premium support in Order Bump for example.
- Customization option: if you sell products that can be personalized why not offer them as Order Bump ?!
- Upgrade: You can sell a premium version of your product as Order Bump.
- Quantity reduction: buy the 2nd at -50%!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- “Carflows” application
1-click post-purchase offer
The idea here is to make an offer to your customers after they have placed an order and click on pay. This offer has 2 choices only: YES or NO. If they click on no they will then go to the order confirmation page, but if they click on yes then your offer is automatically added to their order, without them having to reenter their credit card number!
It is therefore a great way to increase the average value of your orders.
Via an offer of this type, you can offer the same types of offers as for the Order Bump below, the advantage is that this “1 Click post-purchase” offer takes place on a dedicated page, so there will be more room to put photos, text … So you can sell something that requires a little more information.
However, I still recommend that you keep your 1-Click Post-Purchase Offer short and simple. You don’t want your customers to feel “assaulted”, or to feel pressured into buying something more. Otherwise, they may regret their order!
Idea: if you support an association, this type of offer is perfect for offering your customers a donation.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- “Cartflows” application
Quantity based discounts
3 item purchased: 10% discount
5 item purchased: 20% discount!
We have all seen this type of offer in supermarkets, for a very simple reason: it works! And it works even better with consumable products or product with a limited lifespan, which by definition requires to return to buy: customers will not hesitate to buy “wholesale” and stock, scenting for the right deal.
And you just sold 3 products instead of one
Idea: If you don’t have a consumable product, you can imagine an offer where additional copies can be donated!
A phenomenon that we often see in this type of offer is that customers try to convince their friends to order together and take advantage of the discount. So, they talk about your brand and sell your products for you!
This is particularly true for products with a strong “word of mouth” effect, that we like to recommend and/or ask the opinion of our relatives. Like cosmetics, for example.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- “Dynamic Pricing” application
- Visual Builder and Theme Builder to add these elements to your pages.
Discounts & gifts based on the amount of the order
(X% off, free product…)
Another great way to get your visitors to buy more products from your store is to offer them something if they hit a minimum order amount.
You can offer them a free product, an additional product, a premium version of your product, express delivery, 10% discount, gift wrapping, a gift card, something they can give to a loved one… There are many options, feel free to be creative and generous, the more interesting your gift, the more your customers will want to get it!
This kind of offer usually allows your customers to buy multiple copies of your products or to add products to their orders that they were unsure about. Obviously, who would want to miss your awesome gift! If on top of that you combine an effective returns policy, this offer can send you to the moon!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- “Dynamic Pricing” application
- Visual Builder and Theme Builder to add these elements to your pages.
Create Bundles
When you think of Bundles, you think of Pack. Usually, there are products that almost automatically pair with what you’re selling – so why not sell them together?
You are not going to buy a guitar without its bag and the tripod that goes with it, nor a lamp without the bulb… This, therefore, represents an opportunity to create bundles, therefore packs of products to be bought together. You can offer these packs directly on the page presenting your products, and your customers will see that you have thought of everything!
It is easy for them to have the complete kit, and they will be happy to take advantage of it.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Application “Product Bundles”
Discounts on a product or a product category if purchasing a product from a complementary category
If you are buying a computer, chances are you will also need the mouse, keyboard, and potentially the sleeve to go with it. So, to make sure your customer leaves with everything (and not that he goes to buy his cover and his keyboard elsewhere …) it is a good idea to offer him a 10% discount on the accessories for any purchase of a computer!
When you sell complementary products which are usually bought together, it is worth offering a discount on one product category for the purchase of a product belonging to another product category.
Note that you can also offer a discount on a single product and not necessarily on the whole category. For example, for the purchase of a computer, get -10% on your special Lionel Messi mouse!
As with most of the marketing ideas in this guide, this type of offer is even more effective if you offer a limited edition product or at least one that is not available for sale all the time. Another way to further increase efficiency is to make the offer only for a limited time.
This offer is quite close to the bundle, the difference is that here we will offer the discount on all products belonging to the category. In my previous example, We offer 10% on the entire accessory category, so the customer can choose the products they want among the accessories. A bundle creates a Package of products to be bought together, so there is no possibility of choosing which mouse we want or which keyboard we want to buy. Bundles can be useful in some cases, in others, it is better to make an offer of this type.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- “Dynamic Pricing” application
Create Add-Ons on your products
Can you create a premium version of your product? Or a customizable version? Or of higher quality? Or additional options?
Much like the car dealerships who give us a bunch of options when we go to buy a new car, it’s a (great) idea to think about how you can do the same with your products.
Be careful, however, not to make the purchasing process too complicated, we must not get lost in your offers, in the options, in the possibilities… But if you do it in a subtle way in order to remain efficient you will be surprised how many of your customers are willing to add a few more options to the products they want to buy!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- “Product Add-Ons” application
Offer free delivery from a certain order threshold
Offer free delivery, yes, but if in addition, you do so only from a certain order amount threshold, this will also push your customers to order at least the amount of this threshold!
Be careful not to lose sales because of this offer, if your customers have to make too much effort to get this free shipping you risk making fewer sales, either because the threshold is too high, or because that doesn’t really make sense to buy that amount in your store. In this case, those who do not reach this level will have to pay for the delivery, which they may not like.
On the other hand, if it is quite easy to reach this level via the products in your store, it is very likely that your customers will add something more just to avoid paying the shipping costs!
So make a test, a good idea may be to base yourself on the average cart that you observe in your store, then add 5-10 € and only offer free delivery from this threshold.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Create a free delivery option by defining a minimum order amount, in your dashboard -> my shop -> settings -> delivery.
- Visual Builder and Theme Builder to add these elements to your pages.
Part 3: loyalty, increase the number of orders per customer
Thanks to the 2 previous parts, you now have more customers, and you know how to increase how much they spend on each order!
What if we talk about how to get your customers to come back and re-order multiple times now?
You have given yourself 110% to attract your customers and convince them to buy from your store, well done! Now that they trust you, it will be easier and a lot cheaper to get them to buy from your store again. As e-commerce is increasingly competitive, customer loyalty is a major issue.
So not implementing a resale strategy for your existing customers is like having access to a gold mine, but not using a shovel… that’s right, your hands can do the job.
To know
The reasons that lead a customer to recommend an eCommerce company
%
High-quality product
%
Rewards (reduction, gift, etc.)
%
Love for the brand
%
Quality customer service
%
Related to my personal interests
%
High-quality product
%
Rewards (discount, gift, etc.)
%
Love for the brand
%
Quality customer service
%
Related to my personal interests
%
The feeling of taking part, of being involved
%
Related to the interests of my friends
%
Have important knowledge about the brand and the products
%
Personal 1-1 relationship with the company
%
Access to exclusive content or services
%
Improve my reputation or status
%
The feeling of taking part, of being involved
%
Related to the interests of my friends
%
Have important knowledge about the brand and the products
%
Personal 1-1 relationship with the company
%
Access to exclusive content or services
%
Improve my reputation or status
What customers expect from a brand:
%
Take care of the planet
%
Listen to customer feedbacks
%
Be socially responsible
%
Make me feel important
Essential
New products
If your customers like buying one of your products, chances are they will like what you have in mind again! So it is important to launch new products, new collections … and thus set up new product launches, several times a year if possible.
In addition, new products mean new customers, so each of your new product launches will be growing your customer base who will buy your future products as well.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Create new products
- Visual Builder and Theme Builder to add these elements to your pages.
Essential
Amazing Customer Support
%
Stop buying from a company because of bad customer support
In e-commerce, customer support is the crux of the matter, especially if you want your customers to recommend you to their friends and have them come back to order from you.
So first of all make sure that it is easy to find how to contact your customer support, whether it is on your home page, in your footer, on your product page … Either way, it shouldn’t be complicated to find it. Next, make sure you respond to requests as quickly as possible, ideally within hours.
You can also add Live Chat to your site and respond to your customers even faster.
When answering, always be accommodating, resolve concerns quickly, and don’t hesitate to reimburse if there are any complications, it is better to have a loss on order than to have an unhappy customer who will talk about it, damage your brand to his friend and on social media.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Create professional email (s)
- Visual Builder and Theme Builder to add these elements to your pages.
- “Crisp” application for live chat
Essential
Let your customers create an account on your store
As you can see from this guide, the idea is to make placing an order always easier and always faster. This is why I advise you to create an account for your customers when they order for the first time (as long as it does not add a step at the checkout level, which is the case on Dr. Tech). Thus, the delivery address and the means of payment of your customer will be saved, and therefore he will be able to place new orders in 1 click!
So the cart abandonment rate is very low, and you make more sales! In addition, knowing that with you he has an account, your customer will always privilege you when choosing where to buy a product.
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Activate the option in your dashboard -> my shop -> settings -> accounts and confidentiality
Flash sales & limited time offers.
A great way to create urgency for your store and word of mouth is to make a limited-time offer. The idea here is to offer something special, which you can only have if you order during a very short period of time.
Make sure the promotion end date is visible and let’s go!
In addition, this kind of offer is perfect for generating word of mouth. Indeed, if your customers really feel the exceptionally good deal, they will not hesitate to talk about it to their peers so their friends can benefit too!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Create the offers you want directly for your products in your dashboard -> products
- For promo codes, if you wish, you can create them in your dashboard -> marketing -> promo codes
Set up a subscription offer
Automatically billing your customers regularly through a subscription is one of the best ways to increase your revenue while having a strong and predictable revenue base.
If your product lends itself to this, then chances are you already have some ideas in mind of what you can do. Likewise, if you are selling a consumable product, you can set up automatic delivery.
However, if you think your product is not suitable for this, it may be difficult to see what you can do straight away. But feel free to be creative, research what’s going on in your industry, put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and try to imagine what you could do. Almost all the big brands have a subscription offer, more or less directly related to their product (s). So there is a good chance that you will find a good idea and that you will start collecting automatic payments very soon 😀
And remember, it doesn’t cost a thing to try!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- “Subscription” application
Loyalty program
This technique is as old as commerce and it works. Your customers like to have points, which give them discounts or benefits. You can set up a very simple loyalty program where each $ spent earns them a point, for example, then every 100 points offer them a $10 discount.
It’s simple, fast, and effective.
And for your customer, knowing that at your place they have points to use, they will be more loyal and will favor your store for their future purchase!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- “Points and Rewards” application
Create and maintain a community
If your customers buy from you, it is because they certainly love your products, but also because they love your brand and the values you defend. In some cases, when you have very strong branding, you can see that customers buy because they believe in the same things as the company.
Apple is an excellent example, with its slogan “Think Different”, Apple has built its success by bringing people together around its beliefs and values: think differently, innovate, do not conform, believe in yourself, be a “round piece in a square hole “. And all of their branding, advertising, communication … revolves around that and reinforces the message.
So creating a community of customers – or even a fan – is one of the best strategies for success in any industry. It is therefore natural that this strategy appears in this guide 🙂
I advise you to start by creating a Facebook group, invite your customers, people interested in your products, and encourage everyone to invite their friends to grow the community. Then regularly animate the community, bring value, encourage members to post in the group, react to all posts, and answer questions (quickly)!
Then, the community will grow, you will have super-fans who will emerge and a solid base of members with whom you can grow serenely.
In addition, another advantage of such proximity is the customer feedback you can get. By being this close, you will know exactly what your customers / potential customers are saying to each other, what they are thinking about, and what they are sharing about your brand. You will also be able to do surveys, ask questions, chat with members, see the words they use… Your gold mine of information is there, and all your marketing campaigns will hit the nail on the head every time!
How to do it on Dr. Tech:
- Visual Builder and Theme Builder to add links to your community to your pages.
It’s already over!
Thank you for following this guide, we hope it will help you in your e-commerce adventure. We regularly update this guide with new essential strategies, so don’t hesitate to come back from time to time
Thanks again, and good luck!
To read further:
TOP 50 E-COMMERCE SITES
LOCAL PAYMENT METHOD, BY COUNTRY
Sources :
- https://www.gwi.com
- https://www.statista.com
- https://www.globalwebindex.com/hubfs/Downloads/Commerce_Report.pdf
- https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/304927/Downloads/Online%20purchase%20journey%20across%20generations%20-%20GWI.pdf
- https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-benchmarks/
- https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate
- https://baymard.com/research/checkout-usability
- https://ecommerceguide.com/ecommerce-statistics/
- https://www.statista.com/topics/871/online-shopping/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckcohn/2015/05/15/a-beginners-guide-to-upselling-and-cross-selling/?sh=2d585c9a2912
Start now with Dr Tech
If you already have an online store, you can migrate to Dr Tech for free.