We know the process of capturing a sale begins much earlier than once a customer reaches the shopping cart and checkout. So, we have invited our partner, Rand Marketing, to share their expertise on earning more sales through your ecommerce website.
Just because your primary objective is to make immediate eCommerce sales does not mean that there aren’t additional opportunities to communicate with shoppers in order to earn more sales. Think of it like a physical store: there are benefits to having salespeople readily available to help customers. There are also upsides to making it easy for a customer to request to receive ongoing communications from your business.
In the world of eCommerce, there are two major types of leads that you may run into.
Hot Leads
These are shoppers who have questions and are hoping to get specific feedback or answers. You can capture these leads through some of the following methods:
Phone: It’s recommended to have your phone number easily accessible. Often they are located in the header and footer of the site as well as your Contact page.
Contact Forms: Whether a simple Contact Us, more detailed Custom Quote Request or Wholesale Account Request form, making it easy for shoppers to submit inquiries 24/7 gives you an opportunity to capture their information.
LiveChat: Shoppers may be multi-tasking, or may otherwise not be interested in speaking with a representative (there’s a whole new generation for whom texting is a mainstream form of communication). Chatting with an operator right through your website helps shoppers on their terms. It also gives you an opportunity to pop out and offer assistance, much like a traditional sales clerk might. Services like Oct8ne help you to act like a personal shopper, showing recommended items on the client’s screen, and helping to add to the cart. If you don’t have the resources to man the lines, newer services like Proonto offer a wide selection of chat operators that you can select and train. Other services like AltoCloud can help connect you via Text Messages, Facebook Messenger, and a variety of other mediums.
Address: If you have a physical address that’s available to the public, some shoppers may opt to see items in person. Since not all eCommerce sites have brick-and-mortar locations, making it clear that you do can be beneficial and can also help establish your brand as being more public and rooted in some ways.
As a fringe benefit, some shoppers that won’t ever call you for one-on-one assistance will appreciate knowing that they could if they needed to, making it more likely that they’ll make a purchase while browsing through your site.
The Long Game
While leads that are ready to “buy now” are of course the most prized, there are direct and indirect costs to getting shoppers to your site, and opportunity costs to letting them leave empty handed. To solve these situations, you can consider efforts such as:
E-mail Marketing: Collecting Email Addresses is a great way to stay in touch. While you may not make an immediate sale, you’ll get more chances to do so by keeping your store “top of mind” with consumers. If a shopper has left an item in their cart, you may even be able to follow up with an Abandoned Cart Email, making it easier for them return to the shopping cart on your website and finish placing their order. For some websites, this can also extend to sending offers via Text Messages, Direct Mail, and other mediums.
ReMarketing & ReTargeting: By using cookies and Email addresses, you can target consumers who have visited your site with ads. These ads may appear on sites, like news websites and blogs, as they traverse the internet. It’s a great way to reinforce your brand, and remind them to come back and complete a transaction. This can be tapered so that it’s done tastefully and reasonably.
Social Media: When a user follows your business on social media, they can become privy to posts that you make in those social media accounts. Like email marketing, this can be a great way to stay in touch long-term, and let shoppers know about new products, discounts, and other opportunities.
Mobile Apps: If you offer mobile apps, getting consumers to download them to their smart devices can provide multiple benefits. They will see your logo while scrolling through their apps, which is great. You also get opportunities to send them push notifications with new offers, like sales.
If you’re not sure how to best optimize your website to capture both eCommerce sales and leads or need help with digital marketing campaigns to stay in touch with shoppers, consider requesting a free consultation from an internet marketing firm. Such teams can discuss how they can help you meet your long-term goals of improved conversion rates.
About the Author
Robert Rand is the Chief Technology Officer at Rand Marketing in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Educated at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, Robert has managed the development and marketing of hundreds of websites and helped to lead Rand Marketing to become a Google Premier Partner Agency, an INC5000 Company, and a long-standing A+ business with the BBB. He’s best known as one of the foremost experts in eCommerce strategies in the USA and is proud to work side by side with one of the industries best teams of designers, developers, and digital marketers.
