10 ways to strengthen your ecommerce strategy

Direct online consumers to your site with these tactics.

With online sales on the rise, digitalisation has changed the way UK consumers shop. Here's how to take advantage of this opportunity for your business.

19-years-old and earning £12,000 a day in revenue, Maisie Crompton dedicates her time to selling personalised tote bags, hoodies, and prints online.

The Cambridge-born teen launched Totes for You in 2020 on Depop, a peer-to-peer social e-commerce company based in London, where she saw her stock selling out within two minutes.

Maisie attributes part of her success to the first-hand look she gave customers by documenting her journey on social media, she is just one of many SMEs prospering in the eCommerce world.

Starting an online store needn't be scary: more than 85,000 online businesses were launched during Covid-19 in the UK (making the country the fourth largest e-commerce market in the world).

Here’s ten ways that you can optimise your eCommerce strategy and direct consumers to your site.

Engage with customers

Videos, 360 product views, and virtual fitting rooms – these are things many modern consumers expect to see when shopping online. These innovative ways of showcasing products can increase the length of time people spend on your site.

Engaging with your customers through immersive tools can make their shopping experience feel more personal and tailored towards them, while also helping them find the right products.

To get started, Shopify can provide templates and smart add-ons. The key to success is to not over-complicate your site, while still being engaging to increase customer referral.

Think mobile-first

In March 2022, mobile phones accounted for over 70% of online visits to retail websites.

Shopping online is super convenient and can be done anywhere. Ensuring your eCommerce site is mobile friendly is crucial to increasing website traffic and sales.

Google’s free testing tool can check whether your website can be easily navigated on smartphones – providing advice and suggesting changes to optimise the compact space.

Build trust with consumers

Behind every successful business is a set of brand guidelines.

Establishing a tone of voice and style for your business can make your brand and your purpose identifiable. Whether across social media, online, or in-store, customers value consistency.

The same clear and distinctive look and feel across your platforms has been shown to build brand trust with consumers and make your business recognisable.

Every big company had to start somewhere and creating your brand guidelines –a coherent sense of who you are, what you stand for, and how you look and speak – can have a lasting impression of your business reputation.

Optimise social media

TikTok made me buy it. A phrase that is slowly taking over the internet.

According to AdWeek, 49% of TikTok users purchased a product after it had been advertised, reviewed, or promoted on the video platform.

Social media-influenced purchasing has almost doubled with 98% of people planning to make a direct purchase through a social platform.

Momentary Ink, a small company that specialises in custom temporary tattoos gained huge success on TikTok after demonstrating how to use their ‘test-drive’ tattoos on the platform. The customised algorithm and in-feed ads scaled their campaign to a specific audience quickly.

Building a social media presence for your eCommerce can enable you to target customers more efficiently and strengthen your brand credibility.

Increase your order value

Half of the shoppers in the UK are prepared to spend more to qualify for free delivery.

Offering your customers discounts can be seen to increase your average order value and their interest. With an active discount code, you are 8 times more likely to make a sale compared to companies without one.

Wild, a refillable deodorant start-up, presents customers with a survey when they first visit their site. Those who complete the questions are given a 10% off code for their first order.

In addition to rewarding customers, Wild also gets free data on consumer buying behaviour. Allowing them to use the email addresses captured to send customers updates, offers and incentives to purchase more products.

Incorporating this method, as well as offering reduced delivery costs, can help you attract new customers and reduce purchase abandonment.

Offer a unique selling point

A coffee brand based in the United States, Death Wish Coffee, has dubbed its coffee the strongest in the world. A bold claim, and one which it has invited customers all around the world to test out.

A unique selling point, much like Death Wish Coffee’s, can define the position your company occupies in the marketplace.

Offering a specific benefit – one that competitors don’t have – can make your business more enticing to customers.

Utilise testimonials

Consumers influence consumers.

Testimonials and reviews can be the driving force behind a purchase, with 97% of people factoring customer reviews into their buying decisions.

Tools, such as Trustpilot or Reviews.IO, allow you to display video, image, and text-based reviews straight onto your website, which can reassure potential customers.

This can establish trust and give your business more credibility in consumers' eyes.

Keep track of trends

When shopping online, 68% of people search for product information on Google before purchasing.

Ranking highly on search engines can lead people to discover your website and put you above competitors. This is important as 75% of people click on the first three organic links when searching on Google.

Making use of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can help you discover what your customers are searching for and the current trends on the market.

A great way to boost SEO for your website is to offer consumers more content to help with their purchasing decision.

Specifically curated articles and blog pages, linked to your social media, can further your engagement by appealing to relevant audiences.

Offering people insightful information, recipes, and look books tailored towards your company and their interests can drive more traffic to your site and, in return, may increase revenue.

Embrace a global audience

Being online takes away the limitations of location. Small businesses are now able to reach global markets, opening greater sales opportunities.

Kent Crisps, once a small business located in the city of Canterbury, saw an increase in sales when it opened its eCommerce up worldwide. The hand-cooked crisps company now sells its snacks in the Middle East, Asia, and America.

Dropshipping companies, such as AliExpress and Oberlo, can make the process of shipping to other nations easier, by shipping out your products directly to customers once you receive an order. So, you reach a much bigger potential client base and increase sales.

Not only is it a low-cost solution, but it also allows you to keep in control of your stock and adopt a reactive business model – seeing first-hand the products that are doing well and those that aren’t, then adjusting marketing and sales strategies appropriately.

Safeguard data

In the UK, every 19 seconds a small business is successfully hacked. With an online store, you’ll likely be handling sensitive customer data, so having safety precautions in place is essential.

To safeguard your customers and business, an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate embedded within your website can offer protection from external threats. Having a secure and encrypted site guarantees visitors that you value their security and information.

Sites like Hubspot and Let’s Encrypt offer discounted or free SSL certificates to get you started.

Above all, tools and technology alone cannot direct traffic to your site, a strong online presence is imperative to build consumer trust; similar to a physical store, the virtual shop front should accurately represent your brand, which should be clear across all your channels.

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