How to Drive Sales for an eCommerce Business

eCommerce has experienced a period of exponential growth, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic. Certain areas have been particularly popular including gym equipment and health and wellness goods. Even as society reopens, it seems the demand for eCommerce sales remains high. In order to attract customers, here are some innovative ways to boost sales for your eCommerce business.

Social Media

Setting up an eCommerce business without utilising social media platforms is a huge missed opportunity. In fact, Instagram has become so important and lucrative for eCommerce that many businesses choose to sell their products solely through this channel.

When starting out, the first thing to do is gain followers, both for Facebook and Instagram. Asking family and friends to follow the account is an easy way to gain initial followers and make the company seem more established. From there, you can start to get an idea of like-minded followers who you could follow and encourage them to follow back. Campaigns such as giveaways or competitions are a great way to gain some recognition and encourage people to share your page.

Paid marketing, especially when starting out, can be a great way of securing initial clients. Of course, this is dependent on the company budget. However, some ad campaigns can be very low-cost and yield great results. Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads can also help target the right people and highlight potential markets and clients.

PR

Being featured in the press is a great way to gain exposure and is also a good move for company branding. Twitter is a crucial platform for this as you can seek out journalists or publications who are looking for particular stories. Although sometimes these collaborations are paid, many journalists or editorials offer you free press in exchange for you providing the content.

If you are willing to pay for this service, it can save you a great deal of time and a specialist PR agency could help you prepare specialised content and reach many journalists.

Affiliates

Working with affiliates can open a range of new markets and opportunities for sales. Affiliates work as a form of partners and can list your products on their site. Many big sites, such as Amazon, offer affiliate schemes which can be a great way to generate leads.

Using one of American’s largest online distributors of bedwear, Cosy House Collection, the brand features on a number of different affiliate sites in order to promote their bamboo sheets and pillows. For each sale made through these sites, they pay a pre-agreed commission. These affiliation schemes are a win-win scenario as you generate leads for your company and the affiliate earns a commission. Incentivising affiliates with offers, bonuses or deals can help to boost further sales.

Growth Hacking Methods

Utilising consumer psychology strategies, such as scarcity marketing, are a zero-cost way for you to encourage sales. This technique creates a sense of urgency in consumers by offering a limited amount of stock. By making consumers think there is limited supply, it can act as an incentive for them to buy.

The same applies for strategically timed discounts. Offering discounts to those who were tempted to buy, for example those with abandoned shopping carts or those who have already made a purchase, can help seal the deal.

Incentivising existing customers to refer-a-friend, through discounts or free products, can be a great way to secure new clients.