Online shop owners know first-hand the pains they go through to run an ecommerce business. Creating a product, processing orders, getting in front of customers, competing with a certain global ecommerce marketplace offering the lowest of prices and free 2-day shipping. With all of those factors inherently baked into selling online, the overarching thought, the kingpin of worries, going through any entrepreneur’s mind is “How can I sell more?”

Selling More isn’t a linear endgame, though, and it isn’t about introducing a wider range of products or launching new niche products. There’s no magic lever you can pull to get more goods in shopping carts (bummer). 

Magic and sure-fire formulas aside, Selling More has less to do with gimmicks or luck and it has more to do with the customer experiences your brand creates along the shopping journey than you think. Making simple tweaks to your customer journey can eliminate friction on your site, adding a few more posts to your blog can get you in front of new customers, and showing every shopper a good time is what gets them coming back for more.

ABC: Always Being Converting

There are factors on every ecommerce website that can improve or worsen your conversion efficiency. The most important factor that can improve your customer journey is keeping your user experience simple. No one wants to click through five different pages to be able to purchase a product, so the fewer clicks, the better. 

Transparency on your website will also lead to increased conversions. Ever been to a webpage and it wasn’t clear what the price difference was between membership packages or different product versions? What about trying to find the return policy or shipping rates? Make your pricing, shipping details, and product information clear and you’ll see that customers purchase more when they feel informed and that they can trust what you’re sellin’.

Plus, don’t overlook how you show shoppers your products. Images (and their quality) will be a huge influencer on online conversions. The photos you choose can have as much as a 40% impact on your conversions. Customers want to know exactly what they’re getting and images of every angle can be a differentiator in their purchasing decision.

A fourth factor is optimizing for mobile. It’s probable that the majority of your site visitors are on their phones. Mobile and tablets account for over 51% of internet usage worldwide, and nearly 60% of Google searches are done from a smartphone. Optimizing for mobile browsing and buying isn’t just critical to ensure a seamless transaction for all those on-the-go consumers, but it’s also a factor in how your store ranks in search results. If you wanna up your SEO, be seen by more folks on mobile, and become a go-to for mobile shopping, don’t overlook the big impact of the small screens.

Content Creation Isn’t Just for TikTokers

When you hear the words “content creation” today, your mind might wander to all the Gen Zers posting video after video on the web. (Which we personally love, so please never stop!) However, many DTC brands struggle with producing content at scale. Especially in the early stages, many sellers are a one-person show and creating quality content often falls to the back-burner (or behind the stove entirely).

Most shops likely have an About Us page or the brand story somewhere, but have you taken a look at your product pages lately? Make sure that your product detail pages (PDPs) are outfitted with critical details, features, and benefits. Highlight use cases, differentiators, and product features in your PDPs to showcase your goods in the best way possible, and never shy away from telling a good story. The more a shopper can see your products in their life, the better. 

Also, a blog can also help educate your customers about your products, use cases, benefits, and more. That’s right, that ol’ chestnut can create a welcoming and friendly brand tone to invite your customers into your community and convert them into fans for life. There’s a reason that blogging has been around for so long, and we swear it’s not just because Google to us we had to.

Lastly, don’t forget about social media! Social can be the star of the show when brands know how to leverage it. Most channels have more tools than ever to make it easy for shoppers to click right into your store or purchase directly from the platform, so set aside a moment to focus on which channels work best for your audience. Facebook, Instagram, and more apps already have built-in shopability that is low-cost for sellers and easy to (impulsively) shop for consumers. Take advantage of these channels and see conversions soar. 

Above all else, though, is every site’s overlord, Search Engine Optimization. If any site wants to see the light of day in search results, content needs to exist. Search engines use this content as a whole to rank your site, and if your competition has more content that creates more context for bots crawling around the web, they’ll organically appear before shoppers before your store will.

SEO strategies deployed across your blog, web pages, product pages, social media, and even alt text on photos will bolster the discovery phase of your customer journey. And more shoppers to your ecommerce store means more customers cruising through the checkout.

Hidden Gem: The Customer Experience

An invaluable piece to selling more is the experience that customers have throughout their engagement with your store. While this is a tough thing to nail since it’s more of a feeling people have instead of a tangible to-do, it’s possible to achieve through repeated and thoughtful actions. Over time, a better customer experience will lead to higher cart values, greater sale volumes, and increased repeat customer rates. 

Customers will more often come back to your store to purchase again and loyalty will be more easily built—especially through word of mouth, ratings, and reputation. It goes without saying, the more customers who come back, the more stuff will be sold. Best of all: Repeat customers are cheaper to acquire than new customers!

To curate and foster a better experience for every customer, think about each stage of the customer journey, every touchpoint, and how you can create optimal experiences at every stage:

• Discovery: Personalize your ad and communication strategy to pull in new customers that are relevant to your brand and your products. Everything from retargeting ads, personalized emails, and even direct mail are all good ideas for pulling people deeper into their experience with your store. 
• Consideration: Create experiences on every channel that make shopping with your brand an enjoyable and seamless experience—few clicks to purchase, ample product information, high-quality product content, and engaging digital experiences. Make research simple and put your brand’s values, mission, and policies up front to build trust.
• Conversion: Be transparent and flexible in your online carts. The price of the products, shipping prices, and delivery estimates should be offered. Loyalty redemption and multiple payment options and schedules should be simple and available. Consider reminders like free shipping, offer package protection at checkout, and provide a few payment or financing options. 
• Post-Purchase: Go above and beyond table stakes during this phase. Create a more engaging and seamless post-purchase experience by offering a better package tracking solution. Don’t make your customers dig for tracking numbers and keep them up-to-date with any live updates. The post-purchase phase is an often overlooked part of the experience, but it’s the most memorable part for the customer. Take advantage of the opportunity to engage beyond checkout and foster hard-to-earn customer loyalty. 

Harness the Power of Customer Reviews

When your customers purchase your products, reviews and surveys can offer a bevy of consumer research. Solicit their feedback through reviews and surveys after they’ve purchased and received their items. And make sure you actually use this information! 

If patterns arise in your feedback, it’s probably time to consider making changes to your products that improve the customers’ experiences with them. This can be done with your website journey, too. For example, if you consistently receive feedback that your checkout flow is confusing or frustrating, if shipping costs are a surprise once they’ve checked out, or if there’s an issue with the product, those are big red flags that should be addressed STAT.

Ecommerce can be a tricky channel and it’s always changing. Keeping up can be a challenge but with these best practices, your store can begin seeing more and more conversion on your website. Taking out any points of frustration and adding in engaging experiences across the entire funnel can lead your brand to more success and selling more.See How Route Helps Sell More