Ecommerce sales are booming. According to Statista, the industry is set to rake in $6.3 trillion by 2024. While this is exciting news for online retailers, it also means that the competition is stiff. With so many businesses vying for a piece of the pie, any major blunders could leave you high and dry and a business drowning faster than the Titanic.
Here are four mistakes that could be killing your online sales.
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Trying to Sell to Anyone with a Pulse
Some eCommerce businesses believe that as long as they can find someone with a heartbeat, they can make a sale. This warped thinking can result in tons of low-quality leads clogging up your sales pipeline. The cold, unvarnished truth is that you can’t sell to everyone.
If you insist on chasing mediocre sales opportunities, you’re wasting valuable time and resources and setting yourself up to fail miserably. Instead of casting a wide net, the best online sales courses suggest focusing your efforts on targeting a specific audience. A targeted approach can turn casual window shoppers into loyal superfans.
So, take the time to research your target audience. Find out what motivates them. Focus your gaze on their buying habits, and their pain points. Once you have a well-established understanding of who you’re selling to, you can create a sales strategy tailored to them.
Forcing People to Create an Account
Creating an account to checkout can be a tedious process. It isn’t ideal for a customer who’s in a rush and, let’s face it, who isn’t. According to Shero, around 30% of customers leave when forced to create an account.
Getting customers is hard enough, so why repel them with an unnecessary obstacle? So, consider offering login through their social media accounts or even a guest checkout option. Not only can it improve the shopping experience, but it can also decrease shopping cart abandonment.
Ignoring Cart Abandonment
According to Baymard, almost 70% of online shopping carts are left forgotten. The loss in revenue is a shocking $18 billion per year, according to Shopify. Online sales courses say one way to combat cart abandonment is to send personalized emails to customers who have deserted their items and have yet to return.
A study by Experian found that cart abandonment emails have an open rate of 45% and can result in a conversion rate of 15%. You’ll want to automate the process so that it’s triggered soon after a customer leaves their shopping cart. Tracking where customers choose to throw in the towel can also shine a spotlight on the areas of your online customer’s experience that might need some sprucing up.
Cluttered Webpage
Today’s customers get bombarded with marketing messages both on- and off-line. It’s no surprise, therefore, that their attention spans are dwindling. Cramming too much information on your website will only add to the noise.
Sales courses suggest streamlining your online content and only including what’s necessary. As you spruce up your site, keep in mind that too much white space can also be a huge turnoff. So, test a few different versions to see what makes it easy for visitors to navigate your site without feeling overwhelmed.
