In this article we will talk about how to boost online sales, so keep reading!
Quarantine made us all sit at home and use the Internet a little bit too much. Online should probably be the word of the year because we had moved everything there. Starting with families, friendships, and relationships to working meetings and businesses, all are managed with the help of the World Wide Web.
Due to this fact, eCommerce has lived its rise lately. Everyone, being afraid of leaving their home and going to public places, has started to navigate through online shops and find the trustable ones. Even elder generations can not use their shell of “I do not need your Internet anyway”. Therefore, having an online shop is considered to be quite profitable now.
At the same time, everyone understands the perks of having an online shop now. They do not have better things to do and many people have lost their jobs, so they want to get money from anywhere they can. So they are actively starting their own businesses now. That being said, the eCommerce and dropshipping markets are getting more and more competitive every day and one needs good marketing strategies and loyal customers in order not to get swamped in this ocean.
That is the reason why this article was created. This guide on how to boost online sales during the quarantine can be very useful for complete beginners who have just launched their first dropshipping store. However, there are some points to consider for advanced-level dropshippers as well.
Without further ado, let’s find out how to boost your sales!
1. Loyalty Program
Basically, we all have favorite shops, even though we hardly ever talk about it. Whether it is the service or usefulness, we do visit their online stores over and over again because why choose others anyway? This type of loyalty can be individual for everyone but there is also a way to increase this kind of loyalty intentionally.
So how to boost online sales with this method? A loyalty program is a marketing effort that creates a system of rewards for those customers who buy products or services of the company quite often. This has two main benefits: it is a way to say thank you to loyal customers and to encourage people to become this loyal customer, in order to get all the benefits.
Loyalty programs look very different today, as for example:
- points that you can exchange for the goods of a company
- points that you can exchange for the goods of a third party (for example, buy a product from a company and get 20% off in another)
- cash back that can be withdrawn monthly or annually;
- other rewards as sales for loyalty program members, extra discounts, surprise gifts, etc.
Loyalty programs are beneficial for everyone
Tour customers get their free or cheaper products and you get the customers who will buy products from your dropshipping store at least once a month.
With occasional customers only, your income will vary dramatically so you are never really sure what to get ready for: a good or a bad month. Loyal customers solve this problem by being the factor that makes your business stay profitable and make sales constantly. It is also a known fact that customers are likely to buy more, in order to get the reward as big and as fast as possible.
It is also a great way to stay connected with your customer. So it is good to think that businesses do not care only about their problem, but about you, a consumer of their goods, as well. With a loyalty program, people feel that even big companies with millions of customers care about every other individual.
Loyalty programs are loved by businesses because they can be used by big companies and brands but they are also a great fit for medium or small businesses. Since families usually have an impressive stack of loyalty cards for every shopping niche, they do not see a problem in getting one more from a small shop on Instagram.
You may think that a loyalty program costs too much money. However, in the long run, it can bring you ten times more benefits than the money you have spent on this. For those who need solid proofs, the statistics, that all marketing professionals love so much, has arrived.
2. Hold a Raffle/a Contest
Raffle
A raffle is a very common and extremely effective marketing tool that is aimed at creating big fuss around a product. How to boost online sales with this method? Basically, a shop launches a limited edition that is a bit cheaper and the sale is available for a limited period of time. Customers who adore the brand, the ones who are into competitions, or the ones who like stuff on sale (read: everyone) get excited to buy the product. In order to get into this kind of a lottery, one should register, since the amount is limited. In case they win, they get an email and should pay right away or alternatively.
Still, you should know how to promote a raffle so that it will not be unnoticed. It is a kind of marketing for a marketing tool. One of the most popular ways is using social media. People can share it in their stories or see it as an advertisement.
A raffle helps your business grow because a lot of people are interested in good products at an attractive price. Especially now, at the time of saving and vague future, people are hunting for sales or free products. Furthermore, they will know that they will have something unique, that only a limited number of people possess. It also contributes to creating loyalty among the customers. Since they usually have to give their email, in order to sign up for a raffle, you can use its base to send them promos, new products, or products that may interest them.
Contest
A contest is another tool that includes winning but it takes the challenge on a whole new level, meaning that you should not only give your personal information, but to go through some kind of trivia or show your talents in order to get the product (usually for free).
It creates fuss around your company while people tell their friends about the opportunity and get super excited while guessing if they will win or not. You can even analyze your target audience with the help of this tool. Ask them to fill out not only their names and an email but describe the habits while shopping overall or using your product. Research data is extremely helpful for building up your marketing strategy or discovering the flaws of a previous one.
In both cases, do not forget to put a killer prize. If people are not interested or excited enough, they will simply not waste their time filling out the form. So your prize should be something unique, needed at the moment and just attractive overall.
Do not forget to send out the prize too. If the community finds out that you did not, well, beware. It is somewhere between impossible and hardly possible to get the loyalty of your customers back again. It will crush your brand, your image that you might have built for years.
3. How to boost online sales with Cross-Selling
Cross-selling is an act when a customer buys a product and you offer them the ones that are related or complementary to that. Cross-selling is considered to be one of the most successful marketing methods. We see cross-selling every day, and it got so subtle and routine that we hardly ever notice it. For example, when we buy a laptop, a seller usually asks if we need a memory card, a mouse, or a case for it. It seems like a will to help (so someone as busy as you will not have to go to the shop twice) and give a piece of advice on how to make your experience with the laptop better, safer, more comfortable. However, it is just a marketing method.
A lot of businesses have troubles while making the difference between cross-selling and upselling. However, it is not as complicated. While cross-selling usually includes the related product, upselling is about the same product but of the better quality and, as following, higher price.
Cross-selling is beneficial in the sense that you sell two or more products and you do not have to build more than one relationship with a customer. Building a relationship with a customer is not really an easy thing to do while everyone is very individual and has its own needs and preferences, you need to become the person or shop that they can trust, that they can be loyal to.
It is important to notice that usually, a complimentary product is sold with some kind of discount which makes it even more attractive for a customer and increases the possibility that he or she will not click “no, thank you” button.
So with the help of cross-selling, you can reduce your effort in building the relationship at least by 50%. Moreover, if you choose to source your products with Yakkyofy, you will be also able to bundle more than one product in the same parcel and get them all shipped in one go!
Conclusion: get a reliable supplier!
There you have it! In this article, we can share with you how to boost online sales with 3 methods that work and that are relatively cheap (if consider the benefit you will get in the long run), grow your customers’ list, and build up your brand so that people will come back to your store every time.
If you plan to fulfill your orders with the dropshipping method, perhaps the most important thing to consider is to have a reliable supplier, who can assist you when problems arise, especially in these times of uncertainty, someone who can provide you with all the products you sell and who will ship your products with the fastest and most affordable method on the market.
If you want all of the above services and even more, you need Yakkyofy. We will not only source your products and fulfil your orders, with us you will also be able to automate your business by integrating your store with our web-app! Moreover our customer service team will be at your disposal to help you solve any problems you might have with your parcels! So what are you waiting for?
Author’s biography
Cheryl Hearts is a writer and journalist from Boston, Massachusetts. Her passion for writing started at an early age and evolved during the high school years. She enjoyed creating her own stories, so she decided to make writing her career. After earning a degree in Journalism, Cheryl started running her own blog CherylHearts.com where she’s covering topics of great interest to society.
