Here are some easy tips to increase your online sales:
- Easy navigation. Make it easy for your customers to navigate your site with limited number of clicks. Going from place to place to place will annoy them and they will leave your site.
- Good picture of the item. A picture is worth a thousand words. Grandma might be a great amateur photographer and might be free, but the quality of her work will reflect the price. Hire a professional photographer who specializes in your industry. Great pictures make a huge difference.
- Allow reviews of the items. A lot of retailers turn reviews off : they are afraid of receiving negative ones. Two thoughts on this: firstly, if you believe in your product, you should not be afraid of what the customers say about it. A negative review gives you the opportunity to start a conversation with you customers. Most people simply want companies to listen to what they say. You will be surprise how easy it is to turn a complainer into one of your best supporters and unpaid sales people. Secondly, not so good reviews of the product will force you to take a look at the product itself: is it the price, the features/benefits, the packaging, the instructions manual that are not aligned with what your customers expected? Or, simply, it's a product that nobody wants, which will prompt you to discontinue it before spending too much money on promoting it. You can take the opportunity to create a mini survey and ask people what improvements they would make. Be very specific on what you are asking because people love to talk about and create incredible products - as long as they don't have to do it.
- Ask people to share pictures or stories about themselves using your products. You can create a special page (forum style) or, even better, point them to your Facebook fan page. Depending on what products you sell, you can even have a content for the best or most fun use of the product. Then have everybody vote on the entries. The winner will get a prize, which you pre-determine and post along with the rules of the contents. CAUTION: while extreme ironing is a fun example of unique, unusual use of a product, you should keep in mind potential liabilities you might face by asking people to share "unusual" uses.
