The online store . The major marketplaces, Amazon and eBay , come with policies. Creating a successful online store means working on the brand image of merchants to maintain their own homogeneous image.
Sellers with their own online stores play a different game. They have complete control over their customers’ experiences. Whether revamping product placement or highlighting an in-store sale, merchants can use their website to connect directly with their customers and encourage purchases.
But with so much freedom, online store owners may not know where to start to run their store.
To start attracting buyers and retaining your customers, here are our 20 tips for creating a successful online store . These strategies cover how buyers perceive each element of your online store to explain how each aspect should be designed to attract buyers and increase sales.
By following these strategies, sellers can target customer interests through their online store so that their business stands out from less knowledgeable merchants.
1. To create a successful online store engaging web design
It doesn’t matter that you have the best possible product in your niche and the best customer service on top of that – if your store’s web design is lousy, your online business presence is doomed. According to a Kissmetrics study , 93% of shoppers rate visual appearance as the most important factor when making a purchase.
To build a profitable online store , you can either pay a pretty penny to a web designer or take it upon yourself to learn how to code. Alternatively, you can just get a ready-made template and customize it to your needs. Luckily, there are thousands of great eCommerce templates on the web provided by sites like TemplateMonster , TonyTemplates , Apollotheme , and others that have clean designs, intuitive layouts, and follow the latest design trends. web design.
Design elements should captivate visitors, such as using full-width images and avoiding distractions with minimal text. Here is an example of a design that Reebok chose for its online store:
And here is a ready- made option for your online store :
Here are some practical tips to improve your website design :
- Your online store can be designed by a professional, by yourself if you know how to code, or with an e-commerce store template.
- Web design should capture the attention of site visitors. Engage customers with full-width images and minimal text.
2. An awesome “About Us” page
If a visitor lands on your “About Us” page, that means they are already interested in you and giving you a chance to prove to them that your product is the best. What you need to do is clearly explain who you are, what you do, and most importantly, what you offer customers. All testimonials, achievements and any type of social proof are welcome.
Make sure you don’t waste this opportunity, as it can lead to winning a client. Your contact information should be clear and easy to find on your about page and throughout your website. Don’t forget to mention your: online stores.
- Contact email
- Address
- Social media channels
Packing your About page with too much information can be overwhelming for site visitors. Some online stores, like Tens in the example below, opt for a minimalist design to keep information clear and easily understandable.
Here are some handy tips for creating your “About Us” page:
- Include basic information about your business on the page, such as your contact details, address, and social media accounts.
- Avoid cluttering the “About Us” page with too much information. Keep visitors engaged with a minimalist design.
3. Partner with other brands.
Giving away your hard-earned money to a little-known company isn’t easy for most buyers. Establish your reputation by showing which companies work with you. They don’t necessarily have to be the scale of a Coca-Cola or an Apple, but even small businesses can add a degree of reliability to your business.
The more partners you have, the better. This is how Amasty shows its established relationships with its partners:
Here are some practical tips for partnering with other brands and influencers:
- Highlight partner companies on your homepage to immediately show your reputation to site visitors.
- If you have a large number of partners, introduce them all. The more partners you have, the more trust you will gain with buyers.
4. Offer excellent online support
Your consumers need to know that they will receive support after making a purchase, if needed. Ensuring post-purchase troubleshooting and pre-purchase advice can convert potential buyers into repeat and loyal customers.
The most comprehensive and useful type of support is a live chat feature that works 24/7. This tool can increase your site’s conversion rate by 10% or more . If you don’t have the resources to offer round-the-clock support, you should still provide some type of service to help people during working hours.
As an example, see how the clothing store GitmanBros offers live chat to its customers:
The company keeps the chat feature easily accessible, yet unobtrusive to shoppers in the lower left corner.
Here are some practical tips for providing excellent online support:
- Offer support at all stages of the shopping experience to encourage new buyers to make their first purchase and loyal customers to continue shopping.
- Make your customer support features, whether it’s a phone line or a chat box, visible from the homepage so buyers are aware of these services.
5. Provide popular payment options
No online store can exist without
payments. Offer a wide variety of popular payment options to your customers so they can always make a purchase easily.
PayPal reigns supreme as the go-to payment solution, but there are other popular options for your business to consider. Check out Entrepreneur’s list of 15 other widely used payment methods to see if there’s another service that fits your business needs.
Here are some practical tips for offering payment options for your online store.
- Allow sellers to create an account on your store and save their payment information to facilitate future purchases.
- Offer a wide variety of popular payment options so that every consumer can easily make a purchase from your store.
6. Advertise on social media
Social media advertising is a powerful way to connect with lots of potential customers in a creative and fun way. Social media advertising can be anything from a simple Facebook post to a taco-shaped lens on Snapchat.
Use tools, such as Google Analytics, to track the channels your target customers use the most and focus your marketing efforts on those platforms. If you’re confused by the relatively new terrain of social media, check out these guides to Facebook advertising , Instagram advertising , and Snapchat advertising to get started.
Here are some practical tips for advertising on social networks for your online store.
- Social media marketing allows for a lot of creativity, so try to implement the personality of your key buyers in your ads.
- Use social media analytics to track the success of your ads and strategize on how you can improve future promotions.
7. A Useful, SEO-Focused Blog
Blogging is an opportunity to drive more in-store traffic. Posts that contain SEO keywords and contain useful information for consumers are likely to rank well in search engine results. Blog posts that rank well and encourage people to visit your site are a springboard for people to visit your product pages and make purchases.
A blog is also a way to connect with the public on a deep level. Seeing how customers react to the content you produce can inform your strategies for meeting buyers’ needs and wants. Blog posts build buyer confidence when they offer some sort of value to the reader, such as offering expert advice on how to use your product or an industry-related topic.
Here are some practical tips for creating a store blog for your online store :
- Use SEO tools to measure monthly search volume and keyword difficulty of terms. Terms with high monthly search volumes and high difficulty levels will be harder to rank for.
- Use Google Analytics to track page views of your blog posts. Consider past posts that have received a high number of views when planning future content.
8. Build buyer trust with product reviews
Reviews and ratings of your products boost your trustworthiness immensely. Online shoppers cannot meet sellers in person, so they rely on reviews from other shoppers to rate merchants. Reviews on product pages save consumers time by quickly showing what other customers think of the product.
Product reviews are more compelling when there are a lot of them. To encourage more reviews, don’t hesitate to ask your customers to leave a review after making a purchase. Customers who are happy with your product will often not consider leaving a review because everything is already fine. Give him a little nudge and he’ll probably be happy to share his positive experience with others.
Here are some practical tips for using product reviews for your online store :
- Include the average rating and number of reviews at the top of each product page and at the bottom where you display review content to increase feedback visibility.
- Incentivize buyers to leave reviews by offering them a small discount after making a purchase if they leave reviews.
9. Make Your Site SEO Optimized
Your online store must receive traffic for purchases to occur. The key to generating traffic? Search engine optimization. By incorporating SEO keywords into your product titles and descriptions, your site is more likely to rank higher in search engine results. Increased visibility is the key ingredient for more site visits and more conversions.
If you’re not sure how to find SEO-friendly keywords or how to incorporate them into your store, check out this helpful guide on SEO optimization for e-commerce websites .
Here are some practical tips to make your site SEO friendly for its online store :
- Use SEO tools to find keywords that have high enough monthly search volumes and low enough keyword difficulty for your site to rank.
- Type in the SEO keywords you plan to add to your product pages to see the results you’ll be competing against. If the results are from major sites, consider changing your term to something less competitive.
10. Make sure your store is mobile-friendly
Mobile purchases accounted for 30% of online purchases last year. That number is only growing: Business Insider predicts that by 2020, mobile purchases will account for 45% of all online purchases.
With the increasing use of phones for online shopping, merchants need to ensure their site design is mobile-friendly to ensure that shoppers can make purchases no matter what device they are on. use. Savvy sellers can check operating system requirements, like these iOS guidelines , to make sure their site is responsive. Merchants can also use online store design templates that are already set up to be mobile-friendly to make their site device-friendly. Create a successful online store.
Here are some handy tips to make sure your site is mobile-friendly for its online store .
- Opt for vertical designs over horizontal designs to make it easier to scroll and view your content on phone screens.
- Test your store’s mobile responsiveness by loading it onto a phone and browsing for errors.
11. Track analytics and iterate
Online store owners cannot improve their growth strategies without monitoring their progress. The best way to track your sales activity and customer behavior is to use a tool like Google Analytics. This program provides sellers with clear metrics about their store, such as percentage of product sales, number of site page visits, and number of abandoned carts. You can easily set up Analytics for your online store by following these instructions .
Continuously track your sales stats with Analytics so you can gain long-term insights on how to engage customers more effectively and encourage more purchases. Merchants who need help setting up Analytics or aren’t sure how to generate data-driven insights should check out our guide to using the tool with your online store.
Here are some handy tips for tracking and iterating seller activity with Google Analytics for your online store :
- When you set up Analytics with your store, enable the ” enhanced e-commerce tracking ” feature to get a wide range of insights into your seller’s activity.
- Create segments on Google Analytics to form data-driven insights into your top buyer groups. Create a successful online store.
12. Offer free shipping.
Thanks to Amazon Prime, free shipping is now an expectation of online shoppers. The added cost of standard shipping can easily deter today’s shoppers from completing their purchase at checkout. Sellers who can afford to offer free shipping should provide the service if they aren’t already to incentivize purchases. Create a successful online store
Although the upfront cost of the free shipping offer may hurt at first, many merchants see a greater return with increased purchases after offering the policy. To make sure customers notice your generous policy, highlight on your online store that you offer free shipping, like Thrive Market does in the photo above on their homepage.
Here are some practical tips for attracting buyers with your delivery policy for your online store .
- Offer free shipping to reduce the overall cost of your item for shoppers and incentivize purchase.
- Highlight in your online store that you offer free shipping so shoppers are motivated to continue shopping.
13. Build your awareness list
Growing your business involves more than your customers – you also need to connect with people in your industry who can help you reach more buyers within your target audience. Networking with the right groups allows merchants to generate product buzz and expand their reach to connect with as many customers as possible. Sellers should consider contacting: her online store .
- Traditional Reporters – publication writers who specialize in your industry and can create content about your products
- Industry bloggers — writers who create content on blogs that focus on your industry and feature products like yours
- Social media influencers – people who comment on your industry on social media and have a large number of followers
- Like-minded entrepreneurs — like– minded entrepreneurs who are committed to your industry and know your products
These four groups can quickly spread the word about your product, so it’s worth reaching out to the network and sharing why it might be worth working with you. Create a successful online store.
Here are some practical tips for building your mailing list for your online store :
- Use tools like Buzzsumo and Voila Norbert to find influencers in your industry that you could reach out to.
- Organize the people you want to contact with specialized categories, like their number of followers or the likelihood of responding.
14. Use off-the-shelf storefront tools
Merchants who don’t have coding experience should consider using software, like Shopify and BigCommerce, to set up their online store. These programs have built-in store templates, so sellers can easily customize their sites without any programming or graphic design knowledge. Create a successful online store.
Shopify makes it easy for sellers to customize the design of their online store.
For sellers interested in Shopify, check out our guide to the platform ‘s free shop themes to start taking advantage of the software’s design tools.
Here are some practical tips for using ready-to-use storefront tools: online store
- Make sure that the design of the model you have chosen matches the personality of your key buyers and your brand image. Software, like Shopify and BigCommerce, usually contains recommendations on which types of businesses are suitable for each design.
- If you’re paying for a Shopify theme or other software template, consider the cost of a graphic designer as well. A designer will cost more than almost any model, but it’s worth knowing the difference in cost to assess the value of the model.
15. Keep an eye on the competition
Customers scour online stores for the lowest prices and the best overall shopping experiences. To keep shoppers attracted to their store, merchants need to identify stores similar to their own business that they can benchmark against. Do these stores offer 60 or 30 day return policies? Do they offer free shipping or only paid options? Determining what makes competitors more advantageous allows sellers to determine what they need to change in their business to retain loyal customers and attract new buyers. Create a successful online store.
Here are some practical tips for assessing your competition: their online store
- Find products like yours in major marketplaces, not just other online stores. Sites like Amazon and eBay are great indicators of competitive pricing for your products and industry. Use their prices as a reference for your own prices to attract more buyers.
- Consider the design of competitors’ sites, not just their product offerings. Note how it could be friendlier than your store and how it could attract buyers.
16. Use high resolution photos.
Humans are visual creatures. We process images in 1/10 of a second and understand visual information 60,000 times faster than words. With this natural tendency towards visuals, product images make a strong and immediate impression on shoppers. Using clear, high-definition photos that highlight product details is key to quickly attracting buyers without losing their attention.
Show multiple angles of your product with photos so that buyers can fully imagine the item and know all its details. Unable to see the product in person, shoppers will feel more secure with their online purchase if they have a full visual understanding of the item.
Here are some practical tips for using high-definition product photos for your online store :
- Enable a 360-degree photo tool on product pages so shoppers can see the entirety of a product.
- Enable a zoom feature on product photos so shoppers can examine your items in more detail.
17. Offer incentives.
Online store owners don’t have to worry about marketplace rules that limit what they can include on product pages or in communication with buyers. Merchants with stores should take advantage of this control by offering incentives to shoppers. Whether it’s a pop-up discount on your store’s homepage or a promotional email on an ongoing sale, sellers need to actively reach out to buyers with different types of incentives to make purchases. purchases
Merchants should use data-driven tools (see tip 11) to segment their customers and target incentives to different groups of buyers. For example, you can send an email offering a discount on a first purchase to site visitors who have visited the product pages but have never made a purchase.
Here are some practical tips for offering incentives for your online store :
- Use pop-up discount boxes on your site occasionally, not frequently. Bombarding your site visitors with pop-ups will likely irritate them and drive them away from your store.
- Track the most frequently used discount codes to determine which promotions encouraged the most purchases and should be used again in the future.
18. Encourage social sharing
Organic word-of-mouth marketing on social media can boost the growth of your e-commerce business. Public discussions of your brand and products on social media serve as social proof – the psychological phenomenon of people assuming that the behavior of others reflects correct behavior. Online shoppers can’t see your products in person, so they consider what other customers have to say about your business on Facebook when determining whether to make a purchase. Create a successful online store.
Encourage social media buzz around your product by launching a campaign that encourages sharing. For example, a brand can invite its customers to participate in a contest if they leave a comment on a post on social networks or tag a friend. Merchants should also encourage social sharing by making their social media channels easily accessible on their site.
Here are some practical tips to encourage sharing on social media:
- Don’t limit social sharing to buyers! Reach out to other brands you’ve partnered with and encourage them to share information about your business or tag your brand in their social media content.
- Don’t break the chain of sharing. If someone mentions your brand on social media, try to continue using tactics like re-tweeting or commenting below the post.
19. Take advantage of email marketing
Email marketing is an easy way for merchants to build relationships with their customers. Merchants can send targeted messages to segments of buyers that meet the specific needs of each group. By appealing to buyer interests, email marketing is a powerful tool to encourage sales and increase revenue. Create a successful online store.
To get started, you’ll need to collect buyers’ emails and make sure they want to receive messages from you. There are plenty of opportunities to ask buyers if they want to receive email notifications, such as during the checkout process or even in a pop-up while browsing.
Not every buyer will agree to sign up for your mailing list, but the group of customers who will will be an enthusiastic set of buyers who are excited about your brand and will likely respond well to your email marketing.
Here are some practical tips for using email marketing:
- Use an email marketing tool, like Campaign Monitor , to track the success of your messages, such as how many times they were opened or which links were clicked most often.
- Track customers who unsubscribe from your mailing list with email marketing software. Using other information from their buyer profile, try to deduce why they may have unsubscribed and how you can use this knowledge to avoid future cancellations.
20. Offer Generous Refund and Money-Back Guarantee Policies
Buying a product online with a limited return policy is risky. The customer can’t see the item in person, so he has to hope that the product is actually as described. With the possibility that the product may not meet their standards, most buyers will not purchase a product online if returns are not accepted.
Sellers can build buyer confidence and drive purchases by offering generous return and refund guarantee policies. Allowing customers to return an item if they change their mind or if it doesn’t match the product description shows other consumers that you trust your buyers and want to provide them with value. Create a successful online store.
A money back guarantee is very important. You need to give your customers a way to respond in case they don’t like the product. This does not mean that they will necessarily ask for a refund. Sure, some of them will, but most people just need to know that there is a backup option. People by nature are not risk takers so this flexible payment policy will be attractive to them. As a result, you’ll get more customers than if you didn’t have a money-back guarantee.
Here are some handy tips for return and money-back guarantee policies:
- Create a policies page on your site to outline the exact terms and conditions of acceptable returns and money back guarantee claims. Your customers will appreciate the transparency of the page when trying to understand their orders.
- Consider offering free shipping on returns. Offering customers free returns is an added cost for merchants, but offering the policy also brings the return of encouraging brand loyalty with excellent customer service.
Organize your store for more conversions
Online stores give merchants complete autonomy over customer experiences. Instead of following the policies of a marketplace, a seller can create their own online store on their terms to shape the product interactions of their buyers. Create a successful online store.
Merchants with this freedom as an online store owner can encourage more conversions if they know how to craft each element of their store. By following the strategies outlined in this guide, merchants can become more aware of how customers perceive each element of the store and apply that knowledge to build their store. Organizing an online store to align with the desires and motivations of key buyers gives sellers an edge over less attentive competitors.
