10 Remarkable Ecommerce Marketing Tips for Boosting Your Sales

Are you struggling with selling your ecommerce products? If your answer is “yes,” then you have to redefine your ecommerce marketing strategies.

This post contains 10 remarkable ecommerce marketing tips to help you increase the revenue of your online store.

Don’t feel like reading? Watch the highlights in this video:

1. Create a Content Marketing Plan

It is necessary to create a content marketing plan that includes your products, newsletters, social media, and videos.

Adding a blog is key to educating your customers about your products without directly giving them a sales pitch.

A blog will also help you to get a better ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs), as well as more traffic and conversions.

Create a weekly plan, and then analyze how well your content marketing plan is performing.

2. Fix Technical Errors

Audit your site and see if there are canonical or duplicate page errors. If there are, then fix them using extensions or proper coding.

There might be broken links as well, which can create a bad user experience. So it is important to fix such links.

Your site should load within three to four seconds. Otherwise, customers will opt out, leading to high bounce rates.

If you can’t take care of these problems by yourself, then ask an expert to fix these errors on your site.

3. Utilize the Power of Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for boosting the product sales because there are millions of active members on different social media platforms.

Create accounts on major channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr, and Tumblr.

Post about your products regularly. You can automate posts (and save time and get insights) by using social media monitoring tools for different channels.

Study the reports and identify the channels providing you the greatest value. Try to focus more on those channels so you can yield a better ROI.

4. Create a Mobile App

This is one of the most important points of all the ecommerce marketing tips. Mobile users are increasing day by day and will continue to grow in coming years.

Having a mobile app will not only help you to get new customers but will also help you retain old ones.

A mobile app is the best way to build brand awareness in front of millions of mobile users by means of push notifications.

In fact, you can use your mobile app to retarget your audience to Facebook. Apps are the best way to promote new products to customers based on their interests.

Mobile apps boost the revenue of businesses that interact with their audiences from time to time.

5. Grow Your Email List

According to one study, people purchase products during their return visits to a store.

The best way to get these return visits is by growing your email subscriber list.

Apply best practices for email marketing in order to get good open and click-through rates.

Email is one-on-one personal communication, so the chance of someone purchasing your products as a result of email is high.

You can take advantage of email marketing to boost your ecommerce marketing sales by sending emails about a new product launch.

In fact, you can also retain your loyal customers by sending them emails of products based on their interests.

6. Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment

According to the Baymard Institute, the average abandonment rate is 69.99%. This means that most people who add a product to a cart won’t buy.

Manaferra’s 2023 research on why buyers abandon carts indicates that:

    • 60% of all abandoned carts are due to Extra Fees
    • 37% of all abandoned carts are because Account Creation was required
    • 28% of all abandoned carts are because of a Complicated Check-Out Process
    • 19% of all abandoned carts are because they Didn’t Trust the Site with Credit Card Information

Convert them into buyers instead depends on you improving your site and checkout process.

Here are some of the tips you can follow:

    1. Send emails referring to shopping cart abandonment
    2. Make your checkout process simple
    3. Provide free shipping
    4. Simplify the navigation process for the checkout
    5. Offer the best price match guarantee

7. Personalization

Personalization is the key to success in the ecommerce industry. Real-time, personalized communication based on customer interests and behavior is pervasive.

Personalization optimizes the customer journey by reminding customers about the products in their carts and recommending new products to purchase.

8. Optimize for Mobile

You must optimize your site for mobile devices in order to increase your purchase rate because people are highly active on mobile.

Here are the key points you need to consider for mobile optimization:

    1. Responsive mobile design
    2. Avoid using flash
    3. Good site visibility
    4. Fast site loading speed
    5. Simple checkout process

Also, if someone adds a product to the cart on the mobile site, then that item should also be available on the desktop site and vice versa.

9. Generate Product Reviews

People like to refer to reviews before making a decision to purchase. Doing so helps them to trust the product and make their decisions.

In fact, negative reviews are important, so respond to negative reviews instead of deleting them.

10. Loyalty Program

When people buy from your online store, there is a 27% chance they will come back. So it is important to retain them by making them your loyal customers.

You can provide customers reward points, discounts, coupons, free shipping, and special offers as a strategy for creating loyalty.

Wrapping Up Our Ecommerce Marketing Tips

These are some of the most important ecommerce marketing tips that will help you boost your revenue and yield a positive ROI.

Over to You!

Which tip did you like the most? Share any tips you have in the comments section below.

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Originally published 11/18/17; updated 4/14/23 to add current (2023) cart abandonment statistics.

The Truth about Buying UPC Codes: GS1 Required vs Resellers

If you sell products – this post is important to you.

Most physical stores and many online stores, and specifically Amazon, require UPC codes for products listed for sale. You must avoid scam sellers and fakes!

This post is about how to buy UPC Codes without overspending or creating issues by buying from the wrong source.

WARNING: Many resellers of UPC codes are falsely claiming that their codes are GS1 when they are not.

If you are introducing new products to the market, you are eventually going to need to buy a UPC code for each item if you want to sell at Amazon, on Shopping Comparison sites or in stores.

Amazon does cross checking of UPC codes against the GS1 database, but only for Brand Registered Sellers. Unfortunately, Amazon does enforce their UPC Policy if you registered for their Brand Program.

This means any seller registered with Amazon’s Brand Program, without a barcode Prefix directly rented from GS1 will not be able to list their products.

So, essentially, Amazon is forcing you as a seller to pay for expensive UPC codes from GS1 and pay annual fees for the lifetime of your company and product.

Fortunately, if you have not registered for Amazon’s Brand Program (which is the most common case for Amazon Sellers), you will be able to use Barcodes from resellers without issue and save money at the same time.

Renting UPC Codes Instead of Buying

You can now rent UPC codes to use with vendors who do not require you to use only USG1 codes.

Watch this video for details and to better understand the pros and cons of renting vs buying.

Buying UPC Codes from GS1

Using GS1 – US is the only way to have the UPC number registered directly to you in their GEPIR system.

This system is only required by specific retailers and under specific circumstances.

For the majority, this may not be needed and you could save money buying from a reseller.

Here’s a list that we know so far:

GS1 Rental Required: May require
  • Walmart / Sam’s-Club (GS1 Board Member)
  • Kroger / Fred-Meyers
  • Macy’s / Bloomingdale’s (GS1 Governor)
  • Home Depot
  • Lowe’s
  • Costco
  • Nordstroms
  • Neiman Marcus
  • Wegmans (GS1 Governor)
  • Sears
  • GS1 EDI System Providers
  • Amazon (Brand Registry Only)
  • Walmart.com
  • Whole Foods (Amazon subsidiary)
  • Walgreens
  • K-Mart
  • Publix (GS1 Governor)
  • Target (GS1 Governor)
  • QVC (GS1 Governor)
  • JC Penney’s

The Official GS1US site makes this claim that is no longer true:

“There’s only one U.P.C. barcode that’s accepted by retailers everywhere. And it’s only available from GS1 US.”

All sites besides GS1US.org are resellers and the numbers they sell you are registered to the original prefix owners prior to 2002.

Resellers exist due to GS1/UCC’s class action lawsuit and their settlement in 2002. More on this here: (GS1/UCC Settlement).

Their UPC numbers originate from GS1-US (Previously UCC “Uniform Code Council”) before 2002, this is how they can legally sell them.

Buying UPC Codes from a Reseller

When sourcing a UPC Reseller to buy from, there are certain things to be on the lookout for to make sure you are getting a legitimate product.

UPC codeNot every reseller out there is legitimate. Some sell fake/made up numbers that could end up being a costly mistake down the line.

We recommend Bar Codes Talk as they seem the most legitimate and offer both a 115% Lowest Price Guarantee and Works for Amazon Guarantee. They also provide immediate digital delivery of barcodes.

Here are some tips when buying from a reseller. A reseller:

  • Must be selling barcodes that come from a prefix obtained from the UCC (Now known as GS1-US) prior to the 2002 UCC Class Action Lawsuit.
  • Selling UPC/EANs at “Too good to be true” prices, much less than most other resellers, is selling fakes!
  • Should not have been in trouble with state or federal licensing, regulatory, and or law enforcement for any reason, most especially not selling illegitimate barcode numbers, or price-fixing. Example: Federal Trade Commission – Two Barcode Resellers Settle FTC Charges
  • Is a government registered verifiable business (No fly by night companies).
  • Must have a phone number, address, and email contact information.
  • Has a website and is not selling only on eBay or any other “auction” website.

Once you purchase from a reseller, you should receive a list of the UPC Numbers that have been assigned to you.

Registering the numbers to your products is easy (see video below):

And then you will just need to provide these barcodes to whichever store you are working with or enter them in the UPC text box on Amazon when adding a new product.

Unique Products

If you sell handmade goods or collectibles that do not have UPCs and are unique (one of a kind) follow this UPC advice from SingleFeed:

“Do your best to include these unique identifiers in your product feed, but do not make these numbers up. If you’re selling handmade goods, you will not have MPNs or UPCs. That’s actually ok. If you’re buying your inventory from a distributor/supplier and that product has a real manufacturer, though, you can get MPNs and UPCs. It’s going to take work as not all distributors/suppliers are used to giving out this information, but you have to keep on them to do so.”

This UPC issue is going to affect resellers and merchants on a growing number of channels including Amazon and Google.

Resources:

NOTE: Content originally written by Gail Gardner and published 5/13/10. Updated 6/11/20 with current information and to add video. Updated for accuracy and published with new date 11/10/22. This post may contain affiliate links and if you purchase through one of them I may receive a small commission which does not affect the price you pay.

5 Tips to Level-Up Your Ecommerce Supply Chain Management

Ecommerce is a highly competitive sector, often with tight profit margins. Even small differences between companies and their ecommerce supply chain management can have big effects on profitability.

5 Tips to Level-Up Your Ecommerce Supply Chain Management

Online retailers are competing based on price, fulfillment standards, delivery times, returns policies, stock levels, and more, all of which can stand or fall based on the effectiveness of your supply chain management strategy.

Sadly, supply chain management isn’t simple. It incorporates a number of different components, including:

  • identifying the right suppliers for procurement
  • negotiating price and purchase volumes
  • logistics and transportation of products between manufacturers, suppliers, and distribution centers
  • warehouse and inventory management
  • last-mile order fulfillment and delivery to the end buyer
  • returns management

The last few years only added to the complexities of supply chain management, with many supply chains still suffering aftershocks from the upheaval of COVID-19.

For example, China recently put much of the country into lockdown again, so just looking at the map of containers off the coast of China waiting to dock and reload is enough to bring any ecommerce owner to tear their hair out.

The good news is that the right supply chain management practices can bring sanity to your supply chain. It makes a difference to begin on the right foot.

So here are 5 supply chain management tips for new business owners getting started in the ecommerce space, to help keep your supply chain coherent and under control.

1. Connect the Whole Supply Chain

Supply chain management can only succeed when it’s end-to-end, which means ensuring visibility into supply chain logistics both upstream (towards the supplier) as well as downstream (towards the end customer).

Successful ecommerce businesses set up processes for tracing every step of the supply chain, linking procurement, inventory management, and supplier vetting with monitoring conditions of products in transit, storage, and last-mile delivery.

For example, this could include using GPS monitoring to see when your shipment leaves the supplier. It might also encompass condition monitoring tags for tracking temperature and humidity within a warehouse or for tracking shocks and tilts whenever fragile items are handled.

Fortunately, there are plenty of supply chain management technologies available today that allow small businesses to begin with low-cost plans and scale up as their business needs grow.

2. Maximize Warehouse Utilization

Warehouse space is at a premium today, with lease prices rising 25% over the past five years and some retailers struggling even to find warehouses where they need them. With this in mind, more efficient warehouse storage could save you a lot of money and frustration.

If you can store more for the same costs, you’ll be able to reduce the frequency of orders, increase your flexibility regarding warehouse location, and lower your vulnerability to supply chain upsets.

Warehouse management tactics go hand in hand with reliable inventory management and demand forecasting, since you have to pay for everything you store, even if it’s not selling well.

Automated inventory management solutions ensure that you always know when high-demand items are running low, while improved data about consumer preferences and market trends help guide you away from products that could sit on your shelves for months.

3. Flex Your Data Capabilities

As you can see already, data is the foundation for every piece in the supply chain management puzzle. If your data sources are fractured, data updates are delayed, and data entries are inaccurate, you’re basically flying blind in a sky full of obstacles.

It’s vital to invest in automated data integration tools that collect data from all the relevant sources and feed it all into a single data repository, creating a single source of truth that’s constantly updated without requiring tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone manual data entry or data transfer.

Among other things, up-to-date, accurate data enable you to choose the most reliable suppliers; negotiate pricing with logistics and carrier companies; select the right products; identify the best locations for your distribution centers and warehouses; and speed up returns processes.

4. Open up Access to Data Insights

There’s one caveat to the importance of data for effective supply chain management, and that’s the importance of avoiding getting washed away in the flood of figures. Data is only useful if it helps you make better supply chain decisions; otherwise it’s just a waste of space.

That’s why you need intuitive business intelligence dashboards that are designed specifically for supply chain management. The right tools offer plenty of visualizations and graphs that assist you in tracking trends and spotting significant changes at a glance.

You want to be able to zoom in to view specific issues on a granular level, and also pull back to take a high-level overview of your entire supply chain. Whichever solutions you choose, make sure they are easy for non-techies to use.

You might not have the time or money for a data science team, plus you want everyone involved to be able to run their own queries and check up on burning supply chain issues independently – otherwise you’ll always be on the back foot when a crisis appears.

5. Ramp up Communication

Communication issues are the number one cause of breakdowns in relationships, and that includes relationships with your suppliers, logistics providers, and fulfillment teams.

Don’t lose sight of the human in the picture; a little appreciation can go a long way to grease the wheels of commerce. The more you communicate, the better everyone will understand what you want from them and why it matters.

For example, suppliers stand at the top of your supply chain. Keep in touch about your needs, the market trends that each of you is seeing, feedback about product quality, logistics, and storage issues, and more.

If something is urgent, let them know, and likewise when you can wait a little for items so they can prioritize other, more urgent, orders.

Ecommerce Supply Chain Management as a Keystone of Success

Many factors go into building a successful ecommerce business, but supply chain management could be the keystone that holds them all up.

Although it’s challenging, end-to-end supply chain visibility, integrated and automated data processes, and improved communication, analytics tools, and warehouse utilization management all help to set your ecommerce business up for success.

Missing Sales? How to Do Conversion Optimization on Your Site

You might think that increasing traffic to your ecommerce site should be your top priority.

However, it actually makes a lot more sense for you to focus on conversion optimization and conversion rates.

Conversion Optimization Generates Profit

It could be that thousands of people come across your site every day. But generating more traffic does not necessarily increase profitability.

If none of them complete your call to action, you are essentially failing because you won’t be making any sales.

If your customers convert, however, then you are growing your client base and increasing your assets.

A primary purpose of any technology is arguably to simplify life and to make it more efficient.

In the realm of ecommerce, business owners certainly have an interest in making their sites intuitive to use.

Site usability is crucial to achieving conversions and generating sales.

This fact is especially true in light of the increasingly short attention spans of people in modern western culture.

Yet brands do not always realize the measures they should be taking to make the user experience as simple as possible.

Site Navigation

Those knowledgeable about the qualities that contribute to a high-converting site emphasize different tactics.

But a majority of them agree on the fact that site navigation is key. Arielle Hurst says that knowing what users want and how they shop is extremely important.

Understanding your audience will tell you how to organize and lay out your website.

You need to get feedback on what your customers are searching for, whether you do so through surveys, live chat, or some other means.

If your customers often shop on sites like Amazon, including UPC codes in your product descriptions so they show on searches can increase sales.

Another option is to track your customers’ movements on your site. You can then use that information to highlight the products your audience is seeking.

Along the same lines, it’s important your site gives visitors all of the information they need to evaluate your merchandise.

Make sure you have detailed descriptions of what you’re selling and that the purpose of each item is clear.

Read Arielle Hurst’s 12 Ways to Optimize Your Ecommerce Site for Conversions for more tips.

Visuals and Testimonials

Anyone experienced in online marketing should be familiar with the importance of both visuals and customer testimonials.

Visual media is not only powerful but also central to communicating with people in western culture.

You need to be able to showcase your product’s beauty and functionality if you want to persuade people to purchase.

The reason why customer testimonials are important should be obvious. You as a company clearly have an interest in saying that your product is fantastic and that people should buy it.

But there is more credibility in having multiple third parties recommending and promoting you.

Because they are not motivated by your agenda, such recommendations give your company an enormous amount of credibility.

It’s also helpful to include other trust symbols on your site in addition to testimonials and reviews.

You might display security certifications or brands with whom you have done business.

ACS Bathrooms Has a Strategic Home Page

The company ACS Bathrooms is an excellent example of an online site being strategic about keeping people on the site and shopping.

The first image a user sees is that a clearance sale is ending soon. Discounts are a great way of capturing people’s attention.

The third slide on the homepage explains the company’s purpose and why customers should patronize ACS Bathrooms.

Before users even start exploring the site’s products, the company has already communicated their “why” and made an attractive offer.

The company is also shrewd about the explanation of its purpose. The first statement on the list guarantees a 25-year warranty.

Starting with a reason pertaining to security is smart because it appeals to the pain point of uncertainty.

Other advantages listed are the variety of the company’s products, the offer of design advice for customers, and the wide range of shipping locations.

The rest of the slides on the homepage feature high-end products, as well as the company’s showrooms.

These features are designed to bring in significant profits.

The ACS Bathrooms site designers have clearly composed the homepage with the user in mind.

The page appeals to visitors’ desires, needs, and fears. Customers can easily see company contact info in the top right corner of the homepage.

There is also a clear call to action to get the “BEST prices.”

The homepage also prominently features brands with whom ACS Bathrooms collaborates so that the viewer can’t help noticing one of the trust symbols the company utilizes.

It is clear that this site is focusing on conversion optimization.

Leveraging Images and Reviews

ACS Bathrooms unquestionably takes advantage of visuals and client reviews, wisely including both in the navigation bar at the top of the site.

There is a tab for an entire page called “Clients Gallery” where potential customers can scroll through picture after picture of aesthetically pleasing bathroom furnishings.

The “Testimonials” tab features a page that is entirely full of thank you notes from satisfied customers who are grateful for the company’s handiwork.

The images under the “Projects” tab shed light on the fact that ACS Bathrooms tends to furnish high-end hotels and apartment complexes.

Speaking of which, it’s important that your business markets to a specific niche.

You might think you should try to appeal to everyone you can so that you can get every customer possible.

However, it’s actually much more effective to narrow down your target audience.

In the case of ACS Bathrooms, the company is focused on an upscale audience looking for a specific type of luxurious décor.

Limiting your clientele enables you to more easily match your services with what certain customers are seeking.

You enable yourself to become more skilled in one particular field since you won’t be spread thin trying to learn an overwhelming amount of skills.

And believe it or not, you even eliminate some of your competition because you won’t be trying to compete with every marketer out there—just those in your niche.

Have you optimized conversions for a specific target audience? Use conversion optimization to reach shoppers more likely to buy what you offer!

A Few Other Recommendations

As noted earlier, the easier you can make the user experience, the better. Hurst points out that it’s a great idea to be available to help your customers at key points in their journey to purchasing.

For example, right before checking out is a good time to present your customers with a live chat box.

Don’t require shoppers to register in order to check out.

Many people, especially if they are first time visitors to your site, will find registering annoying.

Let them build loyalty to your brand first and register later if they choose.

From my personal experience, Paula’s Choice is an excellent example of a company that offers the option of registering but still allows shoppers to check out as guests.

I’m a loyal customer to Paula’s Choice and have registered with them, but I’ve often forgotten my password.

It’s true that I would save time in the long run by checking out as a registered customer.

However, I appreciate being able to check out as a guest.

In the moment, I don’t usually feel like taking the time to reset my password or register all over again.

Finally, cart abandonment rates are high.

You should therefore always run retargeting campaigns for customers who do not complete the purchasing process.

Conversion Optimization Equals Usability and Credibility

Usability and credibility are the common threads in optimizing your site for conversions.

You should keep the entire buyer journey as easy as possible. Help customers do what they can on their own.

At the same time, you also need recognize what shoppers want, whether they realize it or not. Then provide that for them.

Identifying customer desires and fears is crucial, and you should address them as soon as people land on your site.

Then show your credibility and authority to meet those needs.

By implementing these principles, you will make great strides in creating a site optimized to secure conversions.

 

Image credit: Marketoonist The Customer Journey

Originally published 10/4/16. Content updated 12/21/22 to improve SEO, add resources, and format for mobile devices