Do you want to work from home and sell products you love? You need an eCommerce store, but you also need to consider how to provide a good shopping experience on that website. Keep reading for some tips and tricks to help
Easy Links
When marketing your eCommerce store off of your website, you should make finding your website easy. On social media, you can do this by including a link to your store in your bio and your social media posts. You can also include a link to your store or an individual product in your email marketing campaigns. If you can make it easy for your customers to go to your store, then you can increase the chances of them buying something.
Include your website on your business card or mention it when talking to potential customers in person. Try to give a memorable website name so that people can find you later. That way, they won’t have to struggle to get to your website.
Clear Navigation
Once someone gets to your website, you want to keep making things easy for them. Have a clear navigation bar at the top of your site, and make the main page of your store one of the pages on the navigation bar. You can also link to common shop sections so that people don’t have to search a lot to find what they want.
Going from page to page on your site should be simple and clear. If you aren’t sure if your navigation is good, ask a friend for their opinion. Someone else can give you an objective look at how easy it is to get around your website.
Responsive Design
As more people use their mobile devices to browse the web, having a responsive design for your site will be even more important. You should test the look and feel of your website on your cell phone and tablet to make sure everything looks good. Make sure text doesn’t go off the page or overlap in weird ways. If something looks off, go back to your computer to change the layout.
Most website builders let you adjust the mobile and desktop views separately. If you can, you should do this so that changes won’t affect your site on a computer. But you can still take advantage of any mobile traffic you get so that you can convert them to customers.
Answer Questions
When writing product descriptions and sales pages, consider what you would want to know about the product as a customer. Make sure to answer questions about size, color, and any other physical components of your product. Include if you offer returns or exchanges and the policies behind them. Answer any other questions about the product, such as how to use it, its features and benefits, and anything else you can think of.
Answering these questions on your product page can give your customers a better idea of if they want to buy the item. They won’t have to contact you and wait for you to respond to answer them.
Share Reviews
Even if you can answer customer questions, they may still want to know if others like the product. As you get more sales, consider including customer reviews and testimonials on your sales pages. Then, potential buyers can learn more about the product from the consumer side. You can also use testimonials and reviews when marketing your business on social media, and they can show social proof.
Don’t be afraid to share a few negative reviews because your product probably isn’t for everyone. You don’t have to include a ton of negative information, but having some to balance out the positive can give customers a better idea of if the product is right for them.
Payment Gateways
Another essential part of any eCommerce store is how you will collect payment. You can choose from a variety of payment gateways, like PayPal, Stripe, and Square. Consider adding multiple options so that customers can choose the payment method that works best for them. That way, people won’t have to create a new account or anything just to buy from you.
If you sell higher-priced items, you can also consider adding financing options. Perhaps you sell pools, and your pool cost is in the thousands. Many people probably can’t afford to make a single payment, but they may be able to do installments. If you advertise financing on your site, people may be more likely to buy from you.
Customer Focus
You should also put a large focus on customer service. While you may never see customers in person, they’re still real people, and they may have questions or problems you need to address. Even if you don’t have help, try to give the best customer service you can. Respond to messages within 24 hours during the week, and try to get back to weekend messages on Mondays.
If something is an emergency, try to respond sooner than that. Then, you can avert the situation, and you can make your customer happy. If you provide good customer service, that can be a great way to gain repeat customers. But providing bad customer service or none at all can keep people from coming back.
Return Policy
If you sell physical products, consider your return policy. Think about if you want to offer refunds or exchanges when people return their products. Consider if people can return any product or if it has to be in a specific condition to qualify for a refund. Then, make that refund policy clear on your website and product pages. That way, people can know if they can get their money back before they buy from you.
Now, you may not want to offer refunds on digital products because it can be impossible to take those back. However, you may want to offer a partial refund if someone isn’t happy. This is all part of your customer service, and it can be a great way to improve the online shopping experience.
Running an online store can be a great way to make money, but it still takes work. Keep these tips in mind next time you want to edit your eCommerce website.
