The world of ecommerce has blossomed in recent years, making it an increasingly popular way for Ottawa businesses to reach customers and drive sales. Many businesses with brick and mortar stores have closed shop in Ottawa and pivoted to selling online since the pandemic. However, with more and more businesses vying for attention, it can be challenging to stand out in a crowded online marketplace. Especially if your target market is beyond Ottawa. Here are ten effective ways to increase the sales of your Ottawa ecommerce business.
Perform market research for your Ottawa ecommerce business
One of the most important steps in increasing the sales of your Ottawa ecommerce business (or any business, really) is conducting market research. This will help you understand your target audience, their preferences, and purchasing behavior. With this information, you can tailor your marketing and sales strategies to appeal to your target audience.
Many Ottawa ecommerce stores add products without and consumer insights and just hope they sell. Doing market research will put you many steps ahead of your competitors. It’s better to have a few popular products in your ecommerce store, rather than loads of unpopular products taking up inventory.
To conduct market research, you can use various tools, including surveys, focus groups – and data analytics (such as Google analytics). With some technical expertise, you can use Google Analytics to track your website traffic and customer behavior, and then use this data to make informed decisions about your marketing strategies.
Consider CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)
CRO is the process of improving your website’s user experience to increase the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. By optimizing your website’s design, content, and functionality, you can increase the chances of converting visitors into customers.
To optimize your website for conversions, you can use tools such as A/B testing, heat maps, and user testing to identify areas that need improvement. You can also simplify your checkout process and use cart reminders to reduce cart abandonment rates.
Promotions in and out of Ottawa
Promotions such as discounts and free shipping can help incentivize customers to make a purchase. You can use promotions strategically, like offering discounts during slow periods or on specific products to encourage sales, or offer them to local Ottawa customers specifically.
Email marketing is key for ecommerce stores
Email marketing can be a powerful tool to increase sales and engage with customers. You can use email to promote sales, share new products or features – and provide personalized recommendations based on your customers’ purchase history. By creating engaging and relevant email content, you can keep your customers engaged with your business.
If you have a brick and mortar store in Ottawa, along with your ecommerce store, consider collecting customer emails there to send them promotions (and to add them to your email list.
Improve your customer service
Great customer service is crucial to building customer loyalty and increasing sales. Slow responses lose potential sales all of the time (especially in our industry!). Ensure that your customer service team is responsive, helpful, and knowledgeable. You can also provide customers with various channels to reach your team, such as email, phone, or live chat.
Build partnerships in Ottawa and beyond
Building partnerships with other Ottawa businesses in complementary industries can help increase brand awareness and drive sales. You can collaborate on promotions or content, and cross-promote each other’s businesses to reach new audiences.
Advertise online targeting Ottawa consumers using PPC
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be an effective way to reach potential customers (local to Ottawa, and global) and drive sales. By using platforms such as Google Ads or social media advertising, you can target specific demographics and interests, and track the performance of your campaigns to optimize for conversions.
Expand your ecommerce product line
Expanding your product line can help increase sales and appeal to a wider audience. Conducting market research can help you identify gaps in the market and new product opportunities. You can also analyze your sales data (see Market Research section) to identify which products are popular and which ones could be improved or expanded. If you’re mostly selling local, it’s important that the feedback you receive is specific to Ottawa consumers.
Create a seamless check-out process, and use cart reminders
A complicated or lengthy checkout process can lead to cart abandonment and lost sales. We’ve all been there! Adding items to our carts and then forgetting about them later. The longer it takes for potential customers to be reminded of the items in their cart, the higher the likelihood that buyer’s remorse sets in before they even make the purchase. To increase conversions, make your checkout process as simple and seamless as possible. You can also use cart reminders to remind customers of items left in their cart and incentivize them to complete their purchase.
There you have it. Most effective strategies used to drive sales in ecommerce is to hit ‘pause’ before taking more actions, and to analyze what you’re currently doing before doing more. More isn’t always better – more action will often lead to more of the same thing, and if your Ottawa ecommerce store sales are stale, then consider diving into market strategy and analytics before doing more.