It’s a tough time for retailers as the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to run riot around the globe. The lockdown closure of brick-and-mortar outlets puts ecommerce in a unique position. With huge swathes of the world confined indoors, ecommerce is predicted to increase by 50%. Ecommerce titans, like Amazon, will use this opportunity to seize more of the online shopping market. It’s crucial for online shops to make the most of this bizarre situation and ease the expected losses from people losing all or part of their salary. Here are some brilliant ways you can maximise orders on online store.
Have a Sale
You’ve probably already received numerous sales emails from the shops you’re subscribed to. This is a great opportunity to offload that stock that isn’t selling so well with generous discounts. Don’t forget to tell your email list and social media networks about this too! Avoid using negative language and imagery; you only want positive associations with your brand.
Offer Free Shipping
Attract those potential buyers who abandon their shopping carts due to shipping costs. Free shipping is a guaranteed way to escalate sales numbers. Besides, who doesn’t like free stuff?
Extend Your Returns and Refund Policies
For logistical reasons, people might not be able to get to the post office any time soon. Make their lives easier by elongating the window of time they have to return items. Perhaps you have a 14 day window. Extend this to a month and customers will be more inclined to buy something they’re not 100% sure about.
Optimise Social Media
People are the most social creatures on the planet. Right now, people are using social media platforms more than before to talk to their friends and family through quarantine. One study saw a 76% increase in likes on Instagram ads in two weeks. Now is the best time to make your brand as visible as possible. Make sure your creative organic content gets the biggest reach it can. We wrote a handy blog post about this. If you haven’t already, include shoppable posts on Facebook and Instagram so users can buy your products directly on social media. If you have more free time in your work day, use this time to create a wealth of fun and memorable social content.
Take Advance Orders
Got a new product or range launching soon? Need to delay a product launch? Get customer’s commitment in advance by making advance orders possible. This is an ideal way to secure revenue for the future in these uncertain times.
Sell Gift Cards
Similar to advance orders, sell digital gift cards that customers can give to loved ones. This will attract more customers, whom may never have heard of your shop. Sell them at a discounted rate to really reel in these purchases.
Use Government Aid
We’re living an unprecedented moment in modern history. Many local and national governments around the world have implemented tax breaks, interest-free loans, grants, wage relief and other measures to help businesses. Many are specifically aimed at small businesses too, so check what’s available to you in your region.
Innovate
This coronavirus has seen massive numbers of companies rearranging how they do things. Consider incorporating these dramatic changes to your ecommerce strategy. Test low-cost new ideas that you may not have thought of before. With so many retailers panicking, they may not be thinking of innovation right now. This puts you in an advantageous position. Make sure the changes are quick to implement though.
Nobody can predict how the next few months will turn out. In these trying times, it’s important to strengthen your business as much as possible and get as many orders as you can. Take these steps to bolster your online shop and maybe you’ll learn some new techniques to keep in place after the lockdown ends.
