By Harry Smith
Running an e-commerce website is no walk in the park. The industry is quite competitive, and you have to keep innovating just to stay in the game. Turning a profit can be even harder since everyone offers competitive pricing. At the end of the day, your overall success will come down to a list of little things that make a big difference. Here are four things you can do to make your e-commerce more profitable.
Create urgency.
The festive season is a great time to hold sales on your website. People are always looking to buy gifts for their loved ones, and they will leap at the chance to take advantage of a discount or sale. The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) will also act in your favor during these sales. Nobody wants to feel like they’ve missed an opportunity.
You can use sentences like “for a limited time only” and “while stock lasts.” These ultimatums are so effective that everyone is using them. You should ensure that you put the most desirable items on sale, or you might be wasting your time. Nobody will pay money for a product they don’t want, no matter how short-term the sale is.
Review your suppliers and service providers.
It’s much easier and more affordable for you as a vendor to stick with one supplier. It takes a long time to establish a routine and pattern that both parties can work with. Switching vendors frequently can disrupt sales and operations. The traditional advice is that you shouldn’t switch vendors unless you absolutely have to.
But then, the festive season might be a good time to at least review your vendors. You’ll be putting a lot of items on sale, and you certainly don’t want them eating into your profits. To do that, you need to make sure you’re getting the best possible prices from your vendors. Anything less wouldn’t do. This also includes how your payment merchant handles your recurring payments. You can read more about recurring payments to find out if you’re getting the best value for your money.
Send seasonal emails.
Seasonal emails are another way to boost your traffic, and ultimately, sales. It may not be the sexiest marketing strategy around, but email marketing is still very effective. People still respond to emails that prompt them to action. You just need to craft the message properly and tailor it to the right audience.
This is where your email list comes in handy. If you don’t already have one, now’s as good a time as any to start compiling one. Tailor your content as much as possible to the audience you’re addressing. You should also consider your customer’s experience. Ensure that the landing page matches what the user is expecting.
Create optimized landing pages.
Speaking of landing pages, you need to create one that’s specifically tailored for the holidays. Consider investing in some good graphics to keep your website festive and jolly. However, you should also be sensitive to the regions. For example, if your market is in China, understand that they don’t celebrate Christmas. The Chinese New Year should be a bigger priority for you.
You should also organize your products so that your customers can easily find the products they need. Create seasonal categories and display them when they are relevant. Besides Christmas and New Year, some other categories you can try are “fall favorites” and “back to school specials.”
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