[FR] 10+ tips to boost e-commerce sales

In 2024, 34% of French e-tailers say they are less optimistic than the previous year – and this figure is higher than last year(Fevad). If this applies to you, you’ve come to the right place to put a smile on your face!

Check out our smart tips for boosting your e-commerce sales, focusing on ROI and customer experience.

1) Diversify your marketing channels

This first tip will boost the traffic generated on your website. And attracting more visitors means attracting more potential customers!

Add to your marketing plan channels that you haven’t yet tested to promote your online shop.

For example, you could consider investing in :

• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), to make your site appear higher in the search engine results
• Social networking, through well thought-out organic publications
• Online advertising, whether on social networks, via sponsored banners, or on search engines
• Remarketing, i.e. sending ads to people who have already visited your e-commerce site
• Partnerships with influencers or business partners, to give visibility to your products and your brand
• Email marketing, with a database rental that complies with current regulations (in particular the RGPD)…

Put a small portion of your budget into one or more of these channels. Then look at the return on investment you get after a few months to see if you need to invest more in them to boost your e-commerce sales.

2. Work on the user experience of your e-commerce site

A website with fluid, intuitive navigation means it’s easier for your target customers to convert. This is where the user experience of your website comes into its own: making the act of buying online easier.

To achieve this, here are a few tips:

• Reduce the loading time of your pages
• Use more engaging visuals and more complete descriptions on your product sheets – they should enable your customers to imagine themselves making a purchase.
• Improve your purchase tunnel, by simplifying the login or creation of a customer account, by optimising your shopping basket page, or by offering different payment methods.

3. Make the most of personalisation on your website

Thanks to marketing personalisation, you can create a feeling of closeness to the brand among your potential buyers. In fact, 78% of consumers have already chosen, recommended or paid more for a brand that offers a personalised service or experience.(McKinsey).

That’s why it’s a good idea to set up systems on your site that display different recommended products depending on the visitor’s profile. These could be products related to their previous orders, products already in their basket, or products recommended based on their browsing history.

Overall, apply this notion of personalisation to every marketing or communication action you take. The more you can make your customers (current or potential) understand that you are interested in their needs, the more likely they will be to trust you… and to increase your e-commerce sales.

4. Include social proof in your communications

50% of consumers trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends or family(BrightLocal). All the testimonials from third parties who have enjoyed your products are therefore ways of boosting your e-commerce sales, by creating more trust in your online brand.

So take the time to add :

• Reviews from satisfiedcustomers
• User Generated Content, i.e. all the content (photo or video) that your customers create about your brand
• Testimonials from influencers who have tested and approved your products

5. Be educational by anticipating your customers’ questions

E-tailers face a major challenge: that of creating trust in their brand without customers even being able to touch the products they sell. By anticipating the questions your potential customers may have about your brand, you can reassure them.

In particular, you can consider :

• Highlighting your terms and conditions of sale and delivery
• Creating a FAQ, where you provide answers to the questions most frequently asked by your customers
• Setting up a blog, with educational articles explaining how best to use your products
• Use the video format to present tutorials on how to use your products properly…

6. Create a sense of urgency

Creating a sense of urgency is one of the traditional sales techniques for increasing a website’s conversion rate. The idea? Propose tempting offers for your customers – price being one of the biggest disincentives for your prospects.

So think about offering limited promotional offers for your new customers, for your loyal customers, or even during marketing highlights such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Why not even launch competitions on social networks?

7. Set up a system for resending abandoned shopping baskets

Recovering abandoned shopping baskets is a marketing strategy that consists of bringing back to your site potential customers who have not completed their purchases. There are systems that are very easy to set up that allow you to send emails to those whose email addresses you already have in your database. Think about it!

8. Improve your e-commerce delivery experience

9 out of 10 e-consumers have abandoned their online shopping basket because of unsatisfactory delivery options(Uber Direct x Ipsos). This is a good reason to highlight your delivery information on your site and, more generally, in all your communications.

Note that the delivery-related issues most frequently raised by consumers are the following:

• Waiting too long (44%)
• No home delivery (20%)
• Inability to choose a specific delivery slot (12%)

So take care when choosing your e-commerce carrier: it must be a genuine partner in the customer experience you offer your target customers.

You could also consider offering free delivery above a certain value, or an eco-responsible means of delivery, to set yourself apart from your competitors.

To delve deeper into this subject, take a look at our 6 ways of optimising e-commerce delivery for an optimal customer experience.

9. Look after your customer returns policy

If there’s one subject that can boost your e-commerce sales, it’s your customer returns.

When you consider that 44% of consumers would not order from an online shop if the return period was less than 30 days(Sendcloud), it seems important to take care with your returns policy. But that’s not all: you should also be clear about the cost to your customers of these returns.

Another differentiating element, which can increase conversions on your site: indicate whether you provide your customers with return packaging, to limit their costs when it comes to customer returns. Return packaging is designed to withstand two shipments, so customers can send their order straight back in the same packaging if they wish. Clever!

10. Invest in marketplaces to boost your sales

Do you think of marketplaces as competitors to your online shop? But you can use them to boost your e-commerce sales! The idea is to attract new customers and then build up their loyalty by redirecting them to your e-commerce site.

For example, you can add a discount voucher to each order shipped, for the next order placed with you… if it is placed on your website itself. It’s a great way to build brand awareness through a marketplace!

To find out more, read our advice on launching your e-commerce on a marketplace.

11. Build customer loyalty to boost your e-commerce sales

Last but not least: build customer loyalty! You probably already know that it costs less to retain an existing customer than to recruit a new one. The aim is toincrease the rate of repeat purchases on your shop.

To retain your customers, you can use traditional techniques such as setting up a loyalty programme, offering them special deals to keep them coming back to your site, or creating a committed community.
But you can also build loyalty through packaging. Personalised, wow-factor packaging, with goodies inside, can be a superb way of creating a memorable experience for your customers.

To find out more, take a look at 6 examples of successful customer experiences thanks to e-commerce packaging.

Take a leaf out of these tips: you’ll see your e-commerce sales significantly boosted, and your brand awareness increased!