Business Tips

How to Increase Online Sales in 5 Simple Steps

Last updated January 2022

In 2017, global e-commerce sales amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars, and this number is predicted to grow tremendously over the next few years.

Every second of everyday people are on the internet, browsing different stores, looking for the products they need and want. With endless sites selling the same products, there are many factors that determine why a customer decides to purchase from a specific site over another.

In order to help you become a major player in your industry, we have come up with 5 simple steps that will help to increase your online sales today.

  1. Build trust

Since you never actually spend face-to-face time with your customers, it is essential to get them to trust you in other ways. You can do this by including endorsements, testimonials and case studies from your actual clients, as well as by joining local business groups and becoming an active member of the community. Feature real customer testimonials in order to personalize your website. Most importantly, invest in security: always display the payment providers you work with and add an SSL certificate to your site.

  1. Add visual content

Make sure to incorporate visual content into your website that fits to both desktop and mobile phones. During last year’s busy holiday shopping season, a third of all online purchases came from smartphone users. This is precisely why you have to make sure your site will suit any type of mobile device and will present your content, whether video or not, in the best possible way.

Furthermore, by investing in the right type of content, you’ll be able to increase online sales. Video content sees a 27% higher click-through rate and 35% higher web conversion as opposed to images. Videos also have the power to elicit emotion which improves the viewers level of engagement.

  1. Offer free shipping

Research has shown that free shipping continues to drive purchasing decisions and ultimately convinces visitors to buy online. In fact, it is so useful that some visitors will actually buy more than what they intended to in order to qualify for free shipping.

  1. Improve your site’s navigation and speed

Navigation on both desktop and mobile is absolutely crucial. Make sure to keep your site professional, user-friendly, clean of spelling mistakes. Make sure to include strong calls to action.

Invest in improving your site’s loading speed and streamlining the user experience by minimizing the number of clicks required from the time the customer lands on the homepage until they reach the actual checkout. This also means that you shouldn’t urge your customers to open an account and input a ton of information that they would rather keep to themselves. Keep things as simple and quick as possible.

  1. Offer installment payments

Installment payments, like Splitit, are a new phenomenon popping up across the internet. If a consumer has the option to split his/her payment into monthly installments before making an online purchase, the customer is likely to increase his/her average order value (AOV) by roughly 80%, thereby decreasing cart abandonment rates and increasing sales revenue.

Splitit allows customers to use their existing credit or debit card and divide the total purchase cost across multiple payments. There is no application or processing form, which allows for a smooth checkout and payment process. Also, Splitit has a straight forward API integration, with no hidden complexities.

Become an industry leader

The future of online sales is rising and now more than ever your store must stand out. A combination of these best practices is a great start to increasing sales. Always remember that your customers are people just like you; they want to feel engaged, gain a sense of trust, be time efficient and most importantly, feel that they are getting a good value for their money.