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Jose Duarte on the six best ways to drive eCommerce sales

There are plenty of ways to improve eCommerce sales. While some are certainly valuable, others are simply obsolete suggestions that create don’t produce any real results. As the industry continues to evolve on an annual basis with new trends and advances, adaptability is vital to a business’s success. Jose Duarte, one of Costa Rica’s most prolific business owners, shares some of the secrets that have helped him endure over the past two decades with his operations.

Make and distinguish your ideal customer. Identifying the target customer will allow the business to create a marketing strategy that is easily accepted by consumers. General marketing plans can be sporadic and almost never produce the intended results.

Explains Duarte, “The advantage to identifying your target is that you wind up with a superior understanding of what clients require. From that point, it ends up less demanding to create a uniformed pattern and to identify communications channels that can help you reach your target audience.”

In order to achieve identification, survey existing customers to gauge demographics, pain points (challenges that customers face related to the business) and preferences. Learn what triggers customers and what they would like to see improved on the eCommerce site.

Employ ‘knolling’ to increase visual interest in the website. Numerous eCommerce sites put the focus on top-notch photography to get consumers’ attention, as visual cues are a significant attraction. For example, the majority of the product advertising seen on social media sites such as Facebook rely on images to increase click-through rates.

“One prevalent approach for creating visual cues in some industries is called ‘knolling,’” says Duarte. “Knolling refers to organizing displayed marketing images at 90-degree angles. Overhead shots are then taken, resulting in a symmetrical effect that appeals to the consumer.”

Keep menu navigation to a minimum. In eCommerce website design, less is more. Consumers don’t want to scroll through countless pages of information on a single page. Use categories and organize products so that navigation is easy and doesn’t overwhelm the site visitor. If a user has to use the mouse’s scroll button more than three or four times, the page is too long.

Make sure pages are optimized for mobile users. The majority of the shoppers today visit websites using portable methods such as smartphones and tablets and 69% of consumers acknowledge that they are more likely to purchase from a site that is designed for mobile users. Offering a clean mobile version indicates to the consumer that the company is on top of its game and has shoppers in mind with its operations.

Promote stories, not products. Storytelling is a favorite eCommerce hack among successful business operators. An engaging story that can appeal to the shopper’s emotions can go a long way toward developing loyal customers. “This approach only works if you are good at evoking emotions,” asserts Duarte. “The company’s values are likely to attract like-minded consumers who will share your products with others.”

Investing in cybersecurity is an obligation, not an option. Payment fraud is one of the basic kinds of cybercrime. What’s more, considering how many small eCommerce operations can have various vulnerable points, putting resources into cybersecurity is extremely important.

Outside of budgetary constraints, a break in data and network integrity can be harming to the company’s reputation. This can rapidly prompt to once loyal customers looking for alternatives out of a lack of confidence.

Running an online business site is always a challenge. Be that as it may, it’s without a doubt an endeavor that can harvest immense benefits when managed appropriately. By following these suggestions, any eCommerce entrepreneur will see a substantial increase in sales, as well as in brand awareness.