How to Increase Ecommerce Sales: 11 Tried-and-Tested Tactics

Have you been struggling to find information on how to increase ecommerce sales?

Given the amount of information available online, it can be difficult to find effective strategies to boost sales that actually work.

How can you get your product in front of the right people, direct traffic to your site, offer a smooth shopping experience, and drive online sales?

Use this list of proven, expert-recommended ecommerce strategies to increase ecommerce sales for your business. You can use a mix of tactics that suit your business and are easiest for you to implement.

Let’s get started.

11 Ways to Increase Ecommerce Sales the Right Way

Before you find out how to increase ecommerce sales, you need to know who your target audience is.

Understand their characteristics, location, demographics, purchasing power, etc. This way, you will not have to waste money targeting unqualified individuals who have zero or minimal chances of converting into sales.

Secondly, understand the current state of your business, competitors, and industry. Getting a better understanding of your market position can help you make better business and marketing decisions.

Thirdly, identify a unique selling point (USP) to increase your ecommerce sales.

Why should people choose your business over the other companies in your competition?

Alternatively, ask yourself:

• Is there something that makes your business stand out?
• Which customers do you serve through your products?
• What are the key features of your products?
• What quantifiable benefits will people who use your products get?
• Does your product fill a gap in ways no one else can?

Answering these questions can give you a better idea of your value proposition.

Once you understand these three basic but crucial factors, you will be ready to discover how to increase ecommerce sales.

Use the techniques below to increase ecommerce sales.

1. Leverage Email Marketing

According to a recent survey, 78.29% of respondents consider email marketing to be their top digital marketing channel. More than 55% of marketers use email marketing for customer acquisition to increase sales for their business.

Image via Mailmodo

Email marketing is therefore crucial to any marketer running an ecommerce website.

But how can you use email to increase ecommerce sales?

Start by building an email list. Once you collect the email addresses of potential customers, you can directly communicate with them through their inboxes.

But how can one build an email list?

Create lead magnets that can drive subscriptions and capture leads. These can include guides, checklists, resource kits, and other gated content. Alternatively, add non-intrusive and valuable pop-ups to your website, run promotions, and leverage sign-up forms. You can easily create forms using form builder plugins for WordPress.

What should you do after growing your email list?

Use the right email marketing tools to segment your audience and determine what kind of email campaigns to use to increase ecommerce sales.

There are three types of emails you can send to potential buyers, including:

• Promotional emails: These include periodic newsletters, updates, seasonal emails, new product launches, special promotions, subscriber-only discounts, etc.

• Transactional emails: These include order or subscription confirmation emails, customer satisfaction surveys, shipping details, etc.

• Lifecycle emails: These include emails meant for welcoming a customer, shopping cart abandonment, cross-selling, upselling, browsing abandonment, etc.

Wondering how you can use these types of emails to increase ecommerce sales?

Sending these emails to the right people can help you engage them, generate interest and desire, and encourage them to buy your products.

Leverage the following best practices for email marketing:

• Segment your audience to increase ecommerce sales through tailored messaging.
• Send emails with relevant messages at the right time using behavior-triggered campaigns.
• Ensure your calls-to-action (CTAs), subject lines, and preheaders reinforce your message and that your email copy is compelling.
• Optimize your landing pages, email templates, and ad campaigns for mobile devices.
• Personalize messages to make sure the incentives and content your emails include are relevant to your target audience.
• Use analytics to determine what kind of message would engage and resonate with your customers.
• A/B test different elements of your emails and keep optimizing them for better results.
• Use direct chat links or surveys to collect customer feedback and improve user experiences.

Use professional email marketing services to get quicker and better results.

Pro Tip: After sending several emails, you'll probably notice from your analytics dashboard that some recipients do not even open the emails. In this case, pick a different, more engaging subject line and send them the same email. After all, they didn't open it the first time!

2. Use Social Media Marketing

According to GWI’s latest social media report, 57% of people use social media to discover new brands and products. A whopping 78% use it for brand research to learn more about a brand or product before they make a purchase.

Image via GWI

If you want these users to find your products, you should use social media marketing the right way.

Here’s how to use it effectively to increase ecommerce sales:

• Use hashtags that boost discoverability.
• Boost posts and leverage paid ads.
• Run ambassador programs.
• Offer exceptional customer care on social platforms.
• Run influencer campaigns.
• Use and ask for reviews from customers on Facebook.
• Create affiliate and referral programs.
• Use micro-targeting to create custom audiences and target them with messages specifically designed to appeal to them.
• Interact personally with your existing and potential customers on social media.
• Leverage social listening to discover what people think about your products and identify areas and products you can improve.
• Partner with relevant brands for additional exposure.
• Leverage analytics to gain valuable insights, optimize your marketing plan, and increase ecommerce sales.
• Offer social proof through user-generated content (UGC).
• Feature notable customers and share their stories.
• Create referral and affiliate programs.

For example, Warby Parker features notable customers on their Instagram Stories. They also repurpose their stories for the feed and Highlights section.

Image via Instagram

Most importantly, don't forget to leverage other features of platforms like Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram to increase ecommerce sales.

For example, Shops on Instagram and Facebook can help you simplify your shopping experiences. Your business can use them to increase ecommerce sales and boost discoverability.

With 60.9% of shoppers turning to Instagram to research brands or products, you should link your ecommerce business with Instagram and Facebook. You can also load your catalog, making it easy for customers to shop for products through your videos and photos.

But that's not all.

Other ways to increase ecommerce sales using Facebook and Instagram include:

• Create a customizable storefront on Instagram, which allows people to buy directly from your profile page.
• Leverage the link in the bio section to collect emails, generate leads, and boost your conversion rate.
• Use tags to highlight products on your catalog and allow people to learn more about them from your Stories and feed.
• Leverage Checkout on Instagram to deliver a seamless shopping experience right from the app.
• Use Collection on Instagram to curate products using themes that you like.
• Showcase all information about the items you sell on the product detail page of Instagram.
• Maximize your reach with ads that enable you to select campaign objectives, target the right audience, review campaigns, and track performance.
• Announce upcoming launches on Instagram so people can set reminders to buy or preview details.
• Sell through live shopping.
• Avoid common Instagram marketing mistakes.

On Pinterest, use Buyable Pins to increase ecommerce sales and boost reach. Customers can then add payment and shipping details and purchase your products without leaving the app.

What's more?

Leverage their Rich Pins to offer more product details and advertise your products. You can also use their Shop feature to display prices.

Image via Pinterest

Pro Tip: Leverage Instagram and Facebook retargeting ads to increase ecommerce sales. Doing retargeting through them would help you strategically place messages in front of audiences who've interacted with your website but didn't convert.

3. Improve Ecommerce Store Design

Matching customer expectations when designing your website can make it easier to increase ecommerce sales. It can increase the likelihood of audiences not only staying longer on your store but also completing purchases.

But in what ways can you optimize your ecommerce site?

Well, here is how to increase ecommerce sales through a great web design:

• Design your site with buyers in mind and use good ecommerce platforms to build your online store.
• Use familiar interfaces that a customer can easily navigate through.
• Increase page load speed.
• Increase white space.
• Segment products into categories including usage, design, type, and other relevant parameters.
• Further group product subcategories under multiple categories to make it easy for users to find items.
• Provide multiple filters and allow users to manually input filters of their choice.
• Invest in an ecommerce website design that automatically adjusts to mobile screens.
• Add a live chat or artificial intelligence ecommerce chatbot. Use them to answer customer questions, direct people to products and services, and guide them through their purchase journey.

Check out how ASOS uses a minimal site design with just two options on its homepage–men and women.

Image via ASOS

Once a user chooses either option, they reach a page with various menu options for product categories and subcategories.

Image via ASOS

A simple site navigation and design like this makes it easier for customers to find what they need and helps increase ecommerce sales.

Pro Tip: Adopt AI and enable smart search on your ecommerce website. People can then easily search for products and services they want to purchase.

4. Reduce Cart Abandonment

Reducing cart abandonment can be the perfect answer to your question on how to increase ecommerce sales.

But how?

Well, consider this:

You put extra effort to get people to your online store through ads, blogging, influencer marketing, etc. Then, these people see your products, like them, add them to their cart, and but don’t make a purchase.

They don't convert. Now, imagine if you could fix the issues that cause cart abandonment. It will help you increase ecommerce sales by converting more website visitors.

But what issues cause abandonment?

According to a 2023 study, some of the reasons for abandonment include high extra costs, creating accounts, slow delivery, and complicated checkout processes.

Image via Baymard Institute

And now that you know what issues could be leading to high abandonment rates, here are solutions to fix them:

Don’t Demand Unexpected Extra Charges

Here is how to increase ecommerce sales by ensuring you don't surprise buyers with unexpected charges during checkout:

Set realistic expectations for the customers right from when they decide to buy your product. Display shipping and any other extra charges on the product page itself.

Alternatively, give shoppers the option to calculate their shipping cost, and extra charges (taxes, customs duties, etc.) before proceeding to checkout.

Allow Users to Shop From a Guest Account

Here is how to increase ecommerce sales by reducing the number of steps one has to go through before completing a purchase.

Offer them a guest checkout option or social media sign-in option.

Best of all?

Offer them both options. Then, a visitor will only need to key in their email address and name without creating an account or use social media login to shop from your ecommerce store.

Image via ASOS

Streamline the Checkout Process

Here is how to increase ecommerce sales by sorting a complicated or long checkout process:

• Reduce form fields a visitor has to fill out during checkout on your store or leverage auto-fill forms.
• Outline clear shipping options.
• Offer a broad range of payment options.
• Include a return and refund policy.
• Have a progress indicator for shoppers.
• Give shoppers the option to go back and change details if they make mistakes.

Here’s the checkout form that Apple uses, which asks for just the essential information, nothing else.

Image via Apple

Use Trusted Payment Gateways

Do customers know they can safely purchase from your site?

Here is how to increase ecommerce sales by boosting customer trust in your site:

Include trust seals like those from McAfee, SiteLock, Norton, PayPal, etc.

Image via MyBinding

Alternatively, give shoppers the express checkout option with PayPal or Amazon Pay.

Image via Osmotics Cosmeceuticals

Prevent Website Crashes or Errors

Here is how to increase ecommerce sales by ensuring customers have a smooth shopping experience:

Continuously test and fix issues that could lead to errors or website crashes. Ensure all your plugins, checkout process, and calls-to-action work as expected.

Additionally, ensure enough bandwidth and memory on your server and reserve extra capacity to cater for days when traffic spikes.

5. Optimize Your Product Pages

Product pages are an important part of your ecommerce website. Just like you optimize your website pages with the best ecommerce SEO practices, you should do the same for your product pages.

But how can you optimize your ecommerce business site?

You can use professional landing page optimization services or do it yourself.

Here is how to increase ecommerce sales by optimizing product pages:

• Keyword research: Find out what phrases your target audience uses when searching for your products and include them in titles, meta descriptions, product descriptions, alt text, etc. Use them to drive SEO traffic to your ecommerce business organically.
• Title of the product page: Provide the name of the item, including specifics like the manufacturer, brand name, model number, etc.
• Unique product descriptions: Create unique descriptions for each of your items. Include both non-branded and branded keywords in the descriptions.
• URL: Include the product keyword in the URL and make it easy to remember.
• Visuals: Include high-quality images. Make sure each one of them has an alt text and that the alt text of the main image includes the product name. Use professional photo editing services to ensure that your product pictures are on point.
• Videos: Use quality videos to demonstrate each item and its use.
• Structured data: Include schema on all your pages. Doing this can improve click-through rates, drive clicks, and increase impressions.
• FAQs: Have a page with answers to questions your audience asks frequently. This way, they can find relevant information without speaking to a chatbot or an agent. It can help you improve the user experience and increase ecommerce sales.
• Stock Count: Mention the number of products left to create scarcity and urgency to drive more ecommerce sales. Use proper inventory optimization to keep just enough stock at hand without going overboard.
• Reviews and ratings: Get genuine and real testimonials from customers. And if you get negative ones, contact the writer, solve their issue, and hopefully gain their trust.
• Fast pages: Optimize your store design for mobile devices and ensure that the web pages load fast.
• Audit pages: Ensure you have no duplicate or thin content, 302 redirects, slow load times, 404 pages, broken links, missing structured data, etc. on your site.
• Landing pages: Test them for variations that could help you increase ecommerce conversions.

Pro Tip: Avoid using descriptions written by the manufacturer. Additionally, avoid removing seasonal pages after the peak period ends. Otherwise, you will have to try and build that page’s authority every year.

6. Give Visitors Easy Choices

This one is easy. You should maximize the opportunities for conversion by displaying relevant products across pages. When a buyer visits your online store, they should be able to find the products they might like to buy from your brand.

Here is how to increase ecommerce sales by making it easy for people to discover more products:

Start by offering more choices to your potential customer via creating product bundles, cross-selling, and upselling.

Feature items under “Best Sellers,” “Trending Now,” or “Top Sellers” banners or headings. Consumers love to check out and buy what others are purchasing.

Image via Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics

Another option is to cross-sell products related to each other.

Image via Amazon

Pro Tip: Items you feature do not always have to be best sellers. You can also feature those that give you great profit margins. Remember, your most profitable items are also your best sellers, and showing them off can increase your ecommerce profit margins.

7. Run Promotional Offers

According to a 2022 survey, 90% of respondents said that they actively seek online rewards, cashbacks, and discounts. 81% are likely to purchase from online stores that offer great rewards.

Image via Wildfire

How can you use this trend to increase ecommerce sales for your business?

Use the following promotional activities to increase ecommerce sales:

• Giveaways and contests
• Free samples
• Flash online sales
• Loyalty programs
• Abandonment offers
• Multi-purchase deals
• End-of-season promotions
• Upgrade discounts
• Buy 3, get 1 free schemes
• Gated VIP promotions
• Free shipping
• Percentage-based discounts
• Weekly, monthly, or yearly offers
• Seasonal promotions
• Newsletter subscription offers
• First-time buyer offers
• Exit-intent pop-up offers

Pro Tip: Continuously test results from these promotional techniques. Doing this gives you tangible evidence on which promotional offers work well in your niche and for your specific customers.

8. Test, Analyze, and Optimize Your Ecommerce Sales Strategy

As an ecommerce marketer, you need to continuously test your pages, key performance indicators, and other elements.

But why?

You are on a quest to learn how to increase ecommerce sales, and continuously testing relevant elements can give you an idea of what's working and what's not. It can enable you to get the most from your ecommerce marketing strategy.

So, what should you test?

• Page layouts
• Different headlines
• Calls-to-action positions, color, etc.
• Product descriptions
• Ad copy, image, and design

Test these elements and choose the top-performing ones to build a solid ecommerce conversion funnel to increase ecommerce sales for your business.

Pro Tip: A/B test one element at a time on each of the pages to identify which headline is better than the other one or which CTA works better. Testing too many elements together will not be able to tell you which of them is performing better.

9. Use Customer Testimonials to Provide Social Proof 

One of the simplest ways to increase ecommerce sales is to make the purchase decision easier for prospective customers by offering social proof.

Add customer reviews and testimonials to your website using a social proof tool and show your prospects that other customers use and love your products. This builds trust and removes any hesitation a prospective customer may have regarding your product quality.

On ecommerce sites like Amazon, there are hundreds of customer reviews and tons of ratings. Most consumers check these before buying a product.

More often than not, ratings and reviews can be the deciding factor when consumers choose between similar products.

Let’s understand this with the help of an example of a generic everyday product like a mop. Check out these options listed on Amazon.

Image via Amazon

Would you go for the slightly cheaper one on the left that has 10 reviews or the one on the right with 12k reviews and still a high rating?

If you’re like most shoppers, you’ll probably go with the right one. It has a 4.5 star rating even with a much higher number of reviews. And the fact that 600+ people bought it in the last month further boosts its credibility.

That’s the power of social proof.

Here’s how to increase ecommerce sales by providing social proof:

• Add an option for existing customers to rate and review products on your ecommerce site.
• Incentivize customers with rewards and discounts to leave positive ratings and reviews for your products on Google and on your website.
• Mention the quantity sold in the last month for each product, just like Amazon does.
• Create video testimonials of your bestselling products or brand and incorporate them into your product pages and other landing pages.
• Add expert or influencer reviews and testimonials to further boost trust in your brand.
• Mention any rewards and recognition that your brand or product received to showcase your commitment to quality.
• Show visual user-generated content from social media on your website.

10. Offer Great Shipping and Return Options 

A sustainable way to increase ecommerce sales in the long term is to provide better shipping and return options than your competitors.

Attracting customers through discounts and offers is a short-term solution for increasing ecommerce sales. If you want to invest in a strategy to increase ecommerce sales consistently and grow your ecommerce business, then this is it.

Now we’re not recommending offering say-day shipping or competing with retail giants like Amazon. That will not be feasible for most ecommerce businesses, especially smaller ones.

What we’re recommending is that you provide multiple options, which are feasible for you, to let customers choose what they find convenient.

Some customers, for example, would like the ability to schedule delivery or return pickup for a fixed day and time. They may not be available at their homes throughout the day.

Some would prefer all their recent orders to be delivered together instead of being delivered sporadically.

So, offer multiple shipping options and easy returns to gain an edge over your competitors and increase your ecommerce sales.

You should also consider offering free shipping to customers as the extra shipping costs may cause cart abandonments. If that’s not feasible financially, then you can offer free shipping on orders above a certain dollar amount or on certain product bundles.

Or you can order free shipping exclusively to your loyalty program members (loyal customers) to increase repeat sales for your ecommerce business.

In any case, make sure you are transparent about your policy and clearly lay down the various options for your customers, just like Sephora does.

Check out the shipping options provided by Sephora, along with transparent pricing for various types of shipping options.

Image via Sephora

The same goes for returns and exchanges.

First, make it easy for customers to return or exchange products. Second, be transparent about your return/exchange policy.

This will build consumer trust in your brand and remove their hesitation to buy your products, which helps increase ecommerce sales for your brand.

Continuing with the same example, see how Sephora clearly discloses the rules and guidelines for product returns and timelines.

Image via Sephora

Here are some tips on how to increase ecommerce sales by offering great shipping and return options:

• Offer multiple delivery options, such as next-day delivery, two-day delivery, or delivery on a fixed date.
• For local deliveries, provide a scheduling option if it makes sense for your business.
• Clearly mention the delivery timelines for each product and the expedited delivery times and costs as well.
• Provide fair and easy returns and exchanges to your customers and be transparent about your policy.
• If certain items are not eligible for returns, then clearly disclose that information on the product pages.
• Provide a money-back guarantee for your products to further build trust and drive more sales.

Pro Tip: The easier it is for your customers to return/exchange a product if they don’t like it, the more likely they are to buy. So, arrange return pickups from your side instead of making it a hassle for the customers.

11. Provide a Better Mobile Browsing Experience

The global mobile ecommerce sales number was almost 2.2 trillion in 2023 and is expected to grow to 3.4 trillion by 2027. This represented 60% of all ecommerce sales in 2023.

If 60% of your prospective customers are using mobile devices to make online purchases then you really can’t afford to lose them because of poor mobile browsing experience.

So how can you provide a better experience to your mobile customers and increase ecommerce sales?

Here are some tips to create an ecommerce website that offers a great mobile browsing experience:

• Create a separate website for mobile users or use a mobile-responsive website design.
• Use an image compression tool to ensure your web pages are not slow to load.
• Use a mobile-first approach and ensure that your mobile site is indexed first by Google and other search engines.
• Opt for a vertical layout to facilitate easy scrolling and make it functional if you want to multiply your mobile conversions.
• Use more visual elements and less text to make browning easy and engaging for mobile users.
• Make sure the font size is big enough and legible on small screen sizes.
• Place clear and distinct CTA buttons that can be easily clicked using thumbs, while scrolling using mobile devices.

While it’s not necessary, you can also consider building a mobile app. There are many advantages of mobile apps that help improve customer experience and increase ecommerce sales.

Here’s an example of a mobile website by Lush that has a functional, mobile-friendly design and navigation.

Image via Lush

It has a scroll-friendly vertical navigation with separate sections for various categories. The navigation options at the top also make it easy for users to access relevant sections and find what they are looking for.

The easier it is to navigate your site, the more likely users will be to make a purchase. That’s why you should invest in a good mobile website to increase ecommerce sales through mobile devices.

You can use a good website builder like Wix or Wix alternatives to design your mobile site. Also, work with a professional web designer to ensure that your website has a good user interface that delivers great user experiences.

FAQs

Q1. How can I increase my ecommerce sales?

A. Use these strategies to increase ecommerce sales:

• Leverage email marketing.
• Use social media marketing.
• Improve ecommerce store design.
• Reduce cart abandonment.
• Optimize product pages using SEO tactics.

You can find other ways to increase ecommerce sales in the sections above.

Q2. What are four general ways to increase sales?

A. Use the following general ways to increase ecommerce sales:

• Promote your ecommerce products on social platforms.
• Leverage paid ads.
• Run promotional offers.
• Partner with influencers and relevant brands.

Check out other ways to increase ecommerce conversions for better results.

Q3. Why is my ecommerce site not generating sales?

A. The reasons why your ecommerce site is not generating enough sales may include:

• Targeting wrong audiences.
• Failing to optimize pages for search results.
• Misusing keywords.
• Placing calls-to-action incorrectly.
• Not using compelling CTAs.
• Poor website design.
• Complicated checkout process.

Q4. How do you attract customers?

A. The following are ways to attract customers to your ecommerce business:

• Ask for referrals.
• Offer discounts.
• Run promotions on channels your ideal customer frequents.
• Collaborate with complementary businesses.
• Ask for ratings and reviews.
• Benchmark competitors,
• Partner with influencers.

Q5. How do you increase sales growth?

A. Here are a few proven ways to increase the sales growth of your ecommerce business:

• Fulfill consumer needs.
• Set time limits for your goals and measure progress.
• Identify and promote your unique selling point.
• Listen to customers.
• Market on social media platforms.
• Test, analyze, and improve your strategy continuously.
• Explore new channels for promotions.

Q6. How do you target new customers?

A. Use the following techniques to target new customers:

• Ask current customers for referrals and testimonials.
• Run affiliate programs.
• Run targeted ads.
• Post relevant content.
• Actively promote your ecommerce products on social media.
• Offer promotions or deals.

Q7. What are the biggest ecommerce companies?

A. The biggest ecommerce companies include:

• Meituan
• JD.com
• Amazon
• Rakuten
• eBay
• Wayfair
• Zalando

Q8. What percent of sales is from ecommerce?

A. As of the last quarter of 2020, ecommerce sales accounted for 14.0% of the total sales.

Q9. What is the best ecommerce business to start?

A. The best ecommerce business ideas to start include:

• Teach courses online.
• Promote smart home products or watches.
• Sell quality second-hand items.
• Sell art or handmade items.
• Start a dropshipping business.

Q10. What skills do you need for ecommerce growth?

A. Developing the following skills can help you grow your online business and increase your ecommerce conversion rate:

• Content marketing
• Email marketing
• Data collection and analytics
• Website and graphic design
• Advertising
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Automation
• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking

Ready to Leverage These Tips to Increase Your Ecommerce Sales?

You now know how to increase ecommerce sales and conversion rates by marketing your online business right.

Most importantly, you know how to leverage these tried-and-tested strategies to increase ecommerce sales, build brand awareness, and gain customer trust.

Do you need more tips on how to increase ecommerce sales? Leave your comment below, and we will offer additional tips on how to increase ecommerce sales and revenue.