Do you want to increase the sales conversion rate of your website? Then you need to put yourself in your customers shoes. If you were the one doing the buying what would you look for? There are few things you can do that have been proven to increase ecommerce sales.

Aggressive Marketing:

What’s the point of having an ecommerce site if no-one knows about you? Most business owners know that marketing is the key to being successful. The more people visit your site, the more chances you have of making a sale. You need to increase your online presence and there are a number of ways you can do this including starting a promotional blog, submitting articles to directories and using social networking sites.

Opt-in Lists/ Newsletters:

This is one of the best ways of getting people to give you their contact information. Offer something that they’re likely to be interested in and they’ll be happy to join. Why do this? People who make an initial sale will often be interested in similar products or even new products within the same niche. This is a way of keeping in contact with them and letting them know when you have updated products available.

Toll Free Numbers:

Consider the use of a toll free number so that customers can get into contact with you. Would you make a big investment if there was no one you could reach with questions or complaints? No, you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t even bother with that site because you’d believe that the person running it is scam artist. Who else would try to hide from buyers? A toll free number has the added advantage to the customer in that they don’t have to pay.

Free Samples:

Who doesn’t like getting free stuff? Practically everyone likes getting something for nothing. You can use this to your advantage to convert visitors to sales. By offering a free sample or, in some cases, a free trial you’re allowing people to try before they buy. If your product is a good one chances are that they’ll be encouraged to buy because they’ll know exactly what they’re getting.

360 Degree Product Views:

Business owners who deal with physical products should pay attention. You need to remember that people have to go by images to determine whether they want to buy or not. It’s not a store down the road where you can walk in and take a look at what you want. If you can get them as close as possible to this experience you’ll have a better chance of making a sale. All it takes is a digital camera and good quality image manipulation software.

Shopping Carts:

How quickly a shopper can get something done will determine where they go to do it. The last thing you want is a customer with no idea how to buy your product. This can be overcome by the use of a shopping cart. Customers can easily choose their desired products and add them to their cart with one mouse click. There are even shopping carts which include features such as a wish list and a gift registry. While setting up a shopping cart can incur a high one time fee, it is well worth it.

Multiple Payment Options:

If your ecommerce site targets a global market, you have to be aware that some of your potential customers may not even own a credit card, or might choose not to use it. You therefore have a better chance of picking up every possible sale if you offer multiple payment options. Today PayPal has become the standard for online payments but there are other options as well, including Moneybookers and Payoneer debit cards. To accept credit card payments online with PayPal, click here

Secure Servers:

Not only will the server type affect the loading time of your site but also whether people choose to buy from you or not. How? In this age of internet fraud, no one is going to risk sending their private credit data over a vulnerable connection. Third party payment processors typically come with encryption included. If not you should invest in an SSL certificate. This will give potential customers a greater level of confidence that their sensitive data is protected and they’ll be more likely to buy.

Money Back Guarantees:

This is so simple that many ecommerce webmasters neglect it altogether. It might not seem like much but think about it. What you’re doing by offering a money back guarantee is saying that you have faith in your products. You don’t believe that anyone could possibly not be satisfied. This goes a long way towards encouraging people to buy your product and what do they have to lose if they don’t like it? It’s easier to fork out the payment if you know there’s a chance of getting it back.

Affiliate Marketing:

There is one method that covers all areas, from getting people to your online store to convincing them to make a purchase. If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing it’s essentially a way to employ a large number of people as your sales staff while having them work on a commission. There’s quite a bit of good software out there that you can use to set up your own affiliate programme, or you can use a third party network such as Clickbank or LinkConnector.