So we wanted to write this article because we are conscious of the fact a lot of our articles/ content on our socials is based around lead generation based businesses. While this is the majority of our client base, we do still work with e-commerce businesses so we wanted to get some valuable information out there for you guys. And what is more valuable than giving you fool proof ideas to add into your sales funnel so you can implement them and start seeing the results almost immediately?
That is one of the good things about Ecommerce, it is quick. You put out a new discount/ offer and you know whether or not people like this offer very soon as all you have to do is take a look at your sales. This differs to lead generation, which takes a much more windy road to get that sale. For example, you put out an offer (on whatever platform it may be) in the hope of generating traffic to your chosen landing page which has a specific call to action (CTA). From this, you will get leads – great! But that is only half the job. Once you have the lead you need to get on the phone and try and convert them into paying customers. You need to nurture them over time and then hopefully get the sale. With e-commerce you skip all of this.
While e-commerce is more straight forward on that front, it is by no means as simple as it used to be. Naturally, with the development of e-commerce over the previous years means also more fierce competition. Big names such as ASOS are completely eradicating the competition by investing millions into their marketing strategy. But this is the difference with these huge companies, they can afford to make a loss. Often they actually invest more into their marketing of a client than they make from the average customer. But they recognise that while they may make a loss initially, that customer will likely return again and that is when they make their money.
Of course smaller businesses can’t afford to make this initial loss, and most have not thought out their sales strategy, which means they are mince meat out there in the e-commerce world. Now I don’t want to just highlight the problem here, I want to provide you with a solution. We believe there are 6 steps you should add to your sales funnel. If you follow this correctly, you will make money In e-commerce.
The thing is, most people aren’t using additions like this in their funnel, so that is an advantage in itself. Most people are simply putting their product online and hoping people like it enough to buy it. Here at Desert Dog, we don’t like leaving things to chance. Here is how you should do it…
So you will have the front end of your funnel – this is you selling the initial product.
And you will have a back end of your funnel – this is everything else.
The back end maintains the relationship with the customer. The interaction doesn’t just stop with list item, sell item, done. Goodbye customer. Having a customer who already likes your product is the biggest opportunity you can get to upsell. Make more money from that one customer.
Ok so number 1…
Quantity breaks.
Once a customer has come onto your website. They have decided the product they want to buy. They have typed in their credit card details. They have bought the product and the sale is done. Then, you hit them with an offer on the very thing they just bought. So your customer just bought for example, a candle from you for 100dhs. After they have bought, you say, “Hey, you bought this candle for 100dhs, would you like to buy another two? Instead of 100 dhs, it will be 60dhs each”. I know logically this is slightly hard to understand, because they have just bought a candle, why would they need two more? But it works. So offer it.
After they have said yes or no to their quantity break…
You move onto step 2. The One Time Offer (OTO).
The OTO is an upsell that is complimentary to whatever they have just bought. For example, you sold them a candle so now you want to try and sell them a candle holder to go with it, but it needs to be a really good offer. Typically, we would recommend having two upsells in your funnel. If they say no to the first, you will still offer them the second. Likelihood is they will take one of them.
Right so another way to make a few extra dirham is to offer shipping and fulfilment.
So there is priority fulfilment –“pay 10 dirham more and we will push you to the top of the list in our warehouse process so you will have one day processing”.
Or there is shipping fulfilment – “pay 10 dirham for express delivery”.
And you make an extra 10 dirham on each of those things. Which, over time, adds up.
So the fourth sales strategy is selling them a complete impulse buy. So they’ve bought a candle and a candle holder. Then you try and sell them on an e-book. It needs to be an impulse price, preferably something below 50dhs. Something that costs you literally nothing to make, only time. It could be related to the items they have already bought eg, How To Make Your Candles Last Longer or How To Choose The Scent That’s Right For you.
Another thing you have got is warranty. Depending on what country you are operating in, warranty on products tends to be around 12 months. But, another great way to make money from a customer is to offer them a warranty of 18 months, 24 months etc for a small additional price. This gives the customer protection. But also for you – likelihood is you will have a low recall rate on that warranty, and essentially, that money you received goes into your profit.
The last step is the Free Plus shipping offer.
So this is basically saying to your customer “Thank you for ordering the X, we will give you Y for free if you cover the cost of the shipping on it”. This free product needs to be something which has value but it is very, very cheap for you to acquire. For example, you have bought a candle so we will give you a branded lighter for free, just pay for the shipping. The main aim in e-commerce really is to increase your average cart value, and this does exactly that. So these cart offers need to be added to your sales funnel if you are not already doing so. But, there is much more that goes into being successful in e-commerce. We will be sharing with you the metrics you need to know, the best way to advertise and other inside secrets – stay tuned!
If you want to make your life easier/spend more time on actually running your business, then contact us using our contact form or live chat and we would be more than happy to undertake the heavy loading for you!
