Sell more, make more, business and eCommerce should only be so simple.
There are so many facets to a successful business it’s hard to even compile them in a single article.
But what if you were able to tweak those elements to improve your business? What if you could make small changes and earn more money?
What if boosting revenue was really as simple as selling more and making more?
It can be.
Sometimes making money is counter intuitive – who would think of scaling back to earn more? Read on to see some of the surprisingly effective strategies you can use.
Tips to Boost eCommerce Revenue
Create a Network – You need a solid network online to be successful, test ideas and trade favors from time to time. Establish a network at the same time you’re establishing your business.
Increase Website Information – Spend some time updating your website to include plenty of contact information, email forms for questions and a section with tips or frequently asked questions. This frees up your customer service time to do more profitable things.
Cut Bad Clients – If you have clients that are causing you endless headaches and problems, consider finding a way to block that client or simply elect not to business with them. You have the right to refuse service or product to bad customers if you’d like.
Look for New Supply Lines – Stay on top of your suppliers or affiliate partners. Prices change and you may be paying more than you need to. One switch and you’re suddenly making more money.
Design a Deeper Focus – Trying to hit a broad target may be easier, but for most small businesses it's less successful than choosing to focus on a single market.
For example, selling a variety of cups to all women is going to be more challenging and likely less successful than selling new, specialized sippy cups to new mothers looking for the latest gadgets. Nice marketing is still (and likely always will be) highly effective online.
Put Pinterest to Use – If you’re going to sell to women (remember the sippy cup?) why not go where they are? Follow social media trends and try to stay ahead of the curve. Market where your customers are – and a lot of women are on Pinterest.
Stay Agile – There is a temptation to grow your company. But there can be drawbacks to that – more paperwork, more headaches and less agility in the market. You can steer a small ship much more easily than a big one after all.
Tweet Your Deals – If anything works beautifully, it’s the “deal”-driven environment we live in. Gather a nice following on Twitter and announce a great deal every now and again to bring in more customers and maybe snag some new ones as well.
Spread Deals Out – If you’re going to offer a deal, however, don’t offer the same deal constantly. You need to create urgency with customers, and you can’t do that if every week is “The Big Sale!”
Email Marketing – Use programs like AWeber or MailChimp to reach your clients quickly and deliver your message correctly to your target market. Just be sure to stay within the federal rules for email marketing to play this one safely.
Offer Information – Customers like to learn about things before they buy them. Sure, one guy may know exactly what a TurboDriver 310X is when he’s looking for it, but his brother or wife may need to read up a bit to be sure they are buying him just the right gift.
Include Reviews – Encourage customers to include reviews on your products. Encourage honesty, but screen the reviews as well for safety and spam. Reviews often encourage others to buy if they are honest and clearly written or marked.
Clear Inventory – If you have a large amount of inventory sitting around, have a sale and clear it out. Holding products costs money.
Find a Direct Supplier – If it makes sense for your business, consider a direct supplier. This eliminates all holding costs.
Investigate Business Banking – All banks are not created equally. Research the banks in your area to find the ones that are most supportive of businesses. Make the switch and you can save some serious fees every month.
Bundle Products – If you have two things that work nicely together, help your customers see the connection, but offering a buddle of services or products. You may shave down prices on the bundle, but you’ll sell twice or three times as much (depending on how much is in the bundle.)
Simplify the Process – No matter if you’re a one-man company or a business of fifty, the more streamlined and simplified a process, the more efficiently it will run. Efficiency means less wasted time and money.
Survey Clients – Use an email client to send out a quick survey to your clients. Ask them what they like and what they don’t like. Then actually put the results of your survey to work.
Take Charge of Your eCommerce Workforce
Outsource – This is an increasingly global economy and small business should be putting it to use. Look for outsourcing opportunities for mundane or skilled labor outside of your town or even country to save costs.
Negotiate Your Deals – You wouldn’t be surprised if a client asks for a lower price so why don’t you? Negotiate with your supplier to buy your raw materials or inventory at a lower price.
Cut Labor – Businesses change and as hard as it can be, you may be in a position to cut a position or scale it back to part-time. There is a healthy balance of loyalty and profit, but cut away any sluggish performers.
Avoid New Office Expenditures – You get a tax deduction on any purchases for your office – they don’t have to be new. Save money and buy functional, used office furniture. Money saved is money earned.
There are countless ways to improve your profits with simple tweaks to the business. Cut a product. Add a new one. Change a price.
Making one or two small changes can dramatically change your business and as you implement more changes, you can only expect to see greater earnings from your efforts.