Shopping online has become a way of life. For many people, driving to a brick-and-mortar location, sitting in traffic, and waiting in long lines is not reasonable when there are items online waiting to be purchased with the click of a button. For this reason, eCommerce sales show no signs of slowing down any time soon.
The number of internet shoppers in 2017 will reach 217 million this year. The total average spend per eCommerce customer over the course of a year is about $1,800 in the US and $1,600 in the UK. Consumers are increasingly shopping on-the-go, and if you don’t already have a solid eCommerce strategy, now is the time to start. An eMarketer report predicts that the e-commerce industry will surpass $4 trillion in sales by 2020, accounting for 12.6% of all consumer retail spending.
1.) Take Advantage of Social Proof
Your business content is so much more than blogging or social media posts. Social proof is king when is comes to leveraging online sales. One of the most effective ways to leverage social proof is through user-generated content (UGC). This can include any type of content that is relevant to your brand and created by consumers, such as user reviews, testimonials, or earned media. Studies show that 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations above all other forms of advertising. UGC has the potential to improve brand engagement, increase exposure, and drive sales.
- 69% of people- including 82% of millennials- check online reviews before making a purchase
- 50% of people said they would pay more for a product with positive online reviews.
- Conversions increase 133% when mobile shoppers see a review that is positive before making an eCommerce purchasing decision.
- 83% of people trust recommendations from friends, family, and acquaintances.
Social media goes hand-in-hand with UGC. It is not uncommon for consumers to turn to social media before making purchase decisions. The average person spends about an hour and 40 minutes browsing social media every day. Think about it this way: eCommerce is driven by website traffic, and social media is critical to directing followers to your website.
- 9 out of 10 consumers turn to social media for help with a buying decision
- 75% of consumers bought something because they saw it on social media.
- 71% of consumers change their perception of a brand after seeing a positive response to a review on social media.
2.) Mobile is a Must:
A significant chunk of your audience is relying on your mobile site to make purchase decisions, especially since consumers are increasingly browsing on-the-go. By 2018, 39% of all e-commerce sales are expected to be via mobile devices. To ensure the best possible user experience, your website should be adaptive across all devices, and mobile content should be easily skimmable.
- 70% of e-commerce site users rank the ability to zoom in on product images among their top priorities for deciding on a purchase.
- 59% of people are likely to recommend a brand if it delivers a frictionless experience across channels.
- 53% of mobile visitors will leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load: Think with Google
- For every second delay in mobile page load, conversions can fall by up to 20%
- When people have a negative brand experience on mobile, they are 62% less likely to purchase from that brand in the future than if they have a positive experience.
- 89% of people are likely to recommend a brand after a positive brand experience on mobile.
3.) Don’t Underestimate Product Listings:
If your strategy for creating product listings involves simply throwing up a generic description and attaching a decent photo, you are not doing enough. This is the perfect opportunity to leverage your content to show users not just what your product is (because they can most likely figure that out on their own), but why it’s worth buying. Product listings should be as descriptive as possible while providing a value proposition. Users might not remember every feature about your product that is listed, so focus on describing how it can improve their lives in some way.
Your product description is important, but the quality and quantity of your photos should not be overlooked. Around three-quarters of US internet users regularly or always search for visual content prior to making a purchase; only 3% never do. Photos should show all of the available colors and sizes, with a zoom-in feature so shoppers can get a closer look. Make sure that you are using high-quality, aesthetically consistent photos, to allow consumers to see the detail that goes into a product. Visuals that are interactive? Even better.
- 78% of online shoppers want more images from eCommerce sites.
- 30% of shoppers want more video from eCommerce sites
4.) Always Be Personal:
By leveraging consumer data, marketers have the opportunity to create more personalized experiences for consumers. 89% of US marketers reported that personalization on their websites or apps resulted in increase in revenue. Many premium brands trust content discovery platforms such as RevContent to provide an in depth experience for users. With over 3,000 interests for targeting, brands can connect with users with more precision than ever.
- 90% of organizations that invest in personalized experiences say that it significantly contributes to increasing business profitability.
- 59% of people expect brands to personalize experiences based on their reported favorite items.
- 63% of people expect brands to use their purchase history to provide them with personalized experiences.
Brands can also see a massive uplift in sales and page engagement with RevContent Audience Retargeting. Studies show that audience retargeting results in a significant boost in ad response and conversion rates. When is the last time you meant to buy something online, became distracted, and forgot to actually purchase it? Driving users back to your site based on past interactions provides a personal experience, and can lead to an uplift in eCommerce sales.
Powering 250 billion content recommendations per month, RevContent is the fastest growing content recommendation network and reaches 97% of US households, according to Quantcast. To learn more, sign up or visit our website.
