Four Ways to Increase E-Commerce Sales Without Paid Advertising

E-commerce has changed the way we live, shop and conduct business. Between the omnipresent availability of online retailers (over 24 million active e-commerce websites worldwide) and the impact of global lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, consumer shopping habits have shifted drastically from in-store to online. Changes in technology have been a key driver in e-commerce growth.

However, businesses looking to attract and convert online shoppers must continue to make changes to their digital offerings to survive in such a competitive environment. Incremental improvements in e-commerce strategy are the way that most e-commerce operations achieve and maintain success. Yet every so often, an exciting innovation will offer a true leap forward in e-commerce success.

Here are our four ways you can increase e-commerce sales without paid ads that you cannot afford to miss.

1. Deliver the best digital experience possible

   When it comes to e-commerce, consumers expect a seamless digital experience before they make a purchase. This customer journey is heavily influenced by educational, informative and thought-provoking website content that identifies and solves their problems. This is where Digital Experience (DX) comes in.

   Google recognises and rewards engaging and consumer-centric content, so answering shopper FAQs and writing shorter articles around even the narrowest of topics will not only improve your website’s User Experience (UX), but it will deliver long-term Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) value to drive sales.

   Keep in mind, that scalability is a key component in delivering an exceptional Digital Experience. As the number of users, volume of products and variety of channels increases, your e-commerce system should have the capacity and complexity to handle this growth. Replacing manual operations with automated workflows powered by a reliable content management system (CMS) allows you to better scale up your business, promote your products on a variety of channels and, in turn, provide a better customer experience.

2. Create boundless shopping experiences with Headless CMS and e-Commerce

   Traditional e-commerce CMS fail to distribute content to all customer touchpoints, thus they are losing market share in favour of flexible headless CMS that provide more powerful shopping experiences. Headless CMS allows content publishers to organise and deliver content across multiple devices and channels from a single source. With this approach, a business can incorporate any digital platform into its ecosystem without restriction. When it comes to high-class CMS, we love working with Magnolia. Magnolia’s enterprise-grade headless CMS allows you to align all your web properties, back-end product databases, e-commerce solutions and digital marketplaces in a single, fast-moving system.

   As for headless e-commerce, we choose BigCommerce, a leading cloud e-commerce platform and incredibly proactive tech company. Their headless e-commerce engine delivers API-driven experiences through your CMS (including Magnolia), Digital Experience Platform (DXP), applications, devices, or custom front-end and allows businesses to operate multiple stores across various front-end solutions from a single BigCommerce account. This leads us to our next tip, knowing your numbers.

3. Know your numbers – unlocking valuable customer data and insights

   One of the best ways to drive business impact is to track and monitor customer behaviour on your website through digital reporting and analytics. By recording more than just profit and loss statements, you can leverage this data to improve your UX if customers are getting stuck at various points in their journey. This could include reviewing high bounce rates or analysing heat mapping software like Hotjar or Crazy Egg).

   BigCommerce’s Analytics Dashboards deliver a variety of reporting and analytics tools. They offer in-depth real time reports that keep track of revenue, orders and on-site visitors. Their merchandising reports monitor sales by products down to the SKU level and their store overview report allows you to access a comprehensive view of your entire business including  key metrics, sales funnel, abandoned cart data, top products, and more. The tools are there, so use them!

4. VR and AR - the future of online shopping

   According to Barilliance, over 75% of shoppers leave a website without making a purchase, otherwise known as abandoning their cart. Emerging technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have the potential to regain the attention of unsure shoppers and revolutionise how we shop online. Forward-thinking brands are starting to invest in VR experiences that feel as real as shopping in-store. This technology can connect directly to your e-commerce solution and allows consumers to buy without having to pick up the phone or go back onto your website product page.

   Andrew Elia, Managing Director of Arishi compared this to the automobile industry and said, “There is the old sales tactic that if you want someone to buy a car, get them to sit in the driver's seat. Smell the leather. Get the feel of the steering wheel. VR may not give you these smell and touch sensations, but you can visually pick up a product, turn it around and say, “yeah that’s what I’m looking for.” While you’ve got the customer in that buying mode it seems crazy for them to have to take the headset off to place an order. It is critical to continue that sales process once the customer is engaged and ready to buy.”

   AR selling tools have been on the market for much longer and work best in mobile applications. Home furnishing giants such as Ikea and Ashley Furniture have offered AR technology for many years now. The in-app interior design AR experience they provide can work out what your living room floor and surrounding environment is like before dropping in your future Charleston sofa.  With the use of occlusion technology, the app knows how to place the sofa behind your coffee table and tracks your mobile movements to maximise the realism of the effect. Again, AR shopping experiences are not new, but they are constantly improving to provide better UX and to decrease the high volume of abandoned carts.

Even pre-pandemic, people have become increasingly less inclined to go into shops when they can find better deals and product offerings online. Integrating with the right CMS and e-commerce platforms can help increase sales, enhance your brand values and create efficiency in your e-commerce ecosystem.

We have been developing innovative, functional and custom e-commerce solutions for almost 20 years. With a team of experienced software specialists, Arishi delivers exceptional e-commerce systems that help retailers modernise shopping experiences and drive measurable business growth. Our e-commerce website and application development is conversion-focused, reliable, secure, and easy to manage, providing a brilliant user experience for your customers.

For more information, download our e-commerce brochure or get in touch to discuss your digital selling strategy.