9 Surprising Ways to Boost Online Sales

A boost in sales is music to any business owner’s ears. While it can be a struggle to constantly find new ways to keep customers engaged and interested in your products, there are many small tweaks you can make to your website and the customer’s purchasing experience that can immediately increase your online sales.

If you’re looking to experiment and find new opportunities to boost your website’s sales conversions, consider these strategies you may not have tried yet.

1. Offer Multiple Payment Options

According to FuturePay, 40% of shoppers are more comfortable purchasing from a business that provides multiple payment methods, and 25% of shoppers will abandon a cart if the online shop doesn’t feature their preferred payment method. Buyers expect options, especially when they have their choice of retailer. Along with accepting credit card payments, provide PayPal, eCheck, and Visa Checkout options.

2. Invest in the Necessary Tools and Resources

When it comes to optimizing your online business’s performance, don’t skimp on the essentials. Invest in FiOS® business internet so your team can work more productively and troubleshoot any website issues much faster. Invest in plugins that can boost your site’s speed and security, and keep your design and theme up to date. Fewer site problems and faster fixes can result in more sales.

3. Offer Free Shipping

Zappos and Nordstrom offer free shipping, as do countless other online shops. According to a Walker Sands study, 80% of shoppers said that free shipping was the top incentive for shopping online more because they like to think they’re getting something for free. Try offering free shipping for orders over a certain amount, such as $25, to see if shoppers purchase more from your online store. You can change the order total requirement if necessary.

4. Create Urgency in Your Copy

Urgency psychology is a powerful element of online retail, as it causes people to act quickly. In fact, one marketer increased sales by 332% using urgency in their sales copy. See how urgency can work for your business by experimenting with your website copy. Try offering a limited-time price discount and use a countdown ticker at the top of the page to encourage your customers to make a purchase. Or, you could also mention that a product is only available in limited quantities. When you do include urgency in your site’s content, make sure it complies with US advertising law requirements.

5. Personalize Product Recommendations

It’s no wonder Amazon dedicates 70% of its home page to recommendations. According to Beeketing, adding personalized recommendations to your shoppers’ experiences can boost sales conversions by 150%. Adding a section of recommendations on a page keeps customers engaged and encourages them to explore other products they may not have previously considered. Adding badges to products, such as “new,” “staff pick,” “customer favorite,” or “most popular,” is a simple way to incorporate personalization on your site.

6. Change Your Buttons

Several studies show that the size, text, and color of your product purchase buttons can make a difference in online sales. When Fab added descriptive text and created larger buttons for products, they increased clicks by 49%. When SAP added a large, orange button to a product page, they boosted conversions by 32.5%. Test different calls to action, button sizes, and colors to see how they impact your conversion rates.

7. Reduce the Number of Products

Some online stores try to highlight as many products as possible on their home pages, assuming that the more options they provide, the better chance they have at selling something. On the contrary, multiple studies have found that too many choices can overwhelm shoppers and prevent them from making a purchase. By reducing the number of options available, you help buyers become less distracted when they need to make a purchasing decision. Start by testing this theory on your home page and highlight fewer products.

8. Feature Testimonials

Customer testimonials can be one of the best ways to boost sales. Nielsen-conducted research shows that 83% of people trust and take the recommendation of a family member or friend, and 66% of people trust a consumer recommendation posted online. Highlighting customer testimonials or reviews can be much more convincing than a list of benefits or product details, and these recommendations can encourage shoppers to make a purchase. Add testimonials to your home page and feature reviews on specific product pages for an added sales boost.

9. Use Pop-Ups More Effectively

Pop-up ads can show up at the worst of times, so some businesses hesitate using them on their site to avoid annoying shoppers. However, pop-ups have come a long way. Some tools let you show a pop-up when a website visitor moves their mouse over the search bar or allow you to wait until a visitor has been on your site for several minutes. Take, for example, ZOOSHOO. The shoe company used a pop-up to offer a 10% discount and ended up increasing revenue by 7%.

There are a million ways to tweak your website to improve online sales. Instead of overwhelming yourself with a long list of updates to make, start by making one or two changes every few months and see what works best. Give a few of the strategies above a try and start boosting those online sales.