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DQ News: How to Expand a Retail Online Business: 4 Recommendations

            Having researched the subject of online retail stores growth, I’ve come to a conclusion that four simple invariables are essential for such businesses to develop any further.

• Traffic
• Conversion rates
• Order amount
• Returning customers rate

 Traffic

            When it comes to traffic, it is almost impossible to underestimate advertising.  Increasing the traffic through additional ad campaigns will lead to increased turnover, even though an average conversion rate may slightly go down. There is no reason to be concerned, however, if average conversion rate and order amount are acceptable and stay that way. To achieve positive results a webstore owner will need to invest in Search Engine Optimisation, Pay-Per-Click, e-mail and social marketing, affiliate and referral programmers.

Conversion Rates

            Conversion rates are very important, and keeping their number grow is just as necessary. Optimising activities such as constant update of website content and design, as well as functionality and usability enhancement will definitely help your conversion rates improve. That can be achieved through additional analysis and web development and will guarantee general profitability and increasing turnover. With such conditions website conversion rate will not need any extra ads or investments because existing customers will be attracted to your updated website yet again. Do not forget to keep your pricing friendly and always check out your competition.

Order Amount

            Order amount can and should be increased on average with the help of promotions, special deals, product bundling and bulk discounts. It takes some more development and insignificant profit loss, but in the end of the day it will prove its worth in long term revenue.

Returning Customers

            Returning customers rate should be continually improved. This is accomplished by consistent communication with clientele, loyalty and referral programmes as well as special offers for existing customers. The rule of thumb in this case is cost per acquisition that works for larger amounts of orders and directly affects the costs, making it less expensive to initially convert a potential customer to the actual client. End result is similar to the one with increased order amount – the average profitability goes a bit down, but the website owner saves on marketing costs and gets more money in the long run.

About the Author: Elena Bizina, works at Marketing department of DataLink UK Ltd company – a provider of a number of bespoke solutions, some of which are Magento and Sage integrations for small and medium businesses. Elena takes particular interest in eCommerce to learn from top professionals and share with beginners like herself. In the past – an English teacher and a Business Development Manager, at present – a full-time mother and a part-time Assistant to Marketing Manager whose core responsibilities are researching the eCommerce industry and writing about it.

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Photo Credit: sfxeric

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