With the pandemic comes the mad scramble for businesses to sell online. There have been many incentive grants like the Digital Mainstream Grant in Ontario and the Shop Here eCommerce development programs however once the website is built, now what? Canadians are a little less likely to shop online with new stores than in the US. Business owners are always looking for ways to draw attention on social, get site visitors and convert them to sales.
A coupon is a great way to do that. Its psychology. People love value. Using coupons makes people happy according to a Claremont Graduate University study. But, couponing is not always about lower price, we can’t keep discounting! There is a real cost of doing business and small businesses especially can not compete with Amazon and shops from out of country. But what you can do, is create a coupon that allows a special product bundle, a free gift, free shipping or allow a discount only when a threshold is reached.
In ecommerce, a $5.00 online sale is not making you any money. With shipping costs, credit card fees and your time.
Try couponing to increase the cart total! What how do you do that?
Example; Buy two save 20% instead of buy one and save 20% this way the cart total is higher.or Spend $250 and save 20% with coupon. People with strive to spend the 250 just to get the $20% off.
Make it a bundle. This is a great way to clear old stock or Point of sale items items and offer a bundle of complementary products. The customer feels they are getting a deal and you get a higher total sale. Curated bundles are great. A coupon can be applied to a bundle and since they are receiving 5 items and a discount, it seams like a good deal.
Example: AJ’s “Quilting Essentials” Kit – 5 must have items in your sewing room for one price.
Add Ons– in a shopping cart you can have add ons that are additional or complimentary products that go with the original product, that increase cart totals. The coupon can discount the add on.
Example: Buy 2 metres of fabric, you can add on matching thread for $3 (save $2 with coupon)
Spend a minimum and get a free gift with purchase. This is a great coupon strategy, people strive to hit the dollar spend to get a Free item. Now the free item does cost you money so buy bulk promo items or select some point of sale items kicking around to use as a free gift.
Free shipping coupons– Now this is a big and somewhat controversial issue. Shipping is a real cost, especially with smaller online eCommerce stores. There is time, cost of shipping material and actual shipping cost from the provider. How to take care of this? You are going to have to up-charge your prices for products to cover the shipping. But if you do that, you must advertise the heck out of FREE shipping.
Also you may need a free shipping minimum spend. You don’t want to be stuck shipping a $5.00 item for free.
Example: Free shipping over $250 with coupon or not.
Always know your costs before applying any coupons. It idea is to make money and move product not break even.
If you have a “one of a kind” or “maker” website, couponing is not as prevalent unless you have high stock volumes sitting around or if your product has an expiration date. One of a Kind items tend to sell based on the uniqueness, quality and reputation of the seller. You certainly can apply coupons for in stock items but I do not recommend discounting custom items.
Hope you found some use in these couponing techniques for eCommerce.
Converting website visitors into customers is the goal of e-commerce, but getting there isn’t always easy. In fact, studies estimate the average e-commerce conversion rate is just 2-3%. Follow this simple checklist to optimize your e-commerce website experience, and turn more of your existing website traffic into sales.
1. Attention-grabbing photos (and video, too)
Photography needs to do the job of making the shopper feel like they can (almost) touch your product. And the more photos, the better. Include multiple angles of the product standing alone, with people using it, and a shot of the packaging. A short video is great for showing how a product moves, works or how it should be installed.
2. Powerful product descriptions
Your product copy should be hard-working. Use a mix of action words and sensory words to paint a clear picture of specific product features and benefits. This is also the place to have a little fun if that fits with your brand voice. And don’t forget to spell check your text.
3. A clear call to action (CTA)
If you don’t ask a customer to buy from you, chances are they won’t. An effective CTA is short and clear, such as Add to Cart or Checkout, and they work best on coloured buttons. Your Checkout button is like a cash register, so don’t make shoppers look for how to give you their money.
4. Reviews and testimonials
Product reviews are powerful persuasion tools. A good review can answer a nagging question in the consumer’s mind and give them the confidence to buy from your business. Testimonials, although more effort to obtain because they require outreach, are worthwhile, detailed accounts of the customer experience with your product or service. If you’re able to get media or industry experts to review your products, these are worth featuring prominently.
5. Free shipping
With free shipping the norm these days, it’s easy to assume that it’s the only way to go. And while free shipping can increase conversion rates on e-commerce websites, it can seriously eat into your profit margin. Shipping carriers can increase their prices, too, further cutting your profits. Many merchants choose to increase product prices to maintain the same margin, but there is another approach. Free shipping minimums are a great compromise that incentivizes customers to increase their order value while offsetting your shipping costs.
6. Sales, deals, promo codes, and coupons
Satisfy the deal hunter in everyone by offering special promotions and discounts. A designated Sale section on your website navigation clearly tells shoppers where to go for the best savings. Ramp up the sense of urgency by using time-limited coupon codes or bundling high-demand products with sellout potential.
7. A straightforward return policy
Offering a reasonable return policy is an important part of your e-commerce business strategy. If your policy is too generous, it may be abused. If it’s not flexible enough, customers may choose to buy elsewhere. Post your policy and clearly outline terms for returns, refunds, and exchanges to give shoppers the confidence to place their trust in your business. Ensure returns are handled professionally, and you’ll continue to build customer loyalty for future purchases.
We often get questions about our services and common questions about web design.
Here are just a few that we will answer here:
How much does a website cost?
Great question, Each website is created specifically for the client. We don’t have set prices because we don’t know what you need yet. Our number one goal is to create a website that will help your business. Our prices start from $500 and up. Our prices are quite reasonable for several reasons;
We don’t outsource, all work is done in house- no need to pay a separate developer
We do not have a physical location. Why? There is nothing to see in web design. We don’t want to pass along an inflated price to the customer just to have a bricks and mortar location. We gladly set up online meetings or in person meetings.
Experience- we have created well over 500 websites and we know what we are doing.
Can I expand my website later?
Absolutely, and we encourage it. We develop in WordPress and you can create a small one page landing page to many hundreds of pages and posts. We also encourage a new business to purchase a website based on what they can afford. Don’t get SOLD a site over your budget. It is quite easy to create a website in phases (stages).
Why can’t I do it myself?
In this day and age you certainly can create your own website. There are great builder sites like Wix, Weebly, Square etc. What we do here is use your extensive experience in SEO, design and development to create a unique website that reflects your business, gets it done professionally and properly with a unique url and hosting space to better index your site. The free bees and builder sites just are not the same as a professionally built site. It is like comparing chocolate cake to mud. They could look similar but are not.
I want to use my old host, can I?
Yes, if it is technically compatible with WordPress and allows us to manage your php and resources like; max input time, memory limit, max execution time, post max size …etc.May people want to use old hosting for a new site but if the server is old and does not meet the minimum requirements for our theme, we do not recommend it. If the web hosting is very inexpensive, there is usually a reason and can yield subpar results. Now more than ever, your site needs to be fast.
Do I Need Web Maintenance?
Any WordPress website needs web maintenance on a regular basis. Quite often the WordPress core, theme or plugins need to be updated biweekly. Why so often? WordPress developers are very proactive, if a security vulnerability is detected or a new functionality is required, it comes out as an update. Generally, if we build your website and you ask us to change something on the site, we will back up and update the site at the same time. Usually this should take under 15 minutes. We can teach clients how to update (it is really easy) so they don’t need to pay the maintenance fee.
My website is finished now what?
It can take up to 4 weeks for Google to index your website if it is a new one. We can request a faster indexing. Please remember to add your website url to your social media and directories. Definitely make sure it is correct at Google My Business .
May 1/20 Virtual Mentor Series presentation facilitated by the Dufferin Board of Trade. This session features an discussion on E-Commerce by Liz Skorski, Skorski Web Design Inc.
Topics covered:
Concept: 15 things to consider when implementing eCommerce
Mechanism- Which E-Commerce platform to choose
Metrics- realistic stats
Marketing- importance of marketing plan
Do you normally sell in your farm store or farmers market?
E-commerce for your Agri Food business may be the answer.
Government of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has just launched an Agri-Food Open for E-Business initiative.
The first funding stream is to Bring Your Business Online: Provides a grant of up to $5,000 to eligible organizations/businesses to help establish an online e-business and marketing presence. Funding under this stream will be quick and responsive for those needing immediate solutions.
Target Audience
Eligible agriculture, agri-food and agri-products businesses/organizations (such as farmers, processors, individual farmers markets, on-farm markets, retailers, garden centres, greenhouses, nurseries and agricultural associations) that are looking to bring their business online quickly can apply to receive a grant of up to $5,000 in order to capture business opportunities and address marketing challenges through a new, expanded or enhanced online e-business and marketing presence.
Stream 1 Priorities
Agri-food and agri-products businesses develop market channels to retain and/or expand sales with primary objective of bringing products to customers.
Eligible Activities
Costs Incurred on or after April 24, 2020 for the following:
Development, enhancement and expansion of an online marketing/sales platform (e.g. e-commerce capability, website, online ordering, overall online presence)
Initial or start-up licensing or subscription fees up to six months
Initial development and validation of new operational processes, including creating processes for logistics of delivery through new marketing channels, shipping, delivery, fulfillment, warehousing and related transactions
Piloting sales practices and systems
Minor facility modifications to address social distancing requirements that are directly related to the project (e.g. curb side pickup for online orders)
Ineligible Activities
Activities that create new Ontario only branding in order to explicitly promote Ontario products over products of another Province or Territory
The use of e-commerce on your website is imperative now and for the future. Adaptability is key!
As I write this post we are 1 month into the Covid 19 pandemic and I am so saddened by the state of business. The Ontario and Provincial governments have put in place many great programs but there still seems to be a hole where small business is concerned. Case in point, as of today, there is no mandated commercial rent relief which has caused many client hardships.
As we look forward, most businesses will need to adapt their business model. Not just for now, but for the future, if this were to happen again.
I have had many conversations about ways to monetize businesses now.
The biggest and most obvious answer is E-Commerce.
Established businesses have quite successfully turned to online sales. I recently did a fast (3 day) development of a start up business and a local farm. Both have yielded great results right away, because their customers were wiling to adapt with them.
The hard part, of course, is the service industries. I have coached one business to offer online fitness classes and by using newsletters and Zoom, she could offer 1/2 hour classes for free to get the customers interested in it, and now she is graduating to paid Zoom classes using a Mailchimp Shoppable Landing Page.
Many are looking for options; In the service industry like a trade, what if you offered a no touch/contact service with online payment. You would have to come into the clients home in full PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) to do the service, however payment would be automated (touchless).
One store who can no longer be open, was able to offer one-on-one sales using PPE to protect her and the customer. By showing the product on social and on the website, she could book interested customers with fittings in privacy and with no one else in the store. Payments are done online.
Solutions
It is best to contact a professional when implementing e-commerce. Sure you can do it yourself on Shopify (which is a great platform) but why house that function outside your current website/domain?
E-commerce is best integrated properly into your current website if at all possible, it will keep your branding intact, and help SEO too. We want to make sure there is a seamless integration. We like to use WooCommerce because it offers immense flexibility and expansion opportunities and will work with WordPress perfectly. Out of the box WooCommerce is feature filled and easy to integrate with Square.
Some commonly used features are: Simple and variable products, stock management, wholesale sales, appointments with pre-payment, member sales, Canada post intregration and many more.
Whether it is 1 product or service or 500, we can get you set up, teach you how to manage the store and empower you.
