Ecommerce is all about competition.
There are millions of online stores out there fighting for the top spot in Google’s search results, grabbing the attention of potential customers and doing just about anything for a sale.
With huge national and international businesses dominating the market, it can sometimes feel like you’re struggling to punch above your weight.
Want to know the real secret to beating your competitors?
You need to learn from them.
Your competitors are doing something right which is connecting and resonating with customers, generating repeat sales and customer loyalty.
We want to help you compete with other businesses in your market.
We’ve collected three top-selling ecommerce businesses who are smashing their competition with simple tips and tricks any business owner could implement for better sales. Read on for some genius ecommerce inspiration!
#1. Kitchen Warehouse
Image: Internet Retailing
Looking for an ecommerce role-model who’s got it right across the board?
Say hello to Kitchen Warehouse.
Kitchen Warehouse started out with seven stores across Perth in 1996. In June 2016, the business merged with Kitchenware Direct to develop a multichannel ecommerce website which services the whole east coast.
The move online was triggered by their 500,000-strong existing online customer base on the east coast, which has represented 80% of ecommerce orders in 2016.
Their website is optimised from top to bottom to guide customers through the customer service funnel. For example, the front page has call to actions (CTAs) front-and-centre i.e. “shop offers” and “find a store”.
Image: Kitchen Warehouse
These tell the customer what to do – while most people “don’t need” directions, CTAs give customers gentle push towards certain areas of the website, like special offers, discounts and events.
It’s important to consider the look, feel, and location of a CTA. Placing a CTA in the right place and on the right page can keep customers feeling engaged.
Even CTA button colour can make a huge difference. Jeremy Hagon, the marketing manager of Andreas Carter Sports, reported that changing the “Add To Cart” button colour from black to blue on his product pages reduced abandoned carts by up to 50%.
We recommend keeping CTAs short and sharp like “Shop Now” or “Shop Online” – shorter sentences seem urgent and people respond to scarcity.
You can amp up conversions with simple psychology!
#2. The Iconic
Image: The Iconic
What better way to draw in customers than by waving around a big sign that screams “FREE STUFF!”
Well, The Iconic doesn’t go that far, but their marketing team has implemented a similar plan that’s proving to be very successful.
Within five seconds of entering The Iconic’s website, new customers are presented with an automated pop-up offering a $20 discount for signing up to the email newsletter.
Image: The Iconic
Didn’t sign up to the newsletter? Never fear – scroll down to the bottom of the page and there’s another area to sign up to the newsletter so you can get that sweet discount.
Image: The Iconic
Kitchen Warehouse has a similar, unavoidable offer at the top of their page – front and centre, in bright, bold red.
Image: Kitchen Warehouse
This is an extremely effective way of convincing customers to convert. Having a discount waiting in their inbox makes people think they’re wasting money if they don’t go on an online shopping spree.
According to business reporters, Entrepreneur, the redemption of dollar-based offers versus percentage-based offers can be as much as 170% greater. Paired with a minimum purchase, the average dollar value is even greater.
Once again, it’s all psychology – and it works.
Not sure what kind of discount to is right for your customers and your business? Shopify provides some insight around discounts and offers, suggesting this simple rule of thumb:
“An easy trick to keep in mind when deciding between a percentage or fixed amount discount for a specific product is the rule of 100. If your item is less than $100.00, use a percentage discount; if higher, use a fixed amount discount.”
#3. Black Milk Clothing
Image: Buckscoop
No one can deny the success that Brisbane-based fashion label Black Milk Clothing has achieved since their humble beginning in 2009.
Founder James Lillis was flat broke and working odd jobs around Brisbane when he started sewing and designing pop culture clothing.
Now, Black Milk Clothing is a multi-million dollar ecommerce business serving fans all over the world and their designs have even been worn by Beyonce’s backup dancers at American music festival, Coachella.
Image: Black Milk Clothing Instagram
But what makes them stand out from other ecommerce websites selling similar products, like Lotus Leggings?
Black Milk Clothing has blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shipping, pumping out orders within 24-hours for $5 throughout Australia, or free for orders over $100.
International fans of the label also receive affordable shipping of just $18AUD, or free for orders over $400AUD.
A little generosity when it comes to shipping goes a long way for customer satisfaction. According to ecommerce statistic analysers, Kissmetrics, 28% of shoppers will abandon their shopping cart if presented with unexpected shipping costs.
You can learn a lot from Black Milk’s shipping strategies – their costs are low and accessible to a worldwide customer base, giving people more incentive to go through with their purchase.
Their shipping policies are visible on all product pages, providing clear, concise information that’s hard to miss.
Image: Black Milk Clothing
Want to go one step better? We offer an eBay Postage Calculator which calculates instant and accurate shipping costs for your customer orders. Save time and frustration for both you and your customers with a postage calculator – the next step in shipping’s evolution.
Take these ecommerce tricks on board for higher sales and customer satisfaction
These ecommerce businesses have made it big from a few simple, effective tricks that keep customers coming back for more.
Kitchen Warehouse, for example, has mastered the art of call to actions (CTAs) which direct the customer to products and discounts with short, urgent phrases like “Shop Offers”.
Both Kitchen Warehouse and The Iconic draw customers in with an enticing $20 discount for signing up to their email list, providing both businesses to grab a sale and keep reminding customers about new products via email newsletters.
Black Milk Clothing, on the other hand, makes their millions through fast, affordable and sometimes free shipping which is accessible to their worldwide fanbase.
Implementing just one of these strategies can help improve your conversion rate and potentially even grow your customer loyalty.
The first step?
Improving your shipping practices to suit your customers and your business. We have ecommerce plugins for a range of platforms including Woocommerce, Shopify, Paypal, and eBay, so you can streamline shipping and tempt customers to shop again with great customer service.