Although many business owners have an idea of what their sales target (just saying "I want growth" or "I want more sales" will get you nowhere), many do not actually translate that idea into actual, measurable numbers. This is one key to attaining them in the first place.
How can you plan properly to reach a goal if that goal has not been quantified in the first place nor been tested to see if it is reasonable? The answer is you can't. You cannot manage what you do not measure.
Bear in mind that unless you have a plan, a reachable and realistic goal, and unless all those figures are measurable, you might have a hard time getting anywhere.
You are likely to increase your sales using the four strategies below but reaching your end goal in the time span you wish may be difficult if you have not planned properly.
Reaching sales targets can happen in several ways.
- Increase traffic to your site at your current conversion rate.
- Increase the customer average order value working with the traffic you already have.
Here I will focus on point 2 which above says that you can increase the sales your store generates without increasing traffic at all, but by increasing the average order value based on the amount of traffic your site already receives.
Here are 4 ways to increase your customers average order value.
Increase Product Price
This is the most obvious method but you must understand what your market is willing to pay and be aware of what your competitors charge. You can offer a similar or same product at a premium price to competitors as long as you differentiate yourself in some form from them. You must make the customer see the perceived value of your product is better than they would receive from a competitor. This can be accomplished by a number of ways.
Cross Selling of Similar Products
Cross selling products just because you can is a bad idea. Often you see store owners cross selling unrelated products in an effort to increase sales. Cross selling only works when the products are related but often has exactly the opposite effect when the products have little in common. Would you click on a pack of batteries that were being cross sold to you if you were originally looking at a shirt and trousers? I doubt it as the two are completely unrelated. The primary goal of cross selling should be to increase the customer's average order value by offering them a related item which they can add to their cart in addition to the item they are currently viewing.
Free Shipping offers with constraints.
It's no secret that free shipping works. In fact the majority of internet shoppers expect free shipping in some form. You can take advantage of this and also increase your average order value by offering free shipping for orders that reach a certain threshold. If you want your average order value to be £30 for example then you may want to consider offering free shipping for all orders £30 and over.
Create product bundles.
A great way to increase your average order value is to develop combinations of products that when bought separately would cost more. For example, let's say you sell Apple ipods. You have an ipod Nano for £149.95 and a car adapter priced at £54.95 (a separate cross sell). These items are likely to be purchased together yet when purchased as individually a customer would have to pay a total of £204.90. By creating a bundled product including both items for just £175, you increase your order value from what could have been just £149.95 to a better £175. Think of it as cross selling at a discount. Providing you've priced it correctly, your customers will see it as a deal that can't be missed.
These are just a few examples of the ways you can increase the average order value of your customers and thus increase the revenue your store generates. With proper planning and implementation you can achieve an average order value with your current traffic levels that will put you well on your way toward reaching your ultimate sales targets.
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