If you’re running a webshop, you’ll always be looking for that extra thing with which you’ll gain that much-needed edge over the competition. It’s really irrelevant what type of products you’re selling; every market nowadays is highly competitive with so many sellers around. High-end, well-known shops tend to have their platforms custom built just for them, but in general, more and more sites use solutions that turn your basic WordPress site template into a webshop.
Without a doubt, the most widespread, and arguably best, of all the options is WooCommerce.
Seemingly just a simple plugin, WooCommerce will offer you so many options to build up the perfect shop that you’ll find yourself stumped at times, not knowing which of the features to use and how.
We’ll look to provide you with some useful tips that are relatively easy to implement but will have a tangible effect on your sales numbers. Keep in mind the list is in no particular order.
Find the perfect theme
Browsing through similar lists around the net, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one that doesn’t mention the theme you’re using. Webshops are so tightly connected to the visual medium, that it’s no surprise everyone would emphasize this.
First impressions are crucial, after all. You’ll want to use something that easy to look at.
Maybe, this seems redundant, but you’d be surprised how webshops are too cluttered with various tabs, images, links, tables, and basically everything else that was available with the plugin and the available extensions. Looking at the top, custom made, sites we’ve touched upon for comparison, you’ll see slick, simple designs where the product is the star, not the various addendums you’re able to fit in a page. If those companies that have dedicated departments to marketing and money isn’t an issue whatsoever go this route, why wouldn’t you follow suit?
WooCommerce is an open program that can be greatly enhanced by third-party add-ons. It’s actually one of the most featured plugins compatibility wise with other various tools. Essentially, this means that, with everything at your disposal, you can create a theme from scratch, import one for free and then modify it to your liking (if at all), import a premium theme and modify it if need be, or ultimately just hire someone to build the thing for you. Naturally, the choice you make is directly tied to your budget, but don’t fret. It’s actually wise to try the free route when starting out, just so you can get a feel for everything – rarely everything clicks on the first try. As you evolve, so will your appetites and capabilities and your site, and therefore, the theme can and should grow with you.
While building a theme you should always start from yourself (i.e., what looks good to you), however always consider the potential customer – what would they like to see, what will make their stay on your site more enjoyable. If they’re enjoying themselves, they’ll spend more time on the site, and if they spend more time on the site, chances are they’ll buy more. So, the lesson is, don’t think of a theme as just a backdrop where you’ll display your products, think of it as an interface that can enhance the perception of their value.
Customers first
Speaking of customer enjoyment, one of the ways you can make their time on your site even better is to give them options to customize the site, personalizing the experience. You’re looking for them to be comfortable while browsing and familiar with the content of the pages. Over time, as they use your shop more and more, both of these will grow naturally even without your additional input. If you give it extra consideration, the amount of time needed will be greatly reduced – make every customer feel special right of the bat and reap the rewards.
There are many default features and others you can get through numerous extensions that will give you the chance to achieve everything you’re looking for. Some of the features you could use are providing product prices in their national currency, offering loyalty coupons, sending personalized messages about their targeted products, etc. Throw a net of these little, but meaningful gestures wide enough, and customers will come for repeat business, and we all know repeat business is the gold standard in sales of any kind.
Product presentation
You can’t really do all that much about the products you’re selling themselves – they are what they are. You can, however, enhance the presentation of those products to make them be perceived as more. We’re not in any way suggesting you outright lie, long-term, that would be disastrous, but pointing out the virtues and displaying something in an interesting way is definitely something to do.
Since we’re living in a visual age, the best way to maximize your presentation is through high-quality images and videos. All images of your products should be of the highest quality, look professionally done, and ideally capture all the important details (different angles, close-ups, etc.). Since WooCommerce supports a 360-degree view, you should look into implementing the feature for your products.
Videos you use should also adhere to some widely excepted quality standards (at least 1080p) and should be timed so to balance duration and information. Between one and two minutes should be optimal, anything shorter and you probably wouldn’t be able to relay everything you must, and anything longer would probably deter customers from even viewing it.
Much like the images you put up, the video should highlight the main features of the product, what’s it for, and how it’s used.
Always think of how you would describe it to someone who has no idea what it is, and you’ll be on a good track. Finally, diversify – try to promote the video outside of your webshop on platforms like YouTube, Snapchat, or Twitter. WooCommerce has a wide variety of platforms, which it integrates seamlessly, so you should face any problems there.
Impactful sales
Incorporate sales into your webshop plans; in other news, water is wet. A tip like this would probably garner exactly that kind of reaction. However, sales have begun so intricately nowadays that it’s not simply a case of slapping on a discount to a price and calling it a day.
There are many factors to consider, like the timing, duration, amount, etc. and all these many aspects constitute a successful sale. Let’s break those down.
The timing of a sale is often connected to the default times of the year when we expect sales. You can throw the odd curveball and organize a sale that differs from the usual norm, but there is a reason why these sales seasons are usually successful. We all know them – pre-Christmas sale, a summer sale, and spring sale, to name a few. Because we know of them, we tend to hoard our finances for these specific times, and if you choose to abide by the predetermined concepts, in this case, you will get ahead.
The duration of a sale is a bit tricky. You can be in a situation where you have limited supplies and don’t have many options but to put a product for sale until supplies last. If supplies aren’t an issue, you can maneuver around a bit. There is a popular term that’s come up in western culture in the last few years – “the fear of missing out.” This can be used to your advantage with timed sales, specific flash sales, really anything that makes your product a limited commodity.
Create an urgency about it all and use features like a call to action that will additionally put an emphasis on your customers to act right away.
Regarding discounts, the premier reason sales even exist, the discount you’ll give is defined by your specific situation. The main things to consider is to always be in the black (never sell under the price you’ve procured the item for) and always give a discount of 10% or higher (it’s been shown that anything lower doesn’t have a statistical impact on sales).
Finally, WooCommerce will provide you with many great features to use in both forming and displaying your sales to the customers, so always look to use the tools provided to you.
Final thoughts
As we’ve stated, you should look to always be growing your business and through it your webshop. Not keeping up with the technological advances and marketing trends will leave you derived from customers faster than probably anything else could. These four tips may seem obvious upon reading, but they’re only obvious because they are staples of all successful webshops, so don’t sleep on them and implement them into your site to grow your business and boost your sales.