New Year – New You? Maybe but it is time for a website makeover!
The holiday season has come to an end (unless you’re taking advantage of New Year’s sales on your store) so it’s time to start thinking about how your e-commerce website can grow and improve during the next year.
2023 has been a difficult year for many businesses with the cost of living crisis impacting people’s spending. None of us knows what the future holds so no matter how well your store has performed over the festive period, it’s important to remember that there is always room for improvement. Setting New Year’s resolutions and doing a website makeover will motivate you to meet 2024 head on.
Refresh your web design & product photography
A website makeover can be easier than you think. You don’t have to pay a fortune for a new, attractive website design. Small tweaks or a new theme can give your ecommerce store a modern, up to date look for the New Year. Refreshing your web design can instantly improve your sales and give your store a professional feel. The better your product photography, the more sales you are likely to make. Generally, customers will make more purchases if a store displays multiple images of the product, offers large images and shows the product being used.
By offering good quality images and different views of the products the customer can instantly see what it looks like from all different angles. A blank backdrop and consistent sizing ensures that the page retains its professional, modern feel. For clothing retailers, showing a model wearing the product is a guaranteed way to increase sales.
Reduce your response time
Customer service is key when running an e-commerce business. Online reviews of your store are more important than ever and can decide whether a customer makes a purchase or not. Aim to reply to all messages from customers within the first 24 hours of receiving them. Even if an issue will take longer for you to resolve, make sure to get in touch straight away and let your customer know that you have received their message and you are looking into the problem. This reassures your customers that they are valued and that the can relax whilst you find a solution. Remember to monitor all of your social media platforms as well as your website’s contact form as customers will often use platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to contact stores.
Reward your existing customers
Generating sales isn’t all about finding new customers. You’re significantly more likely to attract repeat sales from previous customers than you are from brand new customer. Reward your customers for their loyalty through exclusive sales and discounts codes.
Consider setting up an exclusive club for ‘Premier Shoppers’ for repeat customers to use giving them perks such as exclusive access to sales, a free monthly newsletters, next day delivery and free returns. This affordable option encourages customers to return time and time again to the website and gives back to existing customers.
Use social media to create engagement
Social media is currently more popular than it has ever been, so it is the perfect time to use social media platforms alongside your e-commerce store. Particularly useful for clothing brands, image based platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest can be used by customers to show their purchases and share them with others.
Get responsive
Every year we see a rapid increase in the use of smartphones and tablets when shopping online. If your e-commerce store is not yet responsive, it is vital that you make the leap into responsive web design as soon as possible. Although customers are still more likely to make purchases from laptops or desktop computers, many shoppers are now choosing to browse stores using mobile devices first.
Customers now expect all websites to be responsive and may choose a competitor over your store if they struggle to navigate your website on a mobile device.
If you would like to know more about what you can do, or how we can help you improve your website simply drop us a line.
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