I’ve been working in the eCommerce industry for a number of years now. I’ve trained, run and improved countless businesses on eBay along the way.

This article comes more out of frustration than anything else. There are too many “average sellers” out there missing opportunities to improve their business.

For me as a buyer, I don’t want to be referred to as “just another sale”. Whether I walk into a brick and mortar store or purchase through your eBay shop or website, I want to be impressed, have an enjoyable experience, and be able to tell my friends and family about how great it was to buy from your business.

The internet is saturated with online stores and eBay sellers. Only a very small percentage of sellers will make sales & win returning customers. I’d like you to be one of these sellers.

This article is going to be short and to the point, and I will:

State the obvious!

Give you some ideas which will help you engage with your customers

… and hopefully enable you to take action on at least one of these points to improve your business!

Let’s get stuck in..

1

EVERY ITEM POSTED IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE AND SELL MORE
When sending eBay packages out, include a packing slip with a link to your e-commerce website, and a discount code for additional incentive. Work out your eBay / PayPal fee percentage on average (probably around 10%). In this case, including a discount of anything below 9% will gain you a website customer and make you MORE money on your next purchase!

2

DO NOT UNDER ESTIMATE THE POWER OF “FREE SHIPPING”
Research has shown that promoting a “FREE SHIPPING” offer is more powerful than a run of the mill “10% off RRP”. This goes hand in hand with eBay’s Best Match advantages for Free Shipping.

Strategy Tip: If you make the majority of your margin on P&P, you’re probably a little hesitant to enforce this. I recommend taking a handful of items, increasing your selling price to include your P&P fee, and offer these items at Free shipping.

3

REVIEWS WILL HELP YOU SELL MORE
Ever wondered why Amazon so so well? Amazon have embraced their community in a global yet personal way. They use their customer data intelligently, gaining reviews and promoting “similar items”. This same strategy can work for you.

“Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted – nearly 12 times more – than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US mom Internet users by online video review site EXPO. (eMarketer, February 2010)”

Reach out to your customers after point of sale, get their feedback and add this to your item descriptions.

4

DO NOT IGNORE YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMERS
For many sellers on eBay, making new sales is their key strategy to increasing revenue. When asked about other strategies to raise revenue / increase sales, I’m normally met with a blank look.

Communicate and market to your existing customers!
You’ve done the hard work, you’ve made a sale and won a customer – don’t stop now. Add the client to your mailing list and offer them exclusive offers that give value. Make your email campaigns personal & make sure it is targetted. A great idea here would be to base it on a recent purchase – if customer X bought a TV, offer them a special on a DVD player or Scart cable – or both!.

5

GET SOCIAL!
Setup accounts on the major players in the social-scape (facebook, twitter & youtube) and promote these at every opportunity.

Frooition are much more than just “the worlds leading eBay design company”, We also design stunning facebook pages, twitter backgrounds, YouTube accounts and everything in between – all with brand consistency in mind.

Strategy Tip: In every answered question, email response, order sent and customer support resolution – promote your social profiles.

I hope this article has given you some things to think about, and perhaps highlighted some improvements you can make today to increase your sales online!

If you would like to learn more about Frooition’s world leading design services click here!