TL;DR:

• Ecommerce SEO builds long-term brand authority. Ranking organically establishes credibility, lowers acquisition costs, and creates compounding traffic that generates revenue after the initial work.
• Keep products within three clicks of your homepage. Structure your site as homepage → category → subcategory → product so Google and customers easily find products.
• Write unique descriptions with transactional keywords. Avoid copying manufacturer text. Target buying-intent keywords like “buy wireless headphones under $100.”
• AI is changing search with zero-click results. Use structured data, comprehensive content, and trust signals to get cited in AI overviews.

Organic visibility is the difference between scaling profitably and burning through ad budgets just to stay visible. Every day, Google processes roughly 3.5 billion searches, and a significant portion are product-related searches with high purchase intent. Millions of ecommerce stores are competing for the same audience.

This guide covers the strategic foundations that matter most: keyword research that targets buyers, site architecture Google can crawl efficiently, on-page optimization that converts, and technical foundations that prevent traffic loss. Whether you're optimizing product pages or rethinking your entire approach, these tactics will help you rank where it counts.

What is ecommerce SEO?

Ecommerce SEO is the process of optimizing online stores to rank higher in organic search results for product and category searches. Unlike general SEO that often focuses on informational content like blog posts, ecommerce SEO zeroes in on people who are ready to buy. This means optimizing product detail pages (PDPs), category pages, and the technical infrastructure that supports them.

The core components include:

• Keyword research targeting product terms
• Site architecture that keeps products within easy reach
• On-page elements like titles and descriptions
• Technical optimizations for speed and crawlability
• Content strategies that build authority

Although paid ads will attract more people as well, SEO will cost you a lot less and yield better results in the long run. Paid ads are hindered by things like ad blockers and ad blindness — and they only work when you're investing money into them.

How ecommerce SERPs differ from other search results

Ecommerce search results are visually distinct and designed for shoppers ready to buy. 

The key features of ecommerce SERPs:

• Product carousels with images and prices
• Shopping ads at the top of the page
• Review snippets with star ratings
• Dedicated shopping tabs for product comparisons
• Zero-click results and AI Overviews that answer questions directly on the SERP

Ecommerce SERPs vs. informational SERPs

Informational queries (like “how to tie running shoes”) typically show blog posts, guides, and how-to content in traditional blue-link format. Ecommerce queries prioritize visual, transactional elements that push organic listings further down the page.

[img: A side-by-side comparison screenshot showing an informational SERP (left) vs. an ecommerce SERP (right) for related queries—for example, "how to choose running shoes" vs. "running shoes"—to visually demonstrate the difference in layout and features.]

Category intent vs. product intent

Search behavior also varies by specificity. A broad search like “running shoes” surfaces category pages from major retailers, while a specific query like “Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 40” pulls up individual product pages and direct purchase options.

Why ecommerce SEO matters

Organic traffic compounds, paid traffic doesn't. Every dollar you spend on ads stops working the moment you pause the campaign. But ranking organically? That's an asset that keeps generating traffic and revenue long after the initial work is done.

The first page of Google captures nearly all the traffic. A study by Chitika found that the first organic result on Google gets 95% of traffic. Positions one through three capture the majority of clicks, and anything beyond page one gets very little traffic.

SEO builds brand authority and trust. Customers trust organic results more than ads — they see you as a legitimate player in your space, not just someone paying for attention. This translates to lower customer acquisition costs (CAC) and higher lifetime value.

Impact on organic search vs. paid spend

Two key metrics show whether your ecommerce SEO is working: click-through rate (CTR) and how much you're spending on paid advertising. Here's how SEO directly impacts both.

Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who organically see your listing in search results and click it. Paid spend refers to the money you invest in advertising, like Google Ads or pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

When it comes to CTR, organic search consistently outperforms paid ads. While paid ads might get 2-5% of searchers to click, the top organic position can capture 25-30% or higher. The main difference is that each organic click costs you nothing, while every paid click comes with a price tag.

The advantage goes beyond individual clicks. When you optimize your site — whether through keyword research, improving product pages, or fixing technical issues — that work continues generating traffic for months or years. In contrast, paid advertising only works while you're actively spending. Stop the ads, and the traffic disappears immediately.

Keyword research for ecommerce

Keyword research is the foundation of ecommerce SEO. It's the process of identifying the exact words and phrases your potential customers type into Google when they're looking to buy. Get this wrong, and you're optimizing pages that no one is searching for. Get it right, and you're positioning your products exactly where buyers are looking.

The keyword research process has three phases: discovery (find potential keywords), intent analysis (understand what searchers want), and selection (choose keywords based on search volume, competition, and business relevance).

For ecommerce, focus on transactional intent or keywords that signal someone is ready to buy. These include phrases like “buy,” “best price,” “free shipping,” or specific product names and models.

Here are three practical strategies to find the right keywords for your store:

1. Discovery: Use autocomplete and related queries from Google and Amazon
2. Intent analysis: Mine competitor sites and Reddit communities
3. Selection: Select keywords by intent, volume, and difficulty

1. Discovery: Use autocomplete and related queries from Google and Amazon

Start by entering a broad product term into Google — let's say “dog food” — and watch what appears. You might see suggestions like “organic dog food,” “best dog food for puppies,” and “dog food delivery.” Each of these is a potential keyword target that reflects actual search behavior.

Amazon's autocomplete is even more product-focused. The suggestions there tend to be highly specific since people are typically ready to buy. Compare “dog food” on Google versus Amazon, and you'll notice Amazon surfaces brand names, specific formulations, and package sizes much faster.

Pro Tip: Don't forget the “related searches” section at the bottom of Google's search results page. These are semantically related queries that help you understand the broader topic landscape and discover long-tail variations you might have missed.

2. Intent analysis: Mine competitor sites and subreddit communities

Competitor keyword gap analysis is one of the fastest ways to find opportunities. Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush let you enter a competitor's domain and see exactly which keywords they rank for that you don't. This reveals gaps in your own strategy and shows you what's already working in your market.

For example, if you sell camping gear and a competitor ranks for “ultralight backpacking tent under 2 pounds,"” but you don't, that's a clear opportunity to create or optimize a page targeting that specific query.

Pro Tip: People speak differently in communities than they do in broad product searches. Browse subreddits related to your niche — r/camping, r/fitness, r/skincareaddiction — and pay attention to how people speak. The terminology you find there often translates directly into long-tail keywords that tools miss.

3. Selection: Select keywords by intent, volume, and difficulty

Once you've gathered potential keywords from the top search engines, you need to prioritize which ones to actually target. You can't optimize for everything. The three factors that determine whether a keyword is worth your time are search intent, keyword difficulty (KD), and search volume.

Search intent is what someone is trying to accomplish when they search. Understanding intent helps you focus on keywords from people ready to buy. The three main types are:

• Informational: Learning or research (“how do wireless headphones work”)
• Commercial investigation: Comparing options (“best wireless headphones 2024”)
• Transactional: Ready to buy (“buy wireless headphones under $100”)

Prioritize transactional and commercial investigation keywords for ecommerce.

Keyword difficulty (KD) shows how hard it will be to rank based on competition. Most SEO tools use a 0-100 scale. If you're a new or smaller site, target moderate difficulty keywords (KD 20-40) where you can realistically rank within 6-12 months.

Search volume tells you how many people search for a keyword each month. A keyword with 10 monthly searches likely isn't worth targeting, but 500-1,000 searches could drive meaningful traffic — especially with low difficulty and high intent.

The ideal keyword combines transactional or commercial intent, moderate difficulty, and sufficient search volume.

Site architecture for ecommerce

Site architecture is how your website's pages are organized and connected to each other. Good architecture helps Google find and crawl your pages efficiently, helps customers navigate your store easily, and distributes ranking power to your product pages.

As a rule of thumb, keep all products within three clicks of your homepage. That means homepage → category → subcategory → product. Any deeper and products get buried for both customers and search engines. The number of clicks to reach a page from your homepage or “click depth” is important in signaling to Google how important a page is.

Keep navigation simple with minimal click depth

Structure your main navigation around your top categories. If you sell headphones, your structure might look like: Homepage → Headphones → Wireless → Onyx Wireless Over-Ear Headphones. Each level should be meaningful and help customers narrow their options.

This is also called breadcrumb navigation, showing users where they are in your site's hierarchy. It appears as a clickable trail at the top of a page, like “Home > Headphones > Wireless > Sony WH-1000XM5.” Breadcrumbs also appear in search results, making your listings more prominent. 

Pro Tip: Avoid creating unnecessary subcategories just because you can. Every additional layer adds friction and dilutes your site's ranking power across too many pages.

Simplify product filters to avoid duplicate content issues

Faceted navigation refers to your website’s product filters for color, size, price, and brand. They're essential for user experience but create SEO problems if not managed properly.

The problem: Each filter combination creates a new URL. For example, filtering headphones by “red” and “Sony” might create “/headphones?color=red&brand=sony”. With multiple filters, you could end up with thousands of nearly identical pages. This confuses Google and wastes your crawl budget — the limited number of pages Google will bother checking on your site.

The solution: Tell Google which pages to pay attention to and which to ignore. You have two options:

1. Use canonical tags to point all filter pages back to your main category page. This tells Google to treat all the filtered versions as the same page as /headphones.
2. Selectively control what gets indexed. If certain filters are popular searches (like “red shoes”), let Google index those specific pages. For low-value combinations like sort orders or multi-filter pages, add a noindex tag that tells Google to skip them entirely.

This keeps your site organized in Google's eyes while still giving customers the filtering experience they need.

On-page SEO for product and category pages

On-page SEO is optimizing each element of a webpage to rank higher and convert better. Product and category pages are your revenue drivers, so they deserve the most attention. 

Focus on these elements: title tags, meta descriptions, URLs, product descriptions, heading tags (H1, H2, H3), internal links, and schema markup.

Write compelling title tags and meta descriptions

Title tags are your most important on-page element. They appear as the clickable headline in search results and in browser tabs. Include your primary keyword (stay under 60 characters to avoid getting cut off) and add modifiers that increase clicks like “buy,” “sale,” “free shipping,” or the current year.

Compare these examples:

• Good title: “Wireless Headphones - Free Shipping on Orders $50+ | YourBrand”
• Bad title: “YourBrand - Products - Electronics - Audio - Headphones - Wireless”

Meta descriptions appear as the summary text below your title in search results. They don't directly impact rankings, but they heavily influence whether someone clicks your result. Include your keyword, highlight benefits or unique selling points, and keep it under 160 characters. Think of it as ad copy competing against nine other results on the page.

Compare these examples:

• Good description: “Shop premium wireless headphones with 40-hour battery life and active noise cancellation. Free two-day shipping on orders over $50.”
• Bad description: “Wireless headphones 40 hour battery life” 

Use descriptive URLs and breadcrumbs

Your URLs — the web addresses for each page — should be clean and easy to read. Clear URLs help Google index your site quickly and help visitors understand where they are on your site.

Compare these examples:

• Clean URL: https://www.suitshopping.com/blog
• Messy URL: https://www.suitshopping.com/index.php?page=blog

URL best practices:

• Keep URLs short and descriptive
• Use hyphens to separate words (not underscores)
• Include your target keyword
• Follow a logical hierarchy

Add unique product copy with related terms

Using the same manufacturer's description that appears on 50 other websites gives Google no reason to rank your page over competitors. Thin, duplicate product descriptions are a major SEO problem.

A strong product description includes:

• Core features and specifications
• Benefits, not just features (explain what the product does for the customer)
• Use cases or scenarios
• Related keywords that match how customers search
• Answers to common questions

Pro Tip: Don't forget alt text for product images. Alt text is the descriptive text added to images in your site's backend. It helps Google understand what's in the image and improves accessibility for visually impaired users. Describe what's in the image using natural language and include your product name when appropriate.

Build internal links and add review schema

Now we're getting into the less visible parts of your website, or the behind-the-scenes elements that shape how both shoppers and search engines navigate your store.

Internal linking connects pages within your own website. When done well, it's invisible to shoppers but logically guides them where they need to go, like naturally suggesting “You might also like these running socks” on a running shoe page. Link related products together, category pages to featured products, and blog posts to relevant products to build up link equity.

Schema markup is like the infrastructure beneath a city — you don't see it, but it's what makes everything work smoothly. It's code added to your pages that translates your content into a language search engines easily understand. Think of it as labeling everything in your store so Google knows exactly what each piece of information means.

For ecommerce, the two most important types are:

• Product schema – Tells Google your price, availability, brand, and SKU
• Review schema – Displays star ratings and review count directly in search results

Review schema is especially valuable because those gold stars next to your listing significantly increase click-through rates. Most ecommerce platforms have plugins or built-in support for adding schema, so you don't need to code it manually.

Technical SEO essentials

Technical SEO covers the behind-the-scenes optimizations that ensure search engines can crawl, index, and rank your site effectively. Poor technical SEO can prevent even the best content from ranking.

Secure your site with HTTPS and optimize Core Web Vitals

HTTPS is non-negotiable. It's a confirmed ranking factor, and browsers now flag HTTP sites as "not secure," which destroys trust and conversions. If you're still on HTTP, migrating to HTTPS should be your first priority.

Core Web Vitals are Google's metrics for page experience:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – Loading speed
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP) – Interactivity and responsiveness
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – Visual stability (pages shouldn't jump around while loading)

Poor scores hurt rankings and frustrate users. Speed matters: 52% of mobile shoppers will leave if your site doesn't load immediately, and a one-second delay can reduce conversions by 7%.

Try these optimization tactics:

• Compress images
• Use a content delivery network (CDN)
• Minimize JavaScript and CSS
• Enable browser caching
• Lazy-load images (load images only as users scroll to them)

Submit sitemaps and use canonical and noindex tags

An XML sitemap is a file (e.g., at domain.com/sitemap.xml) that lists all your important pages and helps search engines discover them efficiently. Most platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce generate sitemaps automatically, but you should still submit yours through Google Search Console to ensure Google knows about every product and category page.

Canonical tags consolidate duplicate content signals. If multiple URLs show the same or similar content (like filter pages), a canonical tag points to the preferred version and tells Google "index this one, ignore the others."

Noindex tags prevent pages from appearing in search results entirely. Use them for low-value pages like thank-you pages, account dashboards, and certain filter combinations. You want Google spending its crawl budget on pages that actually drive revenue, not administrative pages.

Content marketing strategies to drive demand

Content marketing for ecommerce is about creating content that captures people close to making a purchase, including comparison guides, “best” lists, buying guides, and educational content that positions your products as solutions.

Here are some strategies to create content that drives sales:

Comparison and “best” product lists target commercial intent keywords like “best wireless headphones.” These attract people ready to buy but just need help deciding. Structure posts with feature comparison tables, clear pros and cons, and direct links to your product pages. 

Product-led content features your products as solutions. Instead of "10 Best Leather Boots" (which could feature competitors), create "How to Clean and Condition Leather Boots" that demonstrates your leather care products. Or "How to Set Up a Home Office for Under $1000" featuring your desks, chairs, and accessories.

User-generated content (UGC) is social proof that includes everything from reviews and testimonials to customer photos. Reviews often include natural language variations of product terms you'd never think to optimize for. Encourage UGC by sending post-purchase review requests or asking customers to share product photos on social media.

Link building playbook

Link building is the practice of earning one-way hyperlinks from other websites to yours. Backlinks are votes of confidence — the more high-quality sites that link to you, the more authority Google assigns to your domain. 

While it’s one of the most effective techniques for improving search rankings, there’s a catch: many websites don't want to link to commercial product pages, so you need to get creative.

Here are proven link building strategies for ecommerce:

• Claim unlinked mentions. Use tools like Google Alerts or Ahrefs to find when someone mentions your brand without linking to you, then reach out and ask them to add a link.
• Get supplier and distributor links. Ask your suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors to link to your store from their websites.
• Use HARO (Help a Reporter Out). Respond to journalist queries in your industry to earn authoritative press links from major publications.
• Launch digital PR campaigns. Create newsworthy content like original research, data studies, or timely commentary that journalists want to cover.
• Run backlink gap analysis. Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to see who's linking to competitors but not to you, then reach out to those sites.
• Guest post on industry blogs. Write educational content for blogs in your niche and include links back to your site.
• Partner with affiliates and influencers. Offer discount codes and run giveaways with influencers and bloggers to earn backlinks and brand exposure.
• Fix broken links. Find broken links on relevant websites and suggest your content as a replacement.

Ecommerce SEO mistakes to avoid

Even experienced ecommerce teams make avoidable mistakes that damage their SEO performance.

Here are the key mistakes to avoid:

• Thin content - Pages with just a product image and one sentence don't give Google enough information to rank you well.
• Duplicate product descriptions - If you copy manufacturer descriptions word-for-word, Google will rank the original source instead of your store.
• Keyword stuffing -  Repeating the same keyword over and over looks unnatural and can get you penalized by Google.
• Indexing too many filter pages - Letting Google crawl every color, size, and price filter creates thousands of similar pages that waste your crawl budget.
• Creating orphan pages - Pages with no internal links pointing to them are invisible to both customers and search engines.

The future of ecommerce SEO

Search is changing fast because of AI. Google now uses AI to create answers directly in search results by pulling information from multiple websites. When someone searches “best lipgloss” Google might show a comparison table with recommendations before anyone clicks a link. These are called zero-click results, where users get their answer without visiting your site.

To stay visible, focus on quality and authority. Structured data helps Google understand your product information clearly, so use it extensively. Your content should fully answer customer questions, not just brief descriptions. Trust signals like customer reviews and links from reputable sites matter more than ever. 

Above all, high-quality content still drives traffic even when the playing field has changed.

Quick-start checklist for immediate impact

1. Set up Google Search Console. This free tool shows you how Google sees your site and alerts you to issues.
2. Conduct keyword research. Use Google autocomplete, competitor analysis, and tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to identify 10-20 high-priority keywords targeting transactional intent.
3. Audit your top pages. Run your best-selling product and top category pages through PageSpeed Insights and fix any Core Web Vitals issues flagging as "”poor.”
4. Optimize title tags and meta descriptions. Start with your homepage and top 10 product/category pages. Include primary keywords and compelling language that encourages clicks.
5. Build five pieces of commercial content. Create comparison guides, "best" lists, or buying guides that naturally link to your products.

See how Gorgias helps ecommerce brands optimize customer conversations for SEO and conversions. Book a demo to learn more.

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Almost 50% of consumers depend on ecommerce influencers to guide their purchasing decisions.

Partnering up with an influencer your target audience resonates with can help you attract new customers, cultivate your community, and grow your sales.

We've discussed the benefits of social media for customer service, but in this blog we'll discuss using social media influencers to expand your brand's reach. Here’s what you’ll learn in this guide:

• What influencer partnerships are all about and how can you use them
• Why companies similar to yours choose influencer marketing
• How to find the right influencers and get started on your first campaign

What is influencer marketing for ecommerce?

Influencer marketing is the process of working with social media influencers to advertise your ecommerce products on their social channels to their followers. Usually, you'll work with influencers whose followers are within your target audience.

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How to leverage influencer marketing

You know how it works, how to use it, but you’re still not sure how to create an influencer marketing campaign. Don’t worry, it’s not that complicated. 

Here’s what you need to know about launching an influencer campaign.

1. Create a marketing persona

You can’t pick a partner if you don’t know who you want to attract. That’s why creating a “marketing persona” needs to be the first thing you do. Determining what age, gender, and interests of your average customer can help you a lot. 

Let’s say you’re selling women's clothing. You do your homework and find out that most of your visitors are ladies in their 40s from North America and Canada. This knowledge narrows your search down. You need an English-speaking influencer that appeals to middle-aged women. 

That can get things going. 

2. Select social platforms

Once you get to know your audience, you’ll easily find out what are some of their social media platforms on the Internet. Consider platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

If you’re looking for a universal solution, then you should reach out to Instagram influencers, since the platform has one of the most diverse user-bases. According to Social Media Today, Instagram is the most active influencer platform. 

3. Look for the right influencer for your store

You of course want a partner with a good reach. Contacting a person with less than 1,000 followers doesn’t make any sense, correct? That person can’t be even called an influencer. But you shouldn’t get stuck on every metric.

Engagement is what you’re looking for.

Sometimes, smaller is better. You might be surprised to know that micro-influencers are far more effective than big ones. In fact, an average micro-influencer gets 7X more engagement than a far-reaching one.

4. Reach out to multiple influencers

As soon as you nail what type of audience you’re targeting and what kind of person would suit your store best, you need to start getting in contact with influencers. However, you can’t just reach out to one and hope you get a response right away.

You need to contact a few social media personalities at the same time. Using a platform such as FameBit, or #Paid you’ll be able to contact several influencers, sort them by followers, age, and other metrics that can be helpful for your marketing campaign. 

5. Evaluate your potential partners

As we keep saying, you need to find someone that your buyers will find relatable. Relatability is twice as important as popularity if you want to attract the right kind of people. 

Talk to the influencers, see what their values are, do they align with your values, and see whether or not they’d shop at your store if you didn’t reach out to them. 

6. Set the objectives for your partnership

Like any other form of marketing, your influencer strategy can and has to be measured. You can’t expect to have a successful strategy without some tweaks along the way. And you can’t really make any corrections to your strategy if you don't know how it’s performing in the first place. 

According to research from the Digital Marketing Institute, these are the biggest KPIs for measuring your effectiveness:

• Reach and Awareness
• Audience Growth
• Referral Traffic
• Conversion Rate
• User Engagement

Your KPI choice depends on your needs and ambitions. Sit down with the rest of your team, discuss in which direction you want to take things, and only then select important KPIs. 

7. Select a platform to measure your campaign

For three-quarters of business owners, measuring ROI is the biggest challenge of an influencer marketing campaign. Nonetheless, measuring success should be one of the most important parts of your campaign. 

You need to have the right tools if you want to get the job done right. NeoRech can help you track referrals and monitor the effectiveness of every single influencer you have, while TapInfluence can help you measure your ROI more effectively. 

8. Launch your first influencer campaign

Once you have your influencers in place, your KPIs all set, and all of the measuring tools in place, you can give your partners permission to start the campaign. 

For the first couple of days, the surge of visitors might not be huge. However, after a month or so, you can expect to see some serious results from the campaign. 

9. Ask for testimonials 

This is a perfect opportunity to get some content for your website. You can always ask for a couple of testimonials from the people you’re working with and place the quote alongside their pictures on your website. 

Now your visitors can see who works with you.

Every person that visits your website will know that the influencer vouches for your store, products, and organization. That testimonial will allow you to build your brand, establish credibility, and boost trust among your consumer base.

10. Make the partnership mutually beneficial

Last but not least, try to make the partnership mutually beneficial for both parties. By that we mean, consider offering the influencer some discount codes or some of your products. 

The influencer can and will send a good number of users your way. That shouldn’t be a one-and-done deal. More than a third of influencers like to work with brands long-term. If the first campaign turns out as planned, why not do it a few more times? 

Why businesses rely on influencer marketing

A business can’t rely only on influencers to increase sales. You should look at this as an enhancement tool for your current marketing strategy.

It’s a great, cost-effective way of improving marketing efforts. Nearly 90% of marketers feel that influencer marketing has a better ROI than other, more traditional marketing channels. 

Let’s look at a few more ways influencer marketing can help your store…

They have real sway with their followers

While a niche influencer may not be able to reach millions of people, they can still have a lot of influence over a small group of users. Niche influencers attract are comprised out of users who share the same interests, buy the same products, and visit the same stores. 

Therefore, by working with an influential person, you’ll be able to reach that small amount of people and turn them into regular customers. You just need to find a person that caters to your target audience. For example, if you go into a random gym in your area, you’ll probably find someone wearing Gymshark clothing. The company is huge. At the moment, it’s valued at about $200 million.

And how did the company manage to find the right influencers? By knowing their target audience. 

Their gym clothing was aimed at millennials. As soon as Gymshark launched a line of women’s clothing, they sought out young fitness influencers like Nikki Blackketter to team up with them. Soon after, their “Flex Leggings” became a huge hit among millennials. 

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They're really relatable 

As we established, while celebrities may be influencers, they’re usually seen as spokespeople for certain brands and companies. Why is that? That’s because celebrities live completely different lives than 99% of us. 

Simply put, the average person can’t relate to most celebrities. Relatability is everything if you want your campaign to generate real results. Almost 90% of Gen Z-ers and Millennials follow influencers because they’re relatable. 

They can help niche or taboo businesses 

If you’re selling niche products that aren’t considered mainstream, you may have trouble finding success with mainstream advertising. For instance, anything that Google deems “dangerous advertising” is heavily prohibited. 

Everything CBD and marijuana-related products to martial arts equipment and hunting gear all fall into that category. Stores that sell similar products can get a healthy amount of visitors and brand exposure from influencers. 

Partner up to get your profits up

If you want to partner up with an ecommerce influencer to grow your online store, you should start by thinking about how that partnership can help your store increase sales and help your brand become more known. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Influencer marketing works perfectly on people who dislike traditional marketing
• Social platforms allow influencers to make the most out of their connection with users
• Continuously investing in influencer marketing can be beneficial for both parties 

And remember: even though influencer marketing is still new and always adapting, it’s just a regular marketing strategy that needs to be monitored and measured. For that, you need the best tools. Speaking of which, check out our post on the best social media integrations for Shopify.

If you are starting out with an influencer campaign, especially on Instagram you may see a spike in engagement on your Instagram feed. If those users are commenting on your posts - especially your products, don’t just ignore them, welcome them to your community.

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Your customers are the backbone of your business. Ask any successful entrepreneur and they’ll agree that your number one priority should be to nurture satisfaction with your shoppers. Show them some love and run a customer appreciation campaign. 

What is customer appreciation? 

A win-win for your shoppers and your brand, a customer appreciation campaign or a shopper appreciation campaign is a promotion that a company runs to celebrate its customers. It can include discounts, small gifts or freebies, contests, and more. The point is to delight your customers. 

You can run a shopper appreciation campaign annually, quarterly, monthly -- there are no set rules. But, one constant with all successful shopper appreciation promotions is that they show customers recognition and gratitude for shopping with the brand beyond a simple ‘thank you.’ 

A promotion like this will help you retain shoppers and increase eCommerce conversions. 

Customer appreciation ideas to show gratitude and retain loyal customers

Let’s explore some ideas to kick off your next customer appreciation campaign.

1. Run a flash sale
2. Feature customers in social media posts
3. Make it an annual event
4. Share brand promotions with your personal network
5. Send handwritten notes
6. Send free swag
7. Follow up with your brand advocates
8. Donate to a cause 
9. Send a gift card
10. Reward customers with a loyalty program
11. Offer a price cut

1) Run a flash sale

This idea goes against what I mentioned earlier about letting shoppers know what you’re planning in advance (to generate hype). But, if you have limited resources and you think it’s time to show customers you truly care, a flash sale is a viable option. 

Above is an example from Hand-Picked, an online jewelry and gift retailer. For just four hours, everything in their store was on sale at a 40% discount. They announced the sale on social media for their followers, which created an atmosphere of exclusivity and urgency -- very appealing.

2) Feature your shoppers on social media posts

People love it when you love them. Show your customers appreciation by sharing their images on social media to your followers. Attention like this makes shoppers feel like they do when their new friend shares a photo of them -- like they’re someone to be proud of. 

Rianna Phillips is an accessories seller with a flair for glam. In the above example, they share a photo of their customer, @imb_amande, “looking effortlessly chic.” In this case, they’ve placed their product (a pretty, pink phone case) in a real-life glamorous-looking scenario while showing their gratitude for the purchase; this tactic appeals to the customer(s) you promote and onlookers who might want to try the product.     

3) Make it an annual event

One way to encourage customer loyalty is to make sure your shoppers have something to look forward to. Plan your promotions in advance and make sure your shoppers know that they can consistently expect exciting deals from your brand. 

[Image source: Plum Deluxe]

Above, you see a landing page that Plum Deluxe keeps up on their website all year long. A recent tweet with a product photo let their followers know that time was almost up to get in on the discounts for what has been their full month of gratitude. Follow their lead and keep your shoppers interested in you long-term. 

4) Share brand promotions with your personal network

Sometimes it’s beneficial to share your professional promotions with your personal connections. When you say thank you to your shoppers is one of the better times to do so. You don’t want to pitch your products and services to your friends and family because that’s annoying. But, there are ways to make brand shares tasteful. 

Amethyst Babe is an online boutique body product retailer. Behind the scenes, @theillestpisces runs the show. With her personal followers, she retweets her branded promotional tweet. Now, everyone knows, if they order, they will receive a surprise gift with their purchase. Which of your store’s posts should you be sharing with your personal network? 

5) Send handwritten notes

Thank you notes are a classic way of letting someone know you appreciate them. You send them to your friends and family. Why not send them to your customers? Consumers absolutely love handwritten cards because they give the shopping experience a tremendously personal touch. 

Casper is a mattress company that sends handwritten thank you notes with their deliveries. They keep them simple and welcome customers to their “family.” You can take this idea and run with it for nearly any product offering. If you couldn’t possibly write enough notes yourself, look into a printing alternative. 

6) Send free swag

Branded merch is a win for both parties because your shoppers will appreciate the gesture. And, if they choose to sport your gift, they’ll be marketing your company to their friends and family in the real world. It’s like a thank you note that serves as a commercial for your brand. 

Above, you see some free Beatles pins that are going into some packages as surprise gifts for Pizzawednesday’s weekend Etsy orders. What better way to get people excited about your products than send them a little extra? What unique swag could you use to delight your shoppers? 

7) Follow up with your brand advocates

When your customers check in with you on social media or they tag you in their posts, make sure to follow up. Engaging with advocates, both big and small, gives you an opportunity to make someone happy. Plus, it’s just good PR. Don’t just aim for influencers, either.

Every brand mention is a chance for you to deliver an exceptional experience to your customers. Love Always Claire understands the value in simply acknowledging shoppers when they have something nice to say. You never know what good can happen for your business if you ignore your patrons. 

8) Donate to a cause 

On behalf of your most loyal customers and brand advocates, consider making a donation to a cause. This is one of the best forms of PR you can get. You’ll have a fanatic on your team who wants to share what you’ve done with the rest of the world, and you’ll make people feel great. 

On behalf of the Burst Southeast Team, Burst Oral Care donated $2,500 to the Wounded Warrior Project, for example. During your promotion, you can choose a charity to donate to or run a contest wherein the winner chooses which organization gets your donation. Just make it fun and relevant. Because of its nature, this tactic is always a success. 

9) Send a gift card

Another classic way to express your gratitude, a gift card can be an excellent promotional tactic. Depending on your budget, you can send a gift card for your online store or send your shoppers out to lunch or for a coffee. For the most impact, you’re best to execute this tactic as a surprise. 

For example, when a customer couldn’t find what they were looking for in their local store, Argos sent them a gift voucher to use online. In this case, they were making up for a mistake, but you don’t have to mess things up before you deliver a delightful experience. Try taking a look at your ten top-purchasing customers from the past year and send them a gift card. 

10) Reward customers with a loyalty program

A loyalty and rewards program is one of the best ways for an online store to create customer retention. And, it’s an excellent way to show your appreciation for the purchases made. in the eyes of your customers, make sure your rewards are worth talking about. If you do, they will share their story with the world. 

Above, Luisaviaroma created a hit with a “private sale” for special shoppers. They sent a huge discount to a select few on their luxury fashion, making at least one customer feel like the star of the show.  And, that is how a brand effectively shows their appreciation. 

11) Offer a price cut 

Sometimes a simple discount can get people excited and chatting. And, it doesn’t necessarily have to be 75% off to cause a stir. Find out how much you can afford to shave off your prices and start handing out savings to your loyal shoppers. It’s a simple offer and it works. 

Marshall Artist, modern tailoring online, offered a 15% discount for new shoppers and it got people talking. When customers were able to connect over their purchases, it created a sense of community in the Tweetosphere. And, people were connecting over the business in a positive light. You can mimic this tactic by offering percentage and dollar amounts off your prices for specific actions. 

Customer appreciation campaign best practices

Your customer base is inspired to shop when they feel like they’re getting something of value. To most consumers, there’s nothing more valuable than feeling appreciated. Follow these best practices when creating a campaign to acknowledge your gratitude. 

1) Start promoting in advance

Before your campaign commences, it is crucial to give potential shoppers a sneak peek of what’s to come. You need people to know that something big is about to happen so they can get ready to engage. Anticipation is at the heart of a successful campaign. 

So, run a pre-launch email series and let social media followers know what’s happening. You can also add a countdown bar to the top of your website or online store; try using it as a lead-generation tool by collecting email addresses of shoppers who want a notification when your promotion officially starts.

By letting people know what’s up in advance, you ensure more traffic to your store on the day of launch. 

2) Make it all about your customers, not your brand

If you want shoppers to promote you, you need to promote your shoppers. Don’t focus too much on your product or service. Instead, feature customers as the VIP of your party. You’re not exactly saying, ‘happy birthday,’ but you want customers to feel like you are -- you’re celebrating and it should be fun. I’ll bet you can come up with something just as clever while staying relevant to your products and services. Then, bring it to social media. 

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are great platforms to get shoppers engaged with your brand. So, call your customers to action on these social channels and thank them for joining in. 

3) Make every shopper feel important

To your customers, the engagement they have with your brand is one-on-one. So, keep this in mind when you connect with people. Don’t talk to shoppers as if you’re speaking to a crowd. Especially since your interactions primarily take place online, remember to keep the experience hyper-personalized. 

Encourage your customer support team to enthusiastically address each customer who engages with you on social media, email, live chat, and by phone. Then, try to enhance the experience by letting everyone know about the promotion you’re currently running.

4) Carry the vibes into the future

The fun shouldn’t stop here. In fact, you should use your promotion as a springboard for creating an exceptional brand experience all year long. Shoppers appreciate consistency. So, show them that you can consistently make them feel like a vital part of your business every single day. 

[Image Source: Sunski]

Use your customer appreciation campaign as an opportunity to launch a new, ongoing campaign. Here are some of the best types of long-term campaigns to start during a shopper appreciation week or day promotion: 

• User-Generated Content (UGC) Campaign -  Start a hashtag promotion on Instagram, ask for product reviews, or ask your shoppers to submit certain photos of your products for a contest. Incentivize customer action with a discount or gift. Then, keep it going to continue generating interest in your brand each day of the year. 
• Referral Program - It might be time to start asking for referrals. If so, you can use customer appreciation week as a starting point. Maybe you could offer additional bonuses during launch, but make sure your satisfied shoppers want to continue telling other people about your products. 
• Loyalty or Rewards Program - A loyalty program can go hand-in-hand with your new referral program. And, it doesn’t have to end with your shopper appreciation day or week. 
• Discount - Now might be the time to start giving shoppers a new shipping discount on sales over a certain price. Or, maybe you want to start offering markdowns on bulk orders in certain categories. The possibilities are endless.

Ultimately, you want to use your campaign to kickstart a new company lifestyle, not just a few sales. If you’re interested in making the processes easier on yourself, check out some of our favorite Shopify apps, which include platforms for ongoing loyalty, rewards, and other campaigns. 

5 Customer appreciation scripts to inspire your support team

Right now, customer appreciation scripts might be what your team needs to help set the mood when connecting with customers. During your campaign, share these scripts with your team to get them ready for the big push. They can use them as general guidelines to follow when communicating with shoppers. 

Script #1. Simple greeting

Hello there, I’m happy to help with whatever it is you need. Before we get started, did you know that we’re celebrating shopper appreciation week? To say thank you for your patronage, I’d like to offer you some exclusive perks. Some of them are super cool. Are you interested in hearing more? 

Script #2. Pitch a newsletter signup

Hi! I see that you haven’t signed up for our newsletter yet [Make sure this is true.]. As a way to say thank you, we post regular articles that can help you understand how to better understand your [Insert Product or Product Category] and other relevant [Insert Main Blog Theme] tips and advice. 

Right now, we’re offering [Insert Gift or Discount Offering] to anyone who signs up with their email address. Would you like me to subscribe you to our newsletter and show you how to redeem your reward? 

Script #3. Propose a contest entry

Hey there, thank you for reaching out/ stopping in! As a way to give back to you and our other shoppers, we’re running a contest right now. All you have to do is [Insert Customer Action(s)], and you’ll have a chance to win [Insert Prize]. And, just for playing, you’ll get [Insert Gift or Discount Offering]. Would you like to play? 

Script #4. Solve a general problem

[After the problem is solved...] I’m so happy I could help you, today! I sincerely appreciate your patronage. Before I let you go, I want to say ‘thank you,’ and let you know about a promotion we’re running to show that we appreciate you for being a part of our family. 

Today/ This week only, we’re offering [Insert Gift or Discount Offering] to anyone who [Insert Customer Action(s)]. Would you like me to send you more information?   

Script #5. Solve a problem for an unhappy customer

[After the problem is solved...] Whew, I know that was frustrating for you. I want to say that I’m grateful for your patience while we sorted through that mess. Your business is important to us.

 As a thank you, I’d like to offer you [Insert Gift or Discount Offering]. If you’re interested, all you would need to do is [Insert Customer Action(s)]. Would you like to proceed? 

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The above scripts can be modified to suit your customer needs, brand voice, the skill level of your customer support team, and the nature of your promotion. The examples should be used as a starting point to get everyone’s wheels turning and the creative juices flowing. You might also like these customer service quotes to help keep your support agents motivated throughout the year. 

Final thoughts

When it comes to shopper appreciation, the bottom line is to make sure you find a way to show your gratitude to the people who matter most. You want to satisfy your customers and you wan to increase your sales. In the end, what matters most is the relationships you build. So, if you focus on that, you will certainly be successful. 

Remember to be authentic, transparent, and open in all of your ecommerce marketing campaigns. If you’re not, your brand will stick out like a sore thumb. There’s nothing people hate more in this day and age than a phony, especially when it comes to where they spend their money. What tactics have you used to show your appreciation for the people who visit your online store?

Your customer service is the lifeblood of your business. And, live chat is a central communication channel for your online shoppers. Live chat can make or break your business. When leveraged properly, Shopify live chat can have a tremendous positive impact on sales. You just need to make sure you’re not turning prospects away. 

This article covers a few points.

1. Why live chat is crucial for your online revenue
2. Shopify live chat support mistakes you need to avoid at all costs
3. Actionable advice to solve these common issues  

Now, learn why your growth depends on your live chat processes. 

Why is using live chat on your Shopify store important?

If you don’t yet have live chat or you haven’t experienced the potential of optimizing your communication processes on this channel, you may wonder what the big deal is. Yeah, your customers want to talk to you at all hours, but is it really that important? 

Let’s look at a few facts about live chat so you can think about it.   

• 38% of online consumers are more likely to make a purchase if a retailer offers live chat support (Crazy Egg). 
• Site visitors who engage with your live chat are worth 4.5X more than those who do not (ICMI). 
• Live chat has the highest satisfaction level of any other customer support communication channel at 92% (Inc). 

Now, here’s what might happen if you leave your shoppers dissatisfied. 

• It can take 12 satisfying customer experiences to make up for a single dissatisfying one (Invesp).
• 95% of customers tell others about their poor experiences with a brand and 87% share positive experiences (Customer Thermometer). 

Are you convinced? If so, it’s time to make sure you get it right. Avoid these live chat mistakes and ensure that you’re getting the most out of one of the most powerful communication channels for online stores. 

Avoid these live chat mistakes on your Shopify store

Now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty. Here are the mistakes you need to avoid when implementing live chat on your Shopify store. And, below each problem is a simple and actionable fix. 

1. No automation  

When you don’t implement automation, you’re forced to have multiple support agents online at all times or miss the point of live chat altogether. Your customers prefer this communication channel because they want the convenience of self-service. And, without some level of automation, customers might as well send an email because it will take just as long to receive a response. 

The quick fix: Learn your chat platform’s macros or automation processes

Live chat platforms are designed to enhance the workload of your support team. So, naturally, the brand you work with will have a knowledge base with detailed instructions about platform use. Make sure your support agents learn how to implement macros or automations.

2. Too much automation

Before you get too excited and try to automate your entire live chat workflow, stop and think for a moment. It is possible to fully-automate your live chat communications. However, with automation, you can’t always get the answers right. Irrelevant responses to customer queries can trigger immediate dissatisfaction.

The quick fix: Refer to the Pareto principle

In marketing, sales, writing, and even customer service, the Pareto principle, better known as the 80/20 rule can come in handy. This principle states that 80% of the effects for many actions come from 20% of the effort. Spin this just a bit for an easy solution. 

Find out where most of your effort is being spent (maybe 20% of the customer support workload) and use live chat macros to answer the most common customer questions first. Then, the rest of your support agents’ work time to reply to the unique and personal queries (perhaps about 80% of the customer support workload).   

See Also: Love Your Melon Has Automated 25% of Shopify Support Tickets

3. Excessive wait times

While it may not always be possible, especially from the perspective of a brand, up to 79% of consumers want immediate responses and expect answers within 10 minutes. If you’re making your shoppers wait longer than this, you may be losing sales.

One of the biggest benefits of live chat for customer support is its speed .You need to find a solution to accelerate your responses.  

The quick fix: Enlist assistance from other departments

Much of the time, excessive wait times are due to the fact that customer support staff must reach out to external departments and wait for answers before replying to the customer. Try what Nomad did to decrease first-response time by 78% and implement an all-hands support strategy. 

Require each department to directly respond to a number of tickets every day. And, there’s no need to go overboard -- just a few tickets a day from sales, marketing, and/or product teams can have a dramatic positive impact on response and resolution times. 

4. Ineffective language use

Do your agents sound like robots? Are your chat communications overly-formal? If so, you run the risk of turning people away. Consumers appreciate AI, but if they can have better conversations with Siri or Alexa that they do your customer support team, your conversations could use some work. 

The quick fix: Parrot your customers 

Compile some data from your chat sessions and look for patterns. Do you see any recurring words or phrases in your customer communications? If so, add them to your macros and your agents’ vocabulary. When you speak the same language with shoppers, they’re more likely to trust you. 

5. Unskilled or untrained support agents

Customer service agents never get as much credit as they deserve. Without a small army of satisfaction soldiers, you will lose the eCommerce war. So, the work needs to be taken seriously. If you hire low-skilled agents who can’t answer your shoppers’ questions, you will end up with low-quality support operations. Eventually, this mistake can kill your business. 

The quick fix: hire and train well 

Unfortunately, for this problem, there isn’t a “quick” fix. However, if you put in significant energy in the beginning, you may be able to kick up your heels later. Onboard well. 

Fist of all, learn the core skills that your support agents need like active listening and product knowledge. Then, hire like you know what you’re doing. Make sure to ask the right interview questions. And, when onboarding, create stellar customer service training materials. The resources you invest when you bring on new agents will pay for themselves fast. 

6. Emoji overload

Once in a while, if you throw an emoji out there in a live chat conversation with a customer, it can be fun. Emojis can help adjust the mood and keep a message lighthearted. Forbes says that emojis can be worth 1,000 words. But, don’t go overboard. Too many smiley faces and penguins will come across annoying and unprofessional. 

The quick fix: Just stop 🛑 

If it seems like your agents may be on emoji overdrive, just ask them to stop. Remove the use of smileys and strong arms from your operations entirely. It’s better to have no emojis at all than to have too many. Now, if this hasn’t become a problem internally, then don’t worry about it. Skilled agents typically know what’s appropriate and what’s not. 

7. Extreme focus on quantity

In eCommerce and business in general, decision-makers spend end a lot of time looking at numbers. In customer service, you strive for the fastest first-response and resolution times. While this is best practice, don’t let quantity overshadow quality. Some teams become so focused on their numbers that they lose sight of their actual customer satisfaction. Don’t let this be your team. 

The quick fix: Audit your operations 

Instead of playing a numbers game and obsessing about the clock, focus on quality. Customer satisfaction should be the number one goal of every support team and every business, for that matter. Periodically, run an audit on your operations and make sure your satisfaction levels are balanced with your speed. 

8. No data collection

A few weeks ago, I called out to online store owners on Twitter to ask for their experience using live chat to increase sales. I wanted to level the playing field and reach beyond our internal data to find others who had the same experience. And, while each respondent knew that live chat had a positive impact on their Shopify sales, they couldn’t provide real numbers. Instead, they shared anecdotes and vague descriptions and stories. There are two key problems with no data collection for live chat. 

1. When you have no performance data and statistics, you can’t determine the exact areas where you need to improve your processes.
2. A lack of customer data leads to a decrease in customer satisfaction. 

90% of consumers value when an agent knows their account history and current activity within a company. 

The quick fix: Use a full-featured live chat plaform 

If your live chat platform is designed to collect data from your agents and your customers, you can get all of the information you need to collect helpful internal statistics.

Keep track of tickets created, replied, closed, messages, time to resolution. Sort your data by agent or event. Use real numbers from your internal processes to power your customer support strategy. 

With the right reporting system, you can inform your future decisions about hiring, automation, processes, and more. 

9. Missing optimal chat times

Do you know when your website traffic spends most of their time on your website? And, are you making certain that your agents are online during peak times? If not, you will naturally see low response and resolution times. Plus, the people who reach out when nobody is online may never return to your site. 

The quick fix: discover your peak times & make sure you’re staffed 

Use a tool like Google Analytics to generate hour of day and day of week reports. When you have determined the most active times for your website visitors, check to make sure you’re staffed during these times. And, if you see that there are active traffic times that you don’t have anyone available, make adjustments to your staff schedules. 

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10. Ignoring sales opportunities 

Customer support is an avenue for your team to keep shoppers happy. And, happy shoppers evolve into satisfied, long-term customers. But, you may be missing opportunities to upsell your website traffic on current promotions and increase sales even more.  

The quick fix: Share your current promotions with shoppers

When you’re running a promotion, contest, or sale, make sure your support agents are aware. At the beginning or end of every live chat conversation (you’ll have to test to see what works best for your audience), give customers a link to a page with the information or briefly tell them about the promotion. 

11. Disconnected processes

A major problem for many support agents that can kill satisfaction is processes that are disconnected. Your staff can be forced to open multiple tabs to keep a conversation going -- email, social media, live chat, web store. This can take up precious time and also give customers the feeling that your company doesn’t know who they are or what their status is. 

The quick fix: Make sure your live chat is integrated with Shopify and your other communication channels

Gorgias's live chat platform connects with your Shopify data so that you can streamline the resolution on orders, shipping, tracking, and return tickets. Furthermore, it integrates with your email, phone, and social media messaging platforms so that you have access to all customer data, no matter which channel they reach out on. 

Final thoughts

Now you know exactly what not to do and how to fix what you’re doing wrong with live chat on your Shopify store. Apply this advice today and watch your support team nurture more satisfaction with shoppers. If you need a Shopify full-featured live chat platform that provides the data you need to scale your customer support operations and the integrations that can streamline your operations, find out what we have to offer. 

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Transactional emails are usually sent when a customer has placed an order like shipping confirmation emails and order confirmation emails. But they could also include reminders for abandoned cart checkouts, lost password requests, or suggestions for future purchases.

A study by Experian found that transactional order emails average $0.75 per open compared to $0.13 for bulk mailings on orders. But how can simple notifications increase customer lifetime value? How can they drive repeat purchases?

Tips for upgrading transactional emails to boost sales

Try these three tips to use transactional emails to grow your ecommerce business.

1. Leverage product recommendations to upsell customers
2. Ask for reviews to build trust
3. Drive repeat purchases with discount codes

1) Leverage product recommendations to upsell customers

One way you can maximize the power of product recommendations is to add them in your transactional emails. How effective are product recommendations in maximizing your profits? Intelliverse found that 45% of consumers are more likely to shop on a site that offers personalized recommendations and  56% of online customers are more likely to return to a site that offers product recommendations.
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For example, Costco’s order confirmation email has product recommendations that are based on top categories. It’s nothing special, but it can drive repeat purchases.

Another tip is to send personalized product recommendations based on a consumer’s purchase history or behavior. This way, you’ll be upselling products that customers will likely be interested in. For example, Amazon’s order confirmation email includes recommendations based on a customer’s past purchase.

Adding personalized product recommendations in your transactional emails make a lot of sense because they have high open rates. In fact, transactional emails have open rates that are 3x to 4x higher than the regular marketing email. That’s because customers often check transactional emails to confirm the success of their transactions.

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2) Ask for reviews to build trust

Another type of transactional email you can use is the feedback email which is sent a few days or weeks after the customer has received or used the product. Why are product reviews important to your retail store? Reviews determine whether people will buy your product. Additionally, while writing reviews don’t directly lead to repeat purchases, they’re pretty effective at getting other customers to buy a product.

Numerous studies consistently found that star ratings and reviews have a big impact on sales. In fact, BrightLocal found that 44% prefer products with reviews within the past month and Reevo found that reviews can result in an 18% increase in sales.

And contrary to popular belief, negative reviews might do you some good. Capterra found that 52% of buyers trust a product more when they see a fewer negative reviews. After all, there’s no perfect product. You can ask for reviews by sending a simple feedback email like J. Crew:

Writing a review seems easy, but it does take some time and effort. That said, you should thank customers because any kind of feedback is useful for your Shopify store. Here’s an example of how J. Crew thanks their customers:

You don’t always have to ask for long reviews, sometimes a star rating might do.

For example, JCPenney asks for a star rating a few days after the customer has received the product. They also give customers the option to write a long review through clicking the “Write a Review” button.

They also incentive customers by giving them a chance to win $1000.

You can also provide other incentives like discounts and coupons in exchange for the review. After all, people are more motivated when they get something in return.

Related: Our guide to email marketing automation for ecommerce.

3) Drive repeat purchases with discount codes

Selling to your current customers is a lot easier and cheaper than converting a first-time customer. A study by Harvard Business Review found that acquiring new customers is about five to 25 times more expensive than selling to the ones you already have.

Of course, old customers are more likely to buy your product because they have experiences with your product or service. If they like what they purchased, there’s a good chance they’ll buy from your store again.

In contrast, first-time customers are a lot harder to convince. You need to get them through the marketing funnel and send ads, emails and other marketing content to convince them to buy from your store.

That said—how do you increase repeat purchases in your retail store? A popular trick is to send next purchase discount codes. Offer a small limited-time discount if they make another purchase.

Start customizing your transactional emails

The strategies in this post are an easy way to generate additional sales and revenue with some minor tweak. While Shopify doesn’t allow you to directly customize their transactional emails, you can start with an email template and then use a tool like Spently. Use their drag and drop functionality to add product recommendations, unique discounts and referral codes to your transactional emails.

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TL;DR: 

• Shipping can boost sales and loyalty. It influences how likely people are to buy, spend more, and come back again.
• Set your free shipping threshold a bit above your average order size. This encourages bigger purchases without hurting your bottom line.
• Smaller, right-sized packaging helps cut shipping costs. Avoid oversized boxes to save money on every order.
• Show clear delivery dates during checkout. This gives customers peace of mind and reduces abandoned carts.
• Offer easy returns and send automatic shipping updates. Customers stay happy and support teams get fewer “Where’s my order?” messages.

Your shipping strategy is more than just getting packages to customers. It's a revenue lever that influences conversion rates, average order value, and long-term loyalty.

Unexpected shipping costs are often the culprit when shoppers abandon their carts. When they return, it's because you delivered transparency and speed. 

This guide covers the tactics that turn shipping into a competitive advantage.

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1. Set a free shipping threshold 15-20% above your average order value

Free shipping is considered the number one factor in purchasing decisions. In fact, 73.9% say it's the most important factor when deciding where to buy, according to a 2024 Digital Commerce 360 data survey. However, offering it on every single order will be detrimental to your margins. 

The trick here is to set a threshold with a message encouraging customers to add more goods to their cart.

How to calculate free shipping: Calculate your average order value and then set your free shipping threshold 15-20% higher. For example, if your average order value is $60, offer your customers free shipping on orders above $75. By doing so, you encourage customers to make larger orders and don't have an extra cost burden of paying the shipping charge. 

2. Right-size your packaging to avoid dimensional weight charges

Carriers charge based on package size, not just weight — whichever costs more. This pricing means a lightweight item in an oversized box can cost 7x more to ship than necessary.

Audit your packaging and eliminate excess space. Use smaller boxes, vacuum-seal soft goods when possible, and minimize void fill. Every inch you cut from package dimensions reduces shipping costs without changing what you sell.

One brand saved 50% on shipping simply by reformatting their packaging strategy and reducing box sizes. That's money that goes straight to your bottom line.

3. Display estimated delivery times at checkout

People abandon carts because they are uncertain if the order will arrive on time. Showing clear delivery estimates at checkout is where building trust and reducing anxiety occur.

Give exact days of delivery such as, “Arrives by Friday, December 15” instead of “3-5 business days.” If you offer multiple shipping speeds, show the delivery date for each option so customers can make informed choices.

For international orders, set expectations about customs processing times. Surprise delays harm relationships more than longer shipping times.

4. Provide a range of shipping options with clear pricing

Offering two or three shipping speed options, such as standard, expedited, and express, will give customers control over their delivery experience. While not all customers require overnight shipping, those who do will cover the cost.

When feasible, use real-time carrier rates to show customers the exact cost of shipping and foster trust through openness. Use flat-rate pricing with distinct speed tiers if that is too complicated for your operations.

The secret is to match the urgency of the customer with their expectations. When purchasing a gift, someone needs it quickly. Someone replenishing necessities can wait. Give them a choice.

Read more: Ecommerce shipping made simple: Strategy, tools & tips

5. Use prepaid labels to make returns simple

Customers are deterred from making a purchase by a convoluted returns procedure. By making returns simple, you eliminate the largest obstacle to buying.

Give consumers pre-paid return labels so they can easily print, package, and deliver their returns. Yes, return shipping will cost you money, but you'll get repeat business and devoted customers. 

Use a self-service portal to automate your returns process so that customers can start returns, print labels, and monitor the status of their refunds without getting in touch with your customer service team.

According to Narvar, 91% of Fortune 50 retailers, 63% of D2C brands, and 52% of omnichannel sellers use online returns portals — making easy returns table stakes.

6. Send proactive shipping updates to reduce "Where's my order?" questions

“Where is my order?” (WISMO) tickets overwhelm support agents, consuming time that could be used to address more challenging issues. But when you take a proactive approach, these tickets are eliminated before customers think to ask.

At key moments of the fulfillment process, from order confirmation and shipping confirmation to the order being out for delivery, send automated notifications. Customers get their answers without the wait or hassle.

In the event that customers do contact you, use conversational AI to handle tracking inquiries instantly.

7. Use a multi-carrier strategy to optimize cost and speed

Don't make the mistake of always relying on one carrier for every shipment. Many carriers perform certain functions better than others. For example, USPS is great for lightweight packages, FedEx is best for express deliveries, and local deliveries are often provided by regional carriers.

We recommend shopping for the best rate on a per-order basis by comparing all of the rates offered by different carriers before making a final decision. You can automate this process with shipping software. 

As your shipping volume increases, be sure to negotiate rates with your carriers. Typically, increased shipping volume will result in lower rates. However, be sure to also have strong relationships with multiple carriers to protect yourself in the event that one of your carriers has unexpected delays.

Turn shipping into a competitive advantage

Great shipping doesn't just get products to customers—it builds trust, reduces support costs, and increases repeat purchases. Start with these seven practices, then optimize based on your customer feedback and order data.

Tired of WISMO tickets flooding your inbox? Gorgias automates shipping notifications and tracking updates so your team can focus on growing your business. Book a demo today.

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TL;DR:

• PayPal stands out as the best payment option for ecommerce because of its widespread use and easy integration.
• Shopify Payments suits small businesses well with its easy integration and straightforward use on Shopify.
• For enterprise businesses, Magento Payments provides a comprehensive solution to address complex payment processing needs.
• Customers tend to prefer on-site payment processing because they can complete their purchases right on the website, unlike off-site processing which requires payment to be completed on a third-party website.

There are a lot of different ecommerce payment options to choose from when setting up your online store. This guide will help you choose the right ones for you and your customers.

We’ll cover:

• The definition of payment gateways
• The things you need to consider when selecting an ecommerce payment platform
• 12 payment platforms for you to consider

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12 most popular ecommerce payment options businesses need to accept

To help you prevent high cart abandonment rates, we’ve narrowed down the best ecommerce payment options for 2023.

1. PayPal

Image Source: PayPal.

Pros: Most popular payment processor, leads to higher conversion rates than other payment platforms

Cons: High fees, payments can be held for up to six months

PayPal needs no introduction. It’s the biggest payment processing platform on the globe, with more than 254 million active users. What’s more, ecommerce stores using PayPal have 82% higher conversion rates than their competitors.

However, like everything else, PayPal isn’t perfect. Unlike some of the platforms we have on the list, it isn’t free. PayPal has pretty high fees that will vary from region to region. Of course, with enough volume this can be negotiated.

PayPal is also known for holding payments for up to six months. They aren’t exactly the sellers’ first choice, but with such a high market share, customers trust them which is why we’re ranking them number 1 on our list of payment providers. 

2. Shopify Payments

Image Source: Shopify. 

‎Pros: Integrates with the most popular ecommerce platform,

Cons: Not available in all countries

Second on our list is the payment gateway developed by Shopify. Since it’s the most widely used ecommerce platform in the world, it only makes sense that the company would create its own payment system.

Similar to WooCommerce Payment below, you can access Shopify Payments from your dashboard. Shopify Payments keeps your customers on your site, and is included with your plan.

As Shopify continues to evolve, they’ve also rolled out Shop Pay. It’ll allow customers to store their billing and shipping details, and in turn, make the checkout process a lot quicker.

3. Magento Payments

Pros: Offers customization and flexibility for enterprise-level needs

Cons: May require technical expertise to unlock full capabilities

Magento has been around for more than a decade at this point. Based on their experience with online merchants, the company has launched Magento Payments, a platform that can help you reduce operational complexities, lessen costs, and improve conversions.

Furthermore, with a merchant account, Magento Payments gives you an all-in-one solution that streamlines the payment process for you and your customers. It eliminates the need for 3rd-party account management, additional expertise, or subscription costs.

4. Big Commerce

Pros: 55+ payment gateways

Cons: Varying transaction fees

With cost-effective price plans and customizable options, this SaaS platform works perfectly for small ecommerce stores and mid-sized business owners. It offers more than 55 pre-integrated payment gateways to ecommerce sellers from all over the world.

At the moment, the payment option is available in almost 100 countries. It’s also available in more than 140 world currencies. The setup is also perfect for beginners: you just need to click a single button, and you start accepting credit card payments from all of the major players. 

5. Visa Checkout

Image Source: CloudApp.

Pros: Accessible to customers worldwide

Cons: Limited to users on Visa

If many of your shoppers are Visa holders, Visa checkout should be the most obvious payment solution for you. Considering the fact that there are more than 21 million Visa Checkout users across the globe, it’s a safe bet that some of your visitors might prefer this payment option. 

With this option, Visa users won’t have to fill in their personal information. They’ll be able to enter their credit card information, and they’ll be able to finalize the purchase. Visa Checkout can potentially increase conversions by 42%. A little convenience can go a long way. 

6. Square 

Pros: Well-suited for companies with brick-and-mortar and online stores

Cons: High transaction fees

Most users associate Square with POS payments, however, the company offers ecommerce payment processing services as well. By using their API, your website will be able to accept a number of payment methods from this list, including Google Pay and Apple Pay.

And that’s not all. Square can also make things easier for your customers additionally, by allowing them to create their own profiles. That means they won’t need to input their login data every time they want to purchase something from you. 

If you’re already using Square POS, adding them to your website may be a natural fit.

7. Stripe

Image Source: Stripe.

Pros: Low operating costs, suited for ecommerce stores

Cons: Day-to-day management requires more technical know-how

Besides on-demand marketplaces and crowdfunding campaigns, Stripe works perfectly for people that have their own stores as well. More than 1,000 of ecommerce stores have managed to build their business around Stripe. 

According to research commissioned by Stripe, companies using the platform have been able to increase their revenue by 6.7% during the first year of business. Compared to others, Stripe users also have 24% lower operating costs. 

Stripe is so trusted, that Shopify Payments is built on it. 

8. ProMerchant

Pros: Transparent pricing plans

Cons: Limited contactless payment options

This Massachusetts-based company offers a number of processing solutions to its customers. One of their most popular products is an ecommerce payment platform that's free to use. There are no upfront costs when you’re accepting card payments. 

The company uses Authorize.net as their payment gateway platform. This allows you to be as flexible as possible. With ProMerchant, your store will be able to accept payments from a number of different companies, including Mastercard, Visa, and Discover. 

9. Amazon Pay

Pros: Connects to Amazon, large customer base

Cons: Long registration process

Millions of people use Amazon to buy products every single day. There’s no reason not to try and turn some of these people into regular customers? By using the Amazon Pay platform, you’ll allow Amazon users to shop on your website without jumping through hoops.

For many people, the registration process takes too much time. They don’t want to enter their information, come up with a password, and wait for a confirmation email just to buy something. Remove all of these barriers with Amazon Pay. 

10. Apple Pay

Pros: Most accessible to North American customers

Cons: Limited to Apple users

Nearly two-thirds of Americans use Apple products. For most of them, their Apple product doubles as a digital wallet. Naturally, they use their Apple accounts to pay for products on websites that accept it. 

Apple Pay makes things incredibly easy for iPhone owners by leveraging touch identification and allowing users to pay for products with literally a single touch. If you want to get a piece of the action, then consider this platform.

Apple Pay, like Google Pay, makes mobile checkout almost instantaneous, and is already included with many payment providers. 

11. Google Pay 

Pros: Large customer base, easy payments for Android users

Cons: Not adopted by all merchants

Millions and millions of people already have their data saved on Google accounts. That’s why the biggest tech giant in the world has created its own payment platform. If you’re targeting a large user base, it can’t get larger than this.

Additionally, Google offers top-notch security that will make the consumers feel safe at all times. The platform can help you set up a loyalty program, offer gift cards, and various other discounts for most-loyal buyers.

12. WooCommerce Payment

Pros: Directly integrates with WordPress

Cons: Limited to US customers

Let’s round it off with a built-in integration. If you’re a WooCommerce user with no intention of changing your platform, then this could be the right solution for you. WooCommerce payment allows you to manage your finances swiftly and safely. 

You don’t have to learn anything new, either. You can safely use the plugin from the safety of your dashboard.

The benefits of payment gateways in ecommerce

Payment gateway technology is used by store owners to accept credit and debit cards from shoppers. In a traditional sense, the term refers to both physical, card-reading devices found in stores and payment processor apps, typically found on ecommerce websites. However, in this post, we’ll only talk about the latter. So any time we mention a payment gateway, we’re talking about an online application. 

Why do small businesses need payment gateways?

• They make the checkout process easier
• They keep customers’ information safe

1. They make the checkout process easier

Have you ever tried to buy an item only to find out that the purchase process is overly complicated and not worth your time? There’s a good chance you did. Most shoppers come across this problem more often than you think.

That’s why shopping cart abandonment rates are still considerably high. This March, more than 88% of shoppers in the United States have filled their virtual shopping carts, only to abandon them completely, before finishing the transaction. 

If you want to decrease your cart abandonment rates, allow your customer to make purchases easily, and improve your revenue, you need a good payment gateway. It will remove any possible barriers, make the process feel intuitive, and lessen the need for customer support.. 

2. They keep customers’ information safe

Every day, thousands of people have their credit card numbers leaked, identities stolen, their bank accounts drained. For that reason, most shoppers are mainly concerned about preventing ID theft.

Recent studies indicate that around 1 in 5 online shoppers have had their identity stolen at some point in their life. Because of this, around 40% of consumers will only buy products from well-known websites. 

If you want to attract new customers, you need to make them feel safe.

The best way to do that is to use a payment service that will keep their sensitive information completely safe. Your system needs to have proper encryption along with other security features. Being transparent about your security measures can also help. 

How to choose a payment gateway for ecommerce: 3 considerations

There are dozens if not hundreds of payment platforms for you to choose from. If you’re opening an online store for the first time, you’re probably not sure what to look for. We want to explore the common options you have to you.

When selecting a payment gateway for your ecommerce business, there are three specific things you should keep your eye on.

1. On-site and off-site processing

The first thing you need to think about is whether you want your shoppers to leave your website or not. 

For example, PayPal, one of the biggest payment solutions out there, requires users to leave the merchant’s website in order to finish their payment process. You can pay a fee to make sure the payment is processed without requiring shoppers to go to an external site. We highly recommend choosing a payment option that will keep uses on your site.

2. Types of payment methods

Different companies have different payment methods. Besides debit and credit card processing, there are plenty of other options including gift cards, financing, cryptocurrencies, and many more 3rd-party options. 

In order to know what will work best for you, getting familiar with your consumer base is a must. See what payment methods your visitors prefer and only then make a choice. 

3. Customer protection and security

We simply can’t stress enough the importance of data protection. If the payment platform you’ve started using has experienced data leaks, then the consumers might not be too keen on doing work with you. 

Moreover, you should make sure that the platform you’re using doesn’t come with any hidden monthly fees. The safety of your consumers should be your number one priority.

Improve the customer experience

Now that you’re familiar with the best ecommerce gateways, you can improve the experience of your customers, help them finish their purchase in a matter of seconds, and grow your store, without managing cart abandonment rates all the time. 

So let’s recap:

• Payment gateways are there to make the purchase process easier
• Without the right payment platform, your shoppers will feel insecure
• Select a platform based on your needs

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In the past, the best way for online stores to grow was to spend heavily on paid advertising. The thinking: get your brand in front of an audience, and sales will just… happen.

But this ecommerce growth tactic is outdated because paid advertising has become outrageously expensive, and many shoppers make purchasing decisions based on customer experience and trust, not ad spend.

Before you dedicate an enormous growth budget to paid customer acquisition, read our guide for more sustainable, customer-centric tips to grow your online store.

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12 sustainable ecommerce growth strategies for brands

1. Determine KPIs, and reverse engineer your strategy from those metrics 
2. Create a long-term SEO plan to rule Google search results
3. Establish a social media presence to generate more website traffic, social proof, and sales
4. Invest in customer service as your top customer loyalty program
5. Implement live chat to boost customer satisfaction and sales
6. Automate time-consuming tasks
7. Find profitable niches to expand your business
8. Form relationships with influencers in your industry
9. Pick the right digital payments platform for your store
10. Use ecommerce advertising to expand your reach (but carefully)
11. Realize the power of email marketing
12. Create a conversion rate optimization (CRO) plan

1. Determine KPIs, and reverse engineer your strategy from those metrics 

You can’t really develop an ecommerce growth strategy without knowing how to know what needs improvement. Without solid key performance indications (KPIs) as a benchmark (and a signal on where to improve), your growth strategy will be little more than guesswork. Pause on the “growth hacking” until you have solid data.

Measuring your KPIs can help you answer questions like: 

• What made your store successful in the first place? 
• What efforts haven’t been paying off?
• What revenue-boosting strategies work best? 

KPIs every ecommerce business should track fall into four distinctive categories: 

1. Monetary indicators: Tracking profit and revenue and increasing return on investment 
2. Customer indicators: Regulating the number of former, current, and future customers
3. Purchase indicators: Analyzing people that have attempted or made a purchase 
4. Conversion indicators: Assessing the number of people that have converted

Any customer service platform worth the price will help you track key KPIs. Gorgias, for example, provides revenue statistics, real-time support performance data, and up-to-date customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores. 

Benefits of tracking ecommerce KPIs

Tracking KPIs requires you to acquire new tools, learn how to use them, and train your employees. Is tracking KPIs really worth your investment? Here are a few reasons why tracking KPIs is worth the effort:

• Provides you with a complete, objective overview of your goals and progress
• Gives you a benchmark for your current ecommerce sales, conversion rate, and more 
• Gives you the ability to make more informed decisions based on data
• Allows for a evidence-based employee management and evaluation
• Guides you to new ways to optimize brand exposure, lower bounce rates, improve click-through rate (CTR), and more

Want to know more about tracking ecommerce KPIs?

Keeping track of performance can help you bring your business to new heights. If you’re interested in knowing more about KPIs, how they can help you, and which ones to track, read our guide to ecommerce KPIs. 

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2. Create a long-term SEO plan to rule Google search results

Organic search (when people use a search engine like Google) is the #1 source of traffic for ecommerce. One of the reasons for this is the fact that people, especially young people, actively ignore paid Instagram and Facebook ads. (Plus, those tactics are wildly expensive.)

That’s why your store needs search engine optimization (SEO). Specifically, you at least need to optimize your homepage and product pages to ensure your store is a top Google results when people are online shopping for the kinds of products and services you sell. 

And, if you have the bandwidth, consider launching a full-fledged content marketing program (with blog posts and other educational content) to get even more eyes on your ecommerce site.

While most SEO refers to Google searches, online stores also have to think about marketplace SEO. If you sell on Amazon, for example, you’ll want to optimize your product descriptions to show up at the top of relevant search results. 

Check out Amazon’s SEO guide for more information.

Benefits of ecommerce SEO 

Is SEO really that great of a marketing campaign? Do its benefits apply to small businesses? Let’s take a look at some of SEO’s biggest benefits:

• Allows you to stay competitive despite the increasing number of new ecommerce brands
• Lets you compete with large corporations despite a modest marketing budget
• Helps you bring a steady stream of shoppers to fill your marketing funnel (in other words, attract potential customers)
• Significantly lowers your pay per click (PPC) costs while allowing you to continue attracting customers
• Creates lasting (and compounding) value, whereas paid ads quickly become irrelevant and ineffective

Want to know more about ecommerce SEO?

You can optimize your ecommerce website for search with a few quick wins, but the best SEO strategies are long-term marketing investments that compound over time. Check out our posts on ecommerce SEO:

• 10 Step Guide to Ecommerce SEO
• Shopify SEO Guide: How To Optimize Your Shopify Store for Organic Traffic
• How to Boost Sales with Blog Content for Ecommerce Brands

3. Establish a social media presence to generate more website traffic, social proof, and sales

A 2021 Forbes survey of 6,000 shoppers found that about two thirds of shoppers use social media as part of their online shopping routine. They either discover a brand through its social posting, check out the Instagram for product photos, or look through customer conversations in the comments.

Check out how CROSSNET uses social media cross-marketing to grow their audience:

Not only can social media persuade your target demo that you’re the right store for them but it can also expose your business to customers you didn’t even plan on targeting. In addition to retail sales growth, it will help you expand to markets you haven’t even thought about.

Benefits of social media marketing

Of course, having a page/profile on all of the more popular social media platforms is a must nowadays. But should you continuously invest in social media marketing? Consider this:

• Brings in more traffic to your website and increases online sales in the process
• Increases conversion rates by helping you create relationships with followers
• Builds trust with your target demographic and boosts brand loyalty
• Leads to better customer satisfaction rates through direct dialogue (when you perform social media customer service)

Want to know more about social media marketing for ecommerce?

If you want to read further about how your store could benefit from social media marketing or know more about the best strategies, we recommend you read our article on the topic. There, you’ll find out everything you need for a winning social media strategy. 

4. Invest in customer service as your top customer loyalty program

Without your customers and their loyalty, your business wouldn’t exist. Simple as that. Focus on providing incredible customer service, and you’ll see increased customer satisfaction, more testimonials and customer referrals, and higher retention and repeat purchases from cusotmers. 

32% of shoppers say they would no longer shop with a brand they loved after one bad experience, according to PwC’s Future of CX report. You don’t have to worry about “delighting” every customer. But you do have to provide quick, effective service (and a great customer experience) to build trust and keep customers from shopping with your competitor. 

Want to learn more about growing through customer experience? Check out our CX-Driven Growth Playbook, a compilation of 18 tactics from top ecommerce brands to raise your revenue by up to 44%.

Benefits of ecommerce customer support 

Without a question, investing in customer support is a must. Here are some of the benefits you can expect when you start investing in providing a great customer experience through service:

• Gives you a direct communication channel with shoppers (to receive feedback and product reviews) 
• Establishes a reputation as a caring brand that takes good care of shoppers
• Provides a chance to upsell customers (when the time is right)
• Gives you a chance to answer questions, handle objections, and remove any other barriers to a sale
• Integrates easily with other channels, especially intimate and high-touch channels like text marketing
• Lowers shopping cart abandonment rates significantly and helps with cross-selling efforts  

Want to know more about ecommerce customer service?

Your business heavily depends on a great customer experience (and customer satisfaction rates staying high). While chasing after new customers may seem like the fastest way to grow, investing in customer service is your best bet for sustainable growth.

Check out our guide on customer service best practices for more strategies. 

5. Implement live chat to boost customer satisfaction and sales

Live chat is one of the best ways to provide in-context, efficient customer service. We also find that Gorgias customers who use live chat can increase conversion rate through the channel by proactively offering discount codes

Live chat also allows your customer service agent to serve multiple customers simultaneously. And, when you use self-service portal and chat contact form, you can offer live chat support even when you don’t have a human agent to staff the channel. 

Here’s how shoppers can use the self-service portal to answer their questions — in this case, track and update their order — without interacting with an agent:

Benefits of live chat for ecommerce 

Unlike physical stores, most online stores provide limited communication options to their visitors. A customer can’t just walk up to you and ask you a question. Live chat offer that. And live chat can facilitate sales, just like a physical attendant who can answer questions and give product recommendations in the moment. Here’s what can live chat do for you:

• Saves your customer service agents and buyers precious time
• Enables customer service agents to serve several people at the same time
• Gives shoppers relevant recommendations and solutions to their problems (unblocking sales)
• Proactively reaches out to customers during the checkout process to reduce cart abandonment
• Provides additional options for customer self-service

Want to know more about live chat for ecommerce?

Live chat bridges the gap between real-world and online retail by enabling you to help your customers in real-time. 

Read our piece on how live chat can increase sales on your online store.

6. Automate time-consuming tasks

As your business grows, you’ll only take on more time-demanding tasks. On their own, these tasks are harmless. However, they can quickly swell and distract you from higher-impact projects in your growth strategy.

Thankfully, tasks like customer segmentation, order tracking, and many parts of your digital marketing (like creating social media posts) can all be automated. With the right tools by your side, you’ll ensure that your business stays profitable. 

That’s why 89% of businesses already automation some parts of their growth tactics, according to a 2019 survey from Automizy.

Benefits of ecommerce automation

Small tasks can consume a lot of your time. What can you do with all of that free time? Here’s what ecommerce automation does for you:

• Helps you manage your inventory much easier and ship products faster
• Offers better customer experience with better response time, shipping, and returns
• Allows you to focus on more complicated aspects of your operation and improve ROI
• Improvers customer service with automated letters and email responses to inquiries
• Makes social media marketing a lot easier by scheduling posts on multiple platforms

Want to know more about ecommerce automation?

Ecommerce automation is a broad topic. You can automate elements of your digital marketing, your customer service, your administrative tasks the build up here and there. 

Take a look at out our guide on ecommerce automation for further reading.

7. Find profitable niches to expand your business

In ecommerce, a niche is a specific segment of the retail market’s target audience interested in a particular product type. Niches can be narrow and wide. A wide niche would be beauty products and a narrow niche would be male, eco-friendly care products.  

Some of the top ecommerce niches in 2022 include:

• Next-generation beauty products
• Next-generation phone accessories
• Vape products
• Lighting decor
• Tools and hardware supplies

If you want to expand your business, it would be smart to find a particular niche to target. These are trending niches, but you should expand wherever is most relevant to your existing brand and customer base. By targeting a specific group of customers over the long haul, you can more easily establish yourself as the go-to brand. 

Benefits of finding a profitable ecommerce niche

Trying to please everyone is a recipe for disaster. Finding a niche and sticking to it will help your business with: 

• Attracts a group of people that is willing to pay more and stay loyal to a brand
• Helps you stand out among your competitors by having a more unique (and desirable) offering
• Lets you stay on top of current trends and staying in touch with young consumers
• Lowers your costs of advertising and helping attract new people more easily

Want to know more about profitable ecommerce niches?

Expanding into a new niche is no small decision. You have to ensure the expansion makes sense for your existing customers and brand, as well as your future growth goals.

Check out our guide on choosing a niche for more information.

8. Form relationships with influencers in your industry

According to 2021 Statista data, nearly 35% of social media users were either likely or extremely likely to purchase a brand’s product or service because an influencer promoted it. Ecommerce influencers are one of the best ways to increase exposure for new products (or to new audiences).

Below, you can see how Princess Polly partnered with an Instagram influencer with over 11,000 followers to increase brand awareness and bolster social proof:

These people are the ones you need to partner up with. Regardless of your ecommerce industry or the niche you’re targeting, certain influencers can help you improve sales. 

Not even your geographical location makes a difference. There are influencers in North America, Latin America, and even in the Asia-Pacific region — there are plenty of high-impact influencers in China. There are also influencers on every social media platform, from TikTok to LinkedIn.

Working with an influencer can expose your brand to the global ecommerce market and boost your marketing efforts beyond your wildest dreams. If done correctly, partnering with an influencer can expand your social reach, ensure growth, and improve your bottom line. 

Benefits of teaming up with influencers

Although “influencer marketing” is a recent phenomenon, people have been using the influence of others to sell products for decades. Another way marketers describe this is “social proof.” Here’s what you can expect from it:

• Builds trust between you and your customers in a short period of time
• Gets more people to know about your store, offering, and brand message
• Helps your content strategy reach new levels and attract more people than ever
• Provides content and value to your target demographic on a regular basis
• Reaches audiences you haven’t even thought about and sending them your way 

Want to know more about influencer marketing for ecommerce?

Influencer marketing is one of the best growth hacks for ecommerce stores, thanks to the wide reach of influencers and the impact they can have on brand exposure and product awareness. 

Check out our guide on ecommerce influencers for more information.

9. Pick the right digital payments platform for your store

Consumer behavior has changed drastically over the past decade. Just 10 years ago, a vast majority of consumers couldn’t imagine going shopping without any cash on them. Today, most people are more than glad to go cashless. 

According to 2021 data from Statista, digital wallets and credit cards are by far the most common ways to make purchases . Online payment apps like Venmo and Paypal aren’t far behind.

Merchants that want to expand their businesses need to offer seamless payment options to their customers. Having the right platform will speed up the entire purchase process for both local and international customers alike, all while making them feel 100% safe. Fortunately, Shopify, BigCommerce, and other major ecommerce platforms offer multiple payment options.

Benefits of having the right payment platform

What’s the preferred platform for your audience? That’s the question you need to answer. Here’s how using the right payment gateway helps your business:

• Allow customers to open accounts on your website without entering too much data
• Accept multiple payment methods through a simple, single integration
• Enable cross-border payments, helping you reach a worldwide consumer base
• Speed up transactions and increasing customer satisfaction rates in the process
• Increase security levels and helping you gain the trust of first-time customers 

Want to know more ecommerce payment platforms?

Offering the right payment methods could make or break user experience and customer trust. 

Check out our guide on ecommerce payments to learn more.

10. Use ecommerce advertising to expand your reach (but carefully)

Pay per click (PPC) advertising is a form of online advertising in which the business owner pays a certain amount of money every time a consumer clicks on their advertisement. 

There are plenty of platforms you can use to host your ads. This includes search engines like Google and Bing, social networks like Facebook and Instagram, as well as popular websites like TechCrunch and Search Engine Journal.  

Benefits of ecommerce advertising

SEO might be a more cost-effective way to market your business, but paid advertising is a great way for quick bursts of growth. Here are the benefits of paid ads: 

• Target highly specific groups of consumers
• Give you an additional source of website visitors besides SEO
• Help you track your ad spending exhaustively, to the last penny
• Save your money until you start seeing new visitors and real results
• Allow users to adjust their ad strategy and spending on the fly

Want to know more about pay per click?

For most players in ecommerce, paid advertising is a strong strategy. (Of course, it can never replace customer experience.) If you choose to invest heavily in pay per click advertising, you must make sure you understand your customers to advertise on the right platforms to the right targeted segments. 

Read our guide on ecommerce marketing for more information on the best ways to increase exposure and drive more sales.

11. Realize the power of email marketing

Even though some people think that email marketing is on a decline, that’s not even close to the truth. Failing to invest in email marketing would be a huge mistake. The fact of the matter is, without email, your sales, user engagement, and returning customer base would drop. 

In a 2020 survey from Litmus, four out five growth marketers said they’d rather give up social media than email. Email may be old-fashioned, but it’s not out-dated. You check your email most days, don’t you? 

With email, you’ll be able to directly reach your customers and serve them weekly content, without relying on social media algorithms. Not only that but with retargeting, you’ll be able to lower your cart abandonment rates significantly and increase conversions in no time.  

Benefits of email marketing for ecommerce 

Paying more attention to your email campaigns comes with a lot of pros and a very few cons. Here some of the benefits you can expect to experience:

• Gather actionable feedback from large groups of customers
• Send your subscribers fresh content weekly through newsletters
• Mail discount coupons and other rewards to loyal customers
• Retarget customers that have left your site without making a purchase
• Lower cart abandonment rates and reactivating inactive customers

Want to know more about ecommerce email marketing?

Is email marketing something you want to get into? Do you know how to start building a list of leads? What do you want to accomplish with your strategy? 

Take a look at our ecommerce email marketing best practices to learn the basics. 

12. Create a conversion rate optimization (CRO) plan

Ecommerce conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors that make a purchase. Have a low conversion rate? In the world of ecommerce, that’s nothing out of the ordinary. Most US ecommerce websites have a conversion rate between 1% and 2%. 

Of course, the rate varies greatly between different sectors. Some ecommerce niches have rates as high as 4.9% while others have as low as 1.4%. 

All of this doesn’t mean that you should be satisfied with your rate. Your website can always use some conversion rate optimization. How can you boost your conversion rate? In many ways actually, some of which include:

• Avoiding lengthy sign-up forms
• Allowing shoppers to buy without registering
• Placing CTA buttons in all of the right places
• Sending cart abandonment emails 

Don’t underestimate the power of CRO. By improving your conversion rate by a percent, you can double your revenue. 

Benefits of boosting conversion rates

Dedicating a certain amount of time each week to conversion rate optimization can make your business strategy more effective. But there are lots of other CRO benefits:

• Learn more about your regular customers and their shopping habits
• Boost store revenue by running ads based on your customer insights
• Lower customer acquisition costs and improving the average order value
• Improve SERP rankings and exposing your store to a brand-new audience
• Make more informed business decisions and taking only calculated risks  

Want to know more about ecommerce conversion rates?

Conversion rate optimization is a full-time job at some companies. But even if you can’t hire a CRO specialist, you can (and probably should) make a plan to ensure as many visitors as possible end up making a purchase.

Read our guide on ecommerce conversion rate to learn more about how to maximizes sales on your site.

13. Invest in product photography to improve sales

As an ecommerce store owner, your job is to sell products. And when customers can’t pick up and hold your products, your product images become paramount. 

Nowadays, consumers are being bombarded with visual content.  Social networks, streaming platforms, and forums, all thrive from visual content. With so much visual content on the Internet, consumers now ignore most things that don’t tickle their imagination right away.

The Social Ms reports that 67% of potential shoppers say image quality is an important. Think about it: would you trust a brand with low-quality product photos?

That’s why you need to take steps to ensure that your products are looking crisp. Whether this means hiring a professional to handle the work or taking things into your own hands is all up to you. Just make sure that your visuals are on high quality and show the product in its best light. 

Benefits of investing in product photography

Organizing a professional photoshoot is not a small task to tackle. A lot of time and money goes into photo sessions. Here are a few reasons why you need to focus on product pics:

• Allows consumers to have a better perception of your products
• Helps mobile shoppers have a better view of your product offering  
• Improves the speed of trust, making the shoppers trust you right away
• Increases the conversion rates by helping customers make quicker decisions
• Strengthens your business’ brand identity and separating you from competitors

Want to know more about product photography?

Product photography can be a significant investment, so it’s important to hire a great product photographer at the right time. 

Read our guide on ecommerce product photography to learn the smart approach to great product photos.

Provide the best customer experience possible to maximize ecommerce growth

Ecommerce growth is a complex beast. Whether you decide to invest in PPC, hire a product photographer, or start working on an email marketing strategy, one thing is certain: your customers always come first. 

You need to keep your customer service at a high level, in order for your business to continue growing. And you can’t possibly do that without the right tools.

Gorgias is a customer service platform built specifically for ecommerce. Gorgias users provide more efficient (and satisfying) customer service, generate more revenue, and get up-to-date support and revenue data from the tool. 

If you want to see how Gorgias can help your ecommerce business grow, check out our customer story on Ohh Deer, a small business that used Gorgias to generate $12,500 per quarter through customer experience.