So you put up an ecommerce website or shopping cart solution and loaded it up with as much product info as you can, maybe did some SEO or Pay per Click and sent off an email announcing the new site. Then you probably went back to business as usual back in the 4 walls of your brick and mortar store.
A few weeks or months later, you wondered, “I haven’t really had many sales on my website. Hmmphh, this stuff is for the birds…even more reason why I shouldn’t waste my time on the Internet”.
Sound familiar? It’s not an unusual evolution.
Don’t fall into the trap! Your ecommerce website is another location for your store and deserves the attention as such. You need to market and merchandise for your web store, but in different ways than you do for your brick and mortar store.
This week, we’ll simply talk about merchandising. You have to create value, urgency and uniqueness to help you differentiate yourself from all your online competition. Just because you can’t sell a product for the lowest price, doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. You just need to get creative.
One strategy is product bundling. This allows you to sell items that are popular, but with other items together for a reduced price, which makes it harder for shoppers to compare pricing apples to apples with your competition. Consider creating weekly or monthly bundles at the lowest possible price, even if perhaps you lose a dollar or two. Why? It will help you…
- Acquire a new customer (what is the lifetime value of a new customer – how much will they spend with you in the future?)
- Encourage current customers to try new things that you sell
- This is why it is very important to have items in the bundle that are disposable or non-durable goods, things that are used up
- If they try it and like it, then they come back and buy more from you at full price!
- Use them as a type of low margin (not loss) leader.
- This helps “get their attention” in the hopes that they will browse the site for other products while they are there.
- It helps to train your current customers on using the site and gets them used to knowing that it is there, so they do not have to delay purchases until they can “get to the store”. They can buy more, more often. Sure we love them in the store, but some just can’t come as often as they may wish, and they need to get used to buying from you online.
- It helps acquire more email addresses for email marketing.
- It gets folks to the site to use the word of mouth, tell a friend and the new Facebook and Twitter tools! (If your store does this…if not check out www.GoXsellit.com)
Good luck bundling and May the Force Be With You!
- JoGonRu, Jedi Master of eCommerce
