How to Optimise Your Online Store

Learn How To Optimise Your Online Store and Increase eCommerce Sale

We can all agree: eCommerce is an explosive industry that will just keep on growing. Ditching the limitations of brick and mortar stores opens up worlds of new possibilities. At the heart of your eCommerce success is your website. That’s why a comprehensive online digital marketing strategy coupled with SEO and optimisation of your eCommerce website will yield maximum visibility and conversions. Consider this: worldwide eCommerce sales will grew from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to $4.5 trillion in 2021. So lets take a deeper look at the best ways to optimise your online store.

That’s a 246.15% increase in revenue over the last few years, and if you’re an eCommerce store owner, it’s all up for grabs. The tricky part?

Differentiating yourself from the rest of your competitors and standing out to your target audience.

In this day and age, everyone’s obsessed with the idea of starting an eCommerce store, growing it to a certain size, and then sitting back and reaping passive income for the rest of their lives. We all know, though, that the market’s pretty saturated, and competition is stiff.

If you really want to see results, you’ll need to put in the time and effort to optimise your online store.

First things first: set a goal for yourself. Maybe you want to be making $20,000 in revenue within the next 12 months. Maybe you want to expand your team, and branch out into two new markets.

Whatever it is, write down your goal and put it somewhere you can see it.

Now that you’ve got your eyes on the prize, you’ll be that much more motivated to make it happen.

For starters, What Is Online Store Optimisation?

Online store optimisation refers to the process of enhancing the performance, usability, and effectiveness of an eCommerce website to improve the customer experience, increase conversions, and drive higher sales. This involves various strategies to streamline the shopping experience, make the site more discoverable, and encourage customers to complete their purchases.

8 Key aspects of optimising an online store:

1. Website Speed and Performance

• Ensure your online store loads quickly, ideally within 3 seconds. Slow load times can lead to high bounce rates and lost sales.
• Optimise images, reduce code complexity, and use fast hosting to improve load times.

2. Mobile Optimisation

• Make sure your online store is fully responsive and provides an excellent shopping experience on mobile devices.
• Optimise images, buttons, and menus for smaller screens, ensuring customers can easily browse and checkout.

3. User Experience (UX) Design

• Simplify navigation so customers can easily find products. Use clear categories, filters, and a search bar.
• Improve product pages with detailed descriptions, high-quality images, customer reviews, and clear CTAs (e.g., “Add to Cart”).
• Make the checkout process as simple as possible, with minimal steps and clear instructions.

4. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) For your eCommerce Store

• Optimise product listings and category pages with relevant keywords, meta tags, and descriptions to improve search engine visibility.
• Use rich snippets and schema markup for better presentation in search results.

5. Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)

• Use A/B testing to evaluate different page layouts, CTAs, and product offerings to see what generates the most conversions.
• Implement exit-intent pop-ups or offers (e.g., discounts or free shipping) to reduce cart abandonment.
• Offer trust signals, such as secure online payment options and gateways, customer reviews, and guarantees, to build credibility.

6. Inventory Management and Product Optimisation

• Ensure accurate product information and stock levels are displayed to avoid customer frustration.
• Provide filters and sorting options so customers can easily browse your catalogue and find what they need.

7. Personalise The Shopping Experience

• Leverage customer data to offer personalised recommendations, such as related products or special discounts based on past behaviour.
• Create targeted email campaigns based on customer preferences or abandoned cart reminders.

8. Performance Tracking and Analytics

• Use analytics tools (Google Analytics, Shopify Analytics, etc.) to monitor visitor behaviour, sales data, and conversion rates.
• Track metrics like average order value (AOV), cart abandonment rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS) to measure and optimise performance.

Why Is Online Store Optimisation Important?

Optimisation directly impacts your store’s ability to attract traffic, retain customers, and convert them into loyal buyers. By enhancing speed, usability, and visibility, you create a smoother, more engaging shopping experience that increases sales, reduces bounce rates, and improves customer satisfaction.

Optimising your online store

#1: Site speed

We all know that consumers expect websites to load quickly within 2 seconds, to be specific). But putting this into context for eCommerce store owners: a one second delay results in 7% less conversions.

If your online store generates $10,000 worth of revenue per day, you get $700 shaved off for every extra second that the store takes to load.

Crazy, huh?

We’ll break it down for you.

When you have an online store which loads slowly, Google penalises you and ranks you lower in search results.

From the horse’s mouth:

“Although speed has been used in ranking for some time, that signal was focused on desktop searches. Today we’re announcing that starting in July 2018, page speed will be a ranking factor for mobile searches.”

So you get less traffic from Google, and with less people looking at your site, your revenue drops.

But what about your direct traffic—those guys who type your store’s URL directly into their browser?

Well, if your store takes too long to load, they’ll get impatient and exit the page.

Again, you’re throwing traffic and potential revenue down the drain, all because your site is too slow.

Checking your existing site speed

Want to find out where you stand when it comes to site speed? Load your Google Analytics account, and click on the “Behaviour” tab. Next, select “Site Speed” and “Overview”.

On this page, you’ll be able to access important statistics including the average page load time.

You can also have a look at the “Page Timings” section, which details the loading rate for each of your pages according to browser. If you see a red box next to a page, this means that it’s particularly laggy.

You’ll have to course-correct!

Optimising site speed

There are plenty of ways in which you can optimise your site speed, including…

• Compressing images: If you’re using Shopify, two apps that we recommend are Image Optimizer and crush pics. Otherwise, ImageOptim API is also a great choice.
• Minify your code: If you’ve got a tech background, check out Google’s article on this for instructions. If not, get your developer to step in and help you.
• Reduce broken links: When you have too many broken links, these can negatively impact your site’s speed. Use Broken Link Checker to get rid of those links!
• Reduce server response time: If your DNS provider is too slow, you’ll have to grapple with slow loading times. Consider switching to a faster DNS provider.
• Enable browser caching: For customers who have visited your site before, browser caching lets their browser load the page without sending another HTTPS request to the server. This results in faster loading speeds.

For more tips, check out this guide for optimizing site speed for SEO.

#2: Add meta tags

Meta tags comprise of title tags (which are displayed as a headline or title in search results), as well as meta descriptions (short descriptions of your page that appears under the title).

Now, if you don’t specify your meta tags, Google’s algorithms will just pull whatever text they can find from your site, which means that your descriptions might end up generic and/or somewhat nonsensical…

So, optimise your meta tags and use your meta description to entice your customer to click through.

If you’re running a sale, tell your customers that. If you offer free shipping, definitely tell your customers that.

Here’s a great example: So much more compelling, huh?

Remember, consumers these days have notoriously short attention spans, and you’re competing with all the other listings on the page… so, optimise your meta tags to give your store that extra edge.

PS: make sure you do this for your entire site, including categories and individual product pages!

#3: Product pages

A picture speaks a thousand words, and when you’re optimising your product pages, your focus should be on providing your customers with beautiful images, right? Well, not quite.

Image from OneSpace.com

Shoppers actually rank product specifications and reviews as more important than images.

And according to statistics, a mind-boggling 98% of shoppers have decided not to complete their purchase because of incomplete or incorrect content.

Here’s what this means: as an eCommerce store owner, your goal should be to craft highly comprehensive product pages that answer all your customer’s questions, and assuage their concerns.

First, start by incentivising reviews.

You’re probably already using an email software to trigger automated emails to your customers—so, add a simple one-liner to encourage them to leave a review, and tell them that it will get them 5% off their next purchase.

For best results, add a link which takes them to the review page with a single click.

On top of that, make sure your product information is as detailed as possible. If you’re selling apparel, for example, don’t just state that a certain item fits an AU 6-10.

Give your customers the exact measurements, and provide the model’s height and weight (as well as the size of the item he/she’s wearing) as well.

#4: Backlinks

Here’s how backlinks work: when other websites link to your online store, this signals to Google that your website is trustworthy.

When that happens, Google ranks your site higher, and sends more traffic your way!

Now, not all backlinks are made equal. Nofollow backlinks are basically useless—when a site links to you with a nofollow link, they’re essentially instructing search engines to not take their links into account.

So, you’ll want to focus your efforts on getting follow backlinks instead.

How do you get backlinks? By producing great content that people will want to reference and link back to!

If you’re a store selling leather goods, for example, you might write a blog article titled The Ultimate Guide To Making Your 20-Year Old Leather Bag Look Brand New.

If you’re a store which focuses on plus-sized fashion, you might do something along the lines of 29 Figure-Flattering Outfit Combinations For Curvy Women.

Before you go ahead and create your content, plug your keywords into Google and check out what’s currently on the first page of google.

And just so we’re clear: in order for this strategy to work, you need to produce content that’s better than whatever is out there.

Some eCommerce store owners might be tempted to take a shortcut and simply rehash or spin content from their competitors—but this isn’t going to get you anywhere.

#5: Improve UX

UX and SEO go hand in hand. Basically, make your site user-friendly, remove (or at least reduce!) any sources of friction, and make it easy for your customer to complete their purchase.

One place that you’ll want to focus on is your checkout page. Reduce the visual clutter on this page, so that your customer doesn’t get distracted.

Your Call To Action (CTA) button should be the most visible and eye-catching item on the page, so that your customer gets drawn to it immediately.

Now, conversion experts have been debating on the best colours to use for CTA buttons for quite some time now, and most of them find that either red or green provides the best results.

Go ahead and A/B test these two colours, and A/B test the copy of your button as well. Apart from the standard “Buy Now”, try copy that conveys a sense of urgency, such as “Buy now – sale lasts till midnight”.

Things you can do to drive more sales on my online store

Driving more sales on your online store involves a combination of marketing strategies, website optimisation, and customer engagement techniques.

6 things Australian businesses can do to boost sales and increase revenue:

1. Leverage Social Media Marketing

• Engage your audience on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok with regular posts, stories, and ads.
• Use social proof, such as customer reviews and user-generated content, to build trust and encourage purchases.
• Collaborate with influencers to expand your reach and tap into new customer bases.

2. Offer Discounts and Promotions

• Run seasonal sales or flash sales to create urgency.
• Offer free shipping or discounts for first-time customers, or provide loyalty rewards to repeat buyers.
• Use exit-intent pop-ups to offer discounts when customers are about to leave the site.

3. Use Email Marketing

• Build an email list to stay connected with customers and send targeted promotions, new product announcements, and personalised recommendations as part of your routine email marketing strategies.
• Use abandoned cart emails to remind customers about items they left behind and offer incentives to complete their purchase.

4. Retarget Customers with Display Ads

• Use retargeting ads to remind potential customers who visited your site but didn’t purchase, bringing them back with personalised offers.
• Create visually compelling and relevant ads based on customer behaviour, such as items they’ve viewed or added to their cart.

5. Implement Upselling and Cross-selling

• Use upselling techniques to encourage customers to purchase a higher-end product than the one they initially considered.
• Implement cross-selling by suggesting related products that complement the items customers are already purchasing.

6. Provide Excellent Customer Service

• Offer live chat support to assist customers in real-time and resolve queries promptly.
• Provide easy-to-find return policies and guarantees to reduce purchasing hesitations.
• Follow up with customers post-purchase to ensure satisfaction and encourage repeat business.

eCommerce and Online Shopping Marketing Trends

Twenty years ago, looking for your favourite product online, pulling out your credit card details, and waiting for the product to arrive on your doorstep was an alien concept.

Fast forward and online shopping has grown from non-existent to curiosity and is now a multi-billion dollar industry.

Case in point, online retail sales made up 19% of total retail sales in 2020. 12 months later and that figure has jumped to 35%.

What does that mean for your eCommerce business? It means buying things online isn’t a convenience, luxury, or oddity for consumers anymore – it’s a default way to shop.

Going hand-in-hand with the growth of eCommerce, the pandemic has forced businesses to re-evaluate their online retail approach in the post-COVID era. From new features to online shopping integrations that replicate the in-store shopping experience, marketing managers will need to embrace new technologies and support online sales to grow in the New Year.

In short, today’s consumers want a truly frictionless eCommerce shopping experience. No matter how well known your brand is or how revolutionary the products you sell, you risk falling behind if you don’t keep up with eCommerce trends.

Ready to up your eCommerce game?

It’s time to propel your online store into the future with the latest eCommerce marketing trends:

1. Increased use of chatbots
2. The growth of mobile shopping
3. Voice search and conversational commerce expanding
4. Social media advertingchannels becoming sales channels
5. More payment methods
6. Augmented and virtual reality delivering a more engaged ecommerce shopping experiences

5 marketing trends that will shape eCommerce:

It’s never easy to look into a crystal ball and make predictions. Throw in the speed of technological change and consumer buying habits and making eCommerce predictions becomes even trickier.

But not impossible.

Brick-and-mortar stores aren’t going away any time soon. But your customers DO want convenience and which means 24/7 online shopping and good customer service. Consumer behaviours change. Then change again. Your business must keep up with these eCommerce changes as they happen to keep your customers happy and sales ticking over.

Adding to the challenge, competition for online sales is fiercer than ever. The pandemic forced businesses to move online as consumers stayed home. Even as restrictions end and life get back to a version of normal, more businesses are competing for online shoppers than ever before. It’s up to you to make sure you get your slice of the eCommerce pie.

As a $4.89 trillion industry, there are plenty of sales to go around. But you need to stay on top of the latest trends to keep the cash register (or online checkout) ticking over. That’s what we’ll show you how to do in this article. From chatbots to omnichannel selling, read on to discover the eCommerce marketing trends set to dominate plus practical tips to help you future-proof your business.

Trend #1 – Increased use of chatbots and their impact on customer service

Successful eCommerce marketing comes down to exceptional customer service. Putting your customers first means they are more likely to spend time and money with you. But there’s a problem: your customers need help 24/7.

Enter chatbots.

Chatbots aren’t new in the eCommerce world. But they will become one of the more valuable eCommerce marketing trends. This stems from the advance in machine learning that allows for data collection and a more personal application of chatbot technology.

As machine learning improves, brands will leverage chatbots to improve customer service. It’s a myth to think chatbots remove the human touch and leave an online store sterile and empty. Instead, a chatbot lets your customers receive instant support 24/7 and guidance towards the right page – whether that’s a checkout, an FAQ, or a blog post.

If a shopper has a question at 2 am while browsing online, you need to be ready to provide the answer. FAQ pages offer a front-line defense, but a static FAQ page can’t respond in real-time to a question. With a chatbot, you can provide answers at midday and midnight. For example, a chatbot can notify a customer when their favourite product is out of stock, then recommend a similar product based on their preferences.

When abandoned carts cost eCommerce businesses $18 billion per year, a chatbot can remind customers of their abandoned carts so they can proceed to checkout or empty their cart. For shoppers who closed a tab by mistake or got distracted, this can turn a lost sale into a satisfied purchase.

If you think your customers prefer the personal touch, remember that most consumers prefer to communicate with businesses through messaging, not phone calls. Even better, 4 out of 10 customers say they don’t care if a customer support agent is human or AI-driven, as long as their problem is resolved.

How to implement chatbots

Here’s the good news: Chatbot technology is widely available already. Facebook Messenger is the most well-known example and makes it easy to use chatbots to support your social eCommerce goals (more on that below). There is also a range of user-friendly chatbot platforms you can use including Kik, Chatfuel, and Motion AI, so there’s no shortage of options available.

Remember, a chatbot is just one tool in your customer service toolbox. If a query becomes too complicated for your chatbot, you can bring a live agent into the chat.

Whatever type of chatbot you implement, the result is the same: The difference between a browser being closed or a sale being lost, and a flood of new online sales. If you haven’t implemented a chatbot on your eCommerce website, make it a priority.

Learn about using AI For your online store / website

Get More Leads By Using Artificial Intelligence / AI Lead Generation | Major AI-Driven Search Changes and What’s Coming Next | Using ChatGPT for | Welcome to the definitive guide to Google BARD AI your SEO | Guide to Google’s New AI – Gemini

Trend #2: Mobile shopping continues to grow at a rapid pace

Are you reading this on your smartphone?

Statistically, one out of every two of you are. With smartphone usage a part of everyday life, it’s no wonder mobile users want to buy products through their phones as easily as they would in a brick-and-mortar store.
Global consumer mobile commerce sales are estimated to hit $3.56 trillion by the start of 2024.
Driving this trend of mobile visitors is the release of new technology (like 5G), the increase in mobile-friendly websites (like this one), and a more mobile-dependant society. And the numbers don’t lie: 62% of smartphone users have made a purchase through their device.

Mobile commerce differs from traditional eCommerce – which is typically carried out via desktop computer or laptop. Larger screens have made it easier to display products and drive purchases. As consumers shop on mobile devices, businesses will need a mobile-friendly website designed for a seamless shopping experience, or a dedicated mobile app created to sell products.

It’s worth noting, 88% of shoppers will go to a competitor after a bad mobile experience. Even if you think your online store is easy to use and accessible, a further 84% of shoppers have experienced difficulty completing a mobile transaction – which makes it likely your site is creating friction between a sale without you knowing it.

How to make your site more appealing to mobile shoppers

Make your website mobile-friendly

Google searches on mobile exceeded desktop searches in 2015, and the numbers have only gone up since then. To make sure your shoppers are enjoying a user-friendly browsing experience, you’ll need to implement tips like:

Easy tap options: Make sure all buttons, links, and CTAs are easy to tap and working correctly. A button can quickly become an obstacle if it is hard to find or difficult to press. Think about how you hold your phone. Odds are, your thumbs control the screen. If you place a button out of reach of a shopper’s thumbs, you’re creating a user-experience flaw.

Simplify design: Website design and copy should be straightforward and user-friendly at the best of times. On a small mobile screen, it’s even more important that you make text easy to read. Try adding padding around menu items so they are easy to find and click.

Optimise contact forms: Studies show that an increase in form fields can decrease conversions. Make it easy for shoppers to fill in forms by keeping fields to a minimum to decrease friction and encourage site visitors to take action.

Leverage multimedia: 69% of people prefer to learn about new products by watching video content. In the New Year, utilise videos, infographics, images, and other multimedia instead of writing walls of text that make your audience’s eyes glaze over (and send them running without landing a sale).

Click to call links: Use clickable links instead of static images so shoppers can click to call your business. This removes the inconvenient step of having to enter a phone number manually and makes it easier for people to get in touch.

Mobile shopping is one of the eCommerce marketing trends going to grow. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted shopping habits – especially mobile commerce. Although retail shopping has since resumed, the ease and convenience of shopping online – particularly on the smartphones that your target audience has connected to their hip – will pose an attractive alternative to in-store experiences.

Trend #3 – Voice search and conversational commerce expands

Voice search isn’t going to replace traditional search any time soon. But as voice searches increase, optimising for voice search needs to be part of the game plan for all Ecommerce sites.

If voice search sounds like *another* marketing buzzword to deal with, it’s just the technology behind asking Siri, Cortana, Google, or Alexa to help with your online shopping. Think, “Alexa, where can I buy facemasks?”.

The eCommerce marketing trend of voice technology, and the conversational commerce it drives, will take the next step. Remember, voice search is useful to consumers because it cuts back on search time and provides a more accessible alternative to jumping on Google and typing in a query.

The average person types between 30 and 35 words per minute, compared to 100 words spoken per minute. This delivers faster results as well as the convenience of multi-tasking. It’s easy to use voice search to order more ingredients while you’re cooking (but much harder to pull out a laptop and start Googling the nearest grocery stores while you’re stirring a risotto).

Voice eCommerce sales are predicted to reach $19.4 billion in 2023. Savvy eCommerce brands should make it easier to buy products by optimising for voice shopping.

Voice search is a major convenience for shoppers with a busy lifestyle. It can provide an effortless shopping experience perfect for multi-taskers.

It’s estimated that 75% of US households will own a smart speaker by 2025, making it crucial that you start implementing a voice search SEO strategy now. You can combine your eCommerce marketing strategy with your SEO strategy with the following tactics.

How to optimise your eCommerce site for voice search

Align your SEO strategy with your eCommerce SEO strategy

Voice search is different from traditional SEO. One of the key differences comes from the keywords used. Voice searches are typically longer and more conversational. For example, a typed Google search might be “Best Pizza Sydney”. A voice search may be longer and more natural, like “where is the best pizza restaurant near Bondi Beach?”.

Aligning your SEO and eCommerce SEO strategies mean using longer and more conversational keywords, optimising your website for online shoppers using voice assistants, and more website traffic.

Design site structure to match user journey

A smooth user experience is crucial to boosting sales. You can improve your user’s experience by designing a site structure that makes their browsing and searching experience simpler. For example, use common questions in your eCommerce navigation menu.

This will help you rank for the conversational keywords we mentioned above. You can also add schema markup to highlight your content for rich snippets, content boxes, and updates on products and prices.

Improve page speed

Page speed isn’t just a matter of consumer preferences. Speed is crucial for traditional SEO and voice searches – so there’s no excuse not to improve load times. Shoppers want quick answers whether they’re asking about prices, brands, or shipping. If your site is slow to load, your rankings will suffer.

This is confirmed by Google who says…

“Users want to find answers to their questions quickly and data shows that people really care about how quickly their pages load. The Search team announced speed would be a ranking signal for desktop searches in 2010 and as of July 2018, page speed will be a ranking factor for mobile searches too.”

Improving page speed can be achieved by removing broken links, reducing image size, using redirects, and using caching.

Trend #4 – Social media channels become online stores and sales channels

Selling products on one social media platform is great. Selling products across multiple social media platforms is even better. In 2020, social sales made up an estimated 3.4% of total eCommerce sales – and that figure is expected to rise.

Source: BigCommerce

eCommerce marketing tends and online shopping will not be a linear experience. Optimising multiple social media channels to support shoppers will appeal to consumers who are going omnichannel. Higher online retail demand during the pandemic led to new retail features enabling easier shopping on Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms – making your job easier.

Shoppers no longer need to jump from their favourite social apps to eCommerce websites. The ability to browse, click, and buy on social media will become crucial to reach an audience that’s no longer just using Facebook.

Social commerce is effective because it shortens the traditional eCommerce path to a sale. Previously, the journey from interest to conversion can occur across multiple website pages and contact forms. This step-by-step process leaves plenty of holes for potential customers to fall out.

While many paid advertising strategies look to bring people from Google or Facebook ads to specific landing pages, social commerce is about keeping the sales funnel in ONE place. With billions of people using social media, simplifying your online shopping process can help decrease friction and increase sales.

View, click and buy. 

That’s the social commerce solution.

How to sell through your social media channels

The social leaders like Facebook and Instagram have integrated shopping functionality, so the hard yards have already been done.

For example, on Facebook, your business has a “Shop” tab available. This lets Facebook users browse products, prices, and read about your inventory. Depending on your region, users can then purchase directly from your Facebook “Shop” or click through to your website to complete a purchase.

Sounds great, right? But there’s a challenge: all of your competitors are using multiple channels to sell too.

As we mentioned, when the pandemic began, social media platforms started rolling out eCommerce features to help consumers connect with their favourite brands when the in-store experience was on pause. Even as life returns to a version of normal, expect social selling to stay.

According to a recent survey, 76% of shoppers have bought something through a social media platform. But, as exciting as social media eCommerce is, implementing the right selling features is the true test. Here’s how to boost your chances of selling on social media.

How to sell on Facebook

Your competition may be using Facebook, but with 2.89 billion monthly active users there is plenty of demand to meet your supply. Selling on Facebook can be done through Facebook Shops (introduced in 2020).

Facebook Shops is Facebook’s newest eCommerce feature. Although business Facebook pages had the option of a “Shop” feature, Facebook Shops makes them more ‘shoppable’. (Ok, we’ll stop using the word ‘shops’ now).

Confused by the terminology? We don’t blame you. Here’s the difference between the eCommerce terms you need to know.

This new feature lets you create a custom ‘storefront’ that takes a static Facebook feature and apply your branding across layout and style. Customers can browse and buy products without clicking through to your website.

How to sell on Instagram

130 million users click on Instagram shopping posts each month. If you’re not using IG to drive sales, what are you doing? Instagram makes it easy to embrace social selling with a range of eCommerce features. You’ll need a Facebook Shop to sell on Instagram (your Facebook Shop can be connected to eCommerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce).

Once your Instagram Shop is connected and live, you’ll be able to take advantage of shoppable media features like:

• Shoppable posts
• Shoppable stories
• In-app checkout
• Influencer tagging
• Augmented reality
• Instagram shop
• Explore tab shop

Since Instagram is a visual social media advertising platform, you can skip the frustration of multiple links and jumping from platform to website. Instead, customers can browse your product images like they’re browsing in-store and click to buy. Simple.

How to sell on TikTok

TikTok may be the new kid on the block but they’ve recently added eCommerce features to take advantage of the desire for social shopping. TikTok Shopping – the in-app purchasing experience – has replaced the more organic shopping experience. Previously, influencers spoke about their favourite products and users had to find them online. Now, TikTok brands can promote and sell products on the platform.

Take advantage of this feature by adding a ‘Shopping’ tab to your profile. This tab connects with a Shopify product catalogue and lets TikTok users browse without leaving the app then click to purchase.

You’ll need a TikTok Business account and a Shopify store, but if you tick these two boxes you should be adding this social selling feature to your arsenal.

How to sell on Pinterest

Pinterest may not get the attention of other social media platforms, but with 444 million monthly users and weekly conversions on Pinterest growing by 300% last year, Pinterest is a social platform you can use to your advantage.

Selling on Pinterest can be done with buyable pins. These allow shoppers to click on your pinned products displayed and buy directly through Pinterest. To set up buyable pins you’ll need a Pinterest Business Account that’s integrated with one of the five eCommerce platforms able to integrate with Pinterest.
These include:

• Shopify
• BigCommerce
• Magento
• IBM Commerce
• SalesForce Commerce Cloud

Be sure to pin attention-grabbing images and add relevant keywords and descriptive titles to help Pinterest users find your pins. You can also save your pins to public boards so the general public can find them.

Trend #5 – More payment methods for your online store

Pay now. Pay later. Pay by mobile. Pay in instalments.

eCommerce customers demand choice when it comes to payments, and they’ll vote with their fingers.

The average eCommerce store loses 75% of its sales through shopping cart abandonment (ouch). If you sell products online, finding ways to reduce cart abandonment is crucial, and faster payments methods will help achieve this goal.

For an eCommerce payment to be seamless, you need to remove the obstacles that cause friction and lead to lost sales. This can be done by decreasing the waiting time for customers looking to make a purchase. There is a range of ways to do this from reducing the number of steps needed to providing auto-fill information that reduces the need for manual data entry.

Convenient and modern payment options are crucial in creating a streamlined eCommerce experience. Expect to see more ways to pay being adopted by leading eCommerce brands who understand that conversion rates can be increased by offering a variety of ways to pay.

4 ways to offer more payment options on your online store

Optimise mobile payments

4 out of 10 shoppers use their mobile phones to shop online. To encourage mobile shopping, you need to embrace mobile payments and make it easy for people to browse and buy using their mobile devices. This starts by aligning your online store with the app or software that meets your needs.

Mobile payment options include PayPal, Stripe, Square, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, VISA Checkout, and more. Pay attention to features like processing fees to make sure your choice of payment method meets your shopper’s expectations.

Buy now. Pay later

Shoppers want to access their favourite products – even if they don’t have the funds to afford them right now. Maybe payday isn’t until next week. Or they’ve got their eye on a new couch or TV that’s slightly more than they’ve saved up. Enter the buy now, pay later (BNPL) payment model.

There were 197% more BNPL offers in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter of 2019. And this industry is expected to grow by 15 x in the next three years with platforms like Afterpay and Klarna offering shoppers a convenient way to get the products they want now and pay later without interest or extra fees.

Stored payment information

Asking your customers to fill in their contact and payment details for each purchase isn’t just a frustration for them, it hurts your conversions. Adding stored payment methods to your online store helps create a frictionless payment experience that saves shoppers time and reduces the effort needed to complete a purchase.

Giving your website visitors the option to store their payment info makes for a quicker and easier checkout process. This helps reduce churn and cart abandonment, with 18% of shoppers admitting the complicated checkout and payments process led to cancelling a planned online purchase. Removing the hassle of entering payment details for each purchase helps build engagement with your site visitors and helps foster repeat purchases.

Pay as a guest

Not every purchase comes from a repeat shopper. For consumers wanting to make a one-off purchase, consider allowing them to head to the checkout as a guest. With concern over online security, you can lose one-off sales if you force shoppers to add their details and create an account (let’s be honest, it’s tough to remember *another* password and username).

Trend #6 – Augmented reality will deliver a more engaging shopping experience

Although online shopping has become a default option for modern consumers, it does lack a crucial feature that in-store shopping has – the full tactile experience. It’s tough to try on clothes when shopping online. Or see how big a coffee table looks in a room when you’re looking at pictures online.

The continued emergence of augmented reality will help to bridge that gap as one of the new eCommerce marketing trends.

Augmented reality (AR) is the technological experience of a real-world object interacting with computer-generated information. This could be sounds, text, or images. Look no further than ‘Amazon Salon’ as an example of AR done right. This innovative use of augmented reality technology allows customers to test out different hair colours and styles through AR, without changing a single hair on their head.

More than a creative way to showcase services, AR can have a direct impact on your bottom line. 35% of people say they’d shop online more if they could virtually “try on” products before purchasing. And 22% of shoppers would be less likely to visit a retail store if AR was available through their favourite eCommerce brands.

The numbers don’t lie. AR allows your customers to remove the friction that comes with buying products online (“will it fit me?” or “how will it look in our house?”). Virtual try-on applications can be used for clothes, make-up, sunglasses, and a range of accessories. The technology can also be used with preview placement to show what a new couch or bookshelf will look like in a shopper’s home.

Why you should leverage augmented reality technology

AR is starting to take off on the back of COVID-19 and the need for online retail stores to deepen customer relationships through digital channels. Implementing AR strategies offer the following advantages to your online business.

Purchasing confidence: Once a shopper can visualise an item of clothing on their body or a piece of furniture in their home, it becomes easier to make a purchase with confidence that it’s a “good fit”.

Reduced return rates: AR technology is the epitome of ‘try before you buy’. This helps online customers make informed purchasing decisions and bring return rates down as consumers get what they want the first time.

Higher conversion rates: Data from Shopify reveals products advertised with AR enjoy up to 94% higher conversion rates than products without. The more confidence a shopper has in your products, the more likely they are to make a purchase.

Drives engagement and relationships: Experiential marketing has long been the most effective at building relationships and driving engagement but also comes with higher costs. AR is easier to deliver through smartphones, bringing costs down, while creating valuable engagement with shoppers.

Although AR may seem futuristic, AR capabilities are built into leading eCommerce platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and SquareSpace. 3rd party software is also available if you’re using a bespoke website builder so there’s no reason to miss out on this eComm trend.

Over to you…

Staying on top of eCommerce marketing trends is crucial if you want to reach more of your target audience and land sales. By adopting these trends as they emerge, you’ll drive engagement and clicks as a leader in the online retail space – and see the payoff on your bottom line.

At the same time, it can be tough to know where to start when growing your eCommerce business – that’s where we come in.

If you want to accelerate your results, increase eCommerce sales, and drive more revenue, we can help. We’ve written the definitive Guide to eCommerce SEO (seriously…don’t show this to your competition). It’s 100% free and packed full of tips to help your online retailers grow.

Why Is This Important?

By integrating these strategies, Australian online eCommerce stores can attract more customers, increase engagement, and drive more conversions. Consistently optimising your online store, providing value to your customers, and reaching them through multiple channels will ultimately lead to higher sales and improved customer loyalty.

Or, claim a FREE online digital marketing audit worth $2,000 run by our professional Australian SEO services agency experts to find the holes in your online store and discover how to optimise and patch them up – with a 6-month eCommerce gameplan – to ensure you have an online ecommerce website store that’s set up for success.

Are you an Australian Business? Need Help With Paid Ads and / or SEO? Then simply reach Out:

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About the Author

Andrew Raso

Andrew Raso, Co-founder and Global CEO of Online Marketing Gurus, has been instrumental in transforming the agency from a start-up into a $15 million global powerhouse. Since co-founding OMG in 2012 with colleague Mehrdad Hedayati, Andrew has leveraged his deep expertise in SEO and digital marketing to drive OMG’s expansion across Australia, the US, and Singapore.