How To Increase eCommerce Sales: 27 'Instant' Actionable Ideas

Setting up an online store? Pretty straightforward these days.

The real challenge? Figuring out how to boost eCommerce sales.

We chat with online store owners all the time — and one thing we always ask is what’s working for them when it comes to driving sales.

After gathering tons of smart strategies over the past few months, we’re breaking it all down for you. 

Consider this your go-to guide for proven eCommerce sales strategies that actually get results. 

Increase eCommerce Sales Strategies: 27 Tested Ideas for 2025

1. Find the right price for products

2. Get your upsell timing & positioning right

3. Offer personalization at critical touchpoints

4. Come up with an Instagram selling strategy

5. Offer incentives to repeat customers

6. Improve your sales funnel

7. Create a display strategy around bestsellers

8. Create a strong retargeting strategy

9. Strategize your peak season marketing efforts

10. Make post-purchase a smooth ride

11. Assess the relevance of your content strategy

12. Offer support that nudges conversions

13. Run A/B tests to arrive at insights

14. Prevent product page drop-offs

15. Make space for future sales across segments

16. Use visual cues to get shoppers’ attention

17. Optimize information presentation for pain points

18. Use your brand story to build a connection 

19. Let shoppers create & customize

20. How to improve eCommerce sales via smarter discounts

21. Make those Thank You emails sharper

22. Improve eCommerce sales through a loyalty program

23. Target high intent customers with paid ads

24. User generated content to hook shoppers

25. Go for smart cart recovery

26. Don’t overdo the cart page *nudges*

27. Make your eCommerce site *mobile first*

1. Find the right price for products

When it comes to pricing, many eCommerce brands end up getting stuck at pacing it with competitors or announcing so many deals that their profit margins get affected. 

A primary eCommerce sales strategy that will surely have your back in 2025 is price optimization. 

To do this well, you’ll have to focus on 3 key aspects including competitor tracking, cost analysis and customer value metrics. 

Here’s a further breakdown of the above to increase eCommerce sales:

✅ Track how price adjustments occur across customer segments—this isn’t just about how competitors go about it but also how market leaders do this. This will let you draw more effective comparisons between various baseline vs. promotional prices too. 

✅ Factor in additional costs like shipping & payment processing fees—other extra costs that you may also have to look at include marketplace commissions, storage & fulfilment costs etc. 

✅ Look at both historical purchase data & future perceived value—this will let you assess price sensitivities across price points and also survey potential customers on their sense of perceived value. Using both, you can set up tests for price anchoring strategies. 

One eCommerce brand that uses pricing actively as one of their sales strategies is Beauty Pie. The brand doesn’t just challenge traditional market prices but also creates distinctions between member pricing and non-member pricing to promote online sales:

Further Reading: eCommerce Pricing Strategy: How These 9 Brands Are Nailing It

2. Get your upsell timing & positioning right

It’s not just enough to upsell—until you upsell at the right time and the right place. 

To turn upselling into a powerful eCommerce selling method, first identify the pages you’d want to upsell on. 

The closer the shopper is to making a purchase, the more high intent a page in the checkout flow is. 

Here are some ideas on how to increase sales on ecommerce website:

✅ On the product page

Above the add-to-cart button is a key decision-making area. So when you put your upsells or upgrades here along with relevant microcopy, then it sets the stage for conversions. 

What you write in the microcopy, also becomes critical to upsell success. Let’s say, if someone has subscribed for a six-month period instead of a three-month one, NOW is the time to tell them that if they subscribe next time for 12 months, they will save X% more—it’s also safe to throw in an exclusive discount over email to make it sound more appealing. 

✅ On the cart page‍

While last-minute add-ons may superficially look attractive within the mini cart or on the separate cart page, in reality, they often add to cognitive load. Instead, showing a non-intrusive modal with a “Add this for 20% off on your entire order” as soon as a customer hits the checkout button may be more compelling. 

Tip: If you do decide to upsell post-checkout, do it on the order confirmation page and make sure it takes shoppers just a click to buy the items (Shopify’s One Click upsell is famous for this.)

Further Reading: Shopify Upselling Ideas for Product page, Cart, Checkout

3. Offer personalization at critical touchpoints

In many ways, higher sales is a function of shoppers feeling it’s an exact product-need match, their questions have been answered or they’ve found a great deal. 

And all of it is often a result of personalization—something you’ll have to consider across touchpoints on your store, across emails and over socials - and not just through recommendations.

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Show dynamic content across high intent pages—this is ideal when you take into account a shopper’s past browsing / buying behavior on your site & competitor sites - fall back on welcome back pop-ups, using geo targeting to pick up shipping location & showing delivery pricing etc.

✅ Location-based pricing—explore looking at zip codes to figure out the willingness to spend / avail discounts etc. you may also want to assess the traffic source to show up a price that’s suitable (for example, traffic that finds your store’s ad in a digital jewelry magazine is likely to spend more than those who find it on a news channel.)

✅ Personalized search results—tap into cross-sell suggestions based on what the shopper has bought right before or even nudge them towards products that feature the subscription benefit if they’ve been buying regularly.

✅ Customized discounts based on behavior—for example, you may want to offer a BOGO deal on a product that you’ve noticed a shopper has been picking up month on month, thus reinforcing the positives of engaging with and buying from your brand. 

4. Come up with an Instagram selling strategy

Many eCommerce brands we work with want to jump right to steps that immediately precede the buying decision. 

But we’ve seen the discovery and consideration stages of an eCommerce sale being just as critical—and to empower this more, you’ve got to have an Instagram selling strategy in place. 

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Feature collaboration content with experts & make them shoppable: Tips, tricks, use cases and seasonal applications especially fly well with the Instagram audience, which is essentially looking for on-the-go information. 

✅ Create an overarching “theme” around the content you feature: For example, Mejuri features styling photos as the norm, and even picks UGC accordingly. 

✅ Announce Instagram-only exclusive discounts: This is a key way to get engaging audiences to keep coming back just to check on offers that aren’t available anywhere else. 

eCommerce brand Gymshark creates unique promo codes to make their Instagram-exclusive offers count and create more buzz (read: repeat visitors)

Further Reading: 36 Powerful Instagram Strategies to Drive eCommerce Sales (+Tips & Trends)

5. Offer incentives to repeat customers

Your eCommerce sales strategy is incomplete without being appealing to those who’ve been buying from you for a while. 

Your repeat buyers are those who finally contribute to improving your customer lifetime value—and that means you’ll have to create them & preserve them.

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Incentivize a second purchase—because the distance between the first buy and second buy either increases or decreases the chances of a shopper engaging with your brand in the long term - the easiest way to do this is to slip in a note with their first purchase package thanking them and offering a discount code for the next purchase. 

✅ Feature complimentary products (and offer a discount)—when done over email, this tactic is ideal because you can then tailor the messaging based on the exact segment you’re targeting. 

✅ Show a price slash on a payment method they’ve used before—this is highly compelling for repeat purchasers because it is an unobtrusive nudge to make them buy more - you can also pair this with quantity discounts to prompt the increase of AOV

6. Improve your sales funnel

Making a sale happen is really about moving audiences from the awareness stage to the action stage. 

Now make that repeatable and what you’ll have is a highly successful eCommerce sales funnel. 

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Optimize the way entry points work: This is crucial to nurture shoppers who’re discovering your brand and getting to know your products. Though there are many ways to do this, we suggest optimizing different landing pages for different traffic sources, because based on the latter, shopper intent often varies. 

✅ Make it more engaging to consider a purchase: Whether it is about comparison charts that outline your distinction from other brands, or comparisons between your own products. This would also include showing content on-site and over emails based on categories a shopper has expressed interest in. 

✅ Refine customer experience after they add to cart: Check on how intuitive the checkout flow is, whether upsell recommendations are really creating value or not and how fast a shopper is able to pay and get out once they hit the actual checkout page. 

To increase eCommerce sales, mattress brand Casper intelligently optimizes their whole sales funnel by featuring a quiz for the discovery phase, buying guides for the consideration phase and even a 100-day free satisfaction trial for the desire phase.

Their buying guide, for example, is super comprehensive taking into account product size, audience preferences and even overlooked aspects like the following:

Further Reading: 5 Stages of an eCommerce Conversion Funnel (+Examples)

7. Create a display strategy around bestsellers

In our experience of helping eCommerce brands grow conversions, we’ve seen how you treat your hero products on your site impacts sales conversions drastically. 

Your hero products are your flagship products that communicate your brand value the most and also help in building community. 

To ace your hero product display strategy, go beyond the “bestseller” label.

Here are some ecommerce sales strategies to consider:

‍✅ Experiment with a “Didn’t find what you were looking for” pop-up in displaying your hero product & driving an on-the-spot discount with it.

‍✅ Rotate bestsellers based on real-time performance: For example, if your real-time data reveals a bestseller is selling 2X at the moment and aligns with customer preferences, prioritize showing it in the “Trending” list. 

‍✅ A/B test between evergreen favorites & currently trending products: This is a great variant test to run and can reveal significant insights whether you’re in your peak season selling efforts or not. 

eCommerce brand Sephora uses a highly evolved bestseller display strategy where they not only feature important labels but also rank the products in hierarchy:

Further Reading: Why Is Your Conversion Rate Low: Possible Causes + Solutions

8. Create a strong retargeting strategy

Creating recall in eCommerce isn’t just about maintaining consistent brand messaging. 

It’s also about meeting customers exactly where they’re at in their journey based on past browsing and purchasing experiences - something that retargeting can help you get more eCommerce sales.

Here are some ecommerce sales strategies to consider:

✅ Choose channels based on use—while most shoppers prefer an omnichannel experience, it’s clear that each one has their channel / platform of preferences - if your retargeting attempts are across these channels, they’re more likely to want to see your recommendations. 

✅ Tag the most convincing pages—think most rated products, new drops that have won press mentions and classics that have sold the most over the years. 

✅ Use the frequency capping feature—after all no one wants to be reminded multiple times in a day that they’ve browsed something and it’s time to buy - using frequency capping on Google Ads will help you space out reminders over days / weeks. 

9. Strategize your peak season marketing efforts

Starting from the end of September till early January, eCommerce brands can apply the right types of sales strategies and improve revenue. 

Yes, most advice would tell you to start selling early and offer those flash deals, but what else can add to the strategic mix?

Here are some ecommerce sales strategies to consider:

✅ Bring out BNPL nudges across—highlight them at key junctures where you’ll have your audience’s attention including the hero header on the homepage, a prominent & separate ticker on the product page etc. 

✅ Use retargeting on most-browsed products—and make them more attractive through a seasonal discount to get your paid traffic to act instantly. 

✅ Prominently display gift cards in your primary navigation.

✅ Use a more nuanced filtering system—for example, you may consider what attributes a typical shopper would be more interested to apply during this time or even color code certain products differently from others. 

This is what plant protein brand Aloha does, especially when they combine promotions with new arrivals—and even trigger an additional discount pop-up if the shopper goes idle:

10. Make post-purchase a smooth ride

90% of shoppers are clear that they see the post purchase experience to be as important as the quality of products. 

Now, this is exactly why when you’re wondering how to increase sales in eCommerce, fine tuning the post purchase experience can be vital.

Here are some ecommerce sales strategies to consider:

✅ Segment your post purchase emails based on recent buying behavior—and prioritize the timing and content of these to ensure shoppers neither feel too pushed nor distant. For example, while you may nurture frequent buyers with recommendations within a few days of buying, for first-time buyers, you’ll need to send helpful content around their purchase. 

✅ Ask for preferences around what content they’d like to receive—this can be helpful for you to optimize your emails in a way that opens, clickthroughs and conversions are more eventually. 

✅ Make the return /refund/ exchange policy easy to read, understand and take action on—a complicated policy pushing shoppers to spend extra time on support calls is bad news for your eCommerce sales.

eCommerce brand Veja features a self-explanatory FAQ page with highlights of sections that shoppers ask most questions on—the brand also sends post-purchase advice on how to maintain and care for sneakers:

11. Assess the relevance of your content strategy

Since every conversion funnel starts with awareness and ends with a purchase, your content needs to bridge these two points to increase eCommerce sales. 

Having said that, your eCommerce sales strategy needs to be about revisiting the content you create—what worked in 2020 will likely not work in 2025!

Here are few questions to ask so you can increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Is your content resolving customer objections?—check out what kind of questions shoppers are raising on social media or even in reviews, and answer them as blogs, FAQs etc. 

✅ Are you offering suggestions to social media queries?—one commonly used eCommerce sales strategy is to respond with alternate product recommendations if a specific product is out of stock. 

✅ Is your video content “human” enough?—it’s great that your product pages feature videos around use cases, but are you also cherry-picking UGC videos and BTS video content?

✅ Does the content on your site cover the entire conversion funnel?—run an audit on your blogs & learning resources, comparison charts & guides and check how comprehensive your product descriptions are. 

✅ How helpful are your email sequences?—as shoppers mature, they also want to see non-salesy communication from your brand to strengthen their conviction about long-time buying.

✅ How effective is your gated content?—how visitors behave after downloading gated content can tell you if it’s impacted them positively. For example, are they visiting more of your product pages, browsing more categories or adding more products to cart?

Further Reading: Gated content: 10 Dos & Don'ts that eCommerce Founders Must Know

12. Offer support that nudges conversions

89% of customers have confirmed they will come back for another purchase if they’re happy with the support they’ve received. 

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Self-help resources—Make the FAQ page super accessible, ensure your product pages & product descriptions answer a lot of questions etc.

✅ A call-back option—especially if you’re in different time zones than the customer or don’t have live chat representatives available around the clock.

✅ Customer feedback—If multiple buyers have asked you to change the way checkout works, then you’ve got to pay attention.

✅ Initiate live chat on product pages—trigger the chat from your end, ask  something specific like “Have questions about the <product name>?”

✅ Use data to register customer intent—try this especially on returning customers as one of your eCommerce strategies, so that they don’t have to repeat themselves time and again.

One eCommerce brand that has imbued customer support in the very business model they work with is skincare brand Prose—one look at this snapshot and you’ll know:

13. Run A/B tests to arrive at insights

UX across your funnel deserves constant improvement. 

And A/B testing can really help in that department when you’re trying to boost eCommerce sales. 

When amplifying your sales strategy overall, consider A/B tests.

Here are some A/B testing strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales

✅ Homepage: 

The navigation menu—test between a single large mega menu and dropdown menus for every major category featured on the menu panel. Also test different promotion placements and “quick links”. 

The hero header—test between value propositions, with and without microcopy, CTA placements as well as different kinds of imagery. 

The recommendation sections—test between prioritizing bestsellers vs. saving bundles or bestsellers vs. currently trending products. 

Don’t skip: Testing social proof placement and type to see what drives clicks, higher page read time etc.

✅ Category page:  

Product grid layout—test between grid sizes, image sizes as well as information density.

Product card info—test between various labels, product highlights, pricing attractors and availability nudges.

Filtering & sorting—test filter visibility and sorting parameters to check on the effectiveness of product discovery.

Don’t skip: Testing the quick view functionality, especially between a basic and a more advanced variant, in which the latter can help shoppers check multiple images and similar product recommendations within the modal. 

✅ Product page: 

Above the fold details—test the order of information, pricing with and without highlights as well as CTA color and text. 

Product description flow & layout—test between collapsible and single flow structures as well as featuring icons and without featuring them. 

Product recommendations—test between different positions, section name call-outs and number of such sections. 

Don’t skip: Testing the image gallery layout, structure and zoom functionality. 

✅ Mini cart / cart page: 

Order summary info—test between different layouts, flow of the info as well as between versions with and without progress bars. 

Cart abandonment nudges—test between wishlist placements & types, last-minute offers as well as coupons / coupon fields. 

Cart recommendations: Test between cheaper last-minute add-ons and similar product suggestions. Also test between the number of featured recommendations. 

Don’t skip: Testing between single CTA and multiple CTA scenarios with “continue shopping” as an option to track further engagement / cart abandonment etc. 

✅ Checkout page:

Checkout flow—test between multi-page and single page layouts as well as different numbers & sections around form fields. 

Order review format—test between quantity editing options and between auto applying discounts & featuring coupon fields. 

Payment options—test between showing logos of only major payment providers and showing logos of BNPL options too, test the placement and express checkout options too. 

Don’t skip: Testing between various checkout options like guest checkout, account creation and social media logins. 

For more ideas, check: 153 A/B Testing Ideas for eCommerce (Homepage, PDP, Cart, Checkout)

14. Prevent product page drop-offs

In the conversion funnel, the product page is where sales most happen—but people also keep dropping off without buying. 

And this means creating assurance becomes a priority here. 

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Highlight a positive review—a callout in the first fold is enough.

✅ Drive trust through the product description—for example, talk about where you source your materials from

.✅ Create links to all important policies—mention the return policy link, shipping policy link and link to FAQ if it’s on a separate, detailed page—make your microcopy do this.

✅ Say what’s great through icons—like health brand Ritual does.

✅ Feature contact info way up—right below the first fold is good positioning.

✅ Show the price differently for product variations—if one variant has an ongoing discount, label it in the thumbnail.

✅ Offer images & videos in reviews—visuals help relay more information like fit, color, fall and effect .

Recommended reading: 30 Ways to Build Trust FAST (On Your eCommerce Store)

15. Make space for future sales across segments

Many eCommerce brands we’ve worked with have largely depended on a product launch to do this, but the good news is there are more nuanced and sustainable ways.

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales: 

✅ Stock up on categories with larger search volumes—ensure to track which searches lead to viewing product pages and add-to-cart though, because if high searches end up only in viewing blog content, it could mean lesser buying intent. 

✅ Account for changes / trends that affect your niche—a key way to do this is to stay on top of tools like Google Trends and see which changes / trends become consistent. This way you can either make product feature / ingredient tweaks or launch a new line seasonally. 

✅ Create an excellent interlinking structure—since a lot of new visitors will decide to convert eventually through the content you put up on-site, interlinking that’s predictable and relevant, will go a long way. This way you can even make content tweaks to existing articles or blogs when new launches happen. 

Just a caveat: Go easy on the number of links, something that Plant People consistently maintains leading to better credibility and trust:

16. Use visual cues to get shoppers’ attention

Now that we’ve spoken about images, it’s time for visual cues. 

The idea is to make your shoppers experience a subconscious connection with your products. 

Yes, one of the best ways to increase eCommerce sales is to bring in labels. 

Here are a few that make them sound authentic:

✅ “What our customers love”

✅ “<Insert brand name>’s favorites”

✅ “Frequently out of stock! Get it now!”

✅ “Critics love it!”

✅ “Highest rated”

Don’t forget to use swatches on your product pages—this is one way to make sure you don’t end up duplicating products & also offer a sense of “variety” to shoppers. . 

Your category page callouts also need to be top notch—so that shoppers exactly know what they can expect on the product page. Here’s an example from ASOS:

Bring out the warranties and guarantees through emblems. 

That’s because only text might not stand out when multiple elements are competing for attention. 

Limited time warranties and guarantees work especially well if you’re looking at upping sales. 

17. Optimize information presentation for pain points

If higher eCommerce sales were just about great discounts, most stores would have an excellent conversion rate. 

However, in our free audits, we’ve often noticed eCommerce sales strategies not including the hierarchy of information to resolve customer objections one by one. 

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Highlight reviews for items on sale / clearance—after all you have to target those who can deem items on sale as less trustworthy. So placing the number of reviews right at the top of the category page and making it clickable can work like a charm. 

✅ Feature recommendations based on common concerns—for example, if you run a women’s hygiene brand, you’d much rather highlight “painful period” on the homepage than the less common “thyriod-based infertility”.

✅ Show an instant brand proposition—it’s good that your product listings carry relevant microcopy, but if shoppers are unable to make out what you cohesively do as a brand differently, then sales are likely to suffer. 

This is why eCommerce brand Love Goods features their brand value proposition right up on the hero header:

18. Use your brand story to build a connection 

According to a 2015 study, 55% of people will buy from a brand whose brand story they’ve found compelling. 

Good enough reason for you to use this strategy to increase eCommerce sales. 

To create *stickiness* in your brand narrative.

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Look at the “why” behind your business.

✅ Introduce the “personal” element to make it more “human” (famously enough, how Warby Parker’s beginnings are pinned on the founders wanting to make prescription glasses available more widely.)

✅ Bring out the people who make your brand (why they’re around, what they do, what kind of effectiveness or innovation they drive—shoppers find it extremely worthwhile to connect with the authentic story of a brand).

✅ Spruce up your “about us” page—this may well be the most authoritative page for you to write company info at length and build customer trust in the process.

✅ Find a way to feature more social proof across—use them in surprising ways like in pop-ups or as product image labels!

19. Let shoppers create & customize

As much as early awareness shoppers are bent on product discovery, those later in the funnel are raring to go and make “choices” to add to cart. 

So giving them the power to create and customize will definitely increase eCommerce sales for you. 

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Feature “Build a bundle” prompts—if you’re featuring products from multiple categories on a separate bundling page, make sure each of them is accessible through a clickable radio button right at the top. 

✅ Offer shareable wishlists—this is a great micro-conversion anytime of the year, but can also help pick you sales up at the peak of holiday season. 

✅  Help them participate in the “creation” through a quiz—when shoppers feel you’re interested in their preferences, they naturally feel more invested in the recommendations that your algorithm will generate. 

This is something eCommerce brand Function of Beauty leverages—in fact, they feature separate quizzes for different shopper segments to customize more closely:

20. How to improve eCommerce sales via discounting smartly

Too many promotional offers, and your profit margins are likely to take a serious hit. 

Too few, and you run the chance of losing your visitors & loyalists to competitors. 

The in-between is the sweet spot of announcing just the right kind of deals around the year.

Here are some strategies on how to boost ecommerce sales:

✅ Reduced shipping rate window for shoppers who don’t qualify for free shipping.

Art supplies brand Blick does this to get more sales while not impacting margins by offering this benefit for a price range:

✅ Offer a discount on taking a survey—enhances the non-transactional connection between the customer & brand, while helping you increase eCommerce revenue. 

✅ Link the discount with a seasonal event—for example, you may choose to offer a special Christmas discount but offer it only to those on your email list. 

Youth to the People, for example, combines a New Year discount with an auto-replenish nudge and boosts it with the added benefit of free shipping:

Further Reading: 18 Proven Strategies To Grow eCommerce Profit Margin (For 2025)

21. Make those Thank You emails sharper

What you’ll really need to do is ensure the transactional & non-transactional elements create a balance in making the customer consider another purchase. 

We’ve noticed the best thank you emails do some of the following, apart from offering deals.

Here are some strategies on how to boost ecommerce sales:

✅ Feature content related to the purchase—this’ll help the receiver use the product they’ve just bought.

✅ Show add-ons as recommendations—in fact, if you just nudge the recipient, they’re more likely to consider them during future purchases.

✅ Offer an instant, tangible benefit—this approach can especially be critical to retaining loyal customers. Something that subscription brand Birchbox understands, and says “Thank You” through a “customer appreciation” offer:

Further Reading: Top 20 eCommerce Thank You Email Examples That Convert

22. Improve ecommerce sales through loyalty programs

No matter how many wonderful offers you create for customers, there’s a limit to how many you can keep giving. 

Not the case when you sign them up for your loyalty program—if you’ve been thinking of how to boost your eCommerce sales, consider:

✅ Replacing other nudges with loyalty program nudges—the best way to do is to highlight the price differential between what the usual customer would pay vs. what a member would.

That’s exactly what Dossier does on their product pages: 

‍

✅ Clarify why your membership program trumps competitor programs—some of the best “fair price” eCommerce brands like Beauty Pie do this as one of the types of sales strategies: 

23. Target high intent customers with paid ads

Wondering how to boost eCommerce sales but using paid ads to just drive traffic to your site?

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Create highly specific meta tags & meta descriptions—and don’t forget to align them with your landing pages. 

This ad and related landing page from Sova Health targets people who’re really looking to buy:

✅ Show an ad in a relevant newsletter—for example, if you show furniture, round up newsletters that write about interiors or home decor.

✅ Single out all “negative keywords” you don’t want Google to show results for—basically, these are broad keywords you wouldn’t want to rank for as they don’t serve the search intent of more mature audiences.

Further Reading: 33 High-Converting Product Landing Page Examples

24. User generated content to hook shoppers

Since only 46% trust sponsored content, you’re better off being strategic about UGC while applying eCommerce strategies to grow sales. 

To make the best of the user-generated content on your site, here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Maximize the placement (a review snapshot in the first fold, for example, works wonders).

✅ Make social shares shoppable (hotspot your images so that upon hover, product names become visible).

✅ Feature product recommendations along with social proof highlights—here’s an example of how Patagonia Provisions does it: 

25. Go for smart cart recovery

Lack of time. Too many options. Second thoughts about spending. All these and many more contribute to shoppers wanting to abandon their carts. 

So, it’s important that one of your eCommerce sales strategies be about keeping your shoppers engaged when they want to bounce off—here are a few steps clients have applied & seen sales improve with.

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Offer discounts to your most frequent shopper segments (eCommerce brand Death WIsh Coffee offers in-cart discounts to teachers, fire responders & military personnel among a few others).

✅ Indicate that the shopper will find a special discount auto-applied at checkout—this is exactly what eCommerce helmet brand Ruroc highlights to increase sales:

✅ Instead of the classic “save for later” prompt, experiment with “mail this cart to me”—which when clicked should ask them for their email address so that you can send a cart abandonment email.

✅ Show an in-cart bundle & save prompt for shoppers to keep discovering.

Further Reading: 24 Scientific Strategies to Increase your eCommerce Conversion Rate

26. Don’t overdo the cart page *nudges*

Miller’s law states that our short-term memory can handle approximately 5 to 9 objects at a time.

So if you add too many nudges, it’ll overwhelm shoppers and prompt them to abandon the cart.  

Here are a few suggestions that clients have used to increase eCommerce revenue:

✅ Feature a stock level nudge

 It can create a sense of urgency and make shoppers buy the product right away. 

To make it more realistic, use a “order in the next x hours and y minutes to get guaranteed delivery by <date>.”

This will instantly segment buyers who want to buy the product faster than others. 

Without these nudges, shoppers are also more likely to think it’s okay to abandon their cart. 

✅ Feature payment nudges

Make sure to distribute them.

Nordstrom has 4 nudges around payments and we see how the information has even distribution.

On the lower left side, they have shown acceptable cards and an international shipping note.

On the right side, near the CTA, they have added financing options and a loyalty program nudge.       

27. Make your eCommerce site *mobile first*

Most eCommerce store owners are late to realize they are facing conversion issues due to complicated mobile UX.

For better mobile shopping experiences, focus on usability. 

Good mobile store usability means customers can see clear navigation cues that help them explore products without frustrating them.

Here are some strategies on how to increase ecommerce sales:

✅ Don't interrupt user experience

On mobile, pop-ups are a deterrent, interrupting user experiences.

‍Google announced how “intrusive interstitials” or aka “popups” on mobile sites hinder page ranks.

Tip: Utilize a scroll or time-triggered pop-up that doesn’t cover the whole page.      

✅ Include pinch and expand & double-tap

Research shows a whopping 40% of eCommerce stores don’t support pinch or tap gestures for product images. 

The problem is that a single, large image does not help shoppers most often to view more product intricacies. 

Tapping and pinching enable shoppers to view different parts of the same product image & arrive at buying decisions more instantly. 

✅ Avoid the whole screen for a popup

Also, make it easy to close. 

If you do decide on a popup, optimize its size and ensure the main content is still partially visible in the background. 

Even better? Make the popup disappear if the shopper keep scrolling (it’s a sign they don’t want to see it!)

Further Reading: 30 Mobile Optimization Tips For eCommerce (+ Examples)

5 Metrics to Track Your eCommerce Sales More Effectively

When you’re trying to increase eCommerce revenue, it’s absolutely important that youm track the right metrics—they essentially tell you what marketing efforts are working and what you’ll need to focus on more:

1. Average Order Value

When you pick a certain time period and divide the total revenue by the total number of orders, what you get is the average order value. This metric shows businesses how to increase eCommerce sales first by helping analyze spending behavior and then identifying marketing efforts that can potentially contribute to increased spending. 

eCommerce Sales Strategies to Improve Average Order Value

• Last-minute mini cart subscription nudge with discount
• Post-purchase one-click upsells
• Push bundles that are closer in price to single items 
• Offer increase in discounts as quantity chosen increases
• Unlock limited time VIP product offers when cart reaches $X threshold

2. Customer Acquisition Cost

eCommerce businesses can calculate their CAC by dividing the total of marketing and sales costs by the total number of new customers they acquire for a time period. Customer Acquisition Cost is a critical metric because it tells a business if the types of sales strategies they’re using are cost-effective enough and able to get the kind of leads that’ll convert. 

eCommerce Sales Strategies to Reduce Customer Acquisition Cost

• Optimize content & email marketing for the whole funnel
• Improve UGC marketing for various customer segments
• Rely on a strong referral marketing strategy 
• Make post-purchase smooth & rewarding
• Avoid cold targeting through paid ads

3. Customer Lifetime Value

CLV measures the total revenue a business can hope to generate from a single customer from the entire duration of the business relationship. Tracked correctly, customer lifetime value can indicate problems with your loyalty program as well as how you could improve your product offerings. 

eCommerce Sales Strategies to Enhance Customer Lifetime Value

• Create greater transparency through comparison charts & material sourcing info
• Feature a VIP membership program that really helps shoppers save
• Launch member-only capsules & collections
• Display different pre-made shopping lists to different segments
• Clearly anchor member price against regular price

4. Cart Abandonment Rate

Cart abandonment rate is calculated by dividing the total number of purchases completed by the total number of cats created and subtracting that from 1. This is a metric that helps businesses increase sales on their eCommerce website by looking at major friction areas: forced account creation, surprise additional costs, trust issues and lack of payment methods to name a few. 

eCommerce Sales Strategies to Reduce Cart Abandonment Rate

• Optimize exit intent based on exact stage of customer journey
• Declare free shipping (but make sure to include it in the cost) along with a threshold
• Show express checkout options on the product page itself
• Display delivery date or window clearly as microcopy
• Send smart recovery emails on “saved carts”

5. Returning Customer Rate

Divide the number of returning customers by the total number of customers, multiply the result with 100 and what you have is the returning customer rate. RCR is a vital metric to track because it throws light on how well you are positioning your products, the quality of discounts you’re offering as well as the satisfaction levels from your loyalty program. 

eCommerce Sales Strategies to Increase Returning Customer Rate

• Offer seamless customer support integration across platforms
• Craft offers based on the buying intent of returning customers 
• Create social media giveaways & community challenges
• Feature exclusive channel-only offers based on most active usage
• Optimize the send times of reorder nudges & refills

eCommerce Sales 101

1. What are the 4 Cs of eCommerce Sales?

The 4 Cs responsible for higher eCommerce sales are:

Choice

In eCommerce, shoppers need a sense of choice first and foremost to feel fulfilled about a buying experience.

On a website, this means multiple aspects including:

- A detailed navigation system with categories and sub-categories that create no confusion

- Product recommendations that match a customer's mindset and journey so far

- Offers that make immediate buying more atrractive to a shopper

- Payment options that are well-known, trusted and easy to use

- The ability to pick opt-in preferences

Communication

The component of communication in eCommerce is meant to create trust, assurance and anticipation in shoppers as against doubt, confusion and frustration.

To make this C work for your business, you need to ensure:

- Immediate help (in the form of live chat, on-call support with a professional, chat with a support professional etc.)

- Self help (this includes the ability to view FAQ easily, search for top asked questions within a live chat, gain information through detailed product descriptions)

- Channel alternatives (the ability for the shopper to try out various channels to seek clarification and support—let's say if a support professional isn't available, they should find an email accessible to write in to the business)

- Call-back options (activate this with a touch of a button within the live chat feature—specify how long a call-back can take in case of delays)

Convenience

How easily and how fast a shopper can convert into a customer has a direct impact on eCommerce sales.

Convenience in a sales context can look like:

- Finding products of choice on the homepage itself

- Finding it easy to decide on a purchase (because of labels, trust signals and price clarifications)

- Finding it easy to continue a shopping experience if it ended abruptly earlier

- Finding it convenient to "save for later" and not buy right away

Customization

Effective segmentation is the reason behind this C of eCommerce.

To bring in effective customization, focus on:

- Browsing and purchase history

- Content that can help future purchases

- Offers & freebies that will retain the customer

2. What are the 5 Whys for Better eCommerce Sales?

Asking the 5 Whys can significantly change your relationship with customers, leading to increased conversions and better retention.

This is one of the eCommerce strategies widely used by businesses —the 5 Whys go like:

- Why should you care? (this can lead you to what kind of challenges potential customers are facing)

- Why should you change? (this can lead you to the gaps you may not be covering yet—not just in product development but also in the way you cater to existing and new customers)

- Why is it you? (this can lead you to see what is missing in the competition and what you can leverage because customers are turning towards you)

- Why is it now? (this can lead you to why the challenge is pressing currently)

- Why is it important? (this can lead you to the "root problem")

3. What is an eCommerce Sales Strategy?

An eCommerce sales strategy is a combination of efforts that an eCommerce business makes to either acquire new customers, retain existing ones or both.

Such a strategy typically revolves around integrating social more effectively into the marketing mix, using upselling and personalization to improve AOV, creating more responsive experiences for mobile and improving SEO to trigger better search and discoverability.

Don't forget to check out: 31 Brilliant Examples of eCommerce Personalization

4. What is the most cost effective eCommerce Sales Strategy?

People on an average spend 5 hours a day checking their email.

61% of email subscribers say they would like to receive promotional emails every week.

72% of B2C marketers use email for content distribution.

But most importantly, those who purchase through email are 138% more likely to spend extra than those who don't.

This makes email have steady and well-defined ROI—something that can instantly add to your sales strategy without breaking the bank.

Recommended reading:

38 insanely powerful online sales promotion ideas for eCommerce

eCommerce Subscriptions: 15 Amazing Examples (+ Ways to Increase Subscription Sales)

eCommerce Newsletter: 20 Ways To Stand Out And Actually Drive Sales

Increasing Sales Through Email Marketing: The No-Nonsense Guide

Before you go...

98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything.

Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.

And this is the problem Convertcart solves.

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.

How we can help you:

Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.