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How live chat can help drive conversions during the holidays

Category: Growth Hacks

How live chat can help drive conversions during the holidays
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

How live chat can help drive conversions during the holidays

Holiday sales continue breaking different records every year and businesses have come up with innovative techniques to cash in on the shopping craze. According to the National Retail Federation, online shoppers spent $19.62 billion between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. In 2018, projections indicate sales will increase by 15.3% and as an online business owner, you have to adopt new strategies to leverage these enticing holiday sales. One of the most effective strategies you can adopt to increase conversion is live chat. If you have not yet integrated live chat into your e-commerce store, you need to read on to find out how this strategy can boost sales conversions during the holiday season.

  1. Convert potential leads with faster responses

If you have ever tried shopping online and you needed quick assistance, you know how frustrating it can be to start filling forms. Internet users have an infamously short attention span and if you cannot offer prompt assistance, they will quickly turn away.

As an online store owner, you know that every visitor is a potential lead and you cannot afford to lose them due to a slow response. Through live chat, you have a chance to retain potential leads on your website and convert them into buyers.

  1. Provide an exemplary customer experience

One of the reasons many people still go to brick and mortar stores is because of the personal attention they receive. That human connection is crucial for many shoppers and it is a challenge for online stores. However, with live chat, you can now overcome that challenge and provide that human connection by being there for your customers.

Shoppers love the idea of seeing an active live chat because they can ask any question and receive prompt feedback. Customer experience is one of the easiest ways of increasing conversions on your e-commerce website.

  1. Reduce shopping cart abandonment

Almost 70% of shoppers abandon their carts and this is something that should worry every online business owner. You see, customers need guidance on many phases of the purchase journey and if you are not available, they will move on to the next high ranking competitor. For instance, if you take payments online and they would like help with an alternative payment method, live chat would easily solve that problem.

The shopper will not find a reason to walk away. Reducing shopping cart abandonment rates directly impacts sales conversions. If you want to boost conversions this holiday season, it is time to deploy a live chat system at your online store.

  1. Increase customer satisfaction rates

The e-commerce business environment is highly competitive and if you want to stay ahead of the pack, you have to offer a satisfying shopping experience. Now, you might have the best online store in your niche but if your customers have nothing good to say about it, you are in trouble.

High customer satisfaction rates show in reviews and recommendations. Many shoppers read reviews and check customer satisfaction rates before shopping from any store. Research now shows that live chat can keep 96% of customers happy and this is an incredible achievement for your business.

Simply put, installing a live chat system on your e-commerce store boosts customer satisfaction rates, which in turn enhances customer loyalty. Ultimately, you will notice an increase in conversion rates over the busy holiday season.

  1. Leverage bots to drive conversions

If you have stretched your resources thin and you have no one to operate your live chat system, you can use live chatbots to offer helpful responses. This is an innovative way to help customers instantly even when you are not around. For instance, a live chat bot can recommend a page for a potential lead for more details. This reduces bounce rates and increases conversions.

How to optimize your live chat system

To get the best out of your live chat system during the busy holiday season, you need to customize your chat widget to match your store’s style, prepare personalized greetings for your shoppers, hire a chatbot when not available, increase your working hours, and make sure your team has everything they need to respond helpfully to customers.

If you have already engaged a payment gateway partner to improve your checkout system, go ahead and enable live chat to improve the user experience at your online store. It is the most effective strategy to cash in on the mind-boggling holiday sales.

6 years ago
Grow Your Business by Offering Alternative Payment Options
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Grow Your Business by Offering Alternative Payment Options

As the growth of e-commerce continues, business owners face new challenges when they seek to improve customer satisfaction levels. Top among these challenges is how to deliver the best customer experience. Why does the customer experience matter? According to an Oracle Report, 86% of shoppers will pay more for a better shopping experience. This means if you provide the best experience for your online shoppers, they will keep coming back. Offering alternative payment options is one of the most effective techniques to improve the shopping experience on your e-commerce website. This article highlights the reasons to increase your website’s capacity to take payments online from multiple payment methods. Keep reading.

  1. Global Reach

The e-commerce industry is global and however small your business looks, you can target the global market online. The concept of a global village is now real and you can leverage this phenomenon by giving your customers multiple payment options.

When integrating payment options on your e-commerce website, you should remember that some of your target customers cannot use the options available in your country.  By providing alternative payment options, you will grow your global reach which is the dream of every business today. Your international customers will never have problems purchasing from your e-commerce store.

  1. Increase Sales Conversion

At first glance, you might not think the payment solutions company you choose will have an impact on your revenues. Well, you should think again because a YouGov Survey shows that 50% of online shoppers cancel their orders if their preferred payment option is not available.

If you have noticed a high rate of cart abandonment and high bounce rates, it is very likely that your limited payment options are killing your sales. By providing alternative payment options, you attract not only new customers but also retain existing ones who would love to change their payment method. If your checkout process is fast, easy and convenient, your e-commerce store will enjoy higher conversion rates.

  1. Improve Security During Payments

One of the greatest concerns for online shoppers is the security of available payment options. If an online store offers a single payment option, customers who would like to try other secure payment methods might have to abandon their purchases.

When thinking about user experience, the security of your website’s checkout process must feature and this is one good reason to provide a wide range of choices. With advances in online security technologies, the latest payment methods promise secure shopping and your customers will expect your e-commerce store to allow these.

  1. Reduction in Operational Costs

Operational costs for businesses eat into the profits and as an online business owner, you have to seek ways to cut costs.  In the e-commerce industry, you have to pay processing fees for the payment method you choose. If you stick to a single payment option, you will never know how much you can save by allowing your customers to use other payment methods. With time, you can identify those payment methods that eat too much into your profits.

  1. Customer Retention

While most businesses invest heavily in customer acquisition, research shows that customer retention has better ROI. Increasing customer retention by 5% alone boosts profits by 20-95% according to a survey by advisory firm Bain &Co published in the Harvard Business Review. One of the best ways to retain your existing customers is by offering flexible payment methods. Internet shoppers are always on the lookout for new technologies, and they will expect your e-commerce store to accept the latest payment options.

  1. Brand Trust

Online shoppers always look for brands that adopt technologies fast. Such brands are easier to trust and shop from compared to those that stick with outdated processes. If a shopper can’t find their preferred payment method on your e-commerce store, they will most likely doubt your credibility. To build brand trust and loyalty, it is advisable to adopt multiple payment options which will, in turn, lead to higher conversion rates and increased revenues.

  1. Seamless User Experience

Internet users are always in a rush and they have an infamously short attention span. They want instant gratification and if there are delays in delivering this, they will quickly move on to another online store. By providing multiple payment options, you will enhance the user experience at your store, which in turn leads to higher sales, positive reviews and a boost in revenues.

The e-commerce business environment is tough but with the right strategies, you can always stay ahead of the pack.  By offering alternative payment options on your e-commerce store, your business can attain a global reach, higher sales conversion, reduce cart abandonment, and improve customer loyalty and brand trust, among other things.

6 years ago
6 Tips to optimize your store for the holidays
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

6 Tips to optimize your store for the holidays

There’s no denying that the holiday season drives most sales for all types of businesses. In 2017, U.S holiday sales reached $106.1 billion a 12% increase from the same season in 2016. In 2018, projected sales are $123.4 billion, which is a 15% increase in growth from 2017.  If you haven’t started preparing your website for the 2018 holidays, you need to wake up and smell the coffee. According to the National Retail Foundation, 20-40% of yearly sales for SMEs take place during the last two months of the year. To make the most out of the holiday season, you have to optimize your online store to deliver what the consumers want, handle the increased traffic, provide a seamless user experience, and retain these customers.

This article explores some of the methods you can use to optimize your e-commerce store for the holiday season before it’s too late. Read on.

  1. Carry out an analysis and learn from it

If your store was still running last year, you need to have a look at the numbers before making any plans. It is important to use hard data for decision making in the online business environment as this gives you an edge over your competition.

Look at the successes and failures of your previous year’s holiday campaign, days when sales peaked, slow sales days, best traffic days, best conversion days, total revenues against projections, keyword optimization results, competitor analysis among other things. From this data, you can set out plans for the holiday season.

  1. Optimize your store hosting plan

Your online store is only as good as the hosting environment. Many online businesses fail because they use the wrong hosting plans. If you don’t choose a good and reliable host, you will experience downtime during the holiday season, which will lead to loss of business. Make sure you choose a hosting package that can handle increased traffic, offer 24/7 technical support, and flexibility to suit your store’s changing needs.

If need be, you can change your hosting provider to ensure you get dedicated hosting environment, CDN for faster loading, SSL, and increased bandwidth capacity.

  1. Speed up your online site

One thing that all shoppers hate is a delay when looking for products and during checkout. During the holiday season, you expect traffic to bombard your store and the only way to avoid high bounce rates is by delivering excellent load time.

Online shoppers want everything fast and research shows a 1-second delay in loading a page can lead to a 7% reduction in conversion. Evaluate your site speeds using online tools such as Google’s Page Speed Insights tool, compress, and optimize images and carry out other recommendations given by the speed check tools.

  1. Optimize the checkout process

It is one thing to take payments online and something totally different to do it right. You see, many shoppers will abandon their carts if they can’t find their preferred payment method. As such, provide alternative payment methods in addition to traditional ones and make sure the checkout process is smooth and convenient.

Look for the cheapest online payment gateway, which allows multiple secure payment methods as this will not only save you money but also help with customer acquisition and customer retention during the holiday season.

  1. Optimize your store’s database

Over the last one year, your website’s database has grown and you have a lot of unnecessary stuff, which could be affecting optimal performance. There are multiple tools you can choose for a quick database cleanup and before the holiday season, you should use them. Database cleanup speeds up your website and improves overall performance.

  1. Leverage user testing

If you want to understand how customers feel when visiting your store, it is time to dive into user testing. You need to get into the mindset of your target customer and explore your online store through the purchase funnel, check the ease of account creation, check the availability of coupons and discounts, page functionality, password recovery process, and everything else on your website. If you notice any problems, fix them instantly as you prepare for the holiday season.

Preparations for the holiday season must start early. Every year, shoppers start doing their shopping earlier and as an online store owner, you have to optimize your store. There is a lot of money to be made during this holiday season but this is only possible if your e-commerce store can handle the traffic and deliver an excellent user experience.

6 years ago
5 Effortless Money Saving Tips for your Business
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

5 Effortless Money Saving Tips for your Business

A successful business is not just about generating higher revenue but also about cutting down on expenditure without compromising the operational efficiency. Hiring cheap labor, avoiding technology solutions, and trimming down marketing budget do not qualify as smart decisions. You will witness a decline in the growth rate if you follow these.

Instead, you should adopt innovative and easy ways to save money in your business. Here we elaborate on these ways that will assist you in generating more profit without decreasing the quality of your product or services.

Watch & Analyze your Expenses

The most basic, simple yet crucial step to save money is watching and analyzing your expenses. The financial statement gives you a complete overview of each and every expense. If the expense is not necessary, you can simply avoid it or replace it with an affordable version. This is not applicable to just tangible holdings but intangible ones as well. For example, time is also a resource. When you are wasting it on an unproductive task, it is an unwanted expense. Therefore, you should manage it judiciously to attain maximum value out of it.

There are various tools and apps that let you record and analyze expenses, generate in-depth reports, and recommend feasible ways to cut down on unnecessary expenditure.

Ditch Paper and Adopt Digitization

Use of pen and paper is unavoidable. You cannot completely eliminate the need but you can minimize it by adopting digital means. Instead of relying on paperwork for maintaining records, printing receipts and documents, preparing reports, etc, simply digitize the tasks associated with paperwork. For this purpose, you can invest in an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or project management software.

In addition to saving stationery expenditure, you will save money by not buying associated equipment like printers, fax machines, cartridges, etc.

Invest in a Secure Payment Gateway

Financial frauds have been the most dreaded way of incurring unwanted expenditure. If you want to prevent any monetary losses, you should invest in a secure payment processor that complies with the latest security standards. Some of the latest compliances and security protocols comprise AES 256-bit encryption, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), and so on.

Moreover, opt for a payment solutions company that abides by the PCI DSS compliances, government rules and regulations, and other legal guidelines. While investing in a payment gateway, check out the subscription costs and associated costs to avoid hefty transactional charges.

 Adopt Cloud Computing & SaaS

Setting up your own IT infrastructure and deploying a team of IT experts can be an expensive affair. But when you have the provision of cloud computing, you don’t need to invest in physical infrastructure. Simply avail cloud computing services to store your data and operate seamlessly without any obstructions. Cloud computing ensures secure operations, ease of scalability, and affordable solutions.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a cloud-based subscription mechanism that allows you to invest in tools, applications, and software to manage business operations. You can avail a customized package based on your requirements, thereby avoiding any extra expenditure.

Outsourcing & Work from Home

Due to globalization, technological advancement, and access to high-speed internet, the world has become a small place. Now instead of setting up an in-house business operation, you can outsource to service providers who provide expert services at reasonable costs. And if outsourcing is not on your cards, you can allow employees to work from home. This saves your money that would otherwise be spent on setting up the infrastructure for the employees.

You can also consider opting for a co-working space. Purchasing property, customizing it, and maintaining it can be a costly affair. A co-working space saves you from all these hassles.

Conclusion

There are numerous other ways to save money in your business. But these are some of the most effective and easy-to-implement ways to cut down capital and operational costs. Adopt these before it’s too late to streamline business operations according to these changes.

6 years ago
8 Ways You Can Attract New Customers to Your E-commerce website
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

8 Ways You Can Attract New Customers to Your E-commerce website

Over the last few years, online retail sales have continued growing at an incredible rate proving that this is not a fad. According to projections,   online retail sales will reach 8.8% of total retail spending in 2018. According to TechCrunch, 79% of U.S consumers now shop online which highlights the huge opportunities in the e-commerce industry. If your business is not already online, it is time to make the big move. However, you should expect stiff competition as more online businesses set up shop and target the same market. To survive in this volatile business landscape, you need smart strategies to attract new customers to your ecommerce website.

This guide explores the best approaches for customer acquisition in the online ecosystem such as secure online payment systems, SEO, call-to-action (CTA), social media, and leveraging visual content, among others. Keep reading to learn more.

  1. Social Media Buttons

Most internet users converge on social media. If you want to attract new customers, you should target social media users by including social media buttons on your content. However great the content on your e-commerce website is, you will not attract new customers if your existing ones don’t share. If you have an amazing holiday offer on your products, make sure the content is easy to share on social media.  Sharing content on social media not only drives traffic to your e-commerce business but also increases brand visibility.

  1. Provide Flexible Payment Options

User experience is one of the biggest aspects of successful online marketing. If you want to attract new customers, you must offer an excellent user experience. One way of doing this is through flexible online payments. You should integrate the best payment gateway on your site to start accepting payments without much hassle.

  1. Focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The competition in the internet market is stiff and to get an edge over the competition, your website must rank high on search engine result pages (SERPs) for your target keywords.  You have to implement a smart search engine optimization (SEO) campaign for better ranking as this not only increases visibility but also builds the credibility of your online store and drives traffic to your site.

  1. Buy Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

PPC is a premier online marketing tool to attract new customers. It is easy to target potential customers who are more likely to shop from your store. PPC campaigns have high ROI and you can use credible PPC platforms including Google, Bing and Facebook for targeted marketing with good results.

  1. Invest in a Professional Web Design

Many online businesses fail because they don’t make a good first impression. Web design is an essential part of any SEO campaign and it helps attract new customers. By investing in responsive web design (RWD), your target customers can reach you on any device. Good web design also reduces churn rates and increases conversion rates.

  1. Use a Powerful Call To Action (CTA)

On each page of your e-commerce website, you should have a call to action (CTA) which directs visitors as to what to do. A good CTA is short and concise and should lead to higher conversion rates. The idea is to convert a website visitor into a buyer and avoid high churn rates.

  1. Leverage the Power of Visuals

Visual content is the future of business marketing and internet users love it. If you want to attract new customers to your website, you have to invest in high-quality videos, images and animations with informative content, for your marketing campaigns. Videos and images have a high ROI and internet users share them rapidly. You will not only enjoy higher conversion rates but also create brand awareness when you invest in the best visuals.

  1. Invest in Fresh and Relevant Content

Internet users are highly conscious of what they need. They are always on the lookout for something that adds value to their lives and they want it instantly. If you can’t captivate your target customers with good content, they will quickly look for an alternative. For this reason, you should invest in fresh, relevant and interesting content.

These are only a few of the techniques you can use to attract new customers to your e-commerce website. You should also invest in creative marketing such as competitions, keep your website updated, and use referrals and membership programs, among other techniques. The ultimate goal is to grow your e-commerce business’s customer and get the best ROI out of the methods you use.

6 years ago