You’re interested in operating in the health and supplement industry. You know its benefits and drawbacks. You may already have everything set up —a website, a trusted supplement manufacturer, and logistics. Now you want to focus on the most important aspect—sales.
There are major things that customers want from any store, whether a retail or eCommerce store, and we’ve narrowed them down to five important factors: Location, price, expertise, branding, and convenience. These factors directly affect how much sales you make.
So our first suggestion is this: Instead of looking for more people to “sell” to, focus on improving a few critical factors.
Location
Customers prefer going to retail stores that are close to where they live or work because they want to avoid stress getting their products—no traffic or long hours spent on the road. In the same light, online shoppers prefer to shop at stores that are close to them because they know shipping would be easier and cheaper.
To cater to international customers and convince them to stay, you should simplify your shipping procedures. They shouldn’t have to guess if you’ll ship to them or how long they should wait. This information, along with anything important, should be made readily available on your site. We’re not saying ship to everyone, we’re saying make sure the people you can conveniently ship to know that you can.
Price
Customers don’t want to spend more than they have to for products or services, but that doesn’t mean you should drop your prices as low as you can to compete. You can either compete on price—like the majority of the market—or you can compete on value; customers pay more for things they believe are more valuable.
International copywriter, Dan Lok, says that people willingly pay more for a product that takes away a “pain” than one that merely brings pleasure. Competing on value simply means adding something extra to satisfy customers. Some of the biggest businesses compete on value, and businesses that compete on price often go belly up after some time.
What are some ways to compete on value?
- You can bundle your products with services
- Offer faster delivery
- Build your reputation so that customers know they’re getting the best when they buy from you (more about this on expertise).
Expertise
Customers buy products from stores that show a high level of expertise. Google ranks these sites with expert content highly. If you want to make sales, you need to show people that you know what you’re talking about. The easiest way to do this is by publishing online content. This method is so popular that it has become a billion-dollar industry—called content marketing.
Content also includes eBooks, podcasts, webinars, guest posts on other authority sites (this, when done well, yields amazing results). Another great way to show your expertise is through a live chat. Customers always have questions about the products they want to buy. If you can answer their products at the point of purchase, you can increase sales.
Branding
Marketing is like asking someone on a date, branding is the reason they say yes.
This is a fairly common saying in the industry, and it is accurate. Your brand is the way people perceive you. Your marketing efforts are fruitful only when you have proper branding. Things that affect your brand as a website or eCommerce store include your store layout and website design.
Store layout: Your layout should be easy to navigate. Your product pages should all be linked, not only for your customers but also for crawlers to easily index your pages.
Website design: Your website colors, information hierarchy, and fonts affect how customers perceive your brand. Global brands use psychology in web design to evoke certain emotions in their visitors—including the desire to purchase.
Alternatively, you can hire a company that handles marketing and reputation management. Companies like Central Florida Media Solutions are leaders in that field.
Convenience
Product organization, security, and ease of checking out are factors to consider here. Your site should be easy to get around. Like we mentioned earlier, all product pages should be linked. You should also provide a site map to help users get around easily.
Security: Your site should have an SSL and an https certificate. If you store customer financial details, then you should provide extra security.
Checkout page: Make it easy for customers to checkout. Implement one-click checkout procedures and send reminders to customers that stop abruptly halfway.
Take care of these aspects of your business and watch customers troop in. We’re not saying don’t market or run ads—it’s a necessity. But now, you have a higher chance of retaining the customers you reach.
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