I was recently shopping on day planner and stationary ecommerce site Erin Condren Designs and while I was trying to make a purchase, I couldn’t help but notice how many ways Erin Condren Designs was trying to upsell to me on my way to the shopping cart.
Their methods were not intrusive or forceful in any way, but actually enticing and definitely dangerous when it came to finalizing the purchase! So what did they do that I think other retailers can implement into their own website?
Offer Discount Incentives
Erin Condren Designs offered 15% off discount incentives when you buy four or more items on top of your initial purchase. The site allows you to pick items that complement your purchase. You are immediately shown a variety of items to choose from and you simply need to add to cart. So it’s only natural your shoppers will want to get that discount. Find creative ways to grab your customers at the end or near the end of their purchase journey with various discounts. This retailer also showed what the 15% discount would come out to for each item, with your total in the top right, so you immediately knew what you would be spending.
It’s All in the Wording
Using the right words on your site can go a long way. For example, words like “Must Haves” or “Perfect Pair” are excellent ways to grab your shoppers to want to add to their purchase. When I saw sayings like these on the site, I literally said, out loud “You’re right, I must have that…” and quickly added to my shopping cart. You want to use creative wording to entice your customers to want to add more. The right wording isn’t the only thing you can try incorporating, people always love to know what other people bought or what they think about the particular product they are about to buy, include product ratings and reviews on your product pages, this is particularly helpful when it comes to large purchases or purchases people may never have made before.
Free Shipping
Another tool retailers are using today to entice customers to buy more is offering free shipping, because let’s be honest… who wants to pay for shipping anymore? It is almost frustrating to see this as an add-on to your bill. Erin Condren Designs offered free shipping when shoppers spent $100 or more. And this was prominently promoted throughout the website.
So of course to get the free shipping option, you are going to add to cart. If you can afford to offer free shipping to your customers where it doesn’t hurt your bottom line it is a great way to get your customers to purchase more items.
Social Media
Social media for Erin Condren designs actually grabbed me in the beginning, rather than the end. I found out about this retailer through my friend’s Instagram photo. She had displayed her own recent purchase and all the add-ons that went along with the initial purchase in the picture. So of course when I went on the site, I was already searching through these items myself. Use social media as a selling weapon, show complement items that work with any major purchase.
For example, are you promoting a barbeque? Use social media to show all the pieces that go along with the barbeque. Erin Condren Designs is an avid social media user on various social platforms and used social media by promoting its hashtag throughout the website about particular products with the name of the brand. They are basically asking their shoppers to share their brand.
I had never customized my own day planner before, and didn’t know the first thing about it. Erin Condren Designs had videos galore to help with the process and it again makes shoppers excited about their purchase.
Social media can also be used as user generated content on your site, show items on your website from what other shoppers may have posted on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook and Twitter. People want to feel excited about what they are purchasing and they want to know you are too.
Daniela Forte is Multichannel Merchant’s Associate Editor.