How to Boost Ecommerce Sales Return on Investment (ROI)

Online businesses that want to be highly profitable should focus on their ecommerce return on investment (ROI). While driving additional traffic and engagement are common tactics for improving ROI, it's important to consider other key strategies, such as improving conversion rates, reducing costs, and increasing average order value (AOV). Implementing these strategies can significantly impact ROI and boost sales. This article will cover actionable strategies for improving conversion rates, costs, and AOV, and provide guidance on how to implement them effectively.

Ecommerce Strategies to Increase ROI

To improve ecommerce sales and ROI, businesses must understand the holistic factors. This article will explore impactful methods that influence ROI, such as cost reduction, conversion optimization, and customer engagement enhancement. Cost-cutting strategies encompass automating customer service, enhancing PPC quality scores, and streamlining order processing and logistics. Elevating conversion rates involves timely incentives, transaction-focused keywords, and a streamlined checkout process. Boosting average order value can be achieved through tailored coupons, personalized offers, and enticing add-ons. By embracing these powerful strategies, businesses can significantly grow their ecommerce efforts, leading to a highly profitable future!

Ecommerce Strategies to Reduce Costs

One key factor that can greatly improve ROI for any online retailer is reducing costs. By decreasing operational, service, and marketing expenses, you can significantly increase ROI. Lowering these expenses improves profitability and sustainability, allowing businesses to allocate resources to new opportunities.

So, what steps can be taken to reduce costs? Below are several actions, from automating customer service through self-service portals to reducing advertising costs by improving PPC and implementing the right tools to make order processes more efficient.

Automate Customer Service to Reduce Costs

Identify areas of the business that can be automated to save money. Automated processes and services can also benefit customers by giving them key information, answering urgent questions, and directing them to their destination more quickly.

For example, ROC Commerce’s customer self-service portal integrates with all systems and can reduce customer service costs. It allows customers to access their account history, track orders, and place new orders without needing assistance from a service representative. Additionally, bulk ordering and reordering through the portal can help increase transactions because placing another order can be done in just a few clicks.

Automated services, such as using a ChatBot, can also help reduce costs. These bots can handle and direct customer service or sales inquiries to the right representatives, helping to cut support-related costs. It's always important to provide exceptional customer service and make the user experience on your site as easy and straightforward as possible. This can be achieved through ongoing customer service development to engage customers better, thorough FAQ sections on key pages to answer initial questions or concerns, and simplified navigation.

Improve PPC Quality Scores to Reduce Advertising Costs

Many businesses allocate a significant portion of their advertising budget to PPC campaigns to drive traffic. To reduce these costs and, as a result, increase ecommerce ROI, it is essential to focus on improving PPC quality scores. These quality scores consist of three elements: landing page experience, ad relevancy, and expected click-through rate (CTR). You can significantly improve your PPC quality score by enhancing the effectiveness of your responsive search ads and incorporating targeted keyword variations in Google Ads or Bing to enhance ad relevancy through dynamic content and diverse ad formats.

For Google and Bing, these quality scores are multiplied by your bid price to determine your ad placement. Therefore, enhancing quality scores can lower PPC advertising costs by requiring lower bids for higher ad placements. Lastly, it’s essential to maintain a proactive strategy by bidding on top keywords strategically to boost your competitive CTR and enhance your quality score.

Streamline Order Processing and Logistics to Reduce Costs

Another effective strategy to reduce costs is to streamline order processing and logistics. This can be achieved by utilizing the appropriate B2C or B2B ecommerce platform that integrates directly with a business's operational systems, thus streamlining order processes and reducing operational costs. Choose an ecommerce platform that offers integration with ERP and OMS systems. For instance, the ROC Commerce platform seamlessly connects with ERP and OMS systems to synchronize inventory, orders, and customer data in real time, minimizing manual data entry and errors.

Automated order fulfillment can also maximize efficiency and accuracy by processing orders swiftly and accurately, minimizing manual intervention and reducing fulfillment errors. Improvements to inventory management through an ecommerce platform, including real-time inventory updates, ensuring that stock levels are accurate, reducing the chances of overselling or stockouts, and optimizing inventory turnover. Improving shipping logistics is another opportunity to reduce costs. Integrate with shipping carriers to automate shipping label generation, tracking, and notifications, guaranteeing timely and cost-effective delivery.

Ecommerce Strategies to Improve Conversion Rates

When considering how to boost sales on ecommerce websites, it's important to prioritize improving conversion rates. By enhancing conversion rates, you can generate more revenue from the same amount of traffic, making CRO strategies an effective way to enhance ecommerce ROI.

Learn practical strategies to improve ecommerce conversion rates, such as offering timely incentives, streamlining the checkout process, utilizing target keywords with transactional intent, and A/B testing key conversion elements on the website.

Offer Timely Incentives

Creating a sense of urgency for visitors to your site can improve B2B ecommerce ROI. You can achieve this by offering limited-time discounts and special offers to prompt visitors to act, such as signing up or purchasing before products sell out.

Simplify the Checkout Process

To increase ecommerce sales, simplify the checkout process for visitors. Complicated checkouts, hidden costs such as shipping, and limited payment options can lead to cart abandonment, resulting in lost sales. Instead, enhance sales and ROI by streamlining the checkout process, making it faster and transparent with all costs displayed upfront.

Reduce the number of purchase steps to optimize the checkout process. Provide helpful information, such as the percentage completed or visual elements to indicate how far along the customer is in the checkout process to help them better understand where they are.

Ask for the Sale on the Website

A well-designed ecommerce website will drive sales and create an exceptional customer experience. Focus on "asking for the sale" using powerful CTAs that tell visitors what to do and are visible above the fold. This can be a means of pushing for the sale on the website. Keep offers in front of visitors by using delayed popovers and chat offers to incentivize ordering while they are shopping. Remember to thank the customer for their interest and ask about their business.

Target Keywords with Transactional Intent

Including targeted keywords that drive sales is essential for improving conversion rates. Although broad keywords may have higher search volume, keywords incorporating variations like "Buy," "Order," "For Sale," "Online," "Delivery," and "Near Me" convert at a much higher rate. By focusing on these keywords, businesses can expect a significant conversion rate and ROI boost.

A/B Testing Key Conversion Elements

Another way to build on ecommerce conversion rates is to constantly A/B test calls to action (CTAs), add-to-cart buttons, and checkout steps for ongoing improvement at the crucial point of conversion.

Strategies to Increase Average Order Value

Another essential step in increasing ecommerce sales is to improve the average order value. To achieve this, you can offer coupons, discounts, loyalty programs, personalized offers, and more to encourage customers to spend more per transaction.

Coupons and Offers in Shipping Package

To increase the average order value, consider including discount coupons or partner offers in shipped packages to encourage repeat purchases and increase potential revenue from partnerships.

Spend More, Get More Offers

Moreover, encouraging customers to increase their spending to access better offers is an effective tactic for increasing the average order value. Implement promotions that incentivize customers to spend more by providing discounts, free products, or other rewards when they reach specific spending thresholds.

Free Shipping Above Price

Many ecommerce retailers offer free shipping for orders that surpass a specific price to incentivize customers to add more items to their cart. This strategy encourages customers to increase their spending, thereby increasing the average order value.

Implement a Loyalty Discount Program

Consider implementing a tiered loyalty program to encourage repeat purchases. Customers would earn points for every purchase, which they could redeem for discounts, exclusive offers, or free products. To encourage referrals, offer rewards, and send timely, personalized messages about loyalty points, sales, and special offers to engage customers.

Remarket with Personalized Offers

Target previous visitors with personalized offers via PPC and email marketing. Use personalized email campaigns to remind customers of loyalty rewards, inform them about exclusive sales, or offer special discounts. Utilize PPC campaigns to retarget previous visitors with ads with exclusive offers, encouraging them to return and complete a purchase.

Add-On Offers or People Also Bought Recommendations

Lastly, an effective strategy to increase the average order value is to provide recommendations for add-on items or related products during the checkout process, which can improve the overall order value.

Increase Ecommerce ROI Today with ROC Commerce

If you want to grow your online business by increasing conversion rates, cutting operational costs, and enhancing order values, the ROC Commerce platform is exactly what you need. The B2B and B2C ecommerce platform offers advanced software, making scaling and expanding your operations easier. Let's take your business to the next level together!