1. Increase your repeat purchase rate

Did you know it can cost 5x more to acquire new customers than to keep current ones? On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10x as much as their first purchase. That’s why we like to aim for a minimum of 30% repeat purchase rate with our clients.

Ways you can increase your repeat purchase rate is by having an elegant retargeting strategy where you send specific ads to only those people have purchased.

If you know how long it takes the average customer to use consume your product, you can send them ads a week out reminding them to restock. For example, let’s say you sell face cream and you know it usually lasts for 30 days. On day 21 you want to send purchasers ads reminding them to restock before they run out. You can get really creative here. If you don’t have a consumable product you can encourage repeat purchase with newness.

2. Increase your average order value

We all know how hard it is to drive traffic to your site and then convert them into a sale. The average sales conversion rate is 2-3% so when people do buy, getting them to spend that little bit more makes a big difference.  

You can increase your average order value by offering a free shipping threshold or incentivising order increases with free-gift-with-purchase over a certain amount. My favourite strategy is to offer an exclusive bonus which can only be unlocked through ordering a minimum amount in the store, in other words a free gift that isn’t available for purchase.

Order bumps, bundles, free gift with purchase over a certain amount are great incentives to push up the amount people spend.

3. Offer a subscription option

If you have a product that people consume and need to restock regularly, having a continuity model in the form of a subscription is a great way to scale your online store.

People are busy and life gets in the way. You may think about your product 24/7 but your customers don’t. Allowing them to subscribe and save is a win-win.

Who Gives A Crap and Scratch Pet Food do this really well.

3. Master digital media and online advertising

Do you remember those days when we used to run print, radio, TV and outdoor (billboards, bus stops, etc) ads?

With those mediums you have ONE chance to get it right. No testing headlines, no testing images, no testing call to actions, no testing placement… Not to mention the “targeting options” we had available. I.e. which road you wanted the billboard on, which section of the paper or which radio program you wanted your ads to run.

A client once spent $100k on print and when asked what their ROI (return on investment) was, they didn’t know. We created a unique URL and phone number to measure the number of actions that resulted directly from the ad. Guess how many clicks and calls they received? Zero.

Now, we’re not saying these mediums are bad. For huge brands who want brand awareness and have a massive media budget; go for it.

But for those who need a measurable ROI; we prefer to choose a media placement tool that lets you get laser focused with who you target and allows you to rapidly test, measure and optimise everything. And this is what is now possible with digital advertising.

5. Test, measure, then test some more

The beauty about online is that everything can (and should) be measured with up-to-the-minute stats and analytics. You can quickly see what’s working and what’s not.

A website is not a tattoo. As soon as you know what needs improving, changes can be made in real time. Aim for never ending improvement and optimisation.

Until you test, it’s a guess.

Don’t make assumptions. Test and measure everything, always.