How to create an effective e-commerce sales funnel?

The e-commerce sales funnel is one of the most effective tools to increase income from your online store and build a positive relationship with the customer by strengthening his loyalty to your brand. You must become familiar with the idea of the sales funnel if you’re wondering how to persuasively entice a potential buyer, how to persuade him to buy, or lastly, by what ways to clinch the deal and make the customer return!

Why do you need a sales to funnel in e-commerce?

It’s time to learn why a tool like a sales funnel is so crucial to your company’s success now that you are aware that it exists. Without a well-thought-out and refined sales funnel, there is practically no effective e-commerce strategy. Thanks to it, you will be able to increase traffic on your website, while minimizing the costs associated with, among others, advertising!

In a nutshell, it can be said that a carefully and skillfully designed e-commerce funnel will assist you in bringing in new clients and maintaining relationships with current ones, facilitate efficient campaign management and development strategies for your online store, and even boost brand awareness, aiding in the creation of a favorable brand image.

Creating a sales funnel for an online store – 4 most important steps

A thoroughly considered approach, taking into account factors like the business model, personas, or advertising budget, must be the foundation of an efficient e-commerce sales funnel that generates consistent conversions. The core of the method is a careful examination and interpretation of consumer behavior throughout the whole purchasing process. Finding the elements that influence a customer’s decision to purchase or leave their shopping cart empty will not only help you improve the purchase funnel but will also enable you to adapt other tools that are beneficial for the growth of your business, such as a pricing strategy or creating a positive brand image.

Step one: attracting a customer

First of all, the user must become aware of your online store before he decides to shop there.

Therefore, attracting customers to your website so they may review your offer will be the first step in creating a successful sales funnel. This task can be made easier by a variety of methods and resources. You can use your social media, among other things. A wide range of sponsored activities, including Facebook and Google ads, are also available.

Keep in mind that when you own an online store, you have one more trick up your sleeve: enticing pricing that you may promote in product adverts or on websites like ceneo.pl. When determining it, it will be required to always keep an eye on the competition’s prices. This can be done with cutting-edge tools like the Brandly360 application, which allows you to continually keep an eye on the market.

Step two: convincing to buy

It is necessary to convince the buyer that your offer is the one they are seeking for at this point; simply clicking on an intriguing offer is insufficient. There are a few crucial steps to follow:

• Trust. You can gain trust in a variety of ways, such as by clear rules, a privacy policy, user reviews, or an SSL certificate, which is crucial in online commerce.
• Simple navigation is important since even the most intriguing things won’t be well-liked if visitors are turned off by your website. The purchasing process will be shortened and have a higher possibility of being completed if the site contains filters and categories that make it simpler to navigate.
• Valuable content: Your online store should entice customers to make purchases by encouraging them to do so in addition to informing them about the things you sell. Everything you post on your website, from product names to detailed descriptions and photographs, is extremely important.

Step three: closing the deal

The real annoyance of the majority of online retailers is abandoned carts. How can you entice the same consumer to make the buy this time? There are at least several options:

• Promos and Sales – One of the most common strategies to entice a new customer is to provide brief promotions or discounts. However, before you decide to take this action, you must thoroughly understand the market and the prices of your rivals. In this case, price tracking tools will be essential.
• Remarketing – These advertisements can be seen on numerous websites, including social media and news websites. Using them, you can subtly remind the potential customer about yourself, increasing the likelihood that he will visit your store again and complete his shopping this time.
• Transparent costs – Hidden prices, such as extra charges for transporting the products securely, pricey shipping, or service fees, are one of the most frequent causes of cart abandonment.
• Convenient payment process – If you don’t want your clients to abandon their purchases at the last minute, adopt rapid payments to try and close the deal as quickly as you can.

Step four: building customer loyalty

Effective mailing is the fundamental instrument that will enable you to increase customer loyalty. But keep in mind that its contents are crucial and cannot be accidental.

Therefore, by including an intriguing article in your offer, you can inform your customer about new items and promotions or pique his interest in a seasonal product. You must not overlook the Call To Action when designing a newsletter, such as check, buy, read, etc.

Encourage interested parties to follow you on social media to increase loyalty; it is one of the most powerful types of marketing and will help customers remember you all the time. It’s also a fantastic way to receive complimentary comments and product reviews.

An example of a conversion funnel for e-commerce

The path a customer will take from the time he understands he has to address a certain problem (like the need to hammer a nail) until he buys a solution (in this case, a hammer) is known as the conversion funnel. When viewed from the perspective of your online store, this procedure will resemble the following:

• the person concerned falls into a funnel when he learns about your brand,
• browses your assortment,
• considering a purchase,
• places an order,
• comes back to you regularly, becoming a regular customer.

The ideal conversion funnel should be based on 4 fundamental elements that relate to the concept – See-Think-Do-Care.

See (Awareness)

This is the time when you need to not only find your potential customers but also engage them with compelling content and give them all the information they need to be interested in your offer. Tools like Facebook advertisements, influencers, SEO articles, collaborating with another firm, or developing interesting social media material will be useful. Not sure where to start? Try to answer the following questions:

• What information is the client looking for?
• How can you answer him?
• How can you provide him with this information?
• What channels?

Think

The consumer is familiar with both your brand and the goods you sell. He is now seeking specific information to confirm that your offer satisfies his requirements. He’ll likely want to know what determines a product’s price and what sets it apart from the competitors. Increase consumer knowledge of your company’s name and products, engage them with helpful material and stress the advantages of selecting your offer. You can accomplish this by using a blog, website, social media accounts, Facebook ads, and direct mail.

Do (Purchase)

At this point, the buyer justifies his decision to shop at your site by analyzing the e-commerce process to support his conviction that he is making the best decision possible. When doing this, the person frequently thinks about:

• what are the return and warranty policy,
• is it really the best product available on the market,
• can you buy it elsewhere at a lower price?

In this circumstance, you can satisfy your customers’ expectations by promoting your products with customer testimonials, efficient mailings, or deal-closing discount codes.

Care

After the buyer completes their purchase, care for them continues. It is possible to convert a potential customer into a fan of your brand who will spread the word about you and purchase more of your items by:

• outstanding post-purchase support,
• loyalty programs,
• discounts and rewards for issued rates and reviews,
• referral program.

Create your marketing funnel now!

Consider the expectations of potential customers at each level of the e-commerce sales funnel, not just the last touch, when developing content and other resources for your online business. Learn to anticipate customer behavior and how they think. You may design a price strategy and keep track of product availability with the aid of cutting-edge and simple-to-use tools like the Brandly360 application. Try it out now!