For any ecommerce business, initial few sales are important to define future business strategies for moving on path to success. Although, these startup sales are tough to obtain, but intelligent decisions, effective approaches, and right targeting can help the purpose. How to get those initial few sales in less possible time? This post will reveal some tried and tested practices. Read and implement if you are about to start your online store. Target at least 10 sales from each approach and you will see a pleasant count.
1. Create A Buzz With Email
The first step to launch your online store and get sales is sending a short email to the pre-launch list. As you have collected email addresses of the interested people, so more are the chances they will say welcome by making a purchase. It is not a complicated task to send an introductory email to the interested ones, as there are many
OpenCart extensions available for online stores built in OpenCart. Use one and make your launch special and sales-friendly.
2. Use Personal Contacts
Selling to friends and family can be a good start as they might be willing to go for that. Sell to those who could use and appreciate your product. Talk to them in person and convince them how useful your product will be for their specific need. No shipping cost is involved in such a deal so you are getting the best return of your product while giving your business a real boost.
3. Offer Deal Or Sprint A Contest
Believe it, people run after contests or special deals when it is about shopping for free. If they are getting something at extra discount or with some amazing offer, they will go after that. People love participating in contests and winning gifts. If the contest goes viral, your website will also get more traffic and hence more are the chances to win over customers.
4. Use The Power Of Social Media
How can anyone avoid the power of social media to make actual sales? You can use it for initial sales by inviting friends, family, and other contacts in the circle. Let them know what you have in offer and how it will change their life while satisfying the particular need. Use social graph search of Facebook and find people who are interested in your products or services. Message them and introduce your products or services. After using this smart approach, go for status updates and let your contacts know about your business. You can also offer special discounts if someone comes from social channels or from your circle. It would be a big appeal for targeted initial sales.
5. Use Different Marketplaces
Test different marketplaces to sell your products like on eBay, Craigslist, etc. These marketplaces have rich list of prospects and actual buyers, so you can get instant sales over there. Other than getting sales, you can also give your web store a real boost in terms of search engine ranking.
6. Join Reddit
This channel will surely provide you interested buyers because the members of this community have divided them into niche-based subreddits. Becoming an active member means winning over potential customers and a circle of like-minded people. Stronger business relationships will bring in more customers, more sales.
7. Run Facebook Advertisement
For startups, Facebook serves as the best platform when it is about paid advertisement. It surely brings in actual sales for an online store. Explore the target market, the life style of the target customers, and then tweak the advertising campaign accordingly. Initial sales should not be about earning profit, but about knowing what is working and what is not. Refine the marketing strategy, shipping plan, and customer service after getting response from initial customer experience.
8. Use Paid Advertisement On Instagram
It is a more targeted visual marketing channel. To win over customers’ attention, big brands are using instagram accounts with large numbers of followers. You can post your product image in these accounts on payment. The pricing may vary depending on the account as well as the number of followers it has. The advertising cost is not high than the return in terms of sales.
9. Run Ads On Google Adwords
It is an established network for online advertisement. Although, it is bit complicated to use Google Adwords, but there are complete guidelines to use it effectively in the best interest of a business. Advertising campaign on Google needs to be monitored on continuous basis for sure success. Initial cost of Adwords may exceed your product cost, but in the long run it will benefit your ultimate profit.
10. Inform Through Blog Post
Blog post are meant to attract readers at a website and build stronger relationship with them. Write a post on your product or newly launched business. Make it sure that the post should add value for the readers. In the post, include stats from reliable sources and quotes from industry experts. Email the post to those you have mentioned in the post and let them know how inspired you are from their work or knowledge. What they will give in reward? It is up to them. Expect good but do not beg for.
After using all these approaches, go for the last point. Email the previous customers and ask about their experience with your online store. A good feedback may make them go for recommending your products or services to others. So referrals are expected for your store provided your products are of good quality and you know how to deal with customers.
Conclusion
Initial sales are the most important for any business. Little spending in terms of cost, time and effort can bring positive results. Profit will come your way if you remain successful in attracting people at startup. Be influential; be successful!
