Table of Contents
Featured Article: Driving Website Sales,
5 Steps to Increase Revenue From Your Website
The Featured Article this month is brought to you by Infopia. Infopia has teamed with Doba to combine its industry leading multi-channel selling platform with the market pioneer in product sourcing. Thank you Infopia for such an excelent article for this months eNewsletter.
To increase website sales, many online retailers focus their attention on improving search engine rankings -all to bring more traffic to their site. Although this is important, many online retailers don't realize that their websites' design and content are often deterring visitors from purchasing products. Poor-quality product photos or descriptions that don't provide enough information about the product, lines and lines of heavy text, or difficult site navigation are some examples of poor website execution that frustrate browsers. By spending more time on improving your website's design, you can drive website sales up instead of driving visitors away.
Website conversion rates are a measurement defined as the number of purchases on your site divided by the number of visitors. There are two fundamental ways to increase website sales:
1) Increase your number of visitors or
2) Increase your conversion rate. Increasing your conversion rate is generally the more affordable alternative.
The following ideas can help you breathe new life into your website and help you increase conversions.
1) Affinity: What's the first impression?
Visitors usually give a website about eight seconds to decide whether they are going to stay or click their browser's Back button. Images act as anchors and are the first thing visitors notice. Use images related to your target audience and industry so the visitor knows he has come to the right website.
2) Focus: Are calls to action clear?
Do visitors know what to do when they get to your site? Increase conversions by guiding visitors through the shopping process. Visitors typically view a website from left to right, so conspicuously place your navigation and search tools on the left side of the page where they first look for them. In addition, make any "call to action" very clear, such as creating an "Add to Cart" button that is large, bright, and noticeable. Lastly, any copywriting or text should be kept very short. People tend to skim text, so bullet points can be the best way to get your message across.
3) Usability: Can shoppers find what they are looking for?
How easy is it for an online shopper to find what she is looking for on your website? A visitor will quickly leave if your site is difficult to navigate. Keep your website as simple as possible, and don't explore experimental navigation. New or unique ways of designing your site may actually hurt your conversions. Help visitors find what they want as quickly as possible with strong search functionality.
4) Credibility: Can you be trusted?
A professional looking site with a clean, high-quality design will have more conversions than a sloppy site with poor images and/or off-color remarks and photos. Other ways to build your website's credibility include 1-800 numbers, a privacy policy, and a "Contact Us" option, as well as awards, certifications, and customer testimonials.
5) Analytics and Testing: What does it all mean?
Use an analytics or reporting program to help you measure your website's effectiveness. With the right data, you'll know which design and techniques are working and which are not. Don't be afraid to act. Analyze it, and make the necessary changes.
By asking yourself these simple questions, you can do a lot to enhance the online shopping experience on your site as well as increase sales on your website. By improving areas such as design, navigation, and credibility, you'll see customers return to your website again and again.
.
To learn even more about how to increase your website's conversions, watch Infopia's webinar on Driving Websites Sales, recorded on August 1, 2007 at http://www.infopia.com/website/lp-partner-dobanews.shtml.
About Infopia
Since 1999, Infopia has given top eTailers the right eCommerce technology to drive higher online revenues. Infopia is a pioneer of eCommerce 2.0 principles and technology that give eTailers the edge in selling online. Its award-winning eCommerce platform has been recognized for its excellence by eBay and others in the industry. From multi-channel management of inventory, marketplace listings, and fulfillment, to relationship building and beyond, Infopia is enlightened eCommerce.
See how Infopia helps eTailers leverage the over 1-million Doba products, as well as manage inventory, auction listings, website storefronts, and much more--all from a single location. Click here to get started. Find out how eCommerce 2.0 capabilities from Infopia can help you grow and optimize your online business. Download your FREE copy of The eCommerce 2.0 Handbook: How to Prosper in the New Era of Online Selling at http://www.infopia.com/website/doba-ebook.shtml.
Marketplace Spotlight: Integrating Media into Your Retail Strategy
This month we will focus on a category that gets a lot of attention yet many retailers fail to capitalize on its strategic strengths. We are going to look at how to integrate Books, Music, Games and Video into your retail strategy. In addition, we will spotlight Doba's two largest media suppliers: Sinai and Platinum.
There are a variety of strategies in selling media ranging from listing single titles on eBay to selling media focused on a particular topic (e.g. early childhood development, Spanish-speaking household products, bird watching, the history of the Red Sox, etc). Like with other categories, the more mainstream the product is – the more likely you will find a ready audience to sell to, but you will struggle with competing solely on price. On the other side of retail, the more ‘niche’ the strategy is, the more difficult it may be to gain the immediate attention of buyers, but you have a better chance of developing a loyal customer base. With mainstream media titles, whether video, music, games, or books, competing head to head against large retailers on single title sales is not an effective strategy. That said, there are plenty of great strategies that raise your average selling price, give yourself a competitive advantage, and help keep you from competing solely on price.
Bundling: Be creative in your bundling a keep an eye for an opportunity to compete on a heavily advertised product and still be competitive on your own terms. A timely example is the recent Halo 3 release. Yes, you can sell all three variations of the release and we offer all three. However, a stronger strategy might be to sell Halo 3 with Xbox live points, wireless gaming accessories, or even books focused on the storyline of Halo. For the adult gamer, maybe you consider creating a travel Halo package that includes carrying cases, projector and portable screens.
Other simplified examples include:
- Bundle a popular band's current release with a hard to find import release or a lesser known early release
- Pick a classic, notable author and put several of their books together in a single package
- Select a movie star, sex symbol, or even genre and create your own movie bundles
Media in niches: Don't overlook media as a supplemental item to compliment your niche store.
Quick examples include:
- Offer books of birds along with binoculars, sun hats, backpacks and journals.
- Sell children’s books along with your playroom and bedroom furniture items.
- Suggest fitness video and work out music to go along with your active wear selection.
Don’t just think of media as new releases. Remember that most media items support other activities, hobbies, interests and lifestyles. Small retailers compete effectively against large competitors when they can more strategically focus on the interests of the niche buyer.
Diverse Demographics: The way a big box retailer is able to offer low pricing is by limiting selection and focusing its merchandising on targeting the largest possible demographic. This means there is a tremendous opportunity to focus media sales in demographic groups, which may be smaller, but are largely underrepresented in large retail.
Examples include:
- Religious and inspirational oriented media
- "Family-friendly" and age-specific titles
- Foreign and multilingual music, video, and books
It is important to note that this strategy works best if you identify with and possibly share the beliefs, lifestyles, or culture of the group you are trying to target.
Sinai and Platinum
Sinai and Platinum are Doba’s two largest media suppliers. Between them, they represent over 1.5 million products and have significant presence in all media subcategories. With that said, each is very different and while they carry a lot of the same titles - their individual specialties are worth noting.
Sinai: They are the single largest book and entertainment distributor in the world. They are incredibly diverse and deep in all media categories. However, they are best known for their strength in books. Their strength lies in the number of specific book genres, categories and demographic interests they support with their product selection. If you are looking to supplement a niche, they are a great choice.
In addition to their strength in books, they offer the largest, competitively-priced selection in video, games and music. In essence, they are a one-stop shop for media. If for example, you wanted to make a X-men bundle – from Sinai -- you could bundle the X-men movies, the soundtracks, the X-men graphic novel and the Xbox 360 game all from Sinai.
Platinum: As mentioned above, they carry many of the same titles as Sinai. However, they do not carry books. Their primary strength is in their import title selection. Whether the customer is looking for a Faith Hill release from Germany or a Peruvian pop star or Japanese Anime – They provide one of the best selections in the media industry.
In addition to the strength of the import selection, Platinum carries more independent and smaller artist titles then Sinai. Whether rap, reggae, metal or punk; the selection of lesser-known independent artists is great.
Final thoughts
It was mentioned in the beginning of this article that it is hard for a smaller retailer to compete against large retail on new releases and mass produced titles We are not suggesting that you should never carry or try to sell these titles. Rather, your strategy should be similar to the big box store – carry the titles (when necessary) to bring the customers in the doors and to offer selection. However, the more effective and stronger strategy is to not compete head-to-head against the large retailer (price) and offer customers what they can't find at the big-box store by using media intelligently.
Partner Highlight
eBay Stores
One of the fastest ways to build your eBay business is by opening an eBay Store. eBay Stores have a flat $0.05 to $0.10 listing fee, and you can get started today!
Doba Subscription Update: Announcing New Features!
With you, our member, in mind, we have recently made some exciting changes to the Doba Website we'd like to make you aware of:
Saved Searches
You can now save any product search or browsing criteria so that you can easily return to the products you view most. Access your Saved Searches through your new Doba Dashboard after you login to the website.
Improved Navigation
We also made some changes to the navigation to improve usability. Now all site functions related to products are located in tabs within the Catalog section of the site and your orders have a home of their own. We've also added a dashboard to the main page to give you quick views of your watch list, recent orders, and saved searches.
Doba Pro
For experienced and technically savvy users who desire more automation from their Doba account, we've also introduced a new subscription level known as Doba Pro. Doba Pro offers our new Order Upload Tool, Customized Data Exports, and access to specialty and niche suppliers.
We hope you'll find these changes useful. Please contact us if you have any feedback or questions about the changes.
Member Q&A: How can I save money when ordering multiple products?
When running any business, one thing that is constantly on your mind is price; not only the price at which you sell the product, but also the price you have to pay for the product (the wholesale cost). With that in mind, it is important to always look at all the possible options when considering what it's going to cost you; after all, the final selling price and profit margin will ultimately be affected by your cost.
As mentioned in the Marketplace Spotlight, one possible option to consider is selling in bundles; to sell more than one product in a listing. Doing this may lower your per item shipping and drop ship cost, leaving more room for profit. When ordering more than one product from the same supplier at the same time, you are eliminating additional drop ship fees, as well as cutting the shipping cost for additional items. You are charged one drop ship fee per supplier for each order, as long as it is being shipped to the same address. So, how can you bundle products to save on drop ship and shipping costs? There are lots of different ways. Some were already mentioned in the supplier spotlight; lets look at one more.
Taking Advantage of Seasonal Opportunity
The football season has just kicked off. To fans, there is much more to football than two teams battling agains each other for the reward of victory. Football means parties, tailgating, and a chance to proudly display your favorite team's colors with every chance they get. Whether is it while camping, dressing up the little ones (or big ones) for Halloween, a theme day at the office or school, or hosting a football party; to retailers, it means a perfect opportunity to tailor your listing to what fans want.
It also means being creative. Put together a Gameday Kit, a Football Sunday Set, or a Boys BBQ Bundle. Be creative in the marketing and advertising of your listing. For example, highlighting the features and benefits; such as multiple products in a set, with the convenience of easy shopping will bring more trafic to your listing. Selling in bundles not only gives you a competitive edge against others, but also can make you more bucks in the long run. For more options to consider when dealing with price, see:
We Want to Hear from You!
Want to see your question featured in the eNewsletter Member Q&A? Well we want to hear from you! Please email education@doba.com if you have any non-account related questions or topics you would like us to write about. If you have questions concerning your Doba account, such as billing, product or order questions, please search our knowledgebase site content or contact our Customer Support.
|
