It’s no secret that online sales are quickly overtaking those made over the counter. Customers love the convenience of shopping from their office, at home, and on the go. If you’re not building your e-commerce presence, you’ll find your business will be left behind.

Bartercard Marketplace offers a free platform to list your products and services, advertise sales, shift slow stock and attract new customers. The same rules apply no matter which platform you’re using to advertise your business.

Consider these five techniques to bring new customers to your business by maximising your online sales.

1. Use relevant keywords

You need to make it easy for potential customers to find you. Include relevant keywords in your listing, descriptions and website copy, so that the correct listing appears the users searching for it. To create your keywords, start by putting yourself in your customer’s shoes. Engage in some word association and think about which words or phrases people would use to search for the products & services your business offers.

Also, consider which keywords are relevant to your business, your industry and your community. A general listing for a coffee shop may include keywords such as coffee, café, breakfast, lunch, dinner, food or local. It could include time specific words such as Mother’s Day, Valentines, Christmas, Xmas, and celebrate, party, fun, or atmosphere.

Find which keywords are relevant to your business and use them!

2. Build the trustworthiness of your brand

Online shopping platforms such as Bartercard Marketplace provide an ideal opportunity to build your brand. Yes, price and quality are always important shopping considerations, but according to recent research, brand integrity is starting to outweigh cost.

Use these platforms to keep your brand front-and-centre in people’s minds and to convey your key branding messages. Your aim is to earn the trust of shoppers, so they don’t think twice about buying from your business.

3. Use attention grabbing headlines and descriptions

As in all advertising, your headline is king. If you can’t grab people’s attention right away, they’ll go elsewhere. An informative product or service description is also vital. List the top features and important information such as shipping. If they must ask for specific details that are not listed, you risk losing them to another business offering more information up front. The aim is to make it easy for your customer to make their decision.

4. Use high quality images

It’s worth taking the time to get high quality photos for your online store or listing. Shoppers can’t see your product in real life, so your images need to be as close as possible, with as much detail as you can.  Invest in a professional photographer who can show your products or service in their best light—literally! Your image is usually the first thing people will see, so make sure it attracts their attention, alongside that winning headline.

Keep in mind, however, that large, high-resolution images can slow your page’s load speed. Shoppers will grow frustrated and leave if they have to wait half a minute for every page to load. Once you have high quality photographs of your products, use image editing software to compress those files to 250 kb or smaller. This will help your page load faster and improve the user experience of your e-commerce site.

5. Package your products or services

Most businesses can package their products. You can still sell one-offs but give customers the choice of buying more! Hairdressers, for example, have been packaging for years, offering savings for multiple services bundled together. Consider also cafes that have been selling meal deals, catering platters or event packages.

Listing packages will put you in front of new customers and help you increase sales online. Ask yourself, what can I add to my product to make it more attractive or, what else would a customer be likely to buy with this, or would people buy this product or service in multiples or over a longer period? Then create your package!

Expand your reach with Bartercard Marketplace

Make the most of the Bartercard members’ network and Bartercard Marketplace platform to grow your customer base. Use Bartercard to turn wastage into profit and sell your excess stock. E-commerce success awaits!