Looking to boost sales and take your e-commerce business to the next level?!
Best way to get started is to learn and implement tactics that are already proven to work!
Big online retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Zappos use certain techniques for their e-shops which help them convert like crazy (think billions of dollars!).
These 19 tactics will explode your e-commerce conversions and take you a few steps closer to greatness.
Learn how to boost your sales today!
Contents
Pre-sale stage â Help shoppers decide faster
Imagine users browsing on your e-commerce store. Most of them are not confident enough to make the purchase decision right away.
Decision anxiety and other emotional distractions can wear down your potential customers, making them postpone shopping or leave entirely. Meaning, if you don’t address these issues, you stand to lose a lot of potential sales!
To counter this, consider the following techniques taken out of the big online retailersâ playbook.
1. Target shoppers’ FOMO with urgency/scarcity
Urgency and scarcity are two super effective persuasion tactics you can use to elicit more sales.
Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a powerful psychological phenomenon that triggers users to take action. People are compelled to do something otherwise they’ll miss out on some opportunity.
Just how effective it for e-commerce conversion optimization!?
According to a study by Strategy Online, 60% of millennials will make reactive purchasing decisions because of FOMO.
Scarcity indicates that the product is so popular that thereâs hardly any of it left.
Amazon does an awesome job applying these tactics:

Scarcity on a product page
Amazon’s product page indicates this is such a popular product that most of the stock is already sold-out. For users this triggers their FOMO – if they donât get it right now, somebody else will, and theyâll miss out.
Besides scarcity, the other tactic to boost sales is urgency.
Urgency targets peopleâs fear of missing out by revealing awesome deals that are about to expire if they donât hurry up and buy.
Loweâs is offering a great 10-15% discount which only lasts 4 more hours. Act now and save, or wait and pay the full price!

Urgency in e-commerce
Yes, you can apply the same approaches on your WooCommerce site as well! To do this, simply install this plugin that enables you to include a countdown timer for your products.
2. Allow users to compare products in your shop
Product comparison makes it easier for your shoppers to make the purchasing decision since they can compare two or more products side by side.
This boosts usersâ confidence and encourages them that the product theyâre considering is the right one. Shoppers can determine which product is superior in terms of price, specs, etc., leading to faster conversions.
It also keeps users on your site, without having to switch to a different tab and website to check all the product details theyâre comparing. People get easily distracted and if they leave your e-shop even for a moment, they may lose interest in the purchase.
Product comparison can be a very powerful tactic, especially if you are selling big-ticket items.
Amazon knows this all too well, that’s why they provide comparison options for hi-tech, expensive products.

Product comparison tool
For those items, youâll see the comparison tool embedded on the bottom of the product page. It allows you to compare similar products or other items that you viewed recently (closely related to the item youâre checking out).
Yith offers an excellent comparison tool for your WooCommerce site which you can set up with a few easy clicks.
3. Drive sales with personalized user experience
People are bombarded by so much information these days, that itâs hard to pick out what’s useful in so much noise.
Make it easier for your visitors to find what theyâre looking for by personalizing their user experience.
This works well as an e-commerce conversion optimization tactic because it reduces the amount of information they need to go through. Having less noise and distractions makes it easier to select the right product.
Customizing UX for each visitor will increase their engagement and give them a sense of importance. Shoppers will love it since the entire site seems tailored just for them.
Take it from Amazon, their entire home page is designed to meet each userâs specific needs and wants.

Personalized shopping experience on Amazon
Scrolling down, you can also see elements like âinspired by your browsing historyâ…

Previously viewed products
…and ârecommended for you,â which makes it simple for you to find other products you might want to buy or give you more options if you still havenât been able to make up your mind.

Product recommendations
You donât need to go all out like Amazon does, but it is nice to add a few personal touches to your customerâs experience.
Even small details like âinspired by your viewed productsâ and ârecommended for youâ can be enough to make your shoppers feel at home and inspire more purchases.
You can use plugins like âYith recently viewed productsâ and âYith customer historyâ to personalize your WooCommerce online store and boost sales.
4. Use clear CTAs that stand out
Calls-to-action (CTA) are the true drivers of conversion on your site. Thatâs why you need to make your CTAs:
- Clear
- Eye-catching
For your CTAs to be clear, you need to make sure they can be easily read and understood in 5 seconds or less.
Also, when labelling your CTA, be sure to address the usersâ goals. A good formula would be to finish their sentence:
âI want toâŚâ
So, label your CTA with something like âshop nowâ or âlearn moreâ as well as more aggressive words like âbuy nowâ and âadd to cart.â
On your home page and category pages, it makes sense to use softer CTAs, since your visitors donât know you well enough yet. Users are just getting warmed up for shopping, so you donât want to come off as too pushy.
Be inviting, not aggressive at this stage.
Best Buy is using this tactic to boost sales: Instead of saying âbuy now,â which would make users feel pressured, they use a call-to-action thatâs inviting people to âshop now.â This is a much better option that encourages visitors to continue from just browsing to shopping.

Shop Now CTA
Once you have your shoppers hooked on a product and when theyâre viewing them individually on a product page, itâs time to be a bit more aggressive.
Follow the same logic here. If a shopper is looking at a pair of pants on J.Crew, theyâre probably interested or maybe even want them. So, finish their sentence âI want toâŚadd to bag.â

Add to Cart CTA
But you also need to make your CTAs noticeable. So, make them:
- Big
- Place them above the fold
- Use contrasting colours
- Surround them with white space
Canadian Tire presents a perfect example of what CTAs should look like. Theyâre using red CTAs, surrounded by enough white space to make them stand out, with an inviting label to âshop now.â

Red Shop Now CTAs
Take note: the colour red is oftentimes perfect for calls-to-action. Itâs a colour of love and passion, but it also means courage, action, and determination. Which is why it works so well as a CTA colour.
5. Highlight deals of the day
This is a fairly simple strategy that shows different deals each day. Deals of the day are magnets for your visitors.
What makes them so special?!
Once people notice them, theyâll instantly become hooked. Theyâll develop a habit of coming back to your site every day to see what the latest deal is.
The more frequently they visit your store, the higher the chance they will buy something from you.
Home Depot, uses this tactic. Theyâre listing a âspecial buy of the dayâ with up to 30% off.

Deals of the day
To make it even more appealing, they also offer free delivery.
And finally, they mention that the deal is on for only one day, making users act on an impulse (due to FOMO) and purchase without having too much time to consider.
Which ties in with the first tactic mentioned: urgency and scarcity.
6. Captivate users with stunning images
Even though having high-quality images on your site seems obvious, youâd be surprised at how many websites still get it wrong.
67% of online shoppers rated high-quality images as being âvery importantâ to their purchase decision, even more so than âproduct specific information,â âlong descriptions,â and âreviews & ratings.”
Custom, superb photos on your site will communicate value to your customers and make a strong and positive first impression.
Furthermore, images that give shoppers a sense of texture, size, scale, detail, context, and brand will increase their perceived ownership of the product, which is a huge driver of buying decisions.
Canadian Tire is using exceptional imagery to showcase its product categories.

Attractive imagery
High-quality images help maximize the perceived value of their products.
Some images even feature products in action, which helps usersâ perceived ownership, mentioned above. This makes even some âboring productsâ seem fun to use!
But donât limit yourself to only landing pages and category pages. Make sure your product page spells out high quality since shoppers are one step closer to a purchase.
Home Depot is engaging emotions by proposing what this mattress would look like in your bedroom.

High converting product imagery
A palpable representation like this, makes you feel what it would be like to own a mattress like this. Itâs as if itâs already in your bedroom, so you start to develop positive feelings towards it.
And soon enough, youâll be ready to buy.
Thatâs the emotional roller-coaster your shoppers will live through once they see such images on your site.
7. Boost conversions with discounts and seasonal sales
Holiday and seasonal sales account for 30% of all annual sales for most retailers.
With this in mind, it makes perfect sense for you to use holidays and seasons to boost sales with special discounts.
Just about anything can be a cause for a special sale: back-to-school sales, Black Friday, Motherâs Day, Canada Day, Summer sales, Winter sales, etc.
Walmart is offering a terrific âend of summer saleâ with $100 off a variety of products.

Seasonal discount
Home Depotâs offering a 40% discount on appliances for Labor Day.

Holiday deals
There are many ways to implement this tactic to boost sales. For example, WooCommerce protected categories plugin will allow you to hide only specific categories intended for seasonal sales.
8. Cross-sell with “frequently bought together” items
Accessories, add-ons, and related products are a great way to complement shopperâs journey.
Cross-selling is a great way to entice visitors to make impulse purchases, without thinking about if they actually need it or not.
For you, this spells out bigger and more profitable sales!
Let’s say you’re buying a garden feeder on Home Depot, youâll be prompted to get a few extra items that might be useful alongside it.

Cross-selling with frequently bought together items
Cross-selling is low hanging fruit tactic that can easily increase the value of each transaction and dramatically boost your profitability.
WooCommerce users can add this feature with a simple “frequently bought together” plugin.
9. Provide free shipping when possible
According to a study by Walker Sands about the Future of Retail, 90% of people say that free shipping is the #1 incentive to shop more online.
Turns out, free shipping is a huge factor in online customer experience. When a potential sale depends on the shipping options you provide, youâd better give people what they want.
Zappos offers free shipping to all customers (and also free returns). They made sure all customers notice this by showing off “free shipping” banners throughout the site.

Free shipping highlighted
Now, I know shipping rates in Canada can be exorbitant (compared to the US), so offering âfree shippingâ without any conditions can be tough, especially for smaller e-commerce sites.
Fortunately, there are some other free shipping options you may consider.
Like Best Buy, you can offer free shipping for orders above a certain amount. In their case, it is $35 or above.

Conditional free shipping
Still not good enough? Then consider offering free shipping to a certain group of customers only.
Amazon only offers Free Shipping (with no minimum amount) to their paid/premium members â Amazon Prime. To join Amazon Prime, users have to pay for the membership upfront.

Amazon Prime
Amazon’s Prime membership is a huge profit driver and a great tactic to boost sales.
Other shipping options you can use are:
- Only offer âfree shippingâ on certain occasions
- Free ship-to-store option (Walmart, Canadian Tire, Staples are all using this)
Optimize your checkout â lead them to the finish line
Congratulations, your visitors added items to their carts. Now itâs time to lead them to the end of the purchasing process.
This means optimizing your checkout procedure, and big e-commerce sites have a few tricks up their sleeves for this as well.
10. Streamline your checkout process
This plays a critical role in your e-commerce business success. So, pay very close attention when designing your checkout.
The average shopping cart abandonment rate is almost 70%. Thatâs huge!
Just think about all the customers, sales, and revenue you stand to lose if you donât get things right.
Two out of three reasons for cart abandonments are related to checkout process issues.
Thatâs why itâs crucial to streamline your checkout procedure:
- Simplify the checkout process
- Have as few steps (pages) as possible
- Make the process linear, where each step brings you closer to the order completion
Use our checkout flow conversion optimization guide to turn every shopper into a paying customer.
Amazon even goes a step further by offering a one-click checkout option on their site.

One-click checkout
To add a one-click checkout to your e-commerce site, install this Yith plugin.
11. Increase conversions with a checkout progress indicator
Yet another small and simple detail but that can do wonders for your conversions.
Having a checkout progress indicator can help your shoppers visualize the process and see how many steps they have left until the order completion.
When they can see the finish line, it gives them more confidence that theyâre on the right track and there are just a few more steps left.
Amazon again excels by showing a line that indicates checkout progress.

Checkout progress indicator
Wallmart uses a single page checkout, to reduce loading times and make it easier and faster to get to the end. The progress is demonstrated with step numbers, and once each step is complete the number is checked.

Single-page checkout
This method also helps you visualize and understand how simple and straightforward the process is. Shoppers want to avoid a hassle. Simplicity will encourage them to go through and finish the procedure.
You can optimize your checkout page with a simple to use WooCommerce plugin.
12. Remove distractions from your checkout page
Distractions can hinder your efforts to lead customers to the end of the checkout process.
What do I mean by distractions, you might ask?!
I mean everything on your checkout page that doesnât directly contribute to taking the next step in the process.
Letâs take Loweâs for instance. Even though they do so many things well, this is something that they desperately need to fix.
Just look at their checkout page: itâs packed with so many elements like the navigation bar, contact information section, deals banner, purchasing features, etc.

Distractions on the checkout page
None of these are directly helping the user get to the next stage and one step closer to conversion.
Distractions are just diverting attention from what really matters to these other options. If the user clicks on any of them, theyâll be taken to another page with even more items, deals, etc., which can cause users to completely forget about their cart.
Thatâs a sure path to an abandoned cart.
Instead, your checkout page should look like this:

Distraction-free checkout page
Thereâs nothing on Amazonâs checkout page except information relevant to this exact order, making it distraction-free and easy to complete.
A/B test your checkout pages to find the one that brings in the highest conversions.
13. Hide coupon code fields
Making your promo codes less prominent is a secret conversion optimization tactic to boost sales.
For some, it might not make sense â why not make it easier for visitors to use their coupon codes!?
Let me explain the reasoning behind this.
Most shoppers on your site wonât have a coupon code.
When they see a prominent field asking them to âEnter promo code here,â they will instantly think, âHow come I donât have a coupon?â and âWhere can I get one?â
Shoppers will search Google for coupon codes which increases the risk of abandoned carts. Many users may not return or decide to hold off the purchase until they can find a coupon code.
Whenever shoppers leave the process, even for a moment to find promo codes, theyâll be exposed to even more distractions.
Never take them away from the purchasing progress, or you risk losing them entirely.

Coupon code field
The best practice for coupon code fields is to actually use a text link that says something like, âHave a promo code?â Home Depot is a good example of how this should be done.

Hidden coupon code field
They hid their promo code filed under a barely noticeable link. Only users who actually have the code would see and click.
14. Don’t lose customers with forced registration
Remember that graph from before, showing the top reasons for cart abandonment? Well, the second biggest reason is forced registration.
This means requiring your shoppers to register an account in order to complete the purchase. For many people, this is a deal-breaker.
People generally donât want to register, itâs a hassle. Registration means having to click on too many links, fill out forms, create passwords, verify their accounts, etc.
Sometimes, users may lose cart contents after registering, forcing them to go back and find the item.
Even some big players donât get this right.

Forced registration
What you should be doing is offering people options. Give them the benefit of guest checkouts.

Guest Checkout
This will significantly reduce the number of abandonments and boost your completed checkouts.
After the order is made and money is paid, thatâs the moment when you can ask for them to register. You already have their name, email, address, and other information, they only need to create an account and set their passwords.

Offer discounts to get users to sign up
To make it worth their while, offer a special discount for users that register an account, like the example above.
15. Still want them to sign up – offer social logins
A great way to combat account registration aversion is by using social logins. This is much more convenient since users can forego the entire registration process and simply log in with their existing accounts on Google, Facebook, etc.

Social Login
You can add social login options to your WooCommerce shop with an easy-to-install social registration plugin by Yith.
Still not convinced that you need to avoid forced registrations?
Then perhaps read this article on how removing registration requirements led to a $300 million revenue hike.
Recover abandoned carts with remarketing
You did everything you could to drive up conversions, but inevitably some people will still leave items in their carts without completing the purchase. And by some, I actually mean most of them.
But allâs not lost yet.
Use remarketing as an e-commerce conversion optimization tactic to recover lost visitors.
Remarketing means contacting and engaging visitors that havenât made a purchase yet. Basically, youâre marketing to the same people multiple times to entice them to convert.
Typical examples of remarketing are:
- Using emails to remind users about their abandoned carts
- Retargeting with Facebook and Google ads
16. Get leads with pop-up forms
Did you know that 99% of all online store visitors donât buy anything during their first visit?!
But the good news is that according to the same source, 75% of them have future intentions of returning to continue the buying process.
A tried and true method for this is reminding people about their carts with email marketing (which weâll talk about in a bit).
But you need to secure their email addresses, first. And the best way to get their leads is by using pop-ups on your e-commerce site.
Even though they seem annoying at times, all the big boys are using this strategy to get email sign-ups as a form of conversion.
Take Staples for example:

Email pop-up form
One of the first things youâll see on their website is a pop-up form asking for your email address and offering a $10 to $50 discount if you sign up. They even go so far as to ask you to sign up for a text messaging option.
Same goes for Loweâs.

Offer discounts in exchange for contact info
Lowe’s is offering a $10 discount in exchange for a lead. Thatâs how valuable leads are!
Pop-ups are so effective because they are a part of a persuasion technique called âpattern interrupt.â
When browsing through your shop, users will quickly get used to the flow and will lull into the rhythm becoming desensitized to great deals that you offer. To get their full attention once again, interrupt the pattern with a sudden pop-up form.
For best results, your pop-up should try to solve a specific problem theyâre having. If the products are too expensive, then a 10-25% discount, in exchange for lead information, is surely going to do the trick.
You can use this plugin to easily add pop-up forms to your WooCommerce site.
For something more sophisticated, you can use the Optin Monster plugin, but itâs a costlier solution.
17. Remind users of their abandoned carts via email
As mentioned in the previous section, a great way to recover abandoned carts is by using email marketing.
Thatâs one of the reasons you needed to capture leads from your visitors.
Once you have their email addresses, you can send them targeted emails reminding them that their cart is full and still waiting.

Abandoned cart email remarketing
But you donât have to limit your emails to just reminders, engage your current customers to shop again.
Like Bonobos, make it easy for your customers to find exactly what they want based on their interactions with your site content (you can do this with email autoresponders).

Remarketing email
For a guide about best performing cart recovery emails, you can refer to this article by BackToCart.
If you donât want to dive too deep into email remarketing, a simple solution you can use is another Yith plugin to recover abandoned carts. It offers you the ability to send coupons and customized emails to make those users come back and finish the checkout process.
But for a more complex recovery process, you can set up automation using email autoresponders like Active Campaign or Drip.
18. Retarget lost shoppers with Facebook and Google ads
Have you ever noticed that after you visit an online store and leave it, soon you see ads all over the internet promoting the exact products that you were browsing? This is retargeting.
And itâs such a clever and effective way of recovering lost sales. Essentially, youâll see ads related to the products you were just looking at a moment ago.
And itâs effective because youâre still a hot lead â youâre still very much interested in these products, you just need a reminder to get you back into the buying process.
For example, I was browsing on JCrew for some clothes but hadnât bought anything. When I visited my Instagram (a part of Facebookâs advertising platform) feed, I saw a sponsored post (ad) by JCrew to remind me to get those pants I was looking at in the previous example.

Retargeting ad on Instagram
Similar to this, after browsing Zappos, I encountered retargeting ads on many websites I visited, promoting shoes I looked at on Zappos.

Retargeting display ads
This amazing functionality is enabled by small tracking codes installed on your site (cookies), such as Facebook Pixel and Google Ads Conversion Tracking.
Once you have them installed on your e-commerce store, theyâll keep track of all the visitors and their interactions with your site. So, when they leave, you can target them with specific ads relevant to their latest visits.
Targeting hot leads with relevant ads is a great way to recover lost carts and boost conversions and sales for your e-shop.
You can learn everything about how to turn shoppers into paying customers with our retargeting ads guide.
Bonus: Upsellâ make more money from each sale
Did you know that Amazon makes 35% of its revenue from cross-sells and up-sells?
Such a profitable tactic that you canât stand to overlook.
Upselling is a marketing tactic that persuades shoppers to spend more money than they originally planned, thus making their sales more profitable.
For your e-commerce, this means persuading people to buy:
- More expensive items
- Upgrades
- Add-ons
Itâs different from cross-selling, which is focused on getting people to buy other (complimentary) items along with the original product.
In McDonaldâs world, a cross-sell would be when the clerk asks you, âdo you want fries with that,â and an upsell would be âdo you want to super-size that.â
But lines are blurry between the two, so donât stress yourself too much over the terminology. Instead, letâs get into the meat of it. Let me show you what others do, and what you can use on your site.
Dollar Shave Club is a great example of a product upgrade type of upselling. The name of the company is a mind trick in itself, luring people into visiting their website to get shaving equipment for a single dollar.
Then they show you a page like this, that one-dollar razor compared with two pricier options that provide a lot more value than the standard dollar option (which actually costs more despite the catchy name).

Upsells
The whole purpose of their product page is to get you to buy the more expensive products instead of the entry-level package.
If you have ever shopped for electronics, then youâve probably seen a product page like this.

Add-ons as an upselling tactic
Youâre getting a premium laptop, so it makes sense to protect your expensive investment.
E-commerce sites appeal to this by offering care coverage to give users peace of mind. At the same time, retailers make their sales bigger and more profitable.
During checkout at Nordstrom, you can choose to add a free gift message or upgrade to a gift box for $5 or a gift kit for $2.

Gift wrapping upsell
There are so many forms of upsells you can add to enrich your offerings and bring more value to your customers. So, figure out what would best work for your site.
The main reason why I put up-selling in a section of its own is that it can be used in all of the different stages of your customer journey.
You can add upsells:
- On your homepage and category pages
- On your product page
- During checkout
- After checkout
- Even in abandoned cart emails
But itâs not always possible to use this tactic. Itâs not suitable for all products. Make sure to do your research first and test your campaigns (A/B testing).
To add recommended products to your WooCommerce site, use this recommendation engine.
For checkout add-ons, you can use the following extension.
Conclusion
If youâre taking your e-commerce business seriously and want to see it thrive, then these mighty and proven tactics are what you should be utilizing.
Whole teams of marketing experts and tons of research are behind these strategies. And you can replicate them for free. How cool is that?!
And best of all, you donât need to hire developers to âcustom codeâ these features for you. All you have to do is buy the plugins, install them on your site, and watch as your revenue soars!
Donât forget to look at your products, your customers, and your Google Analytics to get a better sense of which of these tactics would work best for you.
And let us know in the comments which of these techniques are new to you, and which ones you are going to use for your e-shop.
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