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With the rush of holiday shopping and returns firmly in the rearview, it’s time to focus on hitting sales goals for 2017. Easy to say, right? To make things easier, think about the following ten things that will really send conversions into stratosphere. Hopefully you’re already doing some of them, but now is a great time to think about what to add to your sales arsenal — and what you can improve upon.
Get personal with marketing automation
One thing we know about consumers is they actually want to engage with the brands that matter to them; but they’re also quick to unsubscribe to anything that comes even remotely close to spam. Walking the line is difficult, but you most likely already have all the data you need to optimize your marketing automation. It’s in your CRM, and by using that intelligence to stratify customers into segments, you can craft personalized email campaigns that get attention and convert.
Create sustainable SEO
Despite what hundreds of SEO specialists are likely trying to sell you on, there are no shortcuts when it comes to boosting your page rankings. Do you really think that agency with the big promises is going to outsmart Google? Instead of wasting your resources on trying to game the system, invest in content that deserves to be ranked highly. That way, no matter how search engine algorithms change, you’ll always be on top.
Bring your vendors on board
No matter how great your vendors are, you can lose considerable business by not selling their entire product lines. That doesn’t have to be an inventory nightmare when you integrate their live inventory feeds into your site and allow them to drop ship directly to your customers. If you do want to keep control of your inventory, integrate with their catalogs and set up your management software to send automated purchase orders when you reach minimum and maximum inventory thresholds.
Partner with other online retailers
Stop worrying about the big boys swiping your sales and partner up with Amazon, Walmart, eBay and others. Become a marketplace retailer and piggyback off their market research while boosting your own online sales. You can fully integrate with Amazon and let it take care of fulfillment, payment processing and customer service for any SKU it sells — and tapping the Amazon Prime market by offering free 2-day shipping is a great way to get in with attractive consumer segments.
Optimize online order fulfillment
Consumers have spoken: They love fast, free shipping and it is here to stay. If you have stores in multiple regions, you have a tremendous advantage over most online retailers. Treat each location as a fulfillment center and route orders to the best store. It’s easy to get packages to most domestic customers in two days without incurring additional shipping costs if you have locations in a few key hub cities.
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