Actinic Customers Give Advice on Maximising Online Sales in Tough Times

Published 18th February 2009

West Byfleet, Surrey – 16 February 2009 - Each day seems to bring worse economic news, and vying for top billing in the hard knocks competition is the retail industry. Even online, times are getting tougher. Chris Barling, CEO of ecommerce and EPOS supplier, Actinic (www.actinic.co.uk) has been seeking out tips from web retailers on how to get in fighting trim. The advice given ranges from getting the basics really right to improving marketing and using some Web 2.0 techniques to fully engage customers.

Below is a summary of the tips, plus extracts from the comments made by web store owners – the full article of 1140 words is available to download at http://www.actinic.co.uk/ecommerce/get-more.htm.

1. Treat customers just the same as you would if they visit your shop and personalise their experience wherever possible. If you give them a great experience, they are likely to come back and order repeatedly.

2. Use customers’ comments to improve your site. “There's no better (and honest) critics to keep you on your toes and constantly improving,” says James Auckland of www.lunaspas.com.

3. Traditionally in any downturn marketing and advertising budgets are the first to be cut. But marketing is probably the last area that should see the axe. Try different things, and balance cuts in one area with increased spending in another. Christianne James of www.4little1s.com says that the key point is, “the ability to measure the results of the campaign, as an ongoing exercise in fine tuning, learning what produces results and what doesn’t.”

4. Optimise your site for the search engines. Check what terms people use to find your site.

5. Let your shoppers interact directly with other potential buyers and with you, e.g. using feedback forms, product reviews and social networking sites. “New reviews also add extra content to your site, which can help search rankings,” comments Nigel Berman from www.nigelsecostore.com.

6. Make the page content appealing, e.g. add video clips to explain your offering, and “add frequently changing news to your website to show customers that your business is active and dynamic,” advises Mark Fraser of www.greenjersey.co.uk.

7. Build a community round your business and get people involved.

Chris Barling comments, “There are many ideas around, but one clear lesson seems to emerge. This is that everyone is planning to redouble their efforts – and your competitors are sure to as well. So if you are to survive the current difficult times, it’s necessary to work even harder. Those that prosper will emerge stronger and into a world with less competition – that’s the big upside.”