Ecommerce is a highly profitable business, with the global B2C ecommerce revenue expected to reach $5.5 trillion by 2027.
However, running an ecommerce business is challenging. Around 22% of ecommerce businesses close in their first year.
This is the reason why I have gathered 15 innovative ecommerce growth hacks and tips to help you succeed in the constantly changing world of ecommerce.
Why Do Ecommerce Businesses Need These Growth Hacks?
Ecommerce businesses need these growth hacks for a few key reasons:
- Ensures a steady influx of new buyers.
- Maintains loyalty, reducing churn rates.
- Enables expansion without proportional resource increase.
- Enhances recognition and trust.
- Maximizes sales from existing traffic.
- Informs targeted marketing for efficient spending.
- Achieves growth with minimal investment.
- Fosters satisfaction, encouraging repeat business.
Also See: 14 Best AI Ecommerce Marketing Tools
Top Ecommerce Growth Hacks & Tips To Follow in 2024
From leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to embracing the immersive experience of VR shopping, these strategies will surely take your online store to new heights.
1- Grasp on AI-Powered Personalization
Effective personalization is more than just including a customer’s name in an email.
It involves deeply understanding your customers as individuals, including their preferences, behaviors, and motivating factors.
Utilize artificial intelligence to examine data from previous purchases, browsing habits, and engagement with your brand.
Do not just stop there. Engage your marketing, customer service, and product teams to analyze that data from a human perspective.
Create detailed customer profiles representing various sectors of your target market with unique identities, stories, and names such as “Sam the Animal Rights Activist” or “Trendsetter Tina.”
Next, use those characters to tailor interactions during the complete customer pathway directly.
You can also customize product suggestions, communication, content, and even the shopping process to address each persona’s unique requirements and beliefs.
Continuously modify and enhance those personas using new data and customer feedback.
2- Implement Voice Commerce
Integrating voice assistants such as Alexa or Siri into your ecommerce platform enables you to establish a conversational and intuitive shopping experience.
Customers can easily request a new pair of running shoes for marathon training by speaking to Alexa instead of searching or browsing menus.
To implement voice commerce, start by selecting a voice platform that aligns with your target audience and develop an intuitive voice user interface.
Then, create a conversational flow that guides customers through the shopping experience, from search and discovery to checkout.
Use voice recognition technology to interpret customer queries accurately and provide relevant product recommendations.
Train your voice assistant to handle common tasks like adding items to the cart, providing shipping details, and processing payments seamlessly.
Continuously optimize the voice experience based on customer feedback and usage data to ensure a smooth, natural interaction.
According to the customer’s feedback, the voice assistant can provide tailored suggestions for products, in-depth details on features and specifications, and even recommendations for accessories or related products.
To add a more personal touch, give your voice assistant a friendly and relatable personality along with a distinctive tone of voice.
This personal interaction can cultivate a feeling of closeness and confidence, transforming the shopping process into a friendly chat with a well-informed acquaintance rather than a distant online helper.
Furthermore, you can utilize customer data and buying histories to customize the voice assistant’s suggestions and communication to suit each person’s specific preferences and requirements.
If a customer has previously demonstrated interest in eco-friendly products, the voice assistant can give preference to sustainable choices and communicate using language that reflects their environmental beliefs.
Voice commerce not only provides a convenient, hands-free shopping method but also increases accessibility and inclusivity for customers with visual or mobility challenges, thus improving the shopping experience.
Also See: Top 15 Best E-Commerce Platforms For Marketers & Founders
3- Adopt Augmented Reality (AR) Shopping
Augmented Reality (AR) improves the ecommerce process by enabling customers to virtually see products prior to buying them.
With the use of augmented reality, people are able to virtually test out clothing, accessories, and makeup, as well as visualize furniture and home decor in their living space, or preview how appliances might appear in their kitchen.
Customers can virtually try on dresses using their smartphone’s camera instead of simply viewing images.
There is no need to wonder if it will suit or compliment their body, they can try it on immediately.
Alternatively, they might be remodeling their living room and contemplating a new sofa.
Using their phone or tablet, people have the ability to place a 3D model of the couch in their living room through augmented reality (AR).
They have the opportunity to visualize how the new furniture will complement their current pieces and imagine how it will appear in their room prior to buying it.
Interested in experimenting with various lipstick colors or eyeshadow palettes?
They have the ability to do it online, observing how various colors will appear on their skin tone and face without needing to visit a store.
However, augmented reality isn’t only focused on the concept of test-driving before making a purchase; it also emphasizes tailor-made experiences.
Allow customers to book a virtual styling appointment with a stylist or makeup artist who will walk them through the AR technology and provide personalized recommendations according to their preferences.
AR transforms online shopping from a simple image-scrolling activity into an immersive and lifelike experience that boosts decision-making confidence and reduces the likelihood of returns or dissatisfaction.
4- Offer Subscription-Based Services
By providing subscription-based services, you can give your consumers the ease of never having to reorder the same thing again.
The products will be automatically delivered to them on a regular basis because of their subscriptions.
Not only will this help relieve their burden of remembering to order and ensure that they do not run out of stock, but it will also foster a sense of trust and reliability.
You can enable your customers to customize their subscription preferences, such as delivery frequency or product variations and sizes.
Also See: How To Calculate Market Growth? (Formula + Examples)
5- Utilize Social Commerce
Social media now has a big impact on how we live our daily lives, impacting our relationships, discussions, and shopping behaviors.
Bringing your ecommerce business to popular social media platforms lets you bring the shopping experience directly to your customers’ familiar online spaces.
With social commerce integration, users can click on the product link or tag, check out the details, and complete the purchase all within the social networking site.
6- Implement Chatbot Concierge Services
A chatbot is a helpful shopping assistant who is knowledgeable, friendly, and always available to assist you with every part of the buying process.
Using chatbot concierge services, you can offer your customers a personalized, conversational shopping experience that mimics the assistance of a genuine human.
For example, if a visitor arrives at your site, your chatbot could give them a friendly welcome and inquire about how it can help them.
Using the information users provide, the chatbot could offer personalized product suggestions, address inquiries concerning size, items, or shipping regulations, and give fashion tips or outfit recommendations.
While the customer goes through their shopping experience, the chatbot can offer help by giving more information about products, recommending related items, and addressing any inquiries that might come up.
This high level of customized, immediate assistance can significantly improve the customer’s experience, decreasing problems and doubts that could have resulted in abandoned purchases or dissatisfaction.
You can even give your chatbot a welcoming personality and a name, transforming it into a reliable shopping ally rather than a generic AI.
Also See: 12 Powerful Brand Growth Strategies
7- Offer Virtual Reality (VR) Shopping Experiences
Customers can enter a new reality simply by putting on a headset. This is the impact that virtual reality can have on your online shopping journey.
Rather than simply viewing pictures, clients are taken to a digital display room to engage with items as if they were in a real store.
They can grab objects, inspect them from all sides and angles, and engage in conversations with virtual salespeople for tailored suggestions.
It’s as if they are at the store but without actually having to leave their house. And it’s not only about ease of use.
VR assists customers in making informed choices, particularly in areas such as furniture or home decorations.
Customers can visualize how an item will appear and suit their house before making a purchase.
However, virtual reality is not only used for shopping. Customers can also participate in virtual events and product introductions, engaging with like-minded individuals.
8- Leverage Influencer Marketing
Influencers have established themselves as dependable authorities and trendsetters in their specific niches.
By teaming up with influencers who share your values, aesthetics, and personal brand, you can connect with their dedicated followers and access new audiences in a genuine and relatable manner.
If a respected influencer shares a real, personal story about one of your products on their social media, it can have a stronger impact than regular ads due to their admired opinion.
Engage your influencer collaborators in the process of developing the product or co-creating with them.
Their understanding and strong relationships with their followers can assist in developing products that genuinely connect, building a feeling of loyalty and engagement with your brand from both the influencers and their audience.
Furthermore, provide behind-the-scenes content or virtual events exclusively, enabling influencers to guide their followers through the brand and product narratives.
Cultivate lasting, mutually advantageous partnerships with influencers rather than viewing them as temporary marketing instruments, fostering a feeling of community and commitment that goes beyond a single marketing effort or product release.
Also See: Growth Hacking Skills Every Entrepreneur Needs In 2024
9- Gamify the Shopping Experience
Although shopping is typically motivated by need or want, incorporating game-like elements can introduce an aspect of enjoyment, thrill, and motivation that promotes customer interaction and encourages return visits.
Every time consumers purchase or engage with your brand, they can accumulate points, earn badges, and unlock exclusive rewards.
This feeling of moving forward and achieving goals can attract the natural human need for success and acknowledgment, inspiring clients to keep interacting with your brand to advance or climb leaderboards.
You can include social aspects in the gamification process, enabling customers to compete or work with friends and family.
Incorporate customized challenges or quests based on each customer’s likes and past purchases, providing a unique and unexpected touch that maintains excitement and interest.
10- Implement Predictive Inventory Management
Imagine owning an online store where stockouts and overstocking are nonexistent.
With machine learning and data analytics to fuel predictive inventory management, you can predict customer requirements while making sure you have the appropriate products in stock at the right time.
Your predictive inventory system can incorporate several elements that impact demand, such as seasonal trends, weather patterns, social media buzz, and even global events, rather than depending only on historical sales data.
This complete method enables you to make better decisions and strategically modify your inventory levels to meet your customers’ changing needs.
Engage your frontline teams in the procedure. Your sales and customer service representatives can offer important information about customer preferences, pain points, and emerging trends.
This data can be used to improve predictive models for a more thorough and customer-focused strategy.
11- Offer Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Options
A customer has had their eye on something special in your store, but when it comes to paying, the price tag makes them pause. That’s where flexible payment options come in, like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL).
According to Statista, BNPL is expected to grow more than $500 billion between 2022 and 2026 as a global industry.
With BNPL, you can break down the cost by breaking it up into smaller, easier to manage amounts for your customers to afford that dream purchase without the stress of paying all at once.
You can tailor these payment plans to fit each customer’s needs. Customers with a loyal history with your brand can get better terms or a longer payment period.
Integrating BNPL into your payment process is a breeze, ensuring a seamless customer experience.
Be upfront about payment details, showing your commitment to transparency and customer satisfaction.
Also See: 10 Powerful Growth Marketing Channels
12- Implement Headless Commerce
Customers want a seamless and consistent experience at every point of contact, whether using your mobile app, website, or physical store.
A headless commerce structure allows your ecommerce platform’s front-end and back-end systems to be kept apart for more flexibility and scalability, producing a smooth omnichannel user experience.
While shopping in a physical store, a customer can simply check their online account, view past orders, and make purchases by scanning a QR code or speaking with a salesperson who can access updated customer information.
Similarly, a customer can view items on your website and then seamlessly switch to your mobile app to continue shopping with their cart, preferences, and personalized recommendations all synchronized across devices.
Utilizing customer data and preferences can enhance the shopping experience across all channels.
If customers have shown interest in sustainable products before, they should receive eco-friendly recommendations and personalized messages that align with their values, no matter which platform they’re on.
Incorporate customized help and assistance at every interaction point.
While using their mobile app, a customer can start a chat with a well-informed salesperson, who can later offer tailored suggestions if the customer decides to visit a brick-and-mortar store.
Headless commerce not only ensures a uniform and united experience on various platforms but also provides increased flexibility and adaptability to changing customer demands and technological progressions.
13- Utilize Blockchain for Supply Chain Transparency
Allowing customers to engage with your supply chain can differentiate your business from competitors.
In a time when customers are more aware of the social and environmental impact of the products they buy, utilize blockchain technology to provide customers with an immutable and clear overview of a product’s entire supply chain, starting from raw materials and ending with delivery.
Provide them with details so they can research where the cotton for a shirt came from to ensure it was ethically produced and under fair labor conditions or to verify that the diamond in an engagement ring was mined without causing human rights abuses.
You can display this data in a visually engaging and easily understandable way, helping customers make informed choices that reflect their beliefs.
You could offer interactive supply chain maps or timelines showing the product’s journey, including certifications, audits, and stories or videos from those involved in its production.
Also See: Growth Marketing Funnel Creation: 5 Key Examples To Follow
14- Create a Sense of Urgency with Limited-Time Offers
Providing special discounts or bundles for a limited time, whether for a holiday promotion, birthday surprise, or business anniversary celebration, can be an effective growth strategy.
For example, you could send a customized email or push notification informing your customers about an annual sale celebrating their birthday, offering tempting discounts on items they have shown interest in.
Or they come across a timer counting down on the website of their favorite online store, featuring an amazing anniversary package that can only be purchased within the next 24 hours.
This feeling of immediacy and exclusivity can trigger a FOMO response, to enable customers to take advantage of the opportunity before it disappears.
To enhance the effectiveness of these short-term deals, strategically advertise them on various marketing platforms, utilizing personalized messages, attractive graphics, and countdown timers to create excitement.
15- Implement Biometric Authentication
You can enhance client convenience and security by implementing biometric authentication methods like fingerprint scanning or facial recognition.
For example, customers can quickly log into their account or make a purchase by only touching or looking, saving them the trouble of remembering complex passwords or dealing with two-factor authentication codes.
This smooth and effective procedure not only saves time but also gives a feeling of security and empowerment over one’s personal information.
Firstly, assess various biometric options and choose the one that best fits your customer base and security requirements.
You can use WebAuthn, it links the JavaScript API with multiple hardware-based authentication methods. Be it a webcam for facial recognition or fingerprint scanning on mobile devices, WebAuthn has your back.
Then, incorporate the biometric authentication system into your current login and checkout procedures. Give customers guidance on how to register for it and utilize the biometric verification method.
Make sure strong security measures are implemented to safeguard the biometric data and overall customer privacy. Adherence to data protection laws is very essential.
Transparently communicating the security protocols increases trust and confidence in the procedure.
Advertise the new biometric authentication feature in marketing efforts, emphasizing the increased convenience and security it offers for customer accounts and transactions.
Provide customized biometric authentication choices based on personal preferences.
Some customers might prefer facial recognition for comfort, while others might opt for fingerprint scanning due to its familiarity.
You can incorporate biometric authentication into loyalty programs or personalized experiences, allowing customers to securely unlock exclusive offers or receive tailored suggestions through a quick biometric scan.
Conclusion
So there you have it – 15 game-changing strategies to supercharge your ecommerce business in 2024.
By leveraging the latest technologies, embracing personalized experiences, and encouraging a feeling of belonging, you can create a shopping journey that delights your customers and keeps them coming back for more.
So what are you waiting for? Dive in, experiment, and watch your ecommerce business soar to new heights of success!
