Three Online Selling Tips and Tricks for Web-Based Merchants
Are you having a rough time selling online? Do you want to learn online selling tip and tricks? In the increasingly-competitive world of online selling, merchants like you may want to go back to the basics of marketing.
In this article, you will learn some of the tried-and-tested principles in sales psychology such as:
Online selling tip 1: Make reciprocity work for you
In sales psychology, the principle of reciprocity means that when a person or a party gives something to another person, the latter feels compelled to return the favor. This principle is in full display when a customer at Costco ends up buying sausage after trying a free sample.
You can make reciprocity work for you by giving a free gift online. Or you can try to slip some samples of your other items into a shipped product to encourage repeat purchases.
Online selling tip 2: Surprise customers
Surprising customers is another trick that can improve word-of-mouth about your product and boost sales in the process. In surprising customers, you don’t have to tell them what they would get for free. They will find out about it after receiving their order from you.
A top cosmetics brand, LUSH, is known for this trick. The firm would give freebies to their customers who order online. It not only boosts repeat purchases but also a good way to introduce their new products to customers.
Online selling tip 3: Tap social media for social proof
People are social creatures. They tend to show bias towards things that people around them like. According to a study by Nielsen, 83 percent of customers would trust a product that’s recommended by family members and friends—that’s how powerful social proof is.
There are several ways to use social proof in a website. One of the more frequently used is the ‘best seller’ feature which highlights a product and makes it more desirable to customers.