Incentivizing shoppers

In the quest to grow ecommerce sales there are a number of ways to drive sales. For some, making sales face-to-face and the ability to close is all about the art of persuasion. But how do we make ecommerce more persuasive?

The art of persuasion in ecommerce, especially when it comes to bigger ticket price items, is largely about incentive. Here we’ll consider some tactics that ecommerce stores might use to incentivize a shopper to complete the checkout process and not leave another sorry abandoned cart!

Persuasion is often about leading folks down the route of thinking “I’m getting a good deal here!”, and incentivizing them to complete the checkout process for those must have goodies. Here are probably the two most widely used tactics:

Persuasion tactic 1 - discounting

Discounting the price is a common tactic. Discounts might be framed so as to be time-limited offers. Setting the clock running is certainly a way to focus people on making the purchase quickly.

A very refined version of this approach is to use tech platforms that for large ecommerce websites can track, analyze and predict shopper behavior. Over many thousands of website visits, using machine learning, the platform optimizes discounted offers for the behavior it anticipates. Scary, huh?

Persuasion tactic 2 - freebies

Offering freebies is another commonly used tactic. That big ticket purchase might be made more palatable if some freebies are thrown in… So sweetening the deal with some related accessories or complementary products might be a way to drive conversion. Another freebie is to include shipping in the price.

But… margins!

OK, most of you have probably got hold of the fact that tactics like cutting prices and giving stuff away erodes the profit margin. And that’s often been considered the game in ecommerce – being cheaper than a bricks and mortar store.

Sales at higher prices that equate to improved profit margins are far easier to close where the buyer can perceive that you are adding value. But one of the problems with ecommerce is that everyone expects a cheaper price and it’s difficult to add-value.

Incentivize without denting your profit margin with Partial.ly

With Partial.ly payment plans, your ecommerce customers can spread the outlay for those big ticket purchases. You might ask, “Is this really an incentive?”

Well if you think about it, the shopper’s purchasing decision could be governed by this considerations like these:

  • I want it, but can I afford it?
  • I don't want to take out a loan
  • I don't want to miss payments I'm committed to elsewhere
  • My husband/wife will kill me...

Often this equals yet another sorry abandoned cart.

We can flip this negative decision with Partial.ly. The incentive with Partial.ly is it lets your ecommerce customers buy now and spread the payments. It gives shoppers the ability to customize their payment plans, choosing down payments and installments at a rate that suits their finances, but within limits you choose to set.

It’s a really good way of maximizing sales, preserving margin and ensuring that goods are paid for in full to an agreed schedule and that payment is automated.

For ecommerce store owners, we think it’s truly beautiful!

Signup and get started with Partial.ly for nothing on your Shopify, WooCommerce or Opencart store today.

To find out more just, click here, complete the form and we’ll be right back to you.