Did you know you can generate more sales for your store with a few simple psychology tricks?
And I'm not just gonna talk theory in this video, here are ten actionable sales tricks
for your online store.
10 Sales Tricks to Increase Conversions: Sales Psychology for Print On Demand
Hey, it's Nora from Printful!
How and what we buy is almost always based on how we feel in our gut.
If you want to make an impression on shoppers, take a look at these ten psychology-based
tips to boost your sales.
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Expiration timers
88% of shoppers research a product before making a purchase either online or in-store.
They compare items, read reviews, and look for better deals.
While this behavior can help your brand be discovered, as customers continue their research,
you run the risk of them losing interest in your products.
To prevent this, you can create a sense of urgency on your website.
Implied urgency convinces shoppers to act now, often on impulse.
A sale countdown pushes to act while it’s not too late.
For example, you can start a seasonal sale for all sweaters and hoodies – decide on
the time frame and publish your time!
Place it on your home page or a specialised landing page, but it will have the most effect
directly on your product page.
You can also add it to your promo emails and social media posts – build the whole campaign
around it and create announcements around the time left.
Just be smart about how and when you use the timer.
Having an expiring sale on the same products every month will numb your customers to the
urgency you're trying to create.
Limited stock products
Remember – the fear of loss is much greater than the desire to gain something.
This sales trick creates a sense of urgency through scarcity.
People hate being left out of anything, and your audience is no different.
When they learn you only have two items left, it will create a fear of missing out or FOMO
effect.
Use this tactic to focus customers’ attention on a limited number of products that won’t
be available once they sell out.
Of course, if you're selling print-on-demand, stock issues are minimal and any limitations
will be more of a marketing decision than a production one.
For example, you can decide on a set number of new designs for the holiday season that
you want to sell, and warn your customers that once you sell out, these designs will
only be available again next year.
Uphold the limits you set and stick to them.
Doing the opposite will only ruin the trust in your brand.
The FOMO effect is powerful and effective, but you shouldn’t always resort to using
it, because your audience will catch on sooner or later.
Cross-selling
Many products work or look better when purchased together.
For instance, who doesn't like a matching set of sports attire – a sports bra coupled
with leggings or an athletic tee and shorts?
A new mug would look great on a new coaster.
And a fun swimsuit would stand out more with a matching beach bag and flip flops.
Unfortunately, most customers won't get the idea to buy a matching set or a product bundle
all on their own – you have to help them with that.
Customers love online stores with a wide range of products to offer, but sometimes a great
number of options can get overwhelming.
That’s why, to make a decision to buy straightforward, consider cross-selling on your store.
Cross-selling encourages a customer to purchase an additional product or service that is different
yet related to the product the customer is already set on buying.
One way of doing this is to create product bundles.
As a store owner, you probably already know which of your products complement each other.
You can also check out the most popular product combos from your customers’ purchases.
I would advise to offer several bundle options – put together a diverse range of product
combinations for your customers to choose from, but don't overwhelm them – have each
bundle serve a different purpose.
You can also offer a free product that comes with a bundle.
This is a popular way to increase order value for customers who simply can’t resist the
idea of freebie.
A special price for bundle purchases will also work in your favor – buying products
in combination sets mean that customers can get products for a lower price than buying
them separately, but they would still buy more than they originally planned, increasing
your profit.
Creating product bundles doesn't just help your customers make a wise purchase, you’re
also getting an opportunity to increase the value of each order.
Upselling
Similar to cross-selling, upselling means that you're working with an already eager
customer that is set on buying something from your store.
Upselling encourages to purchase a more expensive variant of the same product, or the same product
with additional features.
A good upselling promotion makes people feel like they are getting a great deal, urging
them to buy.
Here are some examples of what a good upsell looks like:
* For only $5 more, you can get a bigger cup * Upgrade your t-shirt to a “made in America”
model * Upgrade a small-sized poster to a larger
sized poster * And upgrade your shipping to get the order
faster
While getting more customers is one proven way to improve sales, you’ll be getting
more bang for your buck by increasing the order value from your existing clients.
These people are already buying what you're selling.
Work with that!
Free shipping
In a recent survey on digital shopping trends in the US, 48% of respondents said they’ve
added items to their shopping cart to qualify for free shipping, and 44% stated they’ve
chosen the slowest delivery option because it was free.
At its core, free shipping is designed to override the customers’ logic with emotion
and play with their natural impulse to reconsider buying the extra items they previously talked
themselves out of getting.
Just remember you’re not actually offering shipping for free, you’re tweaking your
prices to make your customers more interested in making a purchase.
It’s up to you to decide whether to install free shipping as a permanent perk or use it
for promos.
Free shipping in the long-term is great for customer retention and building brand loyalty,
especially for stores that drive sales with repeat purchases, while short-term campaigns
are great for customer acquisition.
Next, you can either set up free shipping on any order, or free shipping with minimum
purchase value.
The setup behind each is a bit different.
For minimum purchase value, the bar has to be low enough so people still want to add
more items to the cart and high enough so that it results in profit.
Think about the possible product combinations your customers might put together to hit that
free shipping threshold.
Make sure you have a few low-risk products at lower prices that allow customers to go
just over the threshold.
For example, if you’re a store specializing in premium all-over t-shirts that cost $50,
you could offer free shipping starting from $100, enticing your customers to by two at
a time.
Or you could set the threshold at $75 and expand your catalog with a $25 dollar tote
bag or $15 dollar mug.
Upfront policies
People are always a little skeptical when they’re reading bold claims in ads or other
content.
But you can cut their skepticism and make them more likely to believe what you’re
telling them.
One method is to be specific about your claims.
This is called risk aversion.
Explain store policies and promotions in a simple and clear manner.
Increase trust by offering as much information as possible.
Eliminate Sizing Doubts If you’re selling apparel, one of the biggest
factors working against you is that your buyer can’t try on the clothes.
That means they don’t know if it’ll look good on them, considering each body is a little
different.
That’s why you should include specific size info so your buyer can get an accurate idea
of how the garment will fit.
Put up size guides for each product, and add information about the models wearing your
products if you can.
Outline your returns policy Another way to increase the likelihood of
a customer making a purchase when they are worried about sizing is by creating a straightforward
returns policy.
Do you accept returns because of wrong sizes or buyer's remorse?
What should a customer do if they want to make a return?
No hidden fees Trust leads to purchases.
60% of online shoppers abandon their cart due to high shipping costs and other fees.
There’s really nothing much you can do – if shipping and taxes are high, they’re high.
That’s why you should be upfront when it comes to these expenses.
It might scare people off at first, but in the long run you’ll have dedicated customers
who aren’t afraid of being swindled and hit with hidden costs.
Social proof
72% of online shoppers trust consumer opinions online and they tend to spend 31% more when
a company has excellent ratings and reviews.
When people see that other customers have had a good experience, that makes them believe
that they also have the chance of having a good experience on your store.
All you need to do to get those reviews is – ask.
Not asking typically gets you a 50/50 result, while asking for reviews yields an 83% positive
average review rate.
You can include a review request in your product descriptions and automatic order emails, create
a call out for reviews on social media or contact a customer directly via email after
you've made the sale.
Something that may deter people from asking for review is - what if the customer leaves
a bad one?
The thing is, a bad review isn't the end of the world.
It actually looks suspicious when all of your views are only positive.
What matters is how you handle the review and work with the customer to make it right.
Ask your customers to post photos with their orders and received products and create a
brand hashtag that your customers can use on social media.
Customer photos not only increase trust, but also show products in real life.
Fewer options
In a study conducted by psychologists at Columbia and Stanford University, shoppers who were
offered free samples of six different jams were much more likely to buy one than shoppers
offered free samples of 24 jams.
While the big display table generated more interest, people were about ten times less
likely to purchase than in the case of the smaller display.
There’s been a ton of research on the topic and studies in other areas (like food and
clothing) have shown the same results.
There is something about more choice that demotivates people.
When there are too many options, people tend to experience decision paralysis – also
called the Paradox of Choice or Choice Fatigue.
So, while offering your designs in all of the different colors of the rainbow might
be tempting, be decisive – decide on the best two or three and stick to those.
Our experience shows that the most sold colors on print on demand stores are black, white
and gray – if you can’t decide on your own, these three are a safe bet.
Same goes for design variants, shipping options, and all other decisions your buyers have to
make on your store.
Less really is more when it comes to making decisions!
Pop-ups
Marketers know that the thoughts people have versus the actions they take are two totally
different things.
Social psychologist Martin Lindstrom even published a whole book about it.
Despite self-reporting that pop-ups provide a poor user experience, they can be incredibly
effective when they're implemented appropriately.
For example, stores with exit intent pop-ups are able to turn an average of 35% of leaving
visitors into customers.
And stores with opt–in pop-ups (asking for the visitor’s email) are more than twice
as likely to generate subscribers that those with a static sign-up box.
The truth is… pop-ups work.
If they didn’t work, people wouldn’t use them.
Not all pop-ups are created equal.
Of course, a neon-colored, flashing pop-up with no substance will annoy your customers
and make them leave your store at once.
Create pop-ups that enhance the online experience, rather than detract from it.
Offer something that the visitor wants, and you'll have a completely smooth user experience
and a happy customer.
Here are some pop-ups to consider:
Welcome pop-ups These pop-ups are displayed soon after they
visit your store.
Use them to inform your visitor about something – for example, that you’ve got a sale
going on for a certain product category.
This usually works best when you have something of use to tell them.
Exit intent pop-ups When the visitor moves their cursor to leave
the page, the pop-up is shown to them, offering a deal that’s difficult to refuse – this
way retaining the potential customer.
As I mentioned before, these can be incredibly effective, turning a third of your visitors
into customers.
Behavior-driven pop-ups This pop-up appears when a visitor performs
a certain behavior.
The behavior is indicative of something, and you’ll offer them just that.
For example, you could add a pop-up after a customer adds a certain product to their
cart, offering a complementary item.
Time-driven pop-ups When a visitor has spent a certain amount
of time on your site, you can safely assume that they’re interested in what they see,
and you can use that knowledge to offer them more.
Don’t dismiss pop-ups too fast, they are proven to be effective!
Faster shopping experience
Users expect pages to load in two seconds, and after three seconds up to 40% of users
will abandon your site.
On top of that, a whopping 69% of ecommerce shopping carts are abandoned.
Customers are impatient and expect their shopping experience to be seamless and easy.
Keep that in mind and get an edge over your competitors by creating a hassle-free experience.
Boost your page speed If you want people to stay on your store,
go to Google Page Speed or Pingdom, and test your page speed.
If your page takes longer than 2 seconds to load, you might want to make some changes.
One of the easiest ways to boost page speed is making sure your product images are optimized
for the web.
* Unless you need a photo with a transparent background, reformat your .png images to .jpg
– .png images are usually ”heavier” and take longer to load.
* Resize your images – don’t use a 1000x1000px image in a 100x100px spot.
* Compress your photos – try TinyPNG to save megabytes without compromising on quality.
* Add the lazy load option – it means that loading of some images will be delayed until
the point where they’re needed.
The setup for this is different with every platform.
We added links to tutorials for WooCommerce and Shopify in the description below.
* Or consider removing something from your website entirely.
Ask yourself: Are all photos needed, do they all help your customers make their buying
decisions?
What happens when you take some parts of the page out?
Try and test that!
Less is more in many cases – taking out the unnecessary might both improve page load
and boost conversions.
Remove Checkout Registration
And while we're on the topic of hassle-free shopping, remove checkout registration on
your store if you have it!
Checkout registration severely affects your conversion rate – people don't want to spend
time filling out a registration page!
If checkout takes too long, chances are they'll give up.
So make the checkout process as quick as you can, don't make people log in.
Make the step optional; this way they can choose when to create an account.
And that’s it!
You can find a checklist of all ten steps and the resources I mentioned to help you
along the way in the description below.
Which one of these ten tricks do you already use on your store?
Let me know in the comments below!
Hey!
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