An eCommerce business is more dependent upon the goodwill of its clientele than brick-and-mortar stores. It is very simple really. In an average real-world store, once a customer walks in they are more likely to purchase something. After all, they have made the effort of reaching the store and checking the products. Few people walk out of a physical store empty-handed. However, the same does not apply to an eCommerce outlet since they can simply close the link and go to another site.

Here is what you can do to make sure that this doesn’t happen frequently.

1. Downtime is off time

One of the best things about an eCommerce site is that it’s always available,  24/7. Now that more and more people are logging on to the net to buy products, you can take advantage of it by selling your wares even when you are fast asleep. However, that won’t happen if unfortunately, your site crashes repeatedly. If the site is offline, it is likely that your target audience won’t wait and simply move on to another site.

2. Slow sites don’t get many customers

The average attention span of an online buyer is around 3-4 seconds. If the site doesn’t open fast enough, it is likely your customers will simply move on in search of other options. And why not? After all, there are millions of other online eCommerce outlets out there. If you want your customer to stay with you, make sure your site is as fast as possible.

3. Make sure the CTA is always accessible

Why should your customers come to you instead of your competitors? It is because of your CTA. This is basically the ‘call to action’ that attracts people into the web marketing tunnel. If this call to action is not available or accessible, you will lose out on a lot of customers. Your shopping cart should also be easy to see so that the customer knows how to buy the product.

4. Get rid of slow-selling products

In every store, there are products that sell fast and those that don’t. Concentrate on the former and eliminate the latter entirely from your store. They will stop your cash flows and over the course of time, bring down your business. Of course, you don’t have to throw them away. You can offer them at a real sale (as opposed to one where retailers inflate prices and then cut them down to give an impression that they are on sale). Once the customers see that you are offering a brief opportunity to add real value to their lives, they will buy your slow-moving products and help you clean your shelves. This way, you will also be able to get your cash flows moving.

5. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly

The number of people shopping with their smartphones has increased dramatically in recent months, and there is no sign that the trend will be slowing down anytime soon. In fact, 79% of smartphone users have made an online purchase using this mode within the last six months! This means a site that is not mobile-friendly will lose all of that vast potential market. It is absolutely imperative that your site should be mobile-friendly so it can be easy to see even on a small screen. Apart from that, you should also work on your SEO (search engine optimization) techniques so your site will show up on organic searches on the search engines.

6. Add a live chat option

Live chats will help to gently nudge your customers towards the purchase decision by answering all of their questions. It is a great way to boost your conversion rates and keep your target market happy. Even if they don’t buy the product, the speed and excellence of your response will make them come again. At the very least, they will bookmark your site.

7. Consider using residential proxies

Using residential proxies for market research will give you great insight into the buying habits of your target audience. At the same time, they will allow you to remain incognito.

If you are really interested in increasing your sales and improving your eCommerce business, you must make sure there is no downtime or latency on your site. You should also use residential proxies to help you with your market research with regard to your target audience.