In our previous blog post, we covered why social media vendors and SMEs need a KwikStore. If you missed that blog post, here’s a link to the article. 

You may also want to find out how to set up and customize your KwikStore in less than 5 minutes. 

This guide will teach you how to promote your KwikStore storefront to increase your online sales. 

We have listed 10 proven techniques to boost your products, increase your online sales, and build loyalty to your brand. 

We advise that you pick what works best for your business, or combine them all for the best results.

1. Share Your KwikStore URL To Your Social Media Handles

The first step to take after setting up your KwikStore is to share the URL to your social media profiles. For instance, if you’re an Instagram vendor, people who are interested in buying your products can easily go to your store when you share your KwikStore link on your bio. The same goes for WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter. This is the easiest way to drive some traffic to your store. 

Here’s how to share your link:

1. On your dashboard, click on KwikStores on the left-hand menu
2. Click on the store you want to share
3. Now, click on the Share button and copy your unique store URL

2. Be Honest With Your Products Description (Especially what the product can and can’t do)

This might seem so small but it’s painfully obvious. These days, you scroll through many eCommerce stores and you see products that can save the world only to turn out to be a total scam.

Not only is honesty in your descriptions crucial to your business reputation. It also builds and encourages trust in your brand. Don’t make claims your product can’t accomplish and don’t exaggerate.

Be honest, straightforward, and approachable in all your product descriptions.

3. Offer your customers a bulletproof money-back guarantee

Oftentimes, one of the most powerful factors in a consumer’s decision not to buy something is the desire to avoid a potential loss. Why should someone buy your products? What if they don’t work, or the customer doesn’t like them? Even small purchases can turn out to not suit the buyer’s needs. So you have to at least help them trust you from the onset by offering a bulletproof money-back guarantee.

The more risk you remove from the prospect’s decision, the more likely they are to buy from you, so take away anything that could dissuade prospects from buying from you. 

4. Offer your customers fewer product options

So many people believe that offering more products is a great way to increase sales. Of course not! In fact, in many instances, a greater variety of choices can lead to indecision on the part of the prospect, which in turn results in lost sales.

If you have a wide range of products, consider structuring your KwikStore in a way that offers visitors as few choices as possible. This reduces the possibility that the potential customer will be overwhelmed by dozens of different products.

This can be accomplished by either arranging your products into increasingly narrow categories (a bonus of which is offering visitors greater ease to find exactly what they’re looking for) or using one KwikStore for one particular product.

What that means is you could create a KwikStore just for Apple MacBook laptops instead of combining HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and Samsung laptops.

If you combine all your products in one store, your visitor might start comparing prices and get carried away. He may even start searching for prices on other online stores and may not come back to your store.

You can create one KwikStore each for the different laptops you sell instead of combining them all. Remember that the more choices you provide, the more likely a customer is to bounce and go elsewhere. 

5. Use high-quality product images

There is a popular saying that well-presented food tastes better than poorly prepared food. Given how important looks affect the way we fall in love with things, you must understand that investing in quality product photography will have a similar effect on your KwikStore visitors.

Regardless of what you’re selling, always use high-quality images of your products. You shouldn’t use tiny thumbnails or poorly lit photos taken from your bedroom.

Also, make sure you include a wide variety of images. It may seem like you’re overdoing things by including photos of your products from every possible angle, but give it a try. People love to have a close connection with a product before they buy from you. 

6. Use Gmail ads to reach new customers

After several years of testing, Gmail ads are FINALLY available to everyone. It’s an interesting way to reach potential customers and increase sales.

If you’re already reaching customers when they’re searching and browsing social media, why not take it a step further and reach them while they’re in their inbox too?

One of the most effective ways to use Gmail ads is to target competitor keywords. People searching for your competitor’s products will receive emails from your competitors that mention some things you’re also selling. By targeting the same terms, you can show up in their inboxes and hopefully change your mind. 

7. Try giving away free stuff when people buy from you

Nigerians love free stuff and giveaways, and the more you give away for free, the more customers are likely to fall in love with you and your brand, which can result in more online sales.

Look at your current products. Can you give anything away for free? If you’re in the gadgets business, it’s easy to offer free accessories to the mobile phones you sell.

Even if you’re not selling gadgets, you can just as easily give away keyholders, two-for-one offers, and other reward-based incentives.

Giving stuff away for free isn’t just a great way to improve people’s idea of your business, it’s also a great way to introduce them to your must-have products and tempt them to buy more next time.

8. Create a sense of urgency when you list products

It’s important to be honest and transparent about who you are and what you do, but there’s nothing wrong with creating a sense of urgency to convince potential customers to buy immediately.

Many consumers respond positively to incentives that create a sense of urgency, from urgent special offers to limited-edition products.

While the ways to do this are as varied as the products you can buy online, some strategies can be more effective than others.

For example, if you don’t (or can’t) make a limited-edition product to attract potential customers, you might be able to offer customers who immediately commit to a purchase a financial incentive such as a gift card or a discount.

In AdWords, you can use ad customizers to display a countdown to a seasonal or limited-time promotion:

Whichever path you choose, creating a sense of urgency is a great way to increase online sales. 

9. Use Google shopping ads to reach millions of prospective customers

Do Google shopping ads still work in 2022?

The simple answer is yes.

Firstly, setting up a Google Shopping campaign is relatively easy. Just create your product feed in Google Merchant Center, sit back, and let the traffic flow.

Google Shopping ads are a perfect way to engage interested shoppers with your product line and here’s why:

• These visually appealing ads ensure your products get seen and perform better than traditional search ads. 
• They drive quality leads to your store and optimize the customer journey as they provide buyers with lots of pre-click information. 
• The platform itself is easy to use and offers great reports on the performance of your advertising campaign.

The results of these benefits? Well, more visibility means more traffic to your business. And better quality leads mean more traffic converts to sales. This is a very valid reason to add Google Shopping ads to your to-do list. 

10. Use Facebook ads to drive traffic to your KwikStore

Today, according to Statistica, Facebook has more than 4 billion active users in the world. This provides a treasure trove of potential customers that can be easily reached through a well-designed promotional program.

Regardless of your budget, geographic reach, or desired demographics, Facebook has built an effective digital and mobile marketing platform.

Other online advertising channels like Google AdWords focus on getting your products and services in front of consumers searching for keywords. Facebook takes a different approach, allowing you to target your ideal customer – even when they’re not planning on buying anything.

This is a huge plus for sellers who use Facebook advertising, especially if those who see your ads are people who usually make impulse purchases.

If they see your Facebook ad, they could immediately buy what you’re selling, even though they never planned to buy anything, or remind another potential customer (their friends) who they believe needs what you’re selling to visit your store later in the day.

One of the best things about Facebook ads is the ability to target one or more customer profiles. For example, financial services companies use Facebook to target users 50 years and above who are worried about retirement.

Boutique owners and thrift wear vendors can appeal to younger audiences, and fashion brands can tailor campaigns for men, women, or teens.

If you have a local customer base (if your shop is in Lagos), you can advertise to Facebook users in communities close to your area, like Ibadan, Ogun, and Osun.  

11. Answer every question customers may have about your product in the description

One of the biggest problems you can face when trying to sell online is making assumptions that your potential customers already know so much about the products you’re selling.

For example, an iPhone dealer may wrongly believe that their customers or prospective buyers already know all about the features and importance of an iPhone.

This is so wrong. You can easily differentiate between a UK/US used iPhone, a refurbished, or a brand new iPhone using the product description.

You should also consider spelling out what the customer would get from each package and which package is the best for them at that point in time.

Consider any questions that come to mind about your product and answer them in your copy on the product pages.

It may seem too much, but remember, you’re not bombarding prospects with useless information — you’re giving them exactly what they need to make an informed decision.