A New Approach For Brands And Product Lines.
5 Shifts You Can Make To Start Selling More Product Online
… Without Giving All Your Profits to Amazon and Other Big Companies.
Five steps to making more online sales and getting your revenue up to $100,000/mo. In yearly terms that is $1.2 million a year just from online sales and having your store online.
Let’s take a look at the current retail economy, then we’ll dive into the difference today versus a couple of years ago. You can tap into these changes and set yourself apart by being able to adapt to the way you get customers in a way that’s dramatically different from what everyone else is doing.
Of course, this is going to be the key to success. You certainly can grow your business over $1,000,000 a month but first, let’s reach this milestone because once you get to this level you’ve stabilized your business and will have the cash flow to scale.
This is going to be how you’re able to scale your business to $100,000 per month consistently, and I’m going to show you the five secrets you need to take to get there.
The Online Economy
Right now, with in-person retail struggling through social distancing requirements, today is the best time to have an online store, but many online retailers don’t see the level of prosperity they want. There is no question that the online retail industry is booming, but for most brand owners, this is not translating into a high-value business for them. We’re going to be looking at exactly why that is and what you can do about it.
So, let’s take a quick look at the retail economy so as of January 2023
- 91% of online retail stores make less than 1 million a year
- Only 9% earn more than 1 million a year in online sales
- There was $517 billion in online sales in 2019 in the USA, and in 2022, it was $1,034.1 Billion
- There are around 2.5 Million Online stores in the USA
- Making it so 225,000 are showing a decent amount of sales ( over 1 million)
- As of 2020, the average order placed online is $155.75
- The shopping cart abandonment rate ranges between 60% – 80%, with an average of 67.91%
- 79% of all smartphone owners have made a purchase with their phones in the last 6 months
- The probability of selling to a new customer is 5-20%, while 80% of your future profits will come from just 20% of your existing customers
If you look at the statistics from this example, it shows MOST brands are earning meager profits online. The above research is isolated to online brands in the USA. With the average orders being $155 and 80% of people leaving their shopping cart, you can see why brands online make less than $100,000 per month or even a year. Let’s dive into why this is.
The Old Approach
Some of the old approaches seen in online stores doing today:
- Going to trade shows for brand awareness with the hopes of meeting buyers
- Using distributors to get into big-box retail stores
- Listing products online and hoping for the best.
- Posting products on social media and not seeing any results
- Offering discounts on products
- Listing products on Amazon and eBay
What’s Different Today
Everyone has a smartphone
Free promotions are easier to access
Product research is easier to do.
Everyone is looking online for the next best option.
Information overall is easier to get.
How can you win in today’s economy?
What do the winners know that nobody else knows? The businesses selling over $100k/mo through their own websites have made a fundamental and critical shift. They have stopped competing on price. Instead, they have repositioned themselves as thought leaders in their industries offering premium, best-in-class products.
Once you make this shift, you will have a business that will continuously generate at least $100,000/mo in sales per month on your online store, and you won’t be chasing customers who never intended to buy from you in the first place. You become recognized as the expert in your niche with customers turning to you to solve their problems.
It all starts with step one.
Who this is for?
This is for brands and product lines looking to skip the middleman and going directly to the consumer. Those who want to be seen as a specialist/authority in your industry.
This process isn’t a quick fix to getting sales tomorrow and it’s not just to get more sales for cheap products. This is a well thought out plan that steadily and consistently grows your business. Prompt solutions end with small profit spikes, and you are left to start back over. So, if you want to build your brand the right way, keep reading.
Step 1: Make Sales Online Without Amazon, Ebay, ect.
What is Amazon good for? Amazon is good for bringing an audience to commodity products that don’t have a strong enough appeal to generate their own buzz, but you’re not selling white-labeled toilet bowl brushes or shoe hangers.
That’s what happens when you list your products there. You instantly are compared to millions of other options where people are looking for the cheapest fix.
You’re just building Amazon
Amazon really only cares about the outcome of 2 people. The people shopping on Amazon and itself. When a shopper buys a product off of Amazon it doesn’t register that they bought a product from you.
They bought a product from Amazon which in turn helps Amazon’s brand building and stalls yours. The Customer sees Amazon and tells friends and family they order a product from Amazon.
You end up losing all the marketing power of building yourself as the market authority with that sale and that’s all you get is a sale. With that sale usually comes a 20% fee and if you have fulfillment by Amazon you can add another 7% for a total of 27% out of your pocket to build someone else’s brand.
You’re literally giving profit away to not be recognized.
Rather than spending money to build someone else’s brand, build your own store. Earning a loyal customer who will tell friends and family about you and your awesome products because it’s not some cheap alternative to be compared with others. You’ll also be able to remarket and upsell those who have made a purchase or need a little more information before buying.
People will stop comparing your product with cheap alternatives and you won’t be seen as just another product among the thousands out there. You’ll become the brand authority for your market and start to dominate the profits.
Step 2: Target Market Fit
You can’t sell to everyone, so don’t try to.
Instead, focus on a specific set of customers who need your product. By focusing on a targeted customer persona, you can sell more products because the product is genuinely a perfect fit for your target market.
The sales conversions are higher because subconsciously, the customer says, “This product is what I need. This will solve my problems.”
Focus on your target market’s needs.
When your product achieves target market fit you’re not just solving a problem they couldn’t find a solution for anywhere else. You’re also adding a measurable benefit in their lives. In other words, you’re not just getting a problem to go away, you’re also adding joy.
This is the secret to building brand loyalty. Using this method, you aren’t competing with all the general stores, making your marketing efforts that much easier.
Stop trying to sell to everyone and start focusing on one type of customer. The one that will be loyal and happy to help promote your product.
Step 3: Market Your Results Not Product Details
This goes into connecting with your customers. You need to understand them and know who they are. Marketing hasn’t changed. The way you deliver your message has.
Often, businesses opt for the standard approach of bombarding social media users with advertisements that purely outline product features.
Why is that bad?
It’s not effective because product details don’t inspire people and won’t deliver the marketing results you need. It could be that the ad is shown to the wrong person, or your product didn’t influence them.
Offer a solution.
Rather than pushing product details in people’s faces, inspire and motivate them by offering a unique solution or outcome that your product delivers.
No one likes being sold to, so why try to sell them something when they are already resistant? It’s the reason why sports products always want a pro athlete to use their products.
So It will influence like-minded people to do the one thing you want, buy. Influence the customer from the start, and you’ll start to see some serious changes to your sales.
Step 4: Stop Undercutting Your Own Prices
The first thing many stores do to get people interested in a product is to have a sale. They try this to make customers feel like they must buy right now. What if you didn’t have to give your product away for that discount?
There is a better way to do it, and that is building the product’s reputation.
People make a decision to buy a product when it solves their problems or issues. If you haven’t convinced them yet, they will want proof. Eighty-five percent of people trust online reviews like it’s from friends or family.
There is a way for you to filter your negative product reviews, and your customers know it. They tend to go to a 3rd party site to find out if you are being truthful. 60% of customers will not buy from a business that filters their product reviews. Give yourself a chance to shine and not be afraid of a bad experience.
By responding appropriately, you will show your customers that you care and will take care of them if they have an unexpected experience. This will also establish your future trust and ease of mind.
If you don’t have any reviews there are other ways to build trust with your customers. When you show the product in a way that is building trust you start to build loyalty and customers won’t go to a 3rd party site but will take action and buy imminently without having to throw discounts and coupons at them
Step 5: Top of Mind Automation
The guest might not be ready to buy today, so how are you going to stay in the forefront of their mind?
Send relevant emails.
Most people just send out countless emails offering their products but don’t show the customer how that product will better their lifestyle. By interacting with your customers based on what they viewed and showed interest in, you are able to show them the correct type of content by nurturing that guest and easing them into a purchase. Not just send countless emails that are not meaningful to them.
Show why they need your product.
Your product is a part of their lifestyle, whether that be a hobby, passion, or everyday use. By showing the relevant information they will come back and make that purchase.
Focus on customers you already have.
According to smallbiztrends the probability of earning a new customer is 5-20%. Typically 80% of future profits will come from 20% of existing customers but when you nurture and show that customer how the product will benefit their life it becomes much higher.
Retaining customers is essential. It’s far easier to get repeat sales than it is to gain new customers. So, stop selling customers on items they aren’t interested in and only show them relevant items by having an automated process in place that will do just that – nurture new and old customers.
Do it with automation.
Doing this manually would take far too much time. So, they key to success is to have automation sequences in place that nurture your leads for you so you are always top of mind.
Ask yourself…
Are you looking for help building an online store, so you don’t have to rely on Amazon and eBay?
Would you like someone to help you generate a steady flow of customers?
Are you wanting to build and nurture your customer base?
Are you wondering what the best ways are to differentiate yourself from alternative products?
Would you like help building your product reputation?
If you’re answering yes to these questions, you should definitely be working with someone with my capabilities. If this resonates with you, I’m making myself available for a free 45-minute conversation to show you how you can start implementing these concepts into your business with tools I have created. On this call, you’ll come away with three things.
- We’ll develop a powerful strategy for uncovering new customers.
- How to influence customers to buy your products.
- You’ll come away with new approaches to getting more sales without relying on Amazon and other 3rd party sources.