Troubleshooting Methods for Poor Sales Performance of Cross-border Foreign Trade Independent Websites

In 2020, more people from the foreign trade industry are expected to join the cross-border e-commerce independent website industry. However, entering an industry does not guarantee immediate results. This article shares the reasons for poor sales in cross-border e-commerce and how to increase sales.

Reasons for Poor Sales on Cross-border E-commerce Independent Websites

1. Targeting the wrong consumer demographic

If youBuild your own e-commerce websiteIf you have a certain amount of traffic but no sales, it is likely because you have targeted the wrong audience. People may simply not be interested in your product, or they are not your target market. All these factors must be kept in mind when marketing your product.

2. Not setting up the correct sales channels

Another reason that may hinder e-commerce sales is that you have not set up your sales funnel correctly. Most people who enter your website cannot find the product they want. Typically, a user goes through the following steps:

• Visitor sees an advertisement / searches for a product
• Visits the website for relevant products
• Searches for the product on the website and checks its price
• Likes the product and places an order

However, if a visitor comes to your website and cannot find the desired product, they will definitely leave, resulting in no sales.

3. Customers do not trust your website

If customers do not trust your website, they will not buy from you. This is a fact. Try to identify the reasons behind the lack of trust. To address trust issues, you must consider:

1. Add an SSL certificateto your website. An SSL certificate ensures that your website is secure for transactions.
2. Invite customers who have made purchases to promote and review your products on social platforms.
3. Actively track user purchase feedback and resolve any issues promptly.
4. Your pricing may be too high.

Most store owners find it difficult to understand that selling products at higher prices does not solve the problem. The issue is that people will only buy from websites that offer products at reasonable prices. If someone sells a product at a higher price than usual, people will not purchase from that online store. Customers can use many price comparison websites to compare the prices of products available online. They conduct all their research before buying any product. Ensure that the price tag on the product is correct.

4. The website may have slow loading speeds or unscientific operations

If your website loads slowly or the operational steps are not reasonable enough, users may not purchase products. According to a survey by Sweor, 57% of internet users will not shop on websites with poor user experience.。

5. You do not have an email list

Marketing experts believe thatEmail Marketingis still one of the best ways to increase e-commerce sales. However, the problem is that most e-commerce store owners do not have an email list. They do not invest in leads and rely solely on organic or paid channels. According to an online finance magazine, email marketing yieldsthe highest investmentreturn on investment (ROI).

6. Your after-sales system is poor

Similar to negative reviews on Taobao, if your after-sales service is poor, when customers post negative reviews about you online, it will indirectly affect your website's reputation. To find out your website's reputation, you can search on Google for terms like your brand plus 'reviews'.

7. Delivery times are too long

Most people expect to receive their products within one or two days. However, most of us running foreign trade independent websites ship from China. Users may accept delivery times of about a week, but the faster the product reaches the customer, the better the user experience. Please ensure that all shipping details are clearly mentioned on the checkout page andproduct descriptionpages so that people know when they should receive the desired product.

Methods to Increase Sales on Cross-border E-commerce Independent Websites

Now that we have analyzed the possible reasons for poor sales on cross-border e-commerce independent websites, what aspects can we focus on to increase online sales?

1. Build your brand trust

Explore some strategies that can be used to build trust in the brand among customers:

1. Improve product quality. Ensure that the products sold to customers are exactly as described on your website.
2. Engage customers on your social media. For example, host some prize-winning activities on social media.
3. Share user-generated content on your blog, social media, or website. These can be testimonials for your products or tweets from users who had a great experience shopping at your online store.
4. Ask users to provide honest reviews of your services on review and rating websites.

2. Set an appropriate price

Now that you have built trust, people will visit your online store. It's time to set the right offers so that these people can make purchases from your store.

1. Refer to the prices of similar products on other websites; if the price difference is too large, there must be sufficient justification.
2. If your wholesaler gives you a price higher than the market price, then you may need to change suppliers.
3. Appropriately offer promotions, such as free shipping for orders over a certain amount.

3. Establish a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

USP stands for „Unique Selling Proposition,“ which represents a unique selling proposition or „unique selling point.“ Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What makes you stand out among other online stores?
2. What is the price of your product?
3. How is the quality of the product?
4. What type of customer service do you provide?

Now leverage these points. Sometimes you may not even realize what your USP is. If this is the case, visit review websites to see what customers are writing about you and the keywords they use. These are the keywords that describe your services to the audience. Use them in customer marketing materials because they are the customers' vocabulary.

4. Optimize and conduct split testing on the website

You only have 15 seconds to capture the user's attention. If you fail, you lose. This is calledthe 15-second rule of website usability.The second most important rule of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the 3-click rule. It states that site users should be able to reach the checkout page with just three clicks. Ensure your website is optimized accordingly.

5. Provide excellent customer service

People are more likely to purchase from companies that effectively resolve user complaints. That's why your store must provide effective customer service for customers. You have some tasks to do:

1. Add a live chat option to your e-commerce store.
2. Allow chatbots to answer most of the questions people ask. This will reduce the number of chats you have to answer manually and increase the number of orders you receive.
3. Send personalized emails to your customers and respond to them immediately when complaints arise.
4. Use 24/7 phone support, as it can increase trust in the store.

6. Reduce shipping time

What if people don't receive their orders on time? They have some options. They can cancel the order, request a credit card refund, or leave a negative review for the e-commerce store. In e-commerce, shipping time plays a significant role in a store's rating. You must ensure that orders are dispatched quickly. You can reduce the number of delayed deliveries by:

1. Offering free shipping. Your customers should have the option to choose the type of shipping they want. If they want faster shipping, they should pay more for it. Otherwise, they can always choose the free shipping option.
2. UseThird-party logistics (3PL)handles the logistics and delivery operations of the store.

The above is the shared content.How to Increase Sales Orders for Independent E-commerce WebsitesFor related content, if you want to build a website yourself, you can refer to the relevant tutorials on the Naibabiji website.

• Steps_Considerations_Precautions_Building Methods for English Foreign Trade Websites
• Basic steps to build a website yourself