Successful Blog

4 Ways to Increase Average Order Value of The Shopping Cart

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Colin MacDougal

With algorithmic changes across the search engines becoming nearly a weekly occurrence, it’s been a perpetual hell for businesses this past year, especially when it comes to getting targeted customers to buy from them. When you’ve lost your organically grown traffic resources due to faulty content or linking incidents, the creative side of increasing the average order value needs to come out to play, and level the losses which occurred because of Pandas or Penguins scolding your content. Here we’ve taken into account that normal traffic flows have slowed, whacking part of your organic sales, and have provided you with some creative ways to increase the net profit without increasing the COGS (cost of goods sold). By working on ways to increase order values, you’ll improve overall sales once your organic placement has been successfully arbitrated by Google upon completion of content overhauling or other improvements, which previously prohibited natural sales without upselling.

Ship ‘Em Free

On the surface, one may believe that offering free shipping would decrease overall profit margins; you’d be happy to know it’s actually the opposite. Temporal sales can increase to epic proportions if you offer free shipping codes across your sales pages, social media drives and search engine marketing ads. Consumers have been known to ditch $1,100 shopping carts simply because the cost to ship goods floored them. With ingenuity and logical pricing, you can leverage free shipping offers in numerous ways, including:

  • Time-sensitive offers: Historically works well with seasonal shopping items which you wish to unload. Offer free shipping on certain items you wish to clear out of your warehouse to make room for the next shipment or season.
  • Flat rates: Provided your customer meets a certain purchase threshold, offer flat-rate shipping costs which are slightly less than you’d normally charge. This increases shopping cart sizes and allows you to eat shipping costs you’ll never miss.
  • Free shipping IF: One of the greatest, and easiest, shipping methods to increase AOV is forcing the overall dollar amount spent to rise where you want it, in which then you’ll slap free shipp.ing on those items. Works well with small items which can be slammed into one flat-rate box via USPS
  • Eligible products ship free: Here you can concentrate your sales pushes on higher margin items by offering free shipping if “x, y or z” is purchased. You can do the same with items which go well together (free shipping on coffee and coffee pots, etc.).

The costs of shipping goods become arbitrary when you push the overall consumer spend to more comfortable thresholds, allowing the profit margin to exceed shipping rates.

Up-And-Cross Selling

Ever shopped for some service or product and seen that to get what you really want, the next package higher needs to be purchased? Sure, it may cost $10 extra, but the value merited the increase expenditure. The keys to making an upselling or cross selling campaign happen effectively is clearly identifying items which can be placed in higher categories along with accessories to inflate the worth to your customers. Once clarity is witnessed in what each customer will receive, through a warranty, extra customer support, or free music downloads, the upgraded purchase is normally made. Inhibitors to sales that aren’t made are directly related to the lack of value in the next package or product above the one that is desired. Purchases that increase self-efficacy through larger purchases are also historically effective, especially when customer support is adequate enough. There are definitely some don’ts that come with suggestive upgrading, which include:

  • Suggesting products outside of customer’s chosen parameters;
  • Black boxing items which would have little companion use with products in shopping cart;
  • Offering extended warranties from outside companies which, inevitably, mean the customer must spend more money elsewhere.

The goal of product co-suggestion and upselling is to provide increases in value and tangible receivables; if companies suggest unrelated or non-plausible items, the customer will more than likely ditch the cart and move onto the next vendor or service provider.

Find Strength In Volume Priced Items

Another highly effective AOV tool at your disposal is offering volume priced items in groups that appeal to customers based on historical visitor interests. This is generally accomplished by offering two similar items, grouped together, and tossing in the third one for free, or something similar in nature. You’ll still profit from all items, regardless of how you accomplish the volume pricing model. Other useful ideas to propagate sales though volume pricing include:

  • Kitting: This simply means putting several items together which increases value and can be sold with slight discounts; when broken apart, the customer can see they are getting value.
  • Bundling: This usually takes a kit and throws in accessories to increase the usefulness of the kit. This could be extra clasps for necklaces, creamer packets with coffee, etc.

Volume priced items can still proffer excellent AOV during times when organic search traffic has severely halted natural sales.

Offering Free Gifts

This, by far, is the best way to introduce up and coming product or service innovations: give sneak peeks or free goodie bags when “x” amount of dollars are spent. You accomplish several key business ideologies simultaneously: first, you are selling and profiting off regular items and second, you are offering your new product lines a showcasing before new customer eyes, which can bring them back for more purchases, or even bring new buyers to your storefront. You can also give away free eBooks with site subscriptions, giftcards with larger purchases and more; the possibilities are nearly endless when you seek innovative free gift giveaways as the means necessary to increase AOV. The free gifts could have been ‘throw-away’ items that sales representatives left for you to sample; they may even be eBooks you’ve been dying to give away.

Multichannel Lead Capturing

Now that you have multitudes of ideas to begin your quest for AOV leveraging, you need to harness the power of social suggestion to push these offers along. You can accomplish this through Wildfire contest application integration, Tweets, Facebook fan page pushes or anything you feel would spread the word about your freebies, gifts or shipping values. Once it becomes viral—if the deal is excellent, it will—social media will naturally circumvent your offer and increase your AOV immeasurably.

Test Them All First

Since so many different methods work for different brands and business models, you may find it easier to test various AOV methods on smaller scales before throwing down the gauntlet in an all-out media frenzy. Test which offers seem to work better than others, especially during periods when you are relying on anti-search traffic to appear on your website. You aren’t losing any more or less revenue by testing various offers since organic traffic has slowed down. While you are waiting for solvency of these issues, take the time to put up some great deals that would attract a social following. Once several dozen people have purchased items and left testimonials, they’ll naturally share that purchase with others and grow your AOV without the assistance of search engine optimization. Heck, you may be able to slow your aggressive SEM efforts if your deals are consistent, worthwhile and value-packed.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Author’s Bio:
Colin MacDougal works with www.HostPapa.com company serving over 100,000 customers around the world. Since launching in 2006, HostPapa has offered reliable, budget-friendly, easy-to-use web solutions for small to medium-sized businesses. You can find HostPapa at http://www.facebook.com/hostpapa

Thank you for adding to the conversation!

Thanks to Week 367 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

Purple SOB Button Original SOB Button Red SOB Button Purple and Blue SOB Button
and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Designing Your Office for Increased Productivity

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Alex Summers

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Designing Your Office for Increased Productivity

Office design affects employee morale and productivity. Unfortunately, much of the time not enough thought goes into planning an office. Someone sets up a few cubicles and desks, along with some office equipment, and employees are given some little area to call their workstation. It is functional and little more. Companies that really want to boost productivity, however, should know that making certain additions to an office could make a big difference.

Open the Space

Workers packed in tight, cramped areas may feel stressed and easily distracted, just as one would if living in a small home with too many people. Considering how many hours most people spend at a job, the office really is a home away from home. Plan your office space with this in mind. An open floor plan, with greater space between desks or cubicles, allows employees more breathing room and invites calm and focus.

Remove clutter and unnecessary equipment, which may detract from the beauty of the office. Place copiers and similar machinery in their own area, close enough to easily get to but not so close that the machine sounds will be distracting.

Office Furniture

The best office furniture is both comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. Luxurious executive furniture subtly creates a sense of prestige. This facilitates an employee’s appreciation and respect for their job, which leads to better attitude and productivity. Purchase beautiful leather office chairs for your office, as well as high quality, attractive desks. Add a beautiful hardwood table for meetings. The furniture may cost extra, but the increase in employee morale will eventually offset that extra cost.

Plants

The air in most building contains traces of pollutants, caused by the off gassing of chemicals used in building materials, carpeting and furniture. Plants help purify the air, creating a healthier environment for employees. Plants also have a calming effect on most people and can make the office feel more like a home and less like an institution. The relaxed focus simple additions like plants can bring naturally leads to happier employees, fewer errors, and increased productivity.

Natural Lighting

Evidence suggests that natural lighting increases focus, mood and productivity. The body responds to natural lighting with increased alertness and feelings of well being. Replace traditional lights with full-spectrum lights.

If your office has windows, avoid covering them. If you must use curtains, use only thin ones so that you still allow some natural sunlight into the room.

Internet and Office Equipment

Slow internet speeds waste company time and may lower productivity. Find ways to boost internet speed for the whole office. In addition, all office equipment should be kept well functioning to avoid breakdowns and delays. Replace old copiers, computers and other equipment with new machines that function quickly and efficiently.

Ergonomic keyboards and mouse pads aid proper wrist alignment and may reduce instances of carpal tunnel. An uncomfortable employee is generally not as productive an employee. By taking measures to increase the emotional and physical well being of employees, office work will be done more quickly and effectively.

Author’s Bio:
Alex is a blogger, freelance writer and recent college graduate. She currently performs market research for an online marketing firm when she is not contributing her own thoughts and observations to the online community.

Follow Through is Everything

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Rosemary O’Neill

Follow-Through is Everything

There are two kinds of people in the world. People who are good at following through, and people who are frustrated, wondering why their plans never work out. If you can master the follow-through, you have already put yourself ten steps ahead of everyone else.

Consistent Practice

When I was first learning to golf, one of the hardest things was learning to move the club “through” the ball and take a complete swing. A lot of dirt was flung before I got the idea. And the muscle memory is part of the art.

The more you practice following through, the easier it gets.

Action Items to Practice Following Through

  • After conferences and events, record all of the contacts you made, and for each one, find a way to reinforce the connection within one week after the event. Ideally, you can find one small action you can do that will help move your contact’s project along.
  • When you say you’re going to do something, do it. Make this an ironclad, “prime directive.”
  • Create a tickler file with reminders. Use the technology at hand to give yourself automatic reminders. With “reminders” now built in on Mac OS, and thousands of Android apps, you almost have no excuse.
  • Maintain contact information. Whether you prefer a stack of paper business cards or you pull them in with CardMunch, keep your contact information up-to-date and include notes about where you met the person.
  • Close the loop. We already discussed having your “ask” ready in case an opportunity arises. Get practiced at making that next phone call or sending that next email that will seal the deal. Don’t just leave it out there hanging, and don’t be the one waiting for your contact to call you back. Go get it.
  • Return your phone calls and emails. A good practice is to save some period of time (maybe at the end of the day) when you clear out the messages. Just delete the ones that are unsolicited and not of interest to you—they’re just mental clutter.
  • Don’t take on projects you don’t intend to finish. Practice saying “no” as well! It’s easier to follow through when you are focused on commitments that align with your goals.

How do you build your “follow-through” muscle? Do you use any tricks to support your practice?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

Is Your Small Business Dialed Into T1 Lines?

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As technology continues to evolve, the small businessman or woman should know how to most effectively run their business with the right technological products and services in place.

The simple truth is that a number of programs and processes can not only make things easier for the person who owns a business, but it can also help increase their revenue stream if implemented properly.

One such option is a T1 line, something that has been around for more than two decades, yet still remains a mystery to some business owners.

In the simplest terms, T1 lines (T is an abbreviation for trunk, 1 stands for a particular level within the trunk) offer reliable bandwith when it comes to accessing the Internet, using multiple telephone lines, or data communications. Unlike high-speed cable, T1 lines are focused business Internet connections that are not shared by a number of companies.

For the business owner who runs an operation where multiple lines of communication are needed such as a customer service center, T1 lines (offering 24/7/365 service) can be very beneficial to performing a multitude of operations. They help the company dealing with large call volumes, proving less expensive and more efficient than those that have regular old phone service in place. Given the fact that numerous services can be mixed together on a single T1 line, business owners can actually end up saving money over time.

When shopping for a T1 line for one’s small business, take note that an integrated T1 line is one of the top selling T1 solutions, due primarily to the fact that it offers local phone service, long distance, and bandwith all on a lone connection and one bill. Business owners also have the option of bonded T1 lines, consisting of up to four 1.5 Mbps T1 circuits that in reality act as a lone circuit, providing speeds up to 12 Mpbs.

As you shop for a T1 line, consider:

1. Location – This is the major factor as to what you pay for a T1 or greater bandwidth line. The further distance your operation is from the carrier, the more you pay. Places further away from sizable metropolitan areas oftentimes pay more;

2. Hardware – Look at the expense for hardware that includes routers, PBX boxes, switches, and any installation fees among other items

3. Contract – The terms (length) of the contract can have a big impact on what you will end up paying.  Typically, it will cost more on a per month basis for a one-year contract than you would for say a three-year deal;

While newer technologies have hit the market over the years, decreases in price for T1 lines, along with the reliability of such circuits, has permitted the volume of T1 lines in use nationwide to keep growing at a solid rate.

For those small business owners who need the Internet, telecommunications and data connectivity now and going forward, T1 lines are definitely something to dial into.

Photo credit: ehow.com

With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of small business topics.

Improve Integration & Communication in Your SMB with Document Management

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Samantha McCollough

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Improve Integration & Communication in Your SMB with Document Management

According to a research report by Solgenia, the amount of unstructured data and the volume of documents is growing more than 30% per year within small and medium-sized businesses. So it is not surprising that over 60% of SMB’s have adopted document management of some kind. Unfortunately, these companies are often missing greater opportunities for integration and communication that this technology provides.

This research should be a wake-up call for small business owners who think document management software is only for larger corporations. Rowe stated that big statistics make a good impression, but there’s no telling the size of each digital document project. Many companies may have great document management programs but are not properly trained on it or perhaps haven’t integrated it well enough.

“Almost one-quarter of the companies in the SMB category are researching new document management technologies,” Rowe said. “Major consideration is being given to collaboration tools and automation. Collaboration is important because of the traditional silos of information that make sharing difficult. It prevents information accessibility to various departments that own a portion of the business process. It can take a long time to gain access to some of those silos.”

Document management can-and should-be more than just a document repository. But too often SMB’s lack the knowledge or skills to take full use of the software. Many companies are not fully aware of the hidden benefits such a system can provide. A common problem is a lack of tight integration with other systems, so collaboration, communication and workflow all suffer.

The key to improving integration and communication is to properly define your processes before implementation, connect the workflow across the organization and separate systems and choose a solution that will be powerful enough to achieve this but simple and flexible enough to be managed. Training is also key, if employees aren’t utilizing the system or are finding ways around it, then the company will not realize the benefits associated with the system.

Author’s Bio:
Samantha McCollough write about business and technology at http://www.idatix.com. You can find her on twitter @smccollo.