Becky J. Anderson

You got great products.  You've taken photos and completed great product descriptions for your online store.  You've launched your website to the world and you're waiting for all those sales to come flooding in....right?

News flash...sales don't come flooding in.  The average conversion rate for eCommerce shops is between 1-3% of traffic.  It takes work!

Here are a few ways tips to increase your sales online.

1.  Increase Online Sales By Offering Multiple Payment Options

Okay, so your business takes credit cards.  What about PayPal?  Apple Pay? Google Wallet?

Our customers have so many choices these days we need to make paying with us as easy as possible.  By offering more payment options including the newer, popular mobile options you're making it easier for prospects to give you their money. 

2.  Increase Online Sales By Reducing Shopping Cart Abandonment

More than 70% of eCommerce shopping carts are abandoned by shoppers before they...

What is a wholesale trade show? 

A wholesale trade show is a temporary marketplace that's anywhere from two to five days in length.  It's a place where retail buyers and sellers come together.

Most trade shows are at convention centers in large cities, and the attendees (the non-exhibitors) are limited to members-of-the-trade or legitimate buyers. The show management works to protect the exhibitors from competitors who are not potential buyers.

Wholesale trade shows are not for amateurs.

Trade shows are expensive to do, but they are worth it if you're ready. 

What do you need to do to get ready to exhibit at a trade show?

You need to have a product line large enough that it makes a statement so that the retailers want to buy from you. You also need packaging that looks professional and could be displayed in a retail environment. 

Your marketing needs to be completely different than craft fairs and retail shows. 

You need to set your booth and displays to cater to...

Have you done promotions for your products?  If not, you need to try doing one.

Today, we're talking about promotions for your online store. This is a question I get asked over and over again. What is a promotion? Why do I have to do them? What are some ideas for promotions? 

What is a promotion? 

Product + Offer + Scarcity = Promotion.  That's what it is. Today, I'm going to give you five ideas for promotions that you can do in your eCommerce store or your online store.

1.  Percentage Discounts

Now, if brick and mortar storefronts have taught us anything, it's that everyone loves to buy things that are on sale. 

Formatting your product pages to have a sale price can increase your conversions. Consider showing two prices for any given product. You can display the retail price, or you can show the sale price. 

You can experiment with the terminology in your shopping cart, such as suggested retail pricing, or MSRP, (manufacturer suggested retail pricing.)...

Today I want to talk to you about mistakes that I see product-based business owners make over and over again. 

I've compiled a list of some of the top mistakes that I see.   I wanted to share them with you, so hopefully, you won't make any of these mistakes, and if you are making them, you can fix them. 

First mistake - Not pricing products so that you have enough gross margin in your product

So what do I mean by gross margin? 

It’s all about pricing your products correctly.  I like to start with my product and figure out what is the perceived retail value of this product. I take retail price and divide that by two, and that would be your wholesale cost/price. Then you divide wholesale by three, and the cost of goods for your product shouldn’t be more than that.  

Sample- Retail Cost is $10,  divide by 2 = $5 which is your wholesale cost, now divide the wholesale cost by 3 = 1.66 your cost of goods shouldn't be any higher than 1.66 or...

Do you sell your products on Etsy, Amazon, or eBay? Maybe even Zazzle, Redbubble, or Society6? Well, today we're talking all about why you need a website, and if you're serious about your product based business, you're going to want one. Today I am sharing with you eleven reasons why you need a website.

People take you seriously if you have a website.
 
It means you're a real business with a real brand. You can have your own storefront, people can go directly to your business name, and they can find out all about you in one place, as well as your products,  are right there and easy to buy.
 
You're building your brand, not someone else's. 
 
When you're selling on Amazon or Etsy or another platform, all the traffic and all the business that you're giving them, you're building their brand, not your brand. It's essential that you're making your brand for longevity and health of your business.
 
You keep control of your business, and you can't get shut down. ...

Pantone has announced that UltraViolet will be the color of the year 2018.

Whatever you think of this color, get ready for a deluge of purple items from home decor to fashion and more.

The color wasn’t chosen because it’s regal, though it resembles a majestic shade. It was chosen to evoke a counterculture flair, a grab for originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking, Pantone Vice President Laurie Pressman told The Associated Press ahead of the announcement.

“We are living in complex times,” she said. “We’re seeing the fear of going forward and how people are reacting to that fear.”

Citing musical icons Prince, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix, Pantone noted that a deep purple like UltraViolet has “long been symbolic of a counterculture, unconventionality, and artistic brilliance.”

The shade also makes you think of  “the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are...