An eco-friendly dog treats business owner experiences strong in-person sales at Christmas markets but struggles to convert these customers into online shoppers.
Attempted strategies that haven’t gained traction:
The owner is seeking advice on effective methods to bridge the gap between successful face-to-face interactions and building a sustainable online customer base. The question remains open, awaiting community input on conversion strategies that work for similar small businesses transitioning seasonal market shoppers to year-round digital customers.
I have a small eco friendly dog treats biz and do really well at in person sales at Christmas markets but struggle to get these customers to shop online with me. I’ve tried email sign up competitions, referral schemes, qr codes, first shop discounts but nothing is gaining traction… can you help?
Thanks, Helen
Good question.
First, it’s important to put website traffic and conversion rate into perspective. Typically, optimized Shopify stores convert only 1% to 3% of visitors, so you need high traffic volume to see results. Depending on how many people you’re speaking to at markets, you might not be driving enough volume to get useful data about your conversion rate.
A 3% conversion rate would be an absolute best case scenario, putting you in the top percentile of Shopify stores. Consider what that means in terms of conversion. If you want to make 3 sales online, your site needs 100 visitors. If say 10% of the people you meet at a market actually visit your website, that means you need to talk to 1000 people to get 100 visitors to get 3 sales. That will feel like you’re struggling to make online sales but is reflective of a strong conversion rate.
If you’re getting high traffic volume, we’d next look to optimize your conversion rate. Some common steps are to reduce the clicks required to purchase; send QR codes/discounts directly to the product page, not the homepage, and eliminate roadblocks like high or poorly explained shipping rates and ensure your checkout works in all target locations.
Since your product is tied to seasonal impulse buying, you must actively prime the customer in person to think about the long-term relationship, like signing up for emails about future holiday-themed treats.
For our full response, check out the stream recording on YouTube. We start answering your question around 6:16.