How to Increase Your E-commerce Sales
15 proven strategies to increase online store sales: conversion optimization, traffic, email marketing, and retention. Practical guide with concrete actions.
🚨 What should I do if my metrics are bad?
Prioritize in this order (not the reverse):
1️⃣ Reduce No-Shows
Improve fulfillment, post-purchase communication, and delivery experience.
2️⃣ Improve Retention
Implement email marketing, recover abandoned carts, and create a loyalty program.
3️⃣ Bring In More New Customers
Only now invest in paid traffic (Google Ads, Meta Ads).
⚠️ Most SMBs make the mistake of only seeking more traffic without fixing the current experience. It's like filling a bucket with holes.
Let's be honest: Having a beautiful online store is useless if it doesn't sell. This guide gives you 15 concrete strategies, prioritized by real impact, to increase your sales.
🎯 Category 1: Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
If you already have traffic but aren't selling, the problem is here.
Simplify Your Checkout
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: LOW
70% of carts are abandoned at checkout. Every extra field you add reduces conversion.
✅ What to do:
- • Reduce form fields (only the essentials)
- • Offer guest checkout (no mandatory account creation)
- • Show shipping costs BEFORE checkout
- • Add multiple payment methods (card, Webpay, Mercado Pago)
- • Show trust badges (SSL, returns, guarantee)
Improve Product Photos
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: MEDIUM
People buy with their eyes. Bad photos = bad sales.
✅ What to do:
- • Minimum 4-6 photos per product (different angles)
- • Include a scale photo (product in use or with size reference)
- • Clean white background (or lifestyle depending on your niche)
- • Add a short video (15-30 sec) showing the product
- • High-resolution zoom for detail viewing
Add Urgency and Scarcity
Impact: MEDIUM | Difficulty: LOW
People procrastinate if there's no reason to buy now. Create real urgency.
✅ What to do:
- • "Only X units left" (if it's real)
- • Countdown timer for offers (e.g.: "Offer ends in 2:34:12")
- • "X people are viewing this product right now"
- • Free shipping for a limited time
⚠️ NEVER lie. Fake urgency destroys trust.
Implement Reviews and Testimonials
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: MEDIUM
Social proof increases conversion by up to 270%. People trust other customers, not you.
✅ What to do:
- • Automatically request reviews 7 days after purchase (email)
- • Incentivize with a small discount (5-10%) for next purchase
- • Show reviews with photos (more credible)
- • Include negative reviews (yes, really! Increases credibility)
- • Use apps: Loox, Stamped, Judge.me (Shopify) or WP Review (WooCommerce)
Optimize Loading Speed
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: MEDIUM
Every extra second of loading reduces conversion by 7%. If your store takes >3 seconds, you're losing sales.
✅ What to do:
- • Compress images (use TinyPNG or Squoosh)
- • Remove apps/plugins you don't use
- • Use lazy loading for images
- • Switch to faster hosting (WooCommerce)
- • Test: use Google PageSpeed Insights
📈 Category 2: Increase Qualified Traffic
If you already convert well (>2%) but need more visitors.
Google Shopping Ads
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: MEDIUM | Cost: Variable
The most direct way to get traffic with purchase intent. Your products appear on Google with photo and price.
✅ How to start:
- • Set up Google Merchant Center
- • Create an optimized product feed
- • Launch Shopping campaign with $15,000-$25,000 CLP/day budget
- • Optimize: pause products without sales, scale profitable ones
💡 Typical ROI: 3:1 to 5:1 after 60 days of optimization.
Facebook/Instagram Ads
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: MEDIUM | Cost: Variable
Perfect for visual or impulse products. People aren't actively searching, but you can capture their attention.
✅ How to start:
- • Start with catalog campaigns (retargeting visitors)
- • Then, prospecting with Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns
- • Creatives: short videos (15-30 sec) work better than static images
- • Minimum budget: $5 USD/day per ad set
SEO for E-commerce
Impact: HIGH (long term) | Difficulty: HIGH | Cost: $0
Free, high-intent traffic. Takes 3-6 months but is the most profitable channel long-term.
✅ What to do:
- • Optimize product titles with keywords (e.g.: "Women's Nike Running Shoes")
- • Write unique descriptions (don't copy from the manufacturer)
- • Create blog with buying guides (e.g.: "Best running shoes 2025")
- • Optimize images with descriptive alt text
- • Get backlinks: blog reviews, press mentions
🔁 Category 3: Retention and LTV
Selling twice to the same customer is 5x cheaper than acquiring a new one.
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: LOW
You recover 15-25% of abandoned carts automatically. It's money left on the table if you don't do it.
✅ What to do:
- • Set up automated flow: 1h, 24h, 48h after abandonment
- • Email 1: Simple reminder
- • Email 2: Benefits/guarantees
- • Email 3: 5-10% discount (only if necessary)
- • Tools: Omnisend, Klaviyo, Shopify Email
Post-Purchase Email Marketing
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: MEDIUM
Your customer already trusted you once. It's the perfect moment to sell to them again.
✅ Essential flows:
- • Post-purchase welcome (thanks + what to expect)
- • Cross-sell/upsell (complementary products)
- • Review request (7 days after delivery)
- • Repurchase (30-60 days later if consumable product)
- • Reactivation (90 days without purchase)
Loyalty Program
Impact: MEDIUM | Difficulty: LOW
Loyal customers buy 3x more than new ones. Give them reasons to come back.
✅ What to do:
- • Points system: 1 point = $1 CLP spent
- • 100 points = $10 CLP discount
- • Bonus: points for birthday, referring friends, social media follows
- • Apps: Smile.io, LoyaltyLion, Yotpo Loyalty
💵 Category 4: Increase Average Order Value (AOV)
More profitable than getting more customers: getting each customer to buy more.
Free Shipping with Minimum Purchase
Impact: HIGH | Difficulty: LOW
People hate paying for shipping. Use it as an incentive to buy more.
✅ What to do:
- • Calculate your current AOV
- • Offer free shipping at AOV x 1.3 (e.g.: if AOV = $30,000, free shipping over $40,000)
- • Show progress bar: "You're $8,000 away from free shipping"
- • Add a visible banner across the entire store
Bundles and Kits
Impact: MEDIUM | Difficulty: LOW
Selling products together increases the ticket and simplifies the customer's decision.
✅ Examples:
- • "Complete Skincare Kit" (cleanser + toner + cream) with 15% discount
- • "Complete Outfit" (t-shirt + pants + sneakers)
- • "Family Pack" (product x4 units with discount)
- • Apps: Bundle Builder, Bold Bundles (Shopify)
Checkout Upsells
Impact: MEDIUM | Difficulty: MEDIUM
The customer already decided to buy. It's the perfect moment to offer a small add-on.
✅ What works:
- • Low-price complementary product (max 30% of cart)
- • "Want to add X for just $5,000 more?"
- • Extended warranty, gift wrap, express shipping
- • Apps: CartHook, Zipify OCU (Shopify), WooCommerce Checkout Add-ons
⚠️ Don't be aggressive. A bad upsell ruins the experience.
Volume Discounts
Impact: MEDIUM | Difficulty: LOW
Incentivize buying more units with progressive discounts.
✅ Example:
- • Buy 1: $15,000
- • Buy 2: $13,500 each (10% off)
- • Buy 3+: $12,000 each (20% off)
Works especially well for consumable products.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do if my metrics are bad?
Prioritize in this order: 1) Reduce no-shows (improve fulfillment), 2) Improve retention (email marketing, loyalty), 3) Bring in more new customers (paid traffic). Most people only seek more traffic without fixing the current experience.
What is the most important metric?
Depends on your stage: If you just launched: Conversion rate. If you already sell: LTV (Lifetime Value). If you have volume: CAC vs LTV. The real #1 metric: net margin after marketing costs.
How do I know if I have a traffic or conversion problem?
Divide visitors / sales = conversion rate. If it's <1%: conversion problem (bad page). If it's >2%: traffic problem (need more visitors). Benchmark: 1-3% normal, 3-5% good, >5% excellent.
Need help implementing these strategies?
We help you with CRO, Google Ads, Meta Ads, Email Marketing, and complete optimization of your e-commerce.