Wishlists are not just for ecommerce giants such as Amazon. They offer a variety of benefits to both customers and business owners, making them a win-win feature that every online retailer should incorporate into their web store.
Here are 4 ways that wishlists can boost your website sales.
Grow Word of Mouth
Regardless of what online marketing trends are popular at any given time, word of mouth will always be the one of the most effective.
By making wishlists shareable you create an easy way for your customers to recommend specific products.
This can take the form of either a direct request, for example as a wedding registry or new baby gift list, or as a round up of their top picks, such as their Must-Watch Movies of 2016 or Best Kitchen Gadgets.
Ideally, allow customers to create multiple wishlists and make sure that they can be set to Private or Shared.
Build in social media sharing options to let people easily share their favorite products with their friends and family.
Track What Your Customers Want
Knowing what your customers want is not necessarily the same thing as knowing what products are best sellers. Some products may be viewed as luxury items, and so people don't allow themselves to buy them without additional thought. Price can also be a factor in limiting the number of sales of a product.
Wishlists remove these social, psychological and financial factors, essentially allowing your customers to window shop without restriction. Analyzing the contents of all wishlists on your ecommerce site can give you insight into the products that most your customers find most appealing.
This information can be used to adjust pricing or stock levels, create promotions or look for similar products that complement the type of things that your customers are showing an interest in.
Act on Buying Signals
Consumers are flooded with marketing messages every day. Their inbox quickly fills with unread emails, and banner blindness causes them to ignore most ads they see on their social feeds. Personalized marketing is a strong weapon to use in this fight to recapture your website visitors' attention.
Wishlists offer invaluable information about a potential customer's product interests that let you create highly tailored, personal marketing messages.
As Doug Berg, CEO of TrackIf puts it: "Using personalized e-mail alerts makes shoppers feel in control because they get alerts for the items they really want."
Depending on the sophistication of your online marketing program, these personalized sales prompts can be delivered via retargeting ads, social media campaigns, emails or recommended product banners.
Play the Long Game
The average number of touch points in a sales cycle is increasing. Savvy consumers often research a purchase and compare multiple retailers before buying a product. Wishlists provide a way for you to capture the contact details of people who might otherwise be an anonymous "abandoned cart" and offer carefully crafted follow up messages designed to secure a sale.
Some examples of the different types of follow up marketing include:
Rethink the importance and value of wishlists, and consider adding them to your ecommerce site to boost your website sales.
Read more advice and information at the Magicdust website. We are a Sydney web design company specialising in online marketing solutions for small business.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Here are 4 ways that wishlists can boost your website sales.
Grow Word of Mouth
Regardless of what online marketing trends are popular at any given time, word of mouth will always be the one of the most effective.
By making wishlists shareable you create an easy way for your customers to recommend specific products.
This can take the form of either a direct request, for example as a wedding registry or new baby gift list, or as a round up of their top picks, such as their Must-Watch Movies of 2016 or Best Kitchen Gadgets.
Ideally, allow customers to create multiple wishlists and make sure that they can be set to Private or Shared.
Build in social media sharing options to let people easily share their favorite products with their friends and family.
Track What Your Customers Want
Knowing what your customers want is not necessarily the same thing as knowing what products are best sellers. Some products may be viewed as luxury items, and so people don't allow themselves to buy them without additional thought. Price can also be a factor in limiting the number of sales of a product.
Wishlists remove these social, psychological and financial factors, essentially allowing your customers to window shop without restriction. Analyzing the contents of all wishlists on your ecommerce site can give you insight into the products that most your customers find most appealing.
This information can be used to adjust pricing or stock levels, create promotions or look for similar products that complement the type of things that your customers are showing an interest in.
Act on Buying Signals
Consumers are flooded with marketing messages every day. Their inbox quickly fills with unread emails, and banner blindness causes them to ignore most ads they see on their social feeds. Personalized marketing is a strong weapon to use in this fight to recapture your website visitors' attention.
Wishlists offer invaluable information about a potential customer's product interests that let you create highly tailored, personal marketing messages.
As Doug Berg, CEO of TrackIf puts it: "Using personalized e-mail alerts makes shoppers feel in control because they get alerts for the items they really want."
Depending on the sophistication of your online marketing program, these personalized sales prompts can be delivered via retargeting ads, social media campaigns, emails or recommended product banners.
Play the Long Game
The average number of touch points in a sales cycle is increasing. Savvy consumers often research a purchase and compare multiple retailers before buying a product. Wishlists provide a way for you to capture the contact details of people who might otherwise be an anonymous "abandoned cart" and offer carefully crafted follow up messages designed to secure a sale.
Some examples of the different types of follow up marketing include:
- Reminder emails. (Don't forget about Product X that you added to your wishlist on [date])
- "Price drop" notifications. (We thought you'd like to know that this product is now20 cheaper!)
- Low stock warnings. (Going, going, gone. Don't miss out. Buy now!)
- Promotional discounts. (Can we tempt you to buy? Enjoy free shipping and 10% off if you buy in the next 24 hours.)
- Featured reviews of products. (See what other customers love about their Product X.)
Rethink the importance and value of wishlists, and consider adding them to your ecommerce site to boost your website sales.
Read more advice and information at the Magicdust website. We are a Sydney web design company specialising in online marketing solutions for small business.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
