It's oh so quiet... help!

[BrightIdeas]

How's everyone getting on at the moment? I launched my ecommerce site at the start of April and, every week, I seemed to be seeing increased sales- which peaked 2 weeks ago. But, since then, it seems to have all gone quiet.

Lower traffic levels + lower conversion rates = low sales.

I'm crossing my fingers it's just a quiet spell because of the bank hols/sunny weather, etc. and, in the meantime, am focusing on more promotion to drive traffic to site. But, I have to admit that I am concerned.

BTW, the website sells bridal accessories and jewellery, so now really should be peak season, I would think.

 

[Mediasofa]

do you have a link to the site?
do you have google analytics set up?... if you do, this would give you a good idea on what is happening...
How is your seo ?

many questions, many different reasons it could be..

 

[BrightIdeas]

do you have a link to the site?
do you have google analytics set up?... if you do, this would give you a good idea on what is happening...
How is your seo ?

many questions, many different reasons it could be..

Yes, Analytics is set up - with goals etc. set up fine. This is what I'm basing my info on conversions on. SEO is ongoing at the moment - organic search volume is increasing week on week, which is good. But, there is less referral traffic as the 'launch' news which was published on various sites is no longer being seen (as this is no longer fresh content). Doing Adwords too. And other things too (e.g. social media, competitons and promotions, offline PR, etc.)

I would rather not publish my link - might sound a bit cagey but I don't really want competitors to know any info really. (already had issues with a competitor copying my site - *sigh*).

I guess my question was a bit more general... I wanted to know if others are quieter due to the bank hols/sun. This does depend, I know, on what you're selling and who you're selling it to...But, would be interested to know.

 

[tony84]

It has been bank holiday weekend (last week) people tend to use this as a time to take holidays, especially when its around school holiday time as it means for a week off they only take 4 days hols instead of 5.

Give it another week and hopefully you should see it going back in the right direction again. If not then maybe run something to get your existing clients back to tie you over.

 

[BrightIdeas]

It has been bank holiday weekend (last week) people tend to use this as a time to take holidays, especially when its around school holiday time as it means for a week off they only take 4 days hols instead of 5.

Give it another week and hopefully you should see it going back in the right direction again. If not then maybe run something to get your existing clients back to tie you over.

Thanks, I think I will need to be perhaps a little more patient and see what the next couple of weeks/months bring. As a new start business, I'm very sensitive to any changes in traffic/sales patterns. I've had a few days of 0 sales this week - which has felt disapointing as I've had to deal with more returns this week.

I know it's early days (this is month 3 of trading), so prob just need to keep pushing.

 

[deniser]

It's always much quieter:
1. when the sun is shining
2. at half term
3. on bank holidays
And as we've had a combination of all three recently, sales should be at rock bottom.
Kids are back to school this week so you should see things improve when the weather worsens.

 

[Piqueperfumes]

Agree - the weather has really not helped online sales for us - but its raining today (in Cornwall anyway) so hopefully things will brighten up

 

[BrightIdeas]

Speaking with one of my suppliers today, they said it was like tumble-weed last week for them. I thought that might have been the case as they were sending out promotions that just landed out of the blue.

Today's been far busier with plenty of enquiries. So, that's a positive sign, at least.

All being well, we should see an upward trend in orders this week.

In the meantime, it's probably a good time to look at other SEO opportunities.

 

[The Wedding Inbox]

I agree with the others once the kids go back to school....hopefully your site will be busy, sales will increase and you will have a thriving business!

Best of Luck!

 

[principleweb]

Hi Bright Ideas

Congratulations on your launch and early success.

My experience, both with my own businesses and customers', is that there's often an early spurt as initial interest comes in, then things can fade away after the first quarter or so. The trick is keeping the momentum going.

If you're selling bridal-based products then you're unlikely to get repeat business, unlike you would with consumables, for example, as people don't usually get married to many times, and not close together.

So you need to think of ways to:
1. Constantly generate more leads for your business,
2. Leverage existing / previous customers to drive new business,
3. Generate the maximum sales potential from the customers you do reach.

Some ideas, but not exhaustive, for each of those points:
1. More leads - advertising, marketing, SEO, Pay Per Click. Remember SEO isn't a one off, it's an ongoing activity. 'Build it and they will come' doesn't work.
Link up with other businesses in complementary area: e.g. photographers, wedding venues, florists, cake companies. Offer incentives to their customers, and cross-promote their business to your customers so it's mutually beneficial and you don't need to pay them for it.

2. Leverage customers - incentives to recommend you to friends, incentives to bring others along with them to buy in bulk e.g. bride brings bridesmaids, incentives for bride & groom to buy gifts for bridesmaids, best man, etc. from you when they also buy bridal accessories. e.g. you could offer 15% off gifts for bridesmaids, best man etc. when bought with accessories.

3. Widen range of products, as in example for 2. You need to be careful with this not to lose your focus, as your niche is partly what attracts customers. However, selected complementary products and/or services that add more value to your proposition can be a winner.

Let me know if you need any help. Whilst websites are our starting point, we do a lot more than to help customers like this.

Andy

 

[Shopping365Group]

To be honest your doing well to have got any sales in your first few months, well done. Google can often place a new site high up in the search results for a short time before dropping it to it's natural position, which is often much further down so this could be the reason, i don't know. It's easy to say but i would just keep going as you have proven that when you do get vsitors you can convert them into sales, which is the most important thing. I hope things pick up for you soon anyway.

 

[BrightIdeas]

The last few days have picked up somewhat - with yesterday being a pretty solid day, which was very welcome news.

Principleweb - thanks for your suggestions. Most of the things on your list, I'm doing already, to be honest. Not saying there's no room for improvement - there definitely is as I know this is just the start. You do make a good point about repeat business though. Soon-to-be brides are less likely to buy once they get married (although there are gifts and bridesmaids buying opportunities for their friend's/family's weddings).

One thing that I do know about brides is that they love to talk about their experiences and their recommendations. So, I think excellent service coupled with social media will be a good way forward...

Here's hoping for terrible weather this weekend to see if sales really rocket. With the World Cup kicking off, hopefully there will be a few football widows with nothing but their upcoming wedding to think about and a credit card burning a hole in their purse.

 

[posie]

Hi BrightIdeas,

After reading some of your past posts I seem to have quite a lot in common with your situations, not sure if we are in direct 'competition' but our aim too is to build good customer service and for brides to recommend us to other brides. We are just trying out twitter and facebook at the moment, it seems like that could be the way forward.

A problem we're facing at the moment is finding wedding forums that allow you to post on, it would be a good way to build conversation with people and genuinely assist them. If we're not in 'competition' PM me if you would like to discuss and swap some ideas .

The wedding industry is tough as its a one time purchase, and they don't usually purchase straight away.

Sarah

 

[BrightIdeas]

Yes, leveraging word of mouth is going to be pretty key to success in this industry. I have found Twitter pretty good so far - although I believe it to be a long-term thing tactic. Not done too much on Facebook yet, but plan to do so in the next couple of months.

IMHO, I don't think that you should rely on wedding forums. Unless you have the inclination to be sneaky and take a lot of time on it (!), then I think it can come across as spammy.

What product do you sell?

 

[Dreamwaver]

Did you try affilate program or AD at top shopping forum ?

 

[BrightIdeas]

I thought about affiliate programs ages ago when planning the whole promotional activities during the planning stage, and came to the vague conclusion that they weren't right for my site as we're not really mass market. But, feel free to correct me if if you feel I'm wrong.

What's AD?