E-commerce Sales Tactics

I used to think sales "exhausted" email lists... Until we generated $958K during a sale using this approach: The Old Way: Constant discounts and promotions The New Way: Strategic revenue peaks 1x per quarter What We Did Differently: ✅ Segmented send strategy throughout the day: → 7am: 90-day engaged segment → 12pm: 30-day engaged (minus recent openers/buyers) → 4:30pm: Smaller engaged segment → 8:30pm: Most engaged segment ✅ Multiple formats: One designed email, one plain text ✅ Maintained deliverability: Open rates stayed consistent ✅ Excluded smart segments: Recent purchasers and openers The Results Were Insane: - $337K in one week (one-day attribution) - $186K over just Friday-Sunday - $958k during the whole sale - 14,885 NEW customers acquired - 50/50 split of new vs returning customers 30% of newly acquired customers came back within 5 months That last stat is the kicker. The Strategy Behind It: → Train your list with 80% non-promotional content → When you finally run a sale, they go "berserk" → Don't give them 3 teaspoons of sugar in their coffee daily → Make them appreciate the rare sweetness Key Insight: Revenue peaks done RIGHT don't exhaust lists - they create cheap customer acquisition for everyone in your CRM who hasn't purchased yet. Plus they reactivate dormant customers who bought ages ago. The Math: If someone spends $250 during a 30% off sale vs $0 normally... I know which one I'm choosing. Especially when 30% of them become repeat buyers. How often does your brand run strategic sales? Most do it randomly (and wonder why results suck). #emailmarketing #ecommerce #DTC

Looking around, I see many online stores leaving $100,000/month on the table. Let’s fix that. Most eCommerce stores rely on outdated SEO tactics like: Broad, competitive keywords Generic product descriptions Thin category pages Random blogs that don’t convert Here’s a 10-step strategy that actually works 1. Build a Solid Technical Foundation Your site must load fast and run smoothly. Optimize site speed (sub-3s load time). Enable mobile-first design. Compress images without sacrificing quality. 2. Target High-Intent Keywords Skip broad, competitive keywords. Focus on commercial intent long-tails. How to Find Them: Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify keywords with lower difficulty and solid search volume. Group keywords into clusters (“men’s running shoes” > “best running shoes for flat feet” > “lightweight running shoes for marathon training”). Examples: Instead of “shoes,” target “waterproof hiking boots for women” or “best trail running shoes for rocky terrain.” Use semantic SEO to include terms like “durable soles,” “lightweight,” or “breathable materials” to capture more intent. 3. Optimize Category Pages Category pages drive major traffic, don’t waste the opportunity. Write detailed descriptions with engaging headers. Add FAQs and customer reviews. Link to related products and subcategories. 4. Build High-Converting Product Pages Your product pages need to rank AND convert. Write unique descriptions (skip manufacturer copy). Add trust signals: Free shipping, secure payment badges, and reviews. Use structured data for rich snippets (e.g., star ratings). 5. Implement a Content Strategy Content builds authority and attracts traffic. Create blog clusters around buyer questions. Example cluster: “How to Choose the Right Backpack” → “Top 10 Lightweight Tents.” Link blogs to category and product pages to guide conversion. 6. Build a Local Strategy (If Relevant) Optimize for regional searches: Create location pages like “Hiking Gear Store in Denver.” Target location-specific terms: “hiking gear near [City].” 7. Use Schema Implementation Schema boosts rankings and CTRs. Add product schema (prices, reviews). Use FAQ schema for common customer questions. 8. Build Authority With Backlinks Backlinks build credibility. Pitch niche blogs or create data-driven guides for linkable content. Use competitor analysis tools to find backlink gaps. Aim at least 30% of links at your homepage. 9. Implement a Conversion Strategy Traffic is great, but conversions pay the bills. Retarget cart-abandoners: “Still interested? Get 10% off now!” Offer incentives like free shipping or discounts. Use exit-intent pop-ups: “Before you go, here’s 10% off!” 10. Monitor Performance With Analytics Track metrics like keyword rankings, bounce rates, and conversion rates. Underperforming pages? Refresh content and add internal links. Dropping CTR? Test new meta titles/descriptions.

Most people think a sale starts when customers begin shopping. For us, it starts weeks earlier. With our EOSS this month, and Q3 and Q4 being our biggest quarters, we're already deep in planning mode. Here are my biggest learnings from running sale events at House of Chikankari over the last 5 years. 1. Put your bestsellers on discount. Customers come to a sale looking for products they already love. The key is planning inventory early enough so you don't run out midway. Unicommerce gives us the visibility to make those calls with confidence. 2. Creative fatigue happens faster than you think. What works on Day 1 often stops working by Day 5. We usually go into a sale with 25 to 30 creative variations ready. Fresh hooks matter as much as bigger budgets. 3. Retargeting drives more revenue than most brands realise. The first few hours and the last few hours of a sale are usually our biggest spikes. Kwikchat helps us reach customers on WhatsApp and email: expiring offers, abandoned carts, last minute deals. Merito gives us real time ROAS visibility so we know exactly where to double down. 4. Operations can make or break the event. When orders spike, dispatches, support, warehouse, and logistics all get stretched at once. We plan rotational shifts and tighter workflows well before the sale begins. Unicommerce keeps us on top of order flow and bottlenecks in real time. 5. Payment failures are expensive. A lot of effort goes into driving traffic. During peak demand, even small checkout issues add up fast. Razorpay has been a constant for us here: we've tried other gateways and kept coming back to it. The success rates are definitely better compared to other gateways in the market. This is our playbook heading into the season. Five years and dozens of sale events later, we’ve learned that growth isn’t usually limited by demand. It’s limited by preparation. What are some of your top learnings from your past sales? Would love to hear from fellow founders.

Everyone's focused on Black Friday discounts right now. What if I told you they're wrong? The brands that will win big this holiday season won't be the ones with the deepest discounts. They'll be the ones whose sites actually work when the traffic hits. Adobe forecasts $253 billion in online spending this November and December. That's a 5.3% increase from last year. But here's what most ecommerce teams miss: Your conversion rate drops 4.42% for every additional second of load time. If your cart page takes 10 seconds to load while your homepage loads in 2, you're burning money on ads that drive people to a broken experience. I've worked with enterprise brands for over a decade, and the pattern is predictable. Teams spend weeks debating discount strategy and about 3 hours checking if their site can handle the surge. In the weeks before BFCM, you should be focused on three things: First: technical audit. Your server needs to handle 2-3x normal traffic. Your product pages need to load as fast as your homepage. Most brands forget to test the whole funnel under load. Second: user experience audit. Run heatmaps and session recordings now, while you still have time to fix what you find. Watch where people actually click versus where you think they click. Third: rethink your sales strategy beyond discounting. Free shipping thresholds, back-in-stock notifications, loyalty perks. These drive AOV without training customers to wait for your next sale. With 69% of shoppers abandoning carts, the real competition isn't "who has the best deal." It's "whose site makes it easiest to complete a purchase." The money's there. The traffic's coming. The question is whether your site is ready to convert it. Full 3-step optimization process in the article below.

Seconds. You have seconds to convert a buyer on your Amazon listing. Blink and they're gone to your competitor. Most sellers treat product pages like digital brochures. Pretty pictures. Feature lists. Hope. Then wonder why competitors with worse products are outselling them. The difference? Understanding that Amazon listings are sales funnels, not photo galleries. Main images get clicks. Secondary images close sales. Your main image follows Amazon's rules or gets suppressed. White background. Product fills most of the frame. High resolution. Zero text overlays. That's not creative freedom. That's the cost of visibility. Secondary images do the actual selling. Infographics that answer objections before scroll. Lifestyle shots showing context instead of just dimensions. Each image needs a job in your conversion funnel. Random pretty photos waste carousel space. A+ Content without text strategy costs you organic traffic. I see sellers embed all text in images because it "looks cleaner." Then lose keyword indexing and wonder why organic traffic disappeared. Amazon crawls text, not images. Use actual text modules alongside visuals. Fill every alt text field with relevant keywords. Full-width modules push competitor ads below the fold. Comparison charts cross-sell your catalog. Brand Story builds emotional permission to buy. The carousel above your A+ Content humanizes your brand before logical selling begins. Mission. Values. Lifestyle connection. Then product benefits. Customers need emotional permission before rational justification. Most sellers skip this module or treat it like an afterthought. That's leaving conversion points on the table. Product videos prove what images only promise. Seeing the product in motion, in context, with real scale reference converts hesitant browsers into buyers. Videos appear in multiple listing placements and answer questions that drive customers to competitor listings with better demonstrations. Every element either moves buyers toward purchase or creates friction. Build listings that convert or watch competitors with worse products steal your traffic.

The industry average for email marketing is $36 back for every $1 spent. So why is yours barely breaking even? I've audited 100s of email accounts across seven and eight-figure e-commerce brands. Usually the channel works fine. The problem is five things that look like normal email marketing, so nobody questions them. 1 - Chasing open rates with clickbait subject lines ↳ "You won't believe this" gets the open. Then the subscriber feels cheated, and the next time your name shows up they ignore it. ↳ It takes a long time to build trust and about 3 seconds to lose it. ↳ Fix: write subject lines that are honest and SPECIFIC. The right people will open. 2 - Writing like a corporate brand ↳ The moment your email reads like a legal team wrote it, the brain checks out.  ↳ Your subscriber's inbox is full of texts from actual friends, and then your stiff announcement lands in the middle of it. ↳ Fix: write like you're talking to one of your best friends. 3 - Cramming multiple CTAs into one email ↳ More options just freeze the reader. Psychologists call it the paradox of choice, and the brain's response to a decision it didn't ask for is to do nothing. ↳ Fix: give each email one job. Two buttons max, both pointing to the same place. 4 - Blasting your entire list ↳ Your list isn't one audience. Engaged buyers, one-time buyers, VIPs, and lapsed subscribers are all sitting in the same place. ↳ Sending all of them the same email tanks conversion, and the unengaged ones drag your sender reputation down for the people who actually buy. ↳ Fix: segment into those four groups and send accordingly. 5 - Treating email like a microphone instead of a conversation ↳ When every send is "buy now," you train your list to only open when there's a sale. ↳ Mix in educational, community, and behind-the-scenes emails and they open everything, because they don't know which one is the discount. ↳ Fix: email when you have something worth saying, not only when you want money. Clean these up and email becomes the most reliable revenue line you have.

Online conversions jump 144% the week before Black Friday. If you're planning in November, you're already behind. Every year, I see the same thing happen: eCommerce teams exhaust their budgets and their teams chasing "BCFM wins." Things like flashier ads, bigger discounts, more extravagant campaigns. But after all this, the results still fall short. The problem is focus, not effort. And most brands repeat the same mistakes every year. These are the ones I see most often: (and how to avoid them) 1️⃣ Waiting until November to plan anything ↳ Start in Q3. Warm your list. Test offers. Build segments early. ↳ Preparation is the key to performance. 2️⃣ Sending one offer to everyone ↳ Different customers have different motivations, so segmentation is needed. ↳ VIPs, discount-hunters, at-risk customers all need different stories. 3️⃣ Measuring the wrong things ↳ Open rates don't tell what's working. Revenue per recipient does. ↳ Track the impact that actually grows the business: conversions not clicks. 4️⃣ Forgetting the post-purchase experience ↳ The sale is just the beginning of retention. ↳ Automate thoughtful follow-ups, reviews and referral flows before December. 5️⃣ Over-discounting bestsellers ↳ Bundle. Cross-sell. Gate offers. ↳ Use promotions to move surplus, not to weaken your strongest products. 6️⃣ Neglecting non-buyers ↳ Your bounce traffic still holds value. ↳ With identity resolution + retargeting, you can re-engage the visitors who showed intent but never converted. 7️⃣ Treating BCFM like an acquisition sprint ↳ Reward loyalty. Re-engage past buyers. ↳ Long-term growth comes from the people who come back. Good data and disciplined systems will always outperform last-minute tactics. Black Friday isn't just a campaign. It's a reflection of how well your business runs the rest of the year. Are there any challenges you've faced the most during BCFM? ♻️ Share this to help brands optimize their Black Friday strategy. Follow me, Francesco Gatti, for more on ecommerce growth.

I was wrong about pop-ups. Recently, I have been prepping for an e-commerce talk and have been digging through thousands of tests in this vertical around pop-ups. Not only are they effective, but I am seeing quite a few interesting trends in eCommerce… 1) Straight x% off first order beats everything (mystery deal, other type of discounting etc). Keep it simple. 10-20% is the sweet spot. 2) You know the annoying pop-up cancel option that says, “No thanks, I’ll pay full price because I’m a big dummy”. Turns out, these work well and seem to win almost every time versus just “No thanks”. Go figure. 3) Offering tiered discounting for email AND SMS does well. So you offer 10% off the first order and when they add their email you follow up with “Receive an extra 5% off (15% total) for joining our SMS list”. Interestingly, not only do more than 30% of prospects provide phone numbers after emails, but the number of same-day orders is also higher for the SMS folks. Source: At DoWhatWorks we have tracked over 6,000 A/B tests from eCommerce brands around pop-ups and discounts.

💡 Creating a Discount Strategy That Boosts Sales Without Undermining Your Brand’s Value 💡 As an e-commerce brand, offering discounts is a great way to drive sales, but it’s essential to strike the right balance. Too many discounts, too often, can devalue your product and erode your brand’s worth. So, how do you create a discount strategy that maximizes sales while protecting your brand’s value? Here are some key tips: 1️⃣ Focus on Strategic Timing: Don’t overuse discounts. Reserve them for key events, holidays, or special product launches to create urgency and excitement. Too many flash sales can make your brand seem “cheap.” 2️⃣ Offer Value, Not Just Price: Instead of always slashing prices, consider offering bundles, free shipping, or exclusive gifts with purchases. This adds value without directly lowering the perceived value of your products. 3️⃣ Loyalty Discounts: Reward your most loyal customers with exclusive discounts or early access to sales. This builds loyalty and makes your discounts feel more valuable and less like a “race to the bottom.” 4️⃣ Clear and Limited Offers: Set clear boundaries around your discounts—make them time-sensitive or product-specific. When customers know a discount is rare or limited, they’re more likely to act quickly and appreciate the value. 5️⃣ Price Anchoring: Use higher-priced items as anchors to make your discounts appear more attractive without reducing the value of your core products. For example, offering a small discount on a high-ticket item can make your other products feel like a better deal. 6️⃣ Avoid Discounting Bestsellers Too Often: It’s tempting to discount your top products, but overdoing it can harm the perception of their value. Instead, focus on moving slower-selling items and creating promotions around them. 🔑 The Bottom Line: Discounts can drive sales, but they shouldn’t be the primary driver of revenue. Keep your brand's value intact by using them strategically and offering customers something of true value beyond just a price cut. How do you approach your discount strategy to maximize revenue without compromising your brand's value? Drop your thoughts below! 👇

I've directly worked with over 400 e-commerce companies. Everyone talks about “best practices” for increasing conversions— test this, test that...But here’s what they don’t tell you: 1️⃣ Sometimes, your best-selling product might be hurting your conversions. Every e-commerce brand has a hero product, but often, that product isn’t the most profitable. Many brands rely on loss-leaders without having a solid strategy to upsell or cross-sell, bleeding profits without realizing it. The real game is in bundling, post-purchase upsells, and retention mechanics that maximize profit per transaction. 2️⃣ Your Conversion Rate Is a Lie Most brands obsess over conversion rates without realizing that the number itself is misleading. A 3% conversion rate doesn’t mean success, it could mean you’re attracting the wrong traffic, pricing too low, or missing out on high-value customers who need more convincing. Digging deeper into RPV, margin per visitor, and cohort-based analysis often reveals the real health of an e-commerce business. 3️⃣ Most A/B Tests Are Worthless A shocking percentage of A/B tests run in e-commerce are either poorly designed, have insufficient traffic, or don’t impact business outcomes. The real win is in testing business-model-level experiments—pricing strategies, subscription offers, and shipping policies, not just button colors. 4️⃣ Most E-commerce Growth Strategies Are Just Finance Games A lot of brands that look successful on the outside are just burning investor cash or using aggressive financing to cover cash flow gaps. Many don’t actually turn a real profit until they hit scale—or ever. Understanding inventory financing, cash conversion cycles, & real profitability is more important than just chasing growth numbers. 5️⃣ Acquiring Customers Profitably Is an Illusion for Most Brands E-commerce brands love to brag about customer acquisition, but the reality is that many lose money on first-time customers. With CAC rising every year, profitable growth requires a retention strategy from day one. If you don’t have a plan to get at least two or three purchases per customer, your business is running on a treadmill. 6️⃣ Reviews Don’t Work the Way You Think Brands love collecting reviews, but they often don’t leverage them properly. A five-star average can look fake, and negative reviews (when handled right) can increase trust. 7️⃣ Your Homepage Barely Matters Most e-commerce traffic doesn’t even land on your homepage...it lands on product pages, collection pages, or even blog posts. Yet, brands spend way too much time perfecting their homepage while ignoring deeper-funnel pages that actually drive purchases. 8️⃣ Customer Support Is a Goldmine, Not a Cost Center Most e-commerce brands see customer support as an expense, but it’s actually one of the most profitable areas of the business. Live chat, pre-purchase consultations, and proactive support can drive more revenue than most ad campaigns. #ecommerce