How Do I Actually Increase My E-commerce Sales?

Right, this is the big one. Everyone wants more sales, but the directive to "increase e-commerce sales" is frustratingly vague, isn't it? The truth is, there are only three ways to grow revenue, and understanding this makes everything clearer.

The Three Levers That Actually Matter:

You can get more people to your site (traffic), convert more of those visitors into customers (conversion rate), or get each customer to spend more per order (average order value). That's it. Everything else is just a tactic that affects one of these three things.

Let's Talk About Traffic First:

Most UK businesses I work with are overly focused on traffic while ignoring the other two levers. Don't get me wrong, you need traffic - but throwing money at Facebook ads when your conversion rate is rubbish is like trying to fill a leaky bucket.

Here's what actually works in the UK market right now for our clients:

Google Shopping campaigns are still the highest-intent traffic you can get. People searching for "women's leather boots UK" are ready to buy - they just need to find you. Start here if you're just getting going with paid advertising.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram) works brilliantly for discovery, but you need to be patient. Cold audiences aren't going to buy immediately, and that's fine. Think of Meta as your brand awareness engine, not your immediate sales machine.

Email marketing is criminally underused by UK SMEs. If you're not collecting emails and sending at least one campaign weekly, you're leaving money on the table. Plain and simple.

Conversion Rate Is Your Secret Weapon:

Here's something nobody tells you: improving your conversion rate from 1% to 2% literally doubles your revenue without spending another penny on traffic. That's why I always tell clients to fix their website before scaling their ad spend.

Quick wins I focus on with our e-commerce clients that actually move the needle:

• Sort out your site speed. If your homepage takes more than three seconds to load, you're losing sales before people even see your products.

• Add proper product photos AND videos. And I mean proper ones - multiple angles, lifestyle shots, close-ups of details. Phone photos on a white background aren't going to cut it in 2025.

• Make checkout dead simple. Guest checkout should be obvious, and you should never, ever surprise people with shipping costs at the last minute.

• Show reviews prominently. UK shoppers are skeptical - they want to see that other people have bought from you and lived to tell the tale.
  

Average Order Value (AOV) Strategies:

Getting customers to spend £60 instead of £45 per order adds up incredibly quickly. Here's what works:

Free shipping thresholds are your friend. If your AOV is £45, set free shipping at £60. You'd be amazed how many people will add something extra to their basket to avoid a £3.99 delivery charge.

Bundle products that actually go together. "Complete the look" for fashion, "starter kits" for beauty, "gift sets" for anything giftable. Make it genuinely good value though - customers can smell a false discount from a mile away.

Want us to take a look at these strategies for your business? Get in touch for 2026 availability.