If you have an eCommerce store and wondering whether there is a need to have sales funnels to develop your business since you already have an online store, then my answer to you is “Yes”.

Not every eCommerce store owner implements sales funnels in their businesses. But because the competition is so stiff, regardless of your industry, then by having sales funnels to drive your business forward, you will be one step ahead of your competition who don’t use sales funnels.

Look at all the successful brands in your chosen industry or niche. Do they have sales funnels? They probably do. So if you want to increase your chances of success, then you’d definitely want to mirror their success story by having sales funnels implemented in your eCommerce business too.

To make things simple for you, a sales funnel is a process that helps to guide customers from their point of awareness about the need to solve a challenge right up to the time when they make a purchase.

Sales funnels help to facilitate your customers’ buying journeys to make it a pleasant experience because it helps them to make informed purchasing decisions so that they buy the right products and services.

By having sales funnels for your eCommerce store, you will be able to grow your business faster because you will be able to:-

Close More Sales Without Being Salesy

People will generally avoid purchasing something if they feel that they are forced to make the purchase. So by having sales funnels, you will give your potential customers the option to make that decision to engage with your brand and find out more about what you offer before even making the purchase.

By using non-salesy approaches to promote your business, you will have more customers wanting to get to know more about your products and services.

With more people getting to know about your stuff, your probability to close more sales will be higher.

Ensure A Smooth Purchasing Process

Many people who genuinely need your products and services might not even know that what you offer can help them solve their challenges.

By encouraging them to learn more about what you offer through non-salesy methods, they will be able to discover what types of products and services that you offer that best suit their needs.

You will also be able to recommend stuff that might complement what they have bought from you to increase their satisfaction level as a customer.

With a sales funnel, you will also be able to promote things according to their behavioural patterns.

Although, I must say that your purchasing funnel itself must be created with great care. Because when people finally decide to purchase from you and your shopping cart frustrates them, you will lose them as customers. Not many are patient enough to contact you directly to let you know when they have a problem purchasing from your online cart.

There are many reasons why people generally abandon their shopping carts. If you want to learn how to reduce your shopping cart abandonment, then you can read my blog article here.

Reduce The Need For Price War

Especially if you have an eCommerce store that is connected to eCommerce platforms like Amazon.com, and eBay, it’s a known fact that people always make their purchasing decisions in these platforms by looking at the cheapest price first.

So if you want to sell heaps of stuff by using these eCommerce platforms, you’ll probably need to offer very low prices to sell your products.

With a sales funnel, you’ll be able to reduce the need for participating in the price war strategy to sell your stuff.
This is because when you get people to opt-in to your sales funnels, you’ll be able to send them targeted email campaigns and advertisements that will help to cultivate the desire to buy from you.

By having marketing campaigns sent out to those who are in your sales funnel lists, you will be able to get more sales without having to offer your stuff at rock bottom prices because they won’t be distracted by other products.

Increase The Amount Of Money Customers Spend

People decide to buy stuff at different times within their customer journeys. When someone visits your online store or website, he or she might be just casually looking around for things to buy without any immediate intention to buy. This person might not return to your store when he or she is ready to buy.

So by having a sales funnel, you will be able to keep in touch with that person who drops by your store and continuously provide value to them right up to the time when they are ready to make a purchase.

You can start by providing valuable content that helps your potential customers solve an immediate challenge that they have. And through that content, you can encourage them to opt-in to your list for further follow-ups.

A typical eCommerce conversion funnel involves customers going through the Awareness, Interest, Decision and Action stage.

When you’re able to have them opt-in to your list, you will be able to nurture these potential customers to make informed decisions right up to the time when they are ready to make a purchase.

By capturing contact details through your sales funnels, you will also be able to encourage repeat purchases from customers who have already bought from you.

And for those who are buying from you, you will be able to get more sales out of a single purchase by offering upsells and downsells while they are making their purchases.

So overall, having sales funnels will help you to increase the amount of money customers spend on your eCommerce store.

Encourage Brand Loyalty And Referrals

By having sales and marketing funnels for your ecommerce site, you will also be able to connect with your customers and potential customers at a much more personal level. This is especially effective if you are using personal branding or personality marketing approaches to grow your eCommerce store.

When your customers feel connected to you and your business, they’ll be more likely to buy from you as opposed to another brand. This is because they feel that your brand understands them the best and it has the best products and services that suit their needs.

By interacting with your customers and potential customers through social media, you will be able to speak to them, understand their challenges more and answer any questions that they have.

By doing this, it lets your customers know that you care about them and their wellbeing. This will help to turn more of your customers into loyal customers.

And when people turn into loyal customers, they will be more likely to want to refer your products and services to other people.

So besides having repeat sales from these loyal customers, they will also be your ‘brand ambassadors’ who will spread the good word of your business and brand.

And by having them refer your stuff to others, you will see an increase in sales because you’ll be discovered by other people who are in your customers’ networks.

So my question to you is, do you feel that going through the effort of having sales funnels is worth it to grow your business? I hope your answer will be a “Yes”.

I hope that this article will be able to shed some light on the reasons as to why having sales funnels are so important in helping you to grow your eCommerce store business to greater heights. Have you implemented sales funnels to promote your online shop and found great results? I’d love to know in the comment section below.

References:
https://www.bigcommerce.com.au/blog/ecommerce-sales-funnel/
https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/ecommerce-conversion-funnel/
https://www.shopify.com.au/partners/blog/72569987-why-every-shopify-store-needs-a-marketing-sales-funnel
https://sleeknote.com/blog/e-commerce-sales-funnel
https://manychat.com/blog/ecommerce-funnels/
https://www.metrilo.com/blog/ecommerce-conversion-funnels-practical-guide
https://hollerwp.com/ecommerce-sales-funnel/