Retail expert Catherine Erdly gives Business Advice readers some powerful tips for smashing online sales.

In this ‘new retail world’, online selling would be key and even with shops re-opening this, online shopping for independent businesses should remain a core element of your offering.

You might be trying to get more traffic to your online shop or you’re wanting to replace sales that you might otherwise have taken at markets, events or festivals this summer season. Whichever it is – here are five quick top tips.

1. Tell your story online

If you can sell person to person, if you can sell it events and fairs – you can definitely sell online. Recognise that you’ve already got the tools that you need to make it happen.

The story you tell online is the same as the one as you would tell face to face at an event – there isn’t a potential customer you wouldn’t talk to who visits your stall – it needs to be the same for your online shop.

Tell them about the products, how you started your business and mostly share your passion for your products. Use video to tell stories – you are ‘virtually’ chatting directly to your online visitors in a personable way.

You will have many stories to tell which provides lots of rich content to connect with your customers. Tell them how you make your products, how you source them, how you came up with your ideas and how you started your business.

2. Repetition

If you were selling at a market you would tell a visitor to your stall the story about your business, you would tell it again to the next visitor – you’d do hundreds of time at one event – it’s should be the same for your online customers.

People who follow you on social media, who visit your website will only see and read a small percentage of your content. So you can repackage the same’story’ again and again. There’s a statistic that says you need to say the same thing seven times before people even realise that they’ve heard it from you. So don’t be afraid to repeat yourself.

3. Enthusiasm

If you don’t get enthusiastic about your product, then who else is going to get enthusiastic about it? Let your passion for what you do shine through – just like you would face-to-face.

When you’re telling your story and creating content show the excitement and love you have for your product – it will entice and excite your customers and those types of customers buy.

4. Go to your customers

It might seem obvious – but go where your customers are. Are they on Facebook? Instagram? Pinterest? LinkedIn? Are they somebody who would like to read an e – newsletter?

You need to know this so if you are not sure where they are, simply ask them.

If you don’t know where they are, you’ll be spreading yourself too thinly to try to reach them. You want to be where they are and concentrate your efforts there.

5. Make it clear what you want them to do

Sharing your story is key, sharing your passion vital but then you are going to need to ask them to buy something.

For about 20% of your posts, have a clear call to action; go to my website, message me to purchase. So ensure you go through all your content and decide which clear call to action makes sense for each post.

Show your passion, get clear on your messaging and above all, share your products with your customer, and your online sales will grow.