When it comes to having a successful business, merchants must be proactive in selling their product/service and staying connected with their customers. At FoxyCart, we have worked hard to build the fastest, highest converting, easiest to integrate shopping cart for merchants and developers. While continuing to improve and add new features to our cart, it has come to our attention that many of our users are unaware of the marketing features and integrations FoxyCart offers.
Today, I would like to highlight built-in features and 3rd party integrations you can start using right now to generate more sales and create returning customers for your business.
Coupon Promotions
Coupons are a great way to attract new customers along with inviting previous customers to purchase again.
With FoxyCart, you can have an unlimited number of coupons to share with your customers. Discounts can be based on different criteria. For example, spend $50, save $5 or save 10% when you purchase two or more products. There are literally hundreds of different scenarios you can create.
When offering a coupon code to your customers, it is good to make it time sensitive by specifying a start and end date. This will encourage your customers to take advantage of the promotion now, rather than waiting until later. Also, specifying an end date when creating your coupon code, prevents random discounts floating around the internet. A while back, our own Adam Judd gave some tips on how not to be the next internet embarrassment in relation to coupon codes.
You can learn more about creating and managing coupons in FoxyCart here.
Followup Emails
Many merchants miss the opportunity to create returning customers by sending a followup email after a successful sale. This is the perfect time to offer an upgrade or inform your customers about related products. Teaming followup emails with a time sensitive coupon code can be a huge win for both you and your customers.
For example, lets say someone just purchased a digital camera from your online store. Along with cameras, you sell cases and other accessories. Using category specific emails in FoxyCart, you could automatically send the following email:
Congratulations on your camera purchase! We know you are going to love it! For an even better experience with your new camera, we recommend purchasing a case to keep it clean and protected. In our online store, we have over 50 different cases to choose from here: www.mystore.com/cases
As a thank you for your recent purchase, please use coupon code SAVE10 to receive 10% off your next purchase. But hurry though. This coupon will expire on ________.
With the above example we informed the customer about other products we offer along with an incentive to purchase now.
Get more information on creating category specific emails in FoxyCart here.
Free Shipping
There’s nothing better than finding a great deal online and then discovering that your order qualifies for free shipping. Many times, this is a great incentive for new or returning customers to follow through with their purchase, especially when the free shipping offer has an expiration date. Below are a couple of ways you can offer free shipping to your customers with FoxyCart:
Free shipping without conditions
Turning on the free shipping option in Foxycart is easy. First, make sure your applicable product categories are using “shipped using live shipping rates” as the “product delivery option”. Next, in your shipping settings, under “custom options”, make sure “use custom” and “free ground shipping” are checked. Of course, you can change the label for this option in your language settings. You can learn more about shipping methods FoxyCart offers here.Free shipping with conditions
Sometimes you may only want to offer free shipping if a customer meets or exceeds a specific criteria (ie: total order is $50 or more). This page will show you how to set this up.Free shipping with a coupon code
Other times, you may want to offer free shipping if the customer uses a specific coupon code. This page will walk you through setting this up.
Affiliate Marketing
Word of mouth is by far the best and least expensive marketing strategy for businesses. When consumers purchase a quality product or experience great customer service, they can’t help but tell others. Why not equip your customers with tools to shout your fame even louder? Plus, keep track of who referred who and reward them for their efforts.
FoxyCart integrates with a handful of affiliate marketing services that are sure to increase your customer list and boost sales. Features and costs for each service will vary. You can see a full list of affiliate marketing integrations here.
Email Marketing
Just about everything mentioned so far will be pretty useless if you don’t have a list of people to announce your promotions, and/or affiliate program to. What better way to communicate with your current or potential customers than with a mailing list. Besides having a subscribe form on your website, why not add an option to subscribe to your newsletter right on the checkout page?
Since FoxyCart already integrates with multiple email marketing solutions, getting new subscribers will be a breeze. You can view some of these integrations here. Also, with Orderdesk, you can integrate with even more email marketing services.
What about you?
We’d love to know what FoxyCart features and/or integrations you are using to better serve your customers and create more sales. Please comment below.
Hungry for more?
For a deeper look into the features and integrations mentioned in this blog post, along with even more marketing ideas, please join us for a free webinar on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 10:00 AM PDT. Click here to register free.