How can you increase sales for your online store? How do you take your eBay powersports parts and turn them into revenue?
Unfortunately, establishing a business and simply hoping for the best is not a viable strategy. Even though eBay boasts millions of customers, you still need to draw their attention and gain their trust. You can take the following steps to increase online parts sales:
- Optimize listings
- Choose shipping options wisely
- Use social media and email marketing in tandem to promote your products
All of these work together to increase conversion rate optimization on this online marketplace.
In this blog post, we will outline how best to utilize these methods for your eBay store.
Listing Optimization
How do you make a listing that converts? Potential buyers love detailed listings with great product images. How can they see and feel it for themselves before purchasing?
- Clearly describe the product’s features. Fitment info is crucial in the automotive and powersports business. On eBay Motors, you need to be as specific as possible, so the buyer knows exactly what they’re getting. Include any relevant compatibility information and item specifics. Consider the questions your customers might have and answer them in the product description.
- Include high-quality, well-lit photos of the product in action on the vehicle or motorcycle it is intended for. How else are potential buyers supposed to tell if they need this item? Listings with good images of vehicle fitments generate more clicks and higher conversion rates.
Pro tip: Never, ever “borrow” images from other product listings. Stock photos and photos not of the actual product are death to conversion rates. - Videos enhance the fitment experience. Include a video if your product is difficult to understand from just the images or description alone or for more complex products that need instruction. People are naturally drawn to videos and will be much less likely to abandon their cart in search of another option if they can see it all right there.
- Use appropriate keywords in the title, subtitle, description boxes and tags that correspond to the type of product you’re selling. This will help your listing be found by relevant searches and get noticed when it’s featured on the page. Remember that keyword spamming is banned on eBay. To find a list of keywords for your products, check out your competition.
- A promoted listing boosts product visibility by an astounding 36%, according to eBay itself. To use these, you have to become an Above Standard or Top Rated seller. Try to increase your feedback rating to get to this prestigious eBay option.
- Discount an item for a limited time. By dropping the selling price of a product, online sellers get the chance to get more views on eBay. The online platform places discounted items at the top of the generic searches, so they are more visible than regularly-priced items. How much of a discount is up to you, but it’s likely that your sales will increase for the duration it is on sale.
Shipping Options
Who doesn’t like free shipping? How can you offer this to your customers?
First, consider the size of your product and how much it weighs to determine a reasonable shipping cost for buyers. The last thing you want is unhappy retail customers who feel like they were taken advantage of by not receiving free shipping when others did. You may also want to offer a shipping upgrade that includes insurance and tracking.
You can also try offering free or discounted shipping programs if the buyers combine your product with another, such as in an eBay bundle.
Before you decide to offer free shipping, make sure that you know exactly how much it would cost and factor that into your pricing.
Fast delivery is also important to buyers. You can offer an expedited shipping service for those who need it and charge a little more than the cost of regular shipping, or offer free express shipping when customers spend over a certain amount in your store.
If you are keeping an inventory, implement a solution that ensures speedy delivery.
Return Policy
Most eCommerce platforms favor generous return policies. Instead of limiting the time frame or requiring a reason for returning, eBay prefers an extended time frame and no-questions-asked. Sellers will generally include this information in their product description, but you should consider having it at the top of your listing’s detail page as well.
For example: “Returns must be made within 30 days of purchase and items must not have been used.”
A generous seller return policy can increase buyer confidence, so make sure to implement one appropriate for your business. eBay boosts listings with a return period of 30 days or more.
Marketing
You cannot hope to expand your business without a sound marketing strategy. There is just too much competition – hundreds of thousands of sellers in the eBay Motors Parts and Accessories category. To stand out, you need to get creative with your marketing and the online channels you’re talking about your business in.
Social Media
Plenty of marketers have things to say against social media. “Facebook is dead.” “The Instagram algorithm is killing business.”
The truth is, social media can be a powerful tool to market your products. But it’s important to know what you’re doing if you want to make the most out of it.
One thing that all marketers have in common when they talk about how to use social media for marketing: consistency. Marketers need set times and days to post to their social media profiles.
This is easier for some people than others, but being consistent will help you develop a following and draw in buyers who trust your content.
Consistency also applies to maximizing the number of posts per day or week. How many should that be? As with all things in marketing, it depends on your goals. How many followers do you have? How much time are you willing to put into your marketing plan each day or week?
It’s also important not to flood people with information on social media. You want them to come back for more, and if they see too much at once, it’ll be overwhelming and most likely turn them away from following you.
Don’t be afraid to promote your store and online sales, as long as it’s well done and relevant for your audience.
Of course, it’s essential not to take advantage of your followers by spamming them and always stay true to the voice you’ve created for yourself.
Email Marketing
A great benefit of the eBay marketplace is that it offers email marketing features. Again, how you use these features depends on the type of online business that you have and your goals.
If one or two sales emails a week is all you need, eBay provides useful templates for general marketing purposes such as customer retention and product announcements. You can also send messages to buyers who haven’t purchased in a while.
However, if email outreach is your primary marketing tactic, you’re better off using a third-party email service. This is because eBay limits the number of emails sent in a day and has restrictions on images used in messages.
Do not be afraid of sending out seller newsletters, sale promotions, listing updates, and other marketing messages to your audience. How often you send these types of emails is up to you, but it’s important not to bother people with too many or else they’ll unsubscribe.
To offer a subscription, you can even place an email sign-up box on your store page.
Conclusion
In the automotive industry, accurate and complete fitment data is critical. Proper fitment will give buyers confidence that they’re buying the right parts for their vehicles.
If you’re an eBay seller, it’s important to know all of your listings and how they can increase sales. How do you make sure that your store is optimized in every way? How does social media fit into your marketing strategy? How should email marketing work on eBay, if at all?
Try to optimize your listings with the right keywords, pictures, and descriptions. How about a video that walks people through the installation process? Include an option for international buyers to buy from you in their own currency.
It’s also important not to forget your shipping options – offer free and expedited shipping where possible. How about including tracking for international orders, or even the option to do a package pickup?
Finally, learn the language of your customer base: what words and phrases are they often using in search results when looking for powersports parts? This will help you write more effective listings that convert better!
If you’d like help with managing your fitment data, feel free to message us at MyFitment. We can provide all the essential information to help your business thrive!
