Recently I created an onboarding playbook for new Lounge members that starts with a questionnaire about where they’re at and what they’re trying to accomplish at the moment. Before integrating it into the onboarding experience, I invited all members to get one to act as a beta test. Plus, it was super helpful for me to see, in my members’ own words, what they were working on, struggling with, etc. Lounge members, if you haven’t gotten your playbook yet, it’s posted in the announcements feed.
Because we’re still in the testing phase, I’m reading every submission to see how the AI is processing the logic rules I gave it and what edge cases I have to consider. It’s doing well so far, though I did have to message a couple of members to say, actually here’s what I’d recommend.
What prompted me to write this were a few things I saw in their responses and some things I uncovered for them along the way.
So today I bring you eCommerce advice you’ve heard before and still aren’t doing.
Before I get into it, let me preface this with: there is absolutely no shade or shame if you find yourself doing, or better yet not doing, what you might already know you should be doing. I legit have similar conversations with biz friends all the time, and multiple students literally said in their intake form “I know what I should be doing but I’m not doing it.” We’re all guilty of this.
Just consider this the kick in the pants most of my students and clients come to me for.
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Shop Your Own Website Periodically
When was the last time you actually visited the front end of your website and shopped it like a customer; ideally in incognito mode?
One of the members talked about how her summer season had been slower than usual. When I went to take a peek at her site, all of her products were marked as sold out!
This is obviously an extreme example, but I can’t tell you how many times there are things happening with your website that merchants don’t realize. Unexpected pop-ups, missing information because you accidentally hid a section in your theme, too many extensions covering important information.
While I obviously don’t want you to obsess, at least give your website a quick peruse one a month, and if you are noticing things like unexpectedly low sales, maybe a certain product isn’t moving the way it usually does, or maybe there’s a feature on your site that doesn’t get as much use as you’d expect. Make sure you go and experience your site like a customer would as a quick check.
Track Your Numbers Weekly – Even if You Don’t Take Action
One of the things I encourage all my Lounge members and clients to do is to track their numbers weekly. I don’t necessarily want you to always be reacting to them, but tracking them on a weekly basis allows you to spot strange patterns so you know when and if you need to dive into something deeper.
And I know filling out a spreadsheet each week feels like a waste of time when you can look up your sales at any moment or even have AI do it for, but having a simple spreadsheet where you log each week row after row, builds a habit, means you’re actually seeing the numbers, and ensures once things start get out of whack, you’ll notice it a lot faster.
Focus on Making More Money Instead of Trying to Cut Every Platform Expense
I talked about this on the podcast not too long ago, actually, I’ll find the episode and stick a link in the show notes but I think we spend too much time trying to save a couple of bucks by finding a different SaaS platform when that energy could go toward making more money.
Cutting expenses has its place. I just invested in a lifetime license for a course platform. It doesn’t have every feature I need today, but if the new version they’re releasing does, I’ll have forever access for the same amount I spend per month right now.
The problem is when platform shopping becomes a distraction. Email is where I see this most. If your list is small, growth is slow, and you’re paying for features you don’t use, sure, downgrade or switch.
But most of the time you’re sacrificing features to save a few bucks a month when you could keep the tools, send more email, and make that money back ten times over.
Add Cross-Sells or Bundles to Your eCommerce Store
One of the easiest ways to increase your average order value is to sell to customers who are already shopping on your site. The best way to implement this will completely depend on your product assortment, but don’t worry about getting it perfect. A general cross-sell that offers up universal no-brainer products can work just as well, if not better than perfectly curated matches.
If you’re really not sure what to pair together, look at your sales data to see what customers naturally purchase together, you can even ask Sidekick if you’re on Shopify. Don’t try and change people’s behavior by pairing what you want to sell together, just mimic the existing shopping behavior.
Curate the Shopping Experience
Curating the shopping experience is fresh on my mind because I just worked on a website for a store that had over 600 skus. I’m not gonna lie, it took me a while to get the product organization cleaned up for filters, collections, etc. but we made it so much easier for the customer to drill down and find what they’re looking for.
Every client I’ve ever worked with that we’ve done this with, especially building out the navigation, sees a much wider assortment of products being sold because now customers can actually find them.
If Your Ads Are Profitable, Stop Being Afraid to Spend More
When you first start running ads, you probably set a budget you were comfortable losing. I always say in the beginning, you have to think of ads like gambling and be prepared to lose a little money while you’re figuring out what works.
But once you find that profitable strategy, the only lever you really have at that point is to increase your ad spend.
I think there is a bit of a misconception about what a good return on ads is. While everyone’s break even ROAS is different – Lounge members, you have a calculator in Meta Badassery to help you identify yours – the average return on ad spend for eCommerce is between 2 and 4x, sometimes 5 for super high performers.
Sometimes we see people sharing insane highlights online of the return they’re getting, probably because they’re trying to sell you their ad management services, and they’re cherry picking the best results. As long as you’re profitable, again going back to your break even ROAS, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start scaling your ad budget.
And even if you’re not necessarily profitable on that first purchase, if your customers come back quickly to place a second order, that might not matter.
I get that seeing a big ad spend as a line item on your P&L can be scary. I’ve worked with clients who hired accountants or CFOs who see the number and want them to lower it. But what they’re forgetting to consider is the amount of revenue that ad spend is responsible for. Not only on the first purchase, but the lifetime value of that customer too.
Now of course, eventually the law of diminishing returns will kick in, and you certainly don’t want to put all your traffic eggs into the ad basket, but if it’s something that’s working, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t continue to scale that investment.
If you get $3 back for every $1 you spend, at $1000 a month of ad spend is $2000 in profit. But a $3000 ad spend is $6000 in profit. Even if your return goes down as you scale, you’ll still end up with more money in your pocket.
Plus, now you’ve got a bigger pool of warm customers for your next launch, for the next holiday season, for the next [insert big campaign you run here].
And if you’re just starting out, I know it feels tempting to hire it out to an agency because ads seem scary and overwhelming, but honestly… I’d rather you go it alone and take the money you would have to invest in that agency and put it toward your ad budget instead.
I may not have said that a few years ago, but ads have changed a ton since then and they are easier than ever to get started with, especially for physical product-based businesses. If that’s something you’ve been thinking about, come check out the Lounge. We have a resident Facebook Ad Strategist there who can help you get started and optimize along the way.
And last note here… this concept is the same even if ads aren’t the thing you’re focusing on. Maybe you’re building out a network of ambassadors and affiliates to represent you on social media, or you’re going to be the one showing up regularly. Even if it’s not actually money you’re spending. Whatever it is that is working in your business, invest more into it, so you can grow.
Give Things Time to Work Before Quitting
When you’re trying something new in your business, whether it’s a new marketing platform or a campaign strategy, etc. you will likely have to put in a few reps before it pays off. So, if you’re gonna start TikTok, you can’t quit after 2 weeks if you don’t go viral. If you run a pre-launch campaign for your next collection drop, even if you don’t get the results you hoped for, it doesn’t mean it will never work.
Now, this one can be tricky because there’s a pretty fine line between giving something a fair shot and just wasting time on something that isn’t right for your business.
Typically I like to say, 90 days for a new platform and 3 times for a campaign strategy. Then you can make an assessment. If things are progressing, even if it’s slower than you’d like, that’s still a sign to keep going.
What definitely won’t help you grow is constantly bouncing between marketing platforms and strategies, without giving your audience time to catch on, or you to get better at executing it.
Focus on Fewer Things So You Can Do Them Better
And it wouldn’t be an eCommerce Badassery episode if I didn’t encourage you to do less. This is still the number one thing that holds the majority of people back. Doing too many things, and not enough of them very well.
That doesn’t mean you’ll never do the things you have on your list, but we have to be realistic about what we can accomplish with the time and resources we have. If you can buy more resources, like hiring something out, great. That will give you more capacity.
But we are all stretched too thin. We have to be ruthless about prioritization and put our energy into the things that are going to have the biggest impact in our business.
Your Next Steps
First off, if you’re feeling called out by any of these, don’t beat yourself up about it. They’re in this episode because I see them come up A LOT, including among those who seem like they have it all figured out on the outside. Friendly reminder, no one has it all figured out.
The next best thing you can do is focus on the one or two that you know you’re guilty of and make your best efforts to cut that shit out. Believe me, I’m telling myself this too.
Last but certainly not least, if you want more hand-on support keeping yourself in check, making progress in your business, and finally getting out of your way… consider joining us in the Lounge Marketing Membership. And make sure you snag that onboarding playbook posted in the announcements section. It’ll give you insight into the #1 thing you should focus on right now in your business.
Listen to the Episode
Episodes Mentioned:
49. Increase Your Average Order Value with Cross-sells & Upsells
364. Stop Optimizing for Pennies When You’re Losing Dollars
370. Badass Basics: Your eCommerce Navigation Menu
371. Badass Basics: Your eCommerce Product Page
372. Badass Basics: Building Your eCommerce Average Order Value
