Add-ons - Cart-Power

Key Features and Add-ons for a CS-Cart Children’s Goods Online Store

Ksenia Cheburova — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 11:55:55 +0000

Creating and successfully running an online store for children’s goods is not only a promising business venture but also a challenging task for entrepreneurs. In the previous article, “Reasons to Launch an E-Commerce Store for Kids’ Products” we explained why this market segment is attractive for investment.

However, in a world of fierce competition, simply having an online store does not guarantee success. Without certain key features, the store risks being inconvenient and, therefore, unable to attract and retain customers.

We have compiled a selection of add-ons to assist both newcomers to this business and owners of existing stores looking to expand functionality and increase conversions. All the add-ons have been developed by us, based on the current requirements of modern business, combining the expertise of our analysts, developers, and marketing specialists.

The names are clickable; when clicked, a page with detailed information about each add-on will open.

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For Easy Navigation on the Site

Convenient navigation is crucial in an online store for children’s goods, providing a comfortable and intuitive user experience. This increases the likelihood of purchases and helps retain customers.

A logical and straightforward site structure starts with the main page and menu. Through these, visitors can easily find the products and categories they need, such as clothing, toys, furniture, and more. For instance, if a mother is searching for educational toys for her child, she can quickly navigate to the “Toys” section, then the “Educational Toys” subcategory, and use filters for age and brand to easily select the right product. This also aids in better indexing of the site by search engines.

Useful Add-Ons:

For Effective Search

Special search add-ons are essential for an online store of children’s goods to ensure customers can quickly and easily find the products they need. It’s important to provide filters by age, gender, and product categories.

Age filters allow visitors to select products for specific age groups, such as 0-1 years, 2-3 years, 4-5 years, and so on.
Gender filters help parents search for products designed for boys, girls, or unisex.
Category filters simplify the search by dividing products into groups such as clothing, toys, books, furniture, and more.

For instance, parents looking for a gift for a 3-year-old boy can quickly select the relevant filters and get a list of matching products, saving them a lot of time and effort.

Useful Add-Ons:

For Buyer Confidence

These add-ons will help ensure customer confidence and peace of mind when choosing products.

Review System: Allows customers to post and read reviews from other customers, aiding in informed decision-making.
Product Ratings: Based on user ratings, these provide a clear idea of a product’s popularity and quality.
Review Moderation: Ensures that reviews are accurate and relevant, protecting customers from dishonest comments.

For example, if parents are looking to buy a baby stroller, they can read reviews and check the product’s rating to ensure its reliability and quality, knowing that the reviews have been verified for authenticity.

Useful Add-Ons:

To Attract and Encourage Repeat Purchases

Add-ons designed to attract and encourage repeat purchases help increase the number of customers and retain them.

Discounts and Promotions: Offer customers discount coupons and promotional codes, motivating them to make purchases.
Coupon System Integration: Simplifies the creation and use of coupons.
Promotions and Special Offers Section: Keeps customers informed about current discounts and advantageous offers.
Loyalty Programs: Cumulative bonuses and discounts for regular customers encourage repeat purchases. For instance, parents who regularly buy children’s items can earn bonuses for each purchase and use them to receive discounts in the future, making shopping more profitable and enjoyable.

Useful Add-Ons:

For Safe and Convenient Orders

Security add-ons in an online store for children’s goods not only ensure the protection of customer data and secure payments but also make the purchasing process as convenient as possible. Options like one-click ordering or paying in installments simplify purchases and make them accessible to everyone. Integration with proven and secure payment methods provides a high level of data protection and confidentiality.

Useful Add-Ons:

For Increasing Average Order Value

To increase the average order value in an online store specializing in children’s goods, consider implementing additional sales add-ons. These features aim to encourage customers to add more items to their carts. Similar Products Block provides recommendations of similar products to increase interest in additional purchases and boost the average order value. Related Products Block suggests complementary products or frequently purchased items to supplement the main product order, enhancing the shopping experience.

Useful Add-Ons:

For mobile conversion

CS-Cart inherently offers mobile optimization by default, ensuring that the online store for children’s goods is convenient to use on mobile devices. This enhances mobile conversion rates, making the store accessible and user-friendly even on the go.

For added user convenience, developing a dedicated mobile application can further streamline the purchasing process through mobile devices. This approach enables customers to make purchases faster and more efficiently, enhancing their overall shopping experience.

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Each feature and function described in our article aims to improve the user experience and streamline management for your online store of children’s goods. If you find a feature appealing but need enhancements or have unique business ideas, we encourage you to reach out to us. Our team is dedicated to offering tailored and practical solutions that can further elevate the success of your business. Let us collaborate to implement specific improvements that align perfectly with your vision and goals.

The post Key Features and Add-ons for a CS-Cart Children’s Goods Online Store first appeared on Cart-Power.

10 Add-Ons for CS-Cart Clothing and Shoe Store: Explore Our Selection

Ksenia Cheburova — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:11:57 +0000

To ensure the relevance of an online store, it’s essential to continually assess, enhance, and optimize it, while also introducing new content. This can be achieved without the need for extensive revisions by leveraging add-ons. The CS-Cart admin panel allows for seamless integration, configuration, and deactivation of new functionalities, without disrupting the overall site operation.

The integration of suitable add-ons can significantly enhance the store’s performance by introducing new features, enhancing existing ones, streamlining management, and boosting marketing effectiveness. We have curated a selection of 10 specialized add-ons tailored for clothing and shoe stores on CS-Cart. Each add-on’s name is clickable, directing you to our online store of ready-made solutions, where you can explore the details of each add-on and make a purchase.

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1. Size Charts

Clothing sizes can vary significantly among different manufacturers, leading to customer challenges when making online purchases. This issue may prompt customers to either buy multiple sizes for trial or abandon their purchase altogether. Mitigating this, adding a size chart to the product page can guide customers in selecting the appropriate size for their body type, thereby reducing the occurrence of product returns.

To facilitate customer decision-making, the size chart can be conveniently placed on the product tab or as a link directly on the product page. Alternatively, a pop-up window can effectively display a sizing guide.

The configuration of the size chart is facilitated by a specialized add-on, enabling automatic addition of the table to products with specific attributes. Administrators can seamlessly create the table and specify the products to which it should be applied, streamlining the process and saving time.

2. Additional Option Images

This add-on facilitates efficient management of product images by providing diverse options. It enables the addition of multiple images for each option, ensuring that when customers switch between options, the product images change accordingly. For instance, if a customer selects the color red, they will exclusively view images of the red product. This capability enhances the presentation of the product, potentially stimulating customer interest and purchase intent.

3. Parameter (Options) Variants Table

This add-on enables customers to view all the available options for a particular product. For instance, if the product is sneakers available in three colors and five sizes, customers can easily explore all the combinations of colors and sizes. Additionally, they can promptly add the desired quantity to their cart directly from the product page. This streamlined approach simplifies the purchasing process, minimizing the number of actions customers need to complete.

4. LookBook

This add-on enables the creation of product sets that can be displayed and purchased on a single screen. This is especially advantageous for clothing stores, as it allows customers to visualize how different items coordinate. Each item within the set is showcased alongside the others, empowering customers to promptly add them to the cart.

5. Collections

The add-on provides the capability to group products into thematic collections. Each collection can feature a cover, title, and description. These collections are presented on the product page, allowing customers to explore other products within the same group.

6. Product Accessories

This add-on enables the showcasing of accessories related to a product directly on its page. Users can set up the add-on to automatically exhibit accessories for a particular product or choose accessories from a designated category. Moreover, customization options for the accessory block include adjusting image size, implementing auto-scrolling features, and displaying prices as needed.

7. Power Labels

An effective method to capture customers’ interest in specific products is through the utilization of labels, either in text or graphic form. Text labels offer customization options such as selecting the shape (rectangular, rounded, teardrop-shaped, beveled, round), adjusting background transparency, text color, and borders. By incorporating labels, customers can filter products based on various labels, thereby enhancing the ease of finding the desired product.

8. Product Questions

Comprehensive product descriptions and high-quality images may not always suffice to finalize a purchase decision. There are instances when customers have unresolved queries, which, if unanswered, might lead them to abandon the purchase. The expeditious provision of answers to potential customers’ questions can significantly lower the likelihood of them leaving to patronize a comparable product from a different store.

This add-on facilitates the inclusion of a question and answer section on the product page, enabling customers to access additional information if it is not covered in the product description. The search functionality further expedites the retrieval of required information, while prompt responses bolster customer loyalty. Email notifications ensure timely responses to inquiries, and the option for customers to contribute to the Q&A section adds unique content to the product page. Together, these features enhance the likelihood of a product purchase.

9. Features and Filters with Icons

For a quick and convenient product search, the client needs clear navigation and a correctly configured filter. The names of the product characteristics may not be informative enough or ambiguous, so it is better to use images to describe them. To make the product search more productive, you can create a convenient filter with images of characteristics and their possible options. The add-on allows you to create filters, characteristics and variants of characteristics with images. These images can be used for visualization in the filter block, on the catalog page and on the detailed product page.

10. Live Search

An efficient and effective search function within an online store directly correlates with increased purchase probability. The “Live search” not only retrieves products but also guides customers toward making a purchase. The inclusion of category filtering, sections with related queries, brand filtration, category sorting, recommended product suggestions, and direct options for adding to cart, comparison listing, and wish lists collectively streamline the purchase process. Furthermore, the search history enables analysis of search activity, facilitates tailored recommendations, and mitigates situations with unfruitful searches. The capacity for customizable appearance and search parameters ensures simplicity and convenience, while delivering pertinent search results. Comprehensive details regarding all the features of this add-on can be found on its dedicated page.

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Enhancing the appeal and functionality of your clothing and shoe online store on the CS-Cart platform is now more achievable. The range of add-ons offered, including size chart and additional images for product options, as well as lookbook and live search functionalities, contribute to elevating the shopping experience, making it more convenient and engaging. Explore our collection of ready-made solutions in our online store and seize the opportunity to enhance your business. Elevate your store’s functionality, enhance shopping convenience, and stand out from the competition.

The post 10 Add-Ons for CS-Cart Clothing and Shoe Store: Explore Our Selection first appeared on Cart-Power.

Boosting Sales on Multi-Vendor Marketplace: Effective Strategies for Off-Season Success

Cart-Power Team — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 11:31:18 +0000

The off-season can be a tough time for multi-vendor marketplaces. With fewer buyers and lower sales, it’s important to come up with effective strategies to boost your sales during this downtime. In this blog, I’ll share some clever strategies to help your marketplace thrive even when the season is slow. So, let’s dive in!

Understanding the Off-Season

The off-season poses challenges for business owners on multi-vendor marketplaces. Sales decline, customer interest vanishes, and competition becomes more intense. Despite these obstacles, there are effective strategies to overcome them and bolster sales during this otherwise slow period. Let’s delve into these strategies in detail.

First and foremost, businesses should focus on marketing initiatives tailored specifically for the off-season. Crafting compelling promotional campaigns, offering exclusive discounts, or running limited-time sales can help attract customers and create a sense of urgency. Additionally, leveraging social media platforms to engage with customers and generate buzz is crucial during this time. Engaging content, giveaways, and contests can all play a significant role in driving traffic and sales.

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Moreover, optimizing product listings and ensuring they are visually appealing and informative is essential. Investing time in high-quality product descriptions, professional product images, and customer reviews can instill confidence in potential buyers, ultimately boosting sales. In addition, improving search engine optimization (SEO) for product listings will increase visibility and attract organic traffic.

Customer retention should not be overlooked either. Offering incentives for repeat purchases, such as loyalty programs or special promotions for returning customers, can help maintain customer loyalty even during the off-season. Providing exceptional customer service and personalized communication can also differentiate a business from its competitors and cultivate long-term customer relationships.

Collaboration with other businesses or influencers within the same industry can be mutually beneficial. By partnering up, businesses can expand their reach, tap into new customer segments, and collaborate on cross-promotions to increase sales collectively. With joint efforts, brands can generate more buzz, gain credibility, and drive traffic to their marketplaces.

Furthermore, taking advantage of the off-season to improve operations and streamline processes is crucial. This includes optimizing inventory management systems, enhancing delivery logistics, and refining customer support mechanisms. By doing so, businesses can ensure a seamless customer experience and position themselves as reliable and efficient sellers.

Although the off-season may present challenges, business owners on multi-vendor marketplaces can employ effective strategies to boost sales during this period. Through targeted marketing campaigns, optimized product listings, customer retention efforts, collaborations, and operational improvements, businesses can navigate the lulls and achieve success even in the face of competition and decreased customer interest.

Tips and Strategies

Breaks in the action can be beneficial. You can utilize the off-season for personal growth rather than holding back. A change in mindset can transform slow periods into exciting opportunities to prepare for the future. Embracing a different perspective that acknowledges the value of quiet moments can be valuable. Here are examples to inspire you:

Offer Seasonal Discounts

During the off-season, customers may be hesitant to spend money. By offering attractive seasonal discounts, you can incentivize them to make purchases. This strategy can help you stand out from competitors and increase sales volume.

Cross-Promote Products

Collaborating with other vendors on the marketplace can be mutually beneficial. By cross-promoting each other’s products, you can reach a wider audience and potentially attract new customers. This strategy also creates a sense of community among vendors, fostering a positive and supportive environment.

Implement a Referral Program

Word-of-mouth referrals can be potent for growing your customer base. By implementing a referral program, you encourage existing customers to refer new customers by offering them discounts, rewards, or other incentives. This strategy can amplify the reach of your marketing efforts and generate new sales leads.

Improve Product Descriptions

Product descriptions play a crucial role in enticing customers to make a purchase. Enhance your product descriptions by including high-quality images, detailed specifications, and customer reviews. Providing comprehensive and accurate information helps build trust with potential customers and increases the likelihood of a successful sale.

Optimize Search Results

When customers search for products on the marketplace, it’s essential to ensure your offerings appear in relevant search results. Use relevant keywords in your product titles and descriptions to improve your visibility. This optimization increases the chances of potential customers discovering your products and boosts the possibility of sales.

Run Email and Social Media Campaigns

Staying connected with your customer base is crucial, particularly during the off-season. Utilize targeted email and social media campaigns to share updates, promotions, and new products. By engaging with your customers digitally, you can remind them of your presence, provide value, and encourage them to make purchases.

Provide Excellent Customer Service

Exceptional customer service is a cornerstone of any successful business. During the off-season, go the extra mile to provide outstanding service. Address customer issues promptly, offer easy return and refund policies, and ensure a seamless shopping experience. Satisfied customers are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend your marketplace to others.

Offer Free Shipping or Discounted Rates

Shipping costs can be a deterrent for customers, especially during the off-season when budgetary concerns may be more prominent. By offering your customers the convenience of delivering their preferred items to their doorsteps without any additional cost, you can attract more attention to your store during the off-season.

Collaborate with Influencers

Partner with social media influencers or bloggers who have a significant following in your niche to showcase your products and attract more customers. Collaborate with other brands, create helpful content will attract and engage people on your website.

Encouraging User Reviews and Testimonials

Reviews and testimonials are the lifeblood of a multi-vendor marketplace. They not only provide valuable insights for potential buyers but also generate a sense of community and trust. Incentivize those reviews, showcase the positive ones, and address the negative ones with care. Your customers will thank you, and your sales will soar.

Analyzing Data and Making Data-Driven Decisions

In the ever-evolving world of e-commerce, staying ahead of the curve is not just important, it’s essential. And how can you possibly do that without diving into the world of data analysis? You can’t just rely on guesswork and wishful thinking. You need cold, hard numbers to guide your decisions.
Monitoring sales and customer behavior is your first step towards success. Keep a close eye on your sales figures. Are there any dips or spikes? Is there a specific product that is gaining popularity? Understanding these patterns will enable you to tailor your strategies accordingly. Maybe it’s time to revise your product offerings or invest more in advertising those popular items.

Final Words

Implementing above-mentioned strategies will undoubtedly increase your chances of succeeding during the off-season and beyond. However, if you’re looking to take things to the next level and customize your marketplace for even better results, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team. We have the expertise to tailor a solution that precisely fits your business needs.

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The post Boosting Sales on Multi-Vendor Marketplace: Effective Strategies for Off-Season Success first appeared on Cart-Power.

Checking Site Performance. What Is A Technical Audit For?

Cart-Power Team — Fri, 19 May 2023 10:47:29 +0000

A technical audit is the process of analyzing and evaluating various technical factors that may affect the functionality and performance of a website. These factors may include site loading speed, content optimization, HTML tags, links, and other technical characteristics that affect user experience or search engine rankings.

A thorough technical audit helps identify problems with a website that reduce its effectiveness. It also gives recommendations and insights on how to improve it. Typically, an audit includes a page-by-page site analysis that checks key performance indicators such as page load time, response codes, and other technical elements on each page of the resource. Based on the results of the audit, significant improvements can be made to increase its visibility in search engines, improve its position in SERPs, and improve the user experience.

Modifications after a technical audit improve the visibility of the site in search engines, increase user friendliness. A technical audit is an important part of a long-term website performance strategy, so it’s worth doing it regularly and not putting it off.

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When Do You Need Performance Audit?

During a technical audit, various aspects of the overall condition of the site are carefully checked. The audit includes checking for broken links, identifying duplicate content, analyzing site architecture and page speed, reviewing meta descriptions, and ensuring that the site follows to SEO best practices.

Is the site loading slowly? The problem may lie in a large number of heavy files, images, or lack of caching.

Is your site not ranking in search results? There may be problems with page indexing, page metadata.

In addition to the fact that the audit must be carried out regularly, consider situations when it is definitely necessary.

5 Situations After Which a Technical Audit is Required

1. The site has just been developed and launched.

Ypu may have a question: why does a site need an audit if it has just been launched? Technical audits are critical to the long-term success of a website. According to the results, it will show errors, the correction of which will allow you to index the site faster and simplify the future SEO optimization process. A technical audit early in the life of a site will help identify any potential issues before they become serious.

2. The site moves to another CMS, platform.

In order for the site not to lose positions in the search, it is necessary to audit for the presence of problems that should not be transferred to a new site. It will help you find out if page redirects are configured correctly, if directives for indexing pages are written, if sitemap.xml is generated correctly, if there are broken links, if meta tags are transferred, if canonical pages are configured to eliminate duplicates. Site migration is a global process in which technical audit is only one stage. For more information on what to do in terms of SEO during the transfer, read the article “How to Migrate a Site to CS-Cart And Save Positions in Search“

3. Expansion and scaling of the site.

The more pages that are added to the site, the greater the chance of errors. And if they are added in bulk, as in the case of expanding the site to several domain zones, then errors can grow with the same progression as the number of pages. An abundance of technical errors can affect search engine visibility and traffic. Conducting a technical audit before scaling a website across multiple domains will help ensure that each domain is stable, secure, and consistent.

4. Planned increase in the load on the site.

A sharp increase in traffic to the site may be due to seasons, sales, or other reasons. A technical audit involves reviewing a site’s back-end infrastructure, including its servers, network components, and codebase, to make sure they can handle the expected spike in traffic. We also analyze the front-end of the site to identify issues related to usability, accessibility or performance that may affect the user experience.

5. A complete redesign of the site.

Global changes in the site interface may affect the availability of pages and their performance on different devices. The abundance of heavy images, new elements, unoptimized code on the page can slow down page loading or not be displayed at all on mobile devices.

What is Included in a Technical Performance Review?

The verification of all components of a technical audit can be divided into groups. The verification includes an audit of the following items:

1. Load speed audit

This checks the current performance of the site and the components that affect it. This includes the current page loading speed, server-side and host-side checks, server-side and client-side code checks.

2. Site structure analysis

Here, the correctness of the settings of the robots.txt and the sitemap.xml, the security of the resource, the URL of the pages, the presence of mixed content, duplicate pages, the availability of internal links and link nesting are checked.

3. Assessment of external technical components

Checking the indexing of pages in Google and other search engines, setting up outgoing links and the presence of broken links.

4. Internal technical components

The presence of micromarking and assessment of its filling, the presence of redirects and the correctness of their settings, the presence and absence of meta tags on pages, the presence of duplicate pages, the evaluation of canonical pages are checked.

Checklist for Technical SEO Audit

Below we have prepared a brief checklist for the technical SEO audit of the site. This is a minimum of work that will allow you to successfully launch the site, as well as check the basic SEO optimization of already working resources.

1. Robots.txt

Search engines have a negative attitude towards sites containing a large number of “technical” pages. Such pages include: feedback forms, user’s personal account, pages for official use, user’s personal data, pages with search results, sorting pages, etc. Such pages must be closed from indexing so that the site does not fall under sanctions and filters. For this, the Disallow directive is used. This directive is written in the robots.txt file with a list of all pages that need to be closed.

2. Sitemap.xml

A sitemap is a file with links to the pages of a site that tells search engines about the actual structure of the site. Here you can specify the most important sections of the site and additional information about them (for example, versions in other languages or when the page was last updated). This allows search engines to more accurately index content on your site.

3. Using metatags and titles

Title is one of the main elements of internal optimization. It displays the main page title. Avoid keyword spamming. Use only the most basic keyword phrases that will capture the essence of the page. The more interesting and meaningful the title of the page, the more clicks on it. The Description metatag is designed to display a brief description of the page content. If you do not fill in this tag, the search engine will take a section from its text to describe the content of the page, which may be undesirable. H1 headings should be unique for each page.

4. URL optimization

Duplicates are pages on the same domain with identical or very similar content. Most often they appear due to the peculiarities of the CMS, errors in the robots.txt directives, or in the wrong setting of 301 redirects.

The lower the page nesting level, the more:

The landing page will be indexed faster.
The page will get more weight.
Less chance that the page will fall out of the index.
The visitor will reach the goal faster.

5. Image optimization

The lighter the picture, the faster it will load, the lower the bounce rate on the site. In addition, the small size of the images saves hosting space. The Alt attribute adds a text description to the picture. Title describes the image when hovering over it. They should be different to avoid duplication, describe the image and not contain common words.

6. Micromarking

The micromarking briefly conveys the content of the desired page. Most often they are used to unambiguously distinguish certain types of content from the crowd. Search robots better understand the content of the page. Also, the use of micromarking helps to increase transitions to the site.

7. Site usability

To collect traffic from all possible sources, you need to configure it to display correctly on various devices and in various browsers.
If the site does not display correctly in some browser or on some device, you lose visitors. Search robots prefer sites with correct (valid) HTML code. Search engines are guided by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standard. You can check your site for validity using online tools and services. They will find errors in the HTML code and display them on the screen with the necessary recommendations.

How to Check the Site On Your Own

You can find both paid tools for complex SEO audit and free services for dedicated tasks.
Semrush, SE Ranking, Rush Analytics are popular among paid services. Benefits of paid services in a variety of tools. In one service, you can find insights for a marketing strategy in terms of SEO promotion. On the other hand, a set of tools does not mean that all of them will be useful to you or that the most necessary one will be absent among them.

We have made a selection of free services to check the technical components of the site:

PageSpeed Insights – allows you to find out how quickly the pages of the site load, gives an estimate of the speed of loading pages on PC and mobile devices. As well as recommendations for improvement.

W3C validator – checks the website layout for validity. The service will find all the errors in the HTML code and display them on the screen with the necessary recommendations.

A tool from Yandex – Analysis of the XML sitemap checks the correctness of the compilation of the Sitemap file, finds errors.

Mobile Friendly Test – allows you to find out how the pages of the site are optimized for mobile devices. It does not analyze the entire site, but individual pages.

Browserling – checks the site for cross-browser compatibility. To do this, you need to select the appropriate operating system and the desired browser.

Schema.org Markup Validator – does a general check of all types of schema.org markup without regard to Google rules. And to see what rich results might be for your structured data pages, you can use the Rich Results Tester.

What to Do With the Results

Diagnostics of the technical part of the site, error detection is the first step to the effective functioning of the site. The task of the audit is only to identify errors that, in order of priority, need to be corrected. This will serve as a good foundation for the site for further search promotion.

One of the most frequently asked questions is: Is fixing technical errors enough to improve search rankings? Search promotion involves not only technical factors. Search engines evaluate hundreds of factors to generate search results. It is not known how much weight each factor has in order to say for sure: “correcting a technical error will raise the site 2 positions up”. In addition, search engine algorithms are constantly changing and updating to ensure that users actually get the right content for their search results.

Just improving the download speed and getting to the top of the search results will not work. This requires a set of measures for search promotion. SEO audits are like a check of the health of your site, which must be carried out regularly, from launch to development.

In Cart-Power, following the results of the Technical Audit service, you will receive a detailed report with a description of the problems, their prioritization, an explanation of the significance for the site, as well as ready-made tips for correcting. You can fix the errors yourself or entrust it to us.

Useful Tools If Your Site is Made on CS-Cart

HTTPS Switcher. This add-on allows you to automatically transfer all pages of your site to the “Safe” status and make your site reliable for your customers.

SEO-names Editor. For easy management of SEO names of any objects: products, categories, characteristics, tags, pages, blog articles, etc. Sometimes when objects (products, pages, etc.) are deleted, records about this object remain in the seo_names table, thereby blocking the use of this SEO name for other objects. This add-on will help you easily find, change or delete unwanted entries.

Lazy Load for Images and Blocks. Loads images not immediately when the page is opened, but as it scrolls. This helps improve performance and conserve device resources. According to our data, the loading speed of pages with more than 50 products doubles.

WebP Images. The add-on automatically converts images to modern WebP format without quality loss. As a result, images weigh on average a quarter less than their PNG and JPG sources. As a result, page loading times are reduced.

JSON-LD Markup. The JSON-LD Markup add-on automatically marks up data on site pages to generate structured data for search engines.

SEO For Images. It adds alt and title texts to all images. You can also change the names of image files. It is enough for the administrator to set up a couple of templates, and the texts for them will be generated.

SEO For Filters. The add-on creates SEO-optimized landing pages for search queries like “Category + filter combination”. Not all filter pages need to be turned into landing pages, but they can be optimized by creating SEO names for them. The module allows you to set SEO names for feature variants used in the filter.

SEO Optimization. This is a package of solutions for SEO promotion of your store: flexible management of the indexing of site pages will allow you to exclude pages that should not be in the index, minification of the page’s HTML code, export / import of 301 redirects, working out extra slashes in the URL, managing the canonicity of various pages store and the Last-Modified HTTP header, and even an SEO name editor to edit the SEO name table right from the admin panel.

Extended Sitemap XML. It allows you to generate an advanced XML sitemap that meets all the requirements of search engines. Exclude missing products, products without prices, categories and brands without products from the sitemap. Add additional custom links and a separate XML image map.

All-in-One SEO Pack. It already includes 9 most needed modules. As a result, you get the maximum effect from their joint use.

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The post Checking Site Performance. What Is A Technical Audit For? first appeared on Cart-Power.

How Can A Marketplace Attract Sellers? Strategy And Lifehacks

Cart-Power Team — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 11:13:29 +0000

Marketplace performance metrics are more complex and different from a regular online store. The marketplace takes into account and cares about the interests of not only buyers. In order for the site to open, it must have a sufficient number of services that people want to buy. The profit of the marketplace largely depends on the number of sellers on the site. And here the main question arises for any marketplace: how to attract more sellers?

A strategy for attracting merchants is required not only at the site opening stage, but also during expansion, when entering new markets. And in order for sellers to want to join the marketplace, you need to have a sufficient number of buyers. The age-old problem is what comes first, the chicken or the egg. Let’s figure out where to start.

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Sellers Acquisition Strategies

Use existing resources

Find communities, groups, events where your sellers can potentially be present. These can be groups in social networks, communities, forums, aggregators, electronic bulletin boards, offline events, exhibitions, conferences. Today, the number of social media users in the world is approximately 4.62 billion people. This is almost half of the world’s population. In 2021, TikTok showed breakthrough growth and in 2022 the number of users of this social network continues to grow. Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram are also popular all over the world. They have become more than a photo-sharing platform, they can also be used for sales.

Look for groups with similar interests, many suppliers are already selling on social networks, you need to find them and invite them to your site. At the beginning of its work, Etsy used an offline strategy, visiting all kinds of fairs and exhibitions, inviting sellers and manufacturers of handmade goods to collaborate.

Airbnb poached property owners from Craigslist, an e-list marketplace. To do this, they offered to host on both Craigslist and Airbnb, the property owners compared and came to the conclusion that Airbnb is better protected from fraud and chose it as an alternative.

When lured from other sites, be prepared to offer conditions and service better than those of competitors. Make a short presentation about the main advantages of placement for sellers and opportunities.

Sponsorship of events

Use an event marketing strategy. Act as one of the sponsors at the conference, event. Your brand will appear among other reputable companies, you will at least get advertising and mentions about yourself.
Why you should take part:

The investments you make will return to you as leads.
Search for business partners and collaborations. Look for partners with whom the alliance will help strengthen your business.
You explore the audience from the inside and study the strategies of your competitors.
Using hashtags of famous events will help reach a large audience.

Short term solutions for sellers

The ultimate goal of any market is to expand and scale globally. But at the very beginning of your work, you can use and offer temporary solutions, but they will work for the maximum convenience of sellers. The main task at the first stage is to gain the trust of those who are already with you or are just planning to join.

For example, Uber used a reverse acquisition strategy. To establish themselves as a quality service, they invited professional drivers, relying on the fact that taxi users will share a positive experience. And only after that the service began to accept drivers with their cars.

Another solution offered by Airbnb to property owners. When they began to notice that private ads are not as popular on the site as hotels and inns. One of the reasons lay in the photographs, glamorous numbers attracted more attention than photos from a non-professional camera. Then they rented a camera and replaced the photos in these ads with high quality photos. The effect was noticeable very quickly, after which the service began to offer it as a separate service.

Own policy for sellers

When you look for suppliers, you will need to convince each time that you are the best, but also tell the basic rules for placement, mutual settlements, etc. For contacts and meetings, you can use the presentation, as well as draw up a policy for sellers on your market. By and large, this is a set of rules and actions that can and cannot be done on the marketplace.

Describe in detail:

Rules for the placement of goods and an agreement with the site.
Rules of mutual settlements with sellers.
Fees and payments: what payment systems can be used, what is the commission rate, etc.
Storage, shipping, and returns: what shipping, storage, and shipping options do you offer.
Describe in detail the promotion opportunities and how they work.

Your policy is a living tool for attraction and control. As the market develops, you can change and supplement it. But by offering it at the start, you broadcast transparent and open terms of cooperation, which can act as a guarantor of your brand.

Sellers' interest

To successfully implement an acquisition strategy, you need to understand and choose which sellers you need to attract. A simple rule of 100 contacts 10 will probably become your merchants. In order to optimize your efforts at the start and get fewer bounces, attract an interested audience.
To do this, use the content, post articles on blogs, forums, write guest posts and use referral links. Create information activity around your marketplace, build a brand to interest the audience and attract sellers more easily.

Launch activity where there is a lot of demand and little supply. At one time, Airbnb launched its services in Denver ahead of the Democratic convention. 80,000 participants and a shortage of hotels made this strategy a success.
High demand at the start precedes lower expectations, and if competitors are not able to meet all the demand, then this is a great chance to strengthen their position.

If despite the availability of offers, demand remains high, then most likely you will be able to find a key advantage over competitors by conducting audience research. Perhaps the policy of existing marketplaces does not satisfy all the needs of merchants.

9 lifehacks to attract more sellers

1. Provide a simple and understandable monetization model

Sellers want to know exactly what they are paying for and how much they will end up getting. Use transparent models to gain trust:

Commission. The seller pays a specific amount or percentage of each transaction.
Accommodation fee. Sellers pay a commission for listing items.
Subscription. Sellers pay for access to the platform, either monthly or annually.
Promotion fee. Posting is free, but you can collect ad fees, top ads, and more.

At the same time, at the start, you can offer more favorable conditions. For example, the seller can list the first 10 products for free or provide a free subscription, but with limited access, without additional modules.

2. Useful guides and instructions for working with the platform

Perhaps not all of your merchants are active sellers with experience. Someone can be a beginner and working on the marketplace is like going out into outer space for him. Make sure that the management of your storefront does not cause difficulties for the seller. Make video instructions for setting up and an overview of the main functionality. And also create interactive hints.

3. Share useful information

Take full advantage of the content marketing tools and power of your blog. Write useful articles on how to sell different categories of goods, how to promote more effectively, do market reviews and current trends.
You can enable sellers to write articles on the marketplace’s general blog and talk about their products there, make reviews and instructions, and share expert opinions.

The Meowtel service offer to find reliable sitters for cat. It’s a B2C service where you can become a pet-sitter or find the right person for your pet. This service avialable in different cities of US. They share lovable articles that you can’t get past.

4. Use positive experience

Another useful content marketing tool is a video blog. You can set up a marketplace with your YouTube channel and share your success stories. We perceive visual messages 60,000 times faster than text with the same content. In addition, video content conveys and evokes more emotions than dry text, even with pictures. We tend to trust information more when we see it with our own eyes. Therefore, if you want to talk about the achievements of your sellers, make short videos. The sellers will tell a short story about the creation of their brand, how the ideas for creating goods and the first sales on your marketplace appeared. The best example is Uber Eats.

For vendors, this will be another promotion tool, and for you, an additional source of organic traffic.

5. Reliable support system

This is an important aspect in the seller support system. Firstly, many of the vendors are already selling on other sites. Make sure the transition is smooth for them and doesn’t cause unnecessary problems.

For example, for our client Gowholesale, we made an integration with Shopify, as many of the customer’s clients already conducted their sales there. As a result, it is easy to manage and import goods on the Gowholesale marketplace, even if the vendor sells on two sites.

Secondly, despite the experience of the vendors or your detailed instructions, you have an economic responsibility to the sellers. And if something goes wrong with the order on the marketplace side, the seller should be able to contact the administrator and get help 24/7. Let it be a chat, the ability to order a call, or any other available method. Online purchases are made from different parts of the world.

In addition, claims against the seller may not be justified, add the ability to open a dispute and resolve the conflict on the part of the marketplace, using the example of Aliexpress and Amazon.

The most common problems sellers face are:

Feedback and comments not related to products, the seller should have the opportunity to dispute it or send a request to remove the negative feedback.
Warehouse problems. Items are missing or damaged. Consider the possibility of compensation.
Need to adjust delivery. Sometimes buyers may make a mistake in filling out the form, and the seller will find out after sending. In this case, give the opportunity to change the delivery without penalty.

6. Review and showcase the capabilities of your marketplace

Have you found a potential pool of sellers and are ready to make an offer to them? Describe the main advantages of working on the marketplace. The best way to attract sellers is to show how many buyers there are already on your site and how many partners can sell.

Make a separate page on your marketplace and describe the benefits of working with you. Examples of landing pages of famous marketplaces:

t is better to try once than to see a hundred times. Give trial access to the marketplace. LinkedIn is providing free access for a month to showcase all the features for users.

7. Easy start

Minimize the process of filling out an application and moderating the seller on the marketplace. To do this, you can immediately grant full access to the storefront and the admin panel. You do not need to pass any additional checks to start placing goods. The seller immediately receives an invoice for payment.

If the quality of goods and the level of suppliers are important to you, then grant access to the admin panel immediately, and to the storefront after approval. For approval, the seller can provide certificates for the goods. Thus, he will have the opportunity to get acquainted with a part of the functionality and evaluate it.

If you are looking for sellers from an aggregator, an electronic bulletin board that are potentially suitable for you. You can partially fill out the seller’s card and invite him to place goods. The method is not suitable for everyone, but when half the work has been done for you, it is tempting to try.

8. Tools to Maximize Sales

Add modular turnkey solutions to the marketplace to make it easy for merchants to manage sales and attract buyers. For example:

Promo codes and labels for goods. Buyers will be able to purchase products at a lower price, and to draw attention to specific products, use graphic and text images: “New”, “Free Shipping”, “Discount”, “Coming Soon”, etc.
Analogues and accessories. By adding accessories, the seller will be able to increase the average check, and by offering an alternative option, taking into account the cost and characteristics, it will help to convert visitors.
Run an auction for different products. This will allow the seller to interest and attract more buyers to his store, and buyers to purchase goods at a bargain price.

9. Work on SEO

Buyers primarily rely on search results. And if your sellers’ product results are beyond the first page, 75% of buyers won’t even consider them.

To get to the top positions of the search results, make sure that the product and category pages have meta tags: Title, Description, H1, keywords. Optimize robot.txt and add alt to all images. Add JSON micro-markup so that page data is automatically structured for search engines. Don’t forget about Open Graph micro-markup for social networks, so that links from the marketplace look attractive and display content.

In the All-in-One SEO Pack from Cart-Power you can find all the tools you need to work on search engine promotion. It contains the most necessary tools that complement each other and guarantee maximum effect.

Examples of Successful Attraction Strategies

Upwork

On the Upwork site, you can find specialists of any profile to work on projects, one-time tasks, and for outstaffing. The number of registered customers exceeded 4 million, and performers 10 million people.

The basis of Upwork is the interaction of people. The platform is characterized by simple functionality and ease of use. What did Upwork do to become a successful ad marketplace?

Interaction with startups. At the beginning of its existence, collaboration with startups helped to grow significantly. Executives and founders willingly placed their announcements after communication at exhibitions and startup conferences.
Development of your community. It was important for the management of Upwork to make a strong relationship between employers and freelancers with the site. To do this, they held joint meetings and seminars, where everyone exchanged experience and knowledge. The company invested in the development of its own forum and the investment quickly paid off.
Constant improvements. The platform continues to study the audience, collect user experience data and has already implemented dozens of new features – detailed profiles, success scores, interactions, etc.

Airbnb

The well-known site for finding and renting housing had a difficult task – to establish a trusting relationship between homeowners and tenants. The idea to implement a full cycle of short-term rental housing in 2008 was new to the market.

The platform should be a reliable guarantor of transactions. How did they attract homeowners and visitors?

Pricing. Renting an apartment on Airbnb was cheaper than a hotel room. The more choice the site offered, the more visitors it attracted.
Feedback and rating system. To ensure trust on the site, tenant feedback is simply indispensable. Airbbnb offered to provide access to listings of properties with high ratings and ratings for a fee. This stimulated vendors to earn high marks, customers received the best service.
Blog and learning guides. To help homeowners move forward, the company began to write articles and share tips on how to move forward, how to advertise yourself on the site. And for travelers articles and travel tips. For example, how to travel alone safely.

Conclusion

To get ahead of competitors and investment in development were justified, consider a strategy for promoting and attracting sellers even before launch. Learn the basic needs of your salespeople, research what your competitors have to offer, and find unique touchpoints. Try mixing strategies to get the most out of it.

As soon as a critical mass of partners join the site, you will get a synergistic effect. In an effort to increase sales, large suppliers will want to join you, involving more and more new buyers in the sales funnel. More lifehacks can be found from key Asian ecommerce players.

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The post How Can A Marketplace Attract Sellers? Strategy And Lifehacks first appeared on Cart-Power.