Many skin care entrepreneurs have embraced ecommerce, the process of selling products or services online. However, some skin care ecommerce efforts fall short of anticipated goals, leaving website owners wondering what went wrong. In some cases, simply taking advantage of cross- and up-selling opportunities would have made the outcome more positive.
Cross-selling involves offering items that complement the one being promoted. For a skin care retailer, this might mean advertising an oil-free, moisturizing lotion on the same page as an acne-reducing facial cleanser. A customer may not realize that there are moisturizers designed for oily skin, let alone that the company sells them. Another cross-selling example would be promoting a buffer or scrubber on the same page as the skin care product intended to be used with it.
Up-selling is the act of offering a similar product that has additional features and represents a higher price point. Like cross-selling, up-selling can increase the total value of an online order. Skin care retailers can utilize up-selling techniques on their websites by offering larger containers of a product being considered by a consumer. Though shoppers will spend more in total, the price per application may be lower than for a smaller container.
Purchasing as many skin care products as possible from a single online retailer minimizes shipping costs. Cross-selling and up-selling are two easy ways for a skin care company to promote itself as one-stop shop. Online skin care retailers can add to perceived value by providing discount codes, limited-time sales, and special bulk purchase shipping offers. Shoppers will save time and money while purchasing all of their skin care products from one website.
Some online retailers lack the time or creativity to come up with cross-selling and up-selling offers. They are the perfect clients for a consulting firm like Illumination Consulting. Specializing in ecommerce and the skin care industry positions the consultants with Illumination as experts in their field. These experienced professionals will maximize the power of ecommerce for skin care businesses of all sizes.
Skin care ecommerce is here to stay so it should be embraced and utilized to its full potential. With an ecommerce site that cross-sells relevant products on each order page and up-sells to higher price points whenever possible, a skin care business will be positioned for success. The only thing it needs to focus on is developing products that consumers use to keep their skin healthy and youthful.
