Commerce & growth / AMEY & CO
Ecommerce growth: what to fix before buying more traffic.
A practical approach to improving your online store, from product confidence and merchandising to retention and the economics of each order.
Amey & Co · 2 min read ·
Start with the point where customers hesitate
More visitors can expose the same weaknesses to a larger audience. Before increasing acquisition spend, follow the buying journey on a phone: from an advert or search result to the product, basket and checkout. Notice every unanswered question. Can a new customer understand the product, choose a variant and see delivery information without hunting?
Compare product views, basket additions, checkout starts and completed orders over the same period. Look at device and acquisition source separately. A fall between two steps is a place to investigate, not proof of a particular cause. Customer questions and support messages can explain what the numbers cannot.
Make the product easier to choose
Use photography to show scale, texture and use, alongside clear product views. Explain dimensions, materials, care and suitability in ordinary language. A beautiful lifestyle image sets the scene; a close-up can settle a buying decision. Give both a job rather than filling a gallery with near-identical shots.
Organise collections around how people shop. A gift buyer may need a different route from someone replacing a familiar item. Useful filters and comparisons reduce the work of choosing. Test the most common journeys with someone unfamiliar with the range and listen to the language they use.
Build a better basket without forcing one
Bundles work best when the products belong together and the value is clear. Cross-selling should answer a practical question: what would make this purchase more useful? Show the complete cost and avoid interrupting checkout with a succession of offers.
Measure more than average order value. A larger discounted basket can leave less contribution after product cost, fulfilment and returns. Compare bundle orders with individual purchases and check whether the offer is attracting suitable customers or simply discounting orders that would already have happened.
Connect the first purchase with the next
A store launch is the beginning of a customer relationship. Helpful post-purchase content, relevant follow-up and a considered email programme can give customers reasons to return. The timing should reflect the product: care advice for a durable purchase is different from a replenishment reminder.
For Oxford Brush Company, our contribution connected the first online store with product photography, UGC, email and sales techniques including bundling and cross-selling. The lesson is the value of joining the parts together. A website, campaign and retention programme should share an understanding of the customer.
Choose the next improvement deliberately
Write down one problem, one proposed change and the behaviour you expect to improve. Establish a baseline before release and annotate promotions, stock changes and other events that could affect the comparison. Where traffic permits, a controlled test is more informative than comparing two very different trading weeks.
Start with the highest-friction journey you can realistically improve. Check that the change works for customers and the people running the store, then move to the next constraint. Sustainable ecommerce growth depends on an experience the business can deliver consistently.