Question

Topic: Website Critique

Online Store Not Making Sales!

Posted by Anonymous on 5/7/2012 at 8:02 AM ET 25 Points
Hi, I have started a new online store with 2 other people. We are selling handmade childrens clothing (a little bit higher end compared to others) we are based in Australia. We have steady traffic to our site with many page hits. Is there anything on the site that is not working for us? www.cocktailkids.com People can find us through google. Or is it pure marketing? Any advise would be great. Ready to change the whole site if needed. Thanks.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Harry Hallman on 5/7/2012 at 9:29 AM Accepted
    In the US a Cocktail is an alcoholic beverage. Not sure what it means Australia but I think it may have the same meaning. If so perhaps a small part of the issue is the name and people not feeling comfortable with the idea of booze and kids. On the other hand you may be getting visits form people who are intrigued with the name but have no wish to buy anything.

    Check you abandon shopping carts to see how many people open them. If you have a lot them maybe you are attracting the right people, but something else is wrong, such as price. Also you don't have a lot of merchandise and they may simple not find what they want.

    As for Google searches. Are they finding you from your name or when they search for children's clothing? My guess is by your name. That is not good enough because you are new and virtually no one knows your name.

    You can work of your search engine optimization, but it will take a long while for you to get enough traction to generate meaningful sales. So I would suggest you use other marketing methods such as paid Google ads, emails (if you have a list), digital foot printing (get listed on relevant directories and make friends with bloggers), and social media such as Facebook (or the Aussie equivalent) and Pinterest to start. It takes a lot of work to get the right people to your site.

    You did not mention how much traffic (visits) you get. If it is a few hundred to a thousand a month it is simple too little to generate enough sales. Most of the small business clothing sites I work with or know about get from 1 to 1.5 conversion rate and sometimes less. Conversion rate is the number of purchases as a percentage of people who visit you site. If 100 people visit your site and you sell one order that is a 1% conversion rate.

    Hope this helps.
  • Posted by Harry Hallman on 5/7/2012 at 9:34 AM Member
    Just saw Phil's reply and I agree with his info as well. I was concentrating more on marketing, but merchandising is very important. By not have descriptions or sizes you are hurting your ability to sell.
  • Posted on 5/7/2012 at 3:15 PM Member
    As a Brit I got the concept behind the name Cocktail Kids straight away (party dresses), though wouldn't google for "cocktail dresses for kids". I don't see a negative association with booze.

    Some of the photos on the site don’t seem to really do the clothes justice though, you describe your clothes as being “a little bit higher end compared to others” and are priced accordingly, but some of them are just photographed on the floor and the quality of the pictures makes some of the fabrics look a little cheap (I’m sure that’s the photography skills, not the dress making). I think you may need to invest in a better photographer with a really good eye for detail.

    I think Phil is right, you need more descriptions to justify the price, particularly when you're selling dry clean only silk for a little girl (how would dry cleaning handle raspberry, tomato, chocolate, grass?) and it’s potentially a one time only use.

    You could also maybe do with a strap line for your shop, you really need to set your shop apart from the competition. Cute clothes are available from everywhere now, can you make your customers feel particularly special for having bought your clothes? A back story may help justify the cost when they are talking in the competitive mother circles at the party.

    The other thing I would say is that the range is quite limited, so you're not likely to get a lot of repeat custom.
  • Posted on 5/7/2012 at 9:39 PM Author
    Thanks everyone, I have tweeked a few things for the moment, will continue to try and fix items. However I am thinking marketing is a big issue currently.
  • Posted by easyE on 5/8/2012 at 10:10 AM Member
    You need more exposure. You need to 'Social Market your brand'. Get yourself listed on Etsy and start selling on line in the children category. Create a 'cult' following on FB much like Matilda Jane Clothing - They have 45,642 likes and 875 talking about it. BTW: There is nothing wrong with the name of your business. As long as your product Rocks, who cares! I only have time for these two suggestions - but there are a ton of other things you can to. Maybe Etsy & FB will inspire. Watch Matilda Jane - They do a lot of cool things that you could feed from. Best of luck! -E
  • Posted by ashxmarie on 5/13/2012 at 7:23 PM Member
    When I look at buying clothing online, I always like to see it being modeled when looking at the specific page for the item on sale. It just helps me visualize myself wearing it more than just seeing a picture of it hanging up on a white background.
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