10 E-commerce Growth Hacking Strategies For D2C Brands

The Indian E-commerce dynamic is growing rapidly, and it is expected to reach US$ 163 billion by 2026. Unsurprisingly, every online store wants a slice of it. But this is not easy considering the fact that there are thousands of E-commerce websites vying for the same customer’s attention. Now, if you are the owner of one of these businesses, it is very important to invest in marketing strategies like growth hacking.

Hundreds of early-stage E-commerce startups are already doing this and reaping the benefits. So, what exactly is E-commerce growth hacking? More importantly, what are some of the top E-commerce growth hacking strategies that work today? Let us find the answers to these questions in this post.

What is e-commerce growth hacking?

Growth hacking is a buzzword in the world of marketing. It is a data-driven marketing strategy involving the most effective, innovative, and cost-efficient ways to rapidly grow your online store.

Unlike conventional digital marketing strategies, growth hacking involves scalable and repeatable methods to grow your user base without breaking the bank. In other words, it typically involves using fewer resources to create awareness, acquire customers, and generate revenue for your online store.

10 e-commerce growth hacking strategies for D2C brands

Let us now go through 10 battle-tested E-commerce growth hacking strategies tailored for D2C brands –

1. Induce FOMO

FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, is not an unheard phenomenon, but it is certainly one of the most successful growth hacking strategies prevalent today. In this, you create urgency to tap into the basic emotions of humans. Whenever they see a time-sensitive offer, it becomes a now-or-never decision for them.

The goal of this growth hack is to shorten the decision-making time and prevent consumers from switching to competitors. Also, it fosters a feeling of exclusivity and privilege, making customers more likely to take advantage of these opportunities.

For example, here is Ajio, the online fashion brand inducing FOMO by running a time-sensitive deal. They have smartly highlighted the time left for this deal so that customers will be prompted to place an order quickly.

2. Use social proofs

As we have highlighted earlier, the internet is inundated with E-commerce stores. The same product is being sold by multiple brands at similar prices. This means the trust factor is simply non-negotiable in this space. As a business owner, if you can ensure trust in multiple ways, it will go a long way in encouraging people to consider you over your competitors.

One way to effectively use social proof to drive sales is by displaying trust badges on your website. Though this is more common among SaaS companies, E-commerce businesses can leverage this technique to build trust. The more common way is to display customer testimonials on different pages of your website. Mamaearth, for instance, offers social proof straightaway by displaying user reviews on their home page –

3. Focus on your copies

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the words matter too. Irrespective of how good your product visuals are, you need to support them with compelling, keyword-rich descriptions. Besides drawing much-needed attention to your products, it can influence the ranking of the page in the search engine results page. Here are some best practices you can follow while crafting product descriptions –

Identify common pain points of your potential customers and address them in your product descriptions.
A/B test different product copy variations to see which ones perform best.
Include relevant keywords in the product description without affecting the readability.
Create a narrative around your product. Explain how it can solve a problem or fulfill a need in the customer’s life.

The watch wear brand Garmin has nailed their product description by highlighting unique selling points and outlining what sets their products apart from competitors.

4. Embrace conversational commerce

You do not want to overwhelm or frustrate visitors by making them scour through hundreds of products’ pages. It may lead them to give up on their purchase idea altogether. Yes, an intuitive search functionality will definitely help, but present customers want a lot more than a simple search.

Enter Chat Bots or Live Chat. These conversational commerce features can do a lot more than suggest possible results matching a search query. They can offer immediate assistance, answer questions, suggest products, and even guide users through the buying process. The best part – they are available 24/7 to provide timely, accurate, and consistent responses when a visitor hits a wall.

Pepperfry, the online furniture brand, has a useful live chat feature on their website. Visitors can effortlessly find products or answers to some of their pressing questions in a matter of a few minutes.

5. Cross-sell and Up-sell

Every customer interaction that you have is a chance for sale. But it can also be a chance to bolster the value of that sale. This is made possible through cross-selling and up-selling.

If someone buys a laptop from your website, you can get them to purchase a laptop bag or a keyboard. This is cross-selling, where you recommend complementary products. In up-selling, you recommend a product of higher value to the same customer. Taking the same example, you will recommend a laptop with a better configuration than the one they are currently planning to buy.

The goal of either strategy is to increase the average order value, which has a positive impact on your overall sales. They also offer the added benefit of improving the shopping experience of the visitors. By recommending the right products at the right time, you are catering to the customer’s exact needs and simplifying their purchase journey.

Here is Decathlon, the sportswear brand, adopting a cross-selling strategy in the form of a “Customers Also Bought” widget. They have displayed it on every product page to convince the buyers to purchase more than what they had initially intended to.

6. Adopt a referral program

Despite the endless advancements in digital marketing, word-of-mouth marketing continues to be one of the most effective forms of marketing even today. A positive recommendation from a known person will convince most people to purchase that brand. Unfortunately, not all customers will share their positive experiences with others. This is where a referral program can help.

It is a growth hack where you incentivize customers to spread the positive word about their experience with your brand. You can offer discounts, freebies, or even exclusive access to products in exchange for bringing in new customers. This is also a cost-effective hack, as you spend only after getting results.

Boat, the wearables brand, runs a successful referral program where both the referrer and the referred friend get rewarded after a successful referral.

7. Organize contests and giveaways

Who doesn’t love free gifts? This includes your potential customers, too. Conduct giveaways and contests regularly to drive traffic to your store. These activities have an inherent virality attached to them and can encourage more people to visit your website and participate. Contests and giveaways create a buzz around your brand, generate significant chatter on social media, and enhance your online visibility.

Also, when participants enter these events on your site, they will automatically try to explore your products, and interact with your content. This, in turn, will increase the search engine ranking of your landing pages, thereby making your brand more visible to potential customers.

Croma, the consumer appliance store, ran a contest on their website to drive more visitors to improve their brand visibility.

8. Run seasonal campaigns

In this strategy, you leverage the timing of specific seasons, holidays, and events to boost sales and engagements. Diwali Sale and Republic Day Sale are classic examples. Whenever you are close to these seasons, you need to tap into the seasonal preferences and shopping behaviors of customers.

Seasonal campaigns enable you to capitalize on heightened consumer interest during specific times of the year. For instance, Diwali is the time when most people splurge on clothes. By running a strong festival-specific campaign during this period, you can attract potential customers to consider you for most of their purchases.

E-commerce brands like Meesho run Diwali campaigns every year to increase their sales volume and clear out stock.

9. Optimize your checkout

Cart abandonment is a plaguing issue in E-commerce. The culprit, in most cases, is a poor checkout experience. For a moment, put yourself in the customer’s shoes. You’re excited by the products in your cart and are ready to complete your purchase. However, when you reach checkout, you find that you need to fill in a cartload of information about you, most of which is never needed. You would rather abandon your cart at this point than fill in all this information. Isn’t it?

So, as a store owner, you need to avoid this friction on the checkout page. Only ask for essential information, and if possible, try to fit the input fields in a single checkout page. Another tactic is to show the steps of the checkout upfront so the process seems more manageable to buyers.

Take a look at this checkout page of Myntra. It is minimalistic and seamless, ensuring that there is no reason for customers to abandon the cart.

10. Partner with influencers

This is one of the fastest ways to spread the word about your business. By influencers, we mean popular Instagrammers, YouTubers, and Tiktokers who have a large following in their respective space.

When you join hands with them, you are reaching out to their followers and expanding the reach of your brand. This is a win-win situation for both. While the influencer gets paid for their endorsement, you get rewarded for the exposure. Working with influencers also helps in building trust and loyalty among your target audience. The key is to find influencers who align with your core brand values so that he/she can convincingly endorse your brand.

Electronics brand Philips regularly partners with influencers, asking them to demonstrate and talk about the key features of their products.

Final Thoughts

Follow the above growth hacking strategies to drive sales, enhance customer engagement, and position your brand as a formidable player in the E-commerce landscape. However, successful growth not only requires innovative strategies but also strong financial management. This is where Velocity can help. We offer a diverse range of financial products to help you grow exponentially in a short span. Contact us to know more.

10 E-commerce Growth Hacking Strategies For D2C Brands

What is e-commerce growth hacking?