10 Effective Ways To Grow Your WooCommerce Store In 2023

With the most advanced built-in features and an extensive range of third-party extensions and plugin collections, WooCommerce is undoubtedly the most powerful eCommerce platform.

No wonder it is the most popular eCommerce platform, and more than 26% of the market leaders rely on WooCommerce. With 5M+ active installations and near about 2M+ domain count prove that both beginners and experts put their trust in WooCommerce for their online shop.

However, running an online store is not just about installing the WooCommerce plugin and uploading some product images.

Did you know that 8 out of 10 online stores fail within the first two years of operation, and less than 20% succeed?

How well and how efficiently your WooCommerce website operates, as well as your marketing efforts, will determine the success of your business. In this article, we will look into 10 Effective Ways To Grow Your WooCommerce Store.

Before we jump into details, here are the 10 ways we will talk about.

Website optimization should focus on three areas.

Website Speed Optimization

47% of customers have the expectation that web pages will load in less than two seconds. If it takes more than three seconds for your website to load, 57% of visitors will leave your site.

Among the 57% of users who navigate away from your website, 80% will never come back. 44% of those customers who will never come back will tell their friends about the negative experience they had.

Therefore you must optimize your online store’s speed in order to improve your WooCommerce store growth.

But how?

Let’s find out.

Optimize images

Optimizing images is one of the first and best tips for WooCommerce store growth any expert will recommend. 75% of online shoppers rely on product images when making purchasing decisions.

But what does it mean to optimize images?

Image optimization means you need to upload high-quality, clearly visible, yet low-weighted images. If you upload heavy images, it will affect your page loading, and your audience will have a bad experience and leave your website.

You can use an image compression plugin such as Smush or EWWW Image Optimizer, or you can first compress your images before uploading using sites like TinyPNG. Use a JPG or WebP format image unless your image has a transparent background.

You need to set a standard resolution for the images. A 1000-pixel or 500-px width is considered the standard size for WooCommerce product images. Therefore, don’t upload something that is, let’s say, 2400 px.

Resize the image first and then upload it. WordPress and image compression plugins do have auto-resize options. However, you better resize them anyway before uploading to save server space.

Lazy loading images

The more images you put on your product pages, the more it will help your customers understand your product. Therefore, uploading multiple images showing different angles of a product is crucial to increase sales for WooCommerce stores.

However, the more images you put on a page, the heavier it gets, right?

The lazy loading method can save your day in this scenario.

With this feature, the images on a page won’t load until the user scrolls down to the area where they are displayed. In other words, your audience won’t have to wait for your media to load before they can start watching your content completely.

Lazy loading is now a built-in feature of WordPress. You can also find this feature in the plugins we mentioned above.

Enable caching

When a customer browses your online shop, their web browser must download all of your site’s content (photos, videos, scripts, style sheets, etc.). This may take a while, depending on how big your site is.

However, if you enable caching, their browser will store a copy of your site’s files, allowing it to load much more quickly the next time they visit.

No matter what type of WordPress website you have, you must always install and enable a caching plugin on your site. Some of the most popular caching plugins are mentioned below.

But you need to contact your host first to confirm which one suits their server the most.

Increase memory limit

The memory available to run your website is capped by your host. In some cases, however, that cap may be too low as WordPress only allocates 32 MB of memory, and WooCommerce recommends a minimum of 128 MB.

Many hosting providers allow you to increase your memory limit from within your control panel, if not, you can always contact your host directly.

Use CDN

A CDN is a system of interconnected servers located in various geographic locations. To alleviate server load, it fetches media files from your site and distributes them over its own network.

A CDN can significantly improve page loading speed and help increase WooCommerce store sales.

The solution is perfect for any shop, but it shines brightest when dealing with international customers. For instance, suppose your server is in London, and a user is in Malaysia; the site will likely load from the London location.

However, a content delivery network (CDN) loads your site from the server that is geographically closest to each individual customer.

Let’s say the CDN has a server in Singapore, so instead of loading from London, it will load from the Singapore server, which is closest to Malaysia.

This ensures that every user enjoys the fastest possible connection speeds.

Keep WordPress, themes, and plugins updated

Updates to the WordPress core, themes, or plugins typically include more than just new features or security fixes. You can expect your site’s speed to increase thanks to its optimized code.

Always update when new versions become available. You can also enable automatic updates in your WordPress settings.

Limit plugin installations

Plugins are what truly set WordPress apart from the competition and explain why it has become so popular. You can add a lot of features to the CMS with the help of extensions, but it’s important not to overdo it.

An overabundance of plugins can break a site’s functionality if they clash. It can be difficult and frustrating to try to figure out what’s causing these problems.

In addition, maintaining an ever-expanding collection of plugins becomes increasingly challenging as your site’s functionality expands. Not doing so may put your site at risk of being hacked.

Too many plugins can also have a negative impact on your site’s performance. They cause more server work because they generate extra requests. Inevitably, when a server is overloaded, performance suffers.

It is recommended that you avoid downloading any unnecessary add-ons. You should also review your current add-ons and disable any that you don’t plan on using in the near future.

Choose A High-Quality Hosting Server

A reliable host will understand the specific requirements of a WooCommerce site and configure its servers to deliver optimal performance for your store. A good service provider will also provide you with a wide range of options to explore and plenty of room to develop your needs.

Check user reviews and the features a host offers to find the best host for your WooCommerce store growth.

We would recommend Cloudways, as it is one of the best web hostings for Woocommerce stores.

Choose A Reliable And Fast Theme

The more complicated a theme is, the more code it will install on your site, resulting in a slower load time. Having said that, you may need the extra features or design tools that come with a “heavy” theme, so don’t let that stop you from using one.

To strike a balance between your site’s needs and concerns for speed, many themes also allow you to turn off features you’re not using. Try installing some themes and check their speed with some demo pages to find the ones that can help in growing a WooCommerce store.

Website Security Optimization

As a store owner, you’ve put a lot of time and effort into your shop, it’s only fair that you safeguard your hard work. You could lose money, time, and reputation if security is breached.

Here’s a checklist of tasks you need to take care of to ensure the security of your WooCommerce store.

Website Content Optimization

WooCommerce content optimization basically means your product description optimization. You need to be honest about what you’re selling in the product descriptions you write.

If the details aren’t spot-on, potential buyers won’t have a clear image of what they’re getting themselves into. A large number of returns could be the result of providing inaccurate information in the product description.

Customers’ online experiences with your products are heavily influenced by their emotions. Therefore, product descriptions need to appeal to the buyer on a personal and emotional level to drive sales and ensure WooCommerce store growth.

When making an online purchase, 92% of consumers look for discounts or coupon codes, and 90% of those who find them end up using them. Therefore, offering discounts is one best WooCommerce growth strategies you can apply.

You will notice an increase in the number of sales and conversions when you offer discounts in your WooCommerce store. WooCommerce allows you to create various types of coupons/discounts in order to grow your WooCommerce store business.

Some of the discount types are as follows.

Product feed marketing is one of the most effective and unique ways to grow a WooCommerce store. Most startups and even some regular eCommerce store owners are unaware of this great marketing method.

But what is product feed marketing?

There are hundreds of, if not thousands of marketplaces online, such as Amazon, eBay, Rakuten, Aliexpress, etc., and hundreds of price comparison sites, such as Google shopping, PriceSpy, Idealo, etc., and social media platforms where any seller can list their products to reach a broader audience.

92% of US customers buy things from online marketplaces, and in 2020, sales on the top 100 online marketplaces made up 62.7% of all internet sales. So, you can reach millions of potential buyers and directly compete with your rivals by listing your products in these channels.

However, creating and listing products one by one manually and uploading them to those channels will be a big hassle and time-consuming as well. And this is where a product feed can help you immensely.

A product feed is a CSV/XML/TXT file that contains all the information about your products, including your product title, description, price, category, image link, etc.

When you upload such a file to the marketplaces, they will fetch those data from the product feed and list and display them on their product pages.

You can create product feed files for hundreds of channels right from your WordPress admin panel with the help of a free plugin called CTX Feed.

Not only that, but you can also update your product information from your admin panel, and the plugin will automatically update that data across all channels.

This will save you a huge amount of time and help you significantly with WooCommerce store growth. Let’s quickly review how you can create a feed.

How To Create And Upload A Feed?

After you install the CTX feed plugin, you can scroll down to the CTX feed menu and click on the Make a Feed option.

It will take you to the feed creation window. From the Template dropdown field, you can select your channel. The plugin has pre-made templates for 130+ channels.

After you select any channel, the plugin will automatically populate the required attributes for that channel and fetch your product information according to the attributes. All you need to do is click on the Generate Feed button.

After that, from your existing product feed list, you can either download the file or copy the feed URL and upload it to the channel.

When you upload using the HTTPS/URL method (all marketing channel supports this option), any product data changes you make inside your WooCommerce back panel will be updated across all those channels through this feed file.

The pro version of the plugin offers more advanced filtering features for store owners to avail.

Even if you don’t know what personalization is, we are sure you have already experienced it.

Did this ever happen to you that the exact things/products/services you were looking for magically popped up on your screen on Facebook, Google, YouTube, or somewhere else on the internet you were browsing?

This is because of personalization. The internet tracks your activity online, your browsing history, your location, the device you use, and your intents and preferences all data are collected so that search engines and websites can show you the exact data/ads you want to see.

In terms of eCommerce, personalization is the practice where you are reading your customer’s behavior and displaying the products they would want to buy.

72% of your customers expect a personalized experience on your store, and personalization can increase your WooCommerce store growth by 40%.

So how do you personalize your customer’s experience?

Here are some of the personalization elements you can use.

Product Recommendations

This is a common practice where you display related products at the bottom or side of the product pages. You can use different titles for the related product section, such as viewers also viewed, trending items, handpicked for you, Visitors who bought this also bought, etc., to grab the attention of your customers.

Upsell, Cross-Sell, & Down-Sell At (& After) Checkout

Targeted upsells, cross-sells, and down-sells are a tried and tested method for increasing eCommerce sales through personalization.

The three methods are quite similar to one another, but they employ slightly different approaches to increasing your customers’ average order value (AOV):

Upsell – Upsell recommendations are when you suggest products to your customers that are more expensive than the ones they have already purchased or have in their shopping cart.

Cross-sell – Cross-selling is the practice of offering similar products to those a shopper is already perusing (or has purchased in the past), regardless of price.

Downsell – Downselling suggest products to your customers that are cheaper than the ones they have already purchased or have in their shopping cart.

Personalized Geo-Location Targeting

Geolocation-based redirection improves the user experience by sending visitors directly to the relevant pages. Customers can be further targeted with location-based segmentation, which can help you provide them with relevant offers.

There are a number of personalization plugins available for you to apply all the things we mentioned above in your store. We would recommend you install any AI-powered personalization plugin that can automatically read customer behavior and recommend related, upsell, and cross-sell products.

Email marketing is one of the most effective strategies for WooCommerce store growth if done right.

Research suggests that between 79 and 90 percent of your recipients will actually read your email. The typical percentage of recipients opening an email is between 30 and 40 percent.

Most importantly, 4.24% of people who click on an email marketing ad end up buying something. That’s over seven times the conversion rate of social media users and nearly double the rate of visitors from search.

With the WooCommerce core plugin and with the help of any email extension, you can create and automate the sending of emails such as welcome emails, transactional emails, abandon cart emails, promotional emails, etc.

You can also apply personalization to email by creating user-specific personalized emails based on customer intent, behavior, or purchase history.

80 percent of business owners say that video marketing helped them increase revenue. In fact, 86% of shoppers say they’ve been swayed to buy after watching a brand video. 66% of consumers would rather watch a video than read text when doing product research.

Add a video to your product listings to promote your brand, demonstrate how your product works, and increase sales. Product videos improve brand recognition, stimulate sales, and provide a more satisfying experience for end users.

Overall, it will improve your WooCommerce store growth.

Offering points and rewards for purchases made can boost customer loyalty and WooCommerce growth. It’s a great way to get people to your site and encourage them to make a purchase.

Incentives for making purchases or referring friends would increase traffic to your store and increase the number of people who become subscribers. This method is especially helpful when you have a subscription-based WooCommerce membership store.

Having these points redeemable is the cherry on top of an already excellent promotion idea and a great way to boost WooCommerce sales. Moreover, combining these strategies with flash sales is a great way to achieve optimum results.

You can install one of many available plugins, such as the YITH WooCommerce Points and Rewards plugin, to provide customers with a comprehensive loyalty program that will encourage them to return to your store.

Large-scale purchasing occurs on commercial holidays, typically in the last three months of the year. Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales have become standard practice for those who look for WooCommerce store growth.

On the other hand, seasonal events (such as 11.11 in November) may bring in a lot of extra cash for you. However, you can’t expect to make any real money during the holidays unless you put some thought into creating innovative marketing campaigns and providing some sort of exclusive discount or promotion.

The inability to efficiently manage your clientele can be a significant roadblock to the expansion of your business, reducing your chances of gaining new leads, signing up more users, and closing more deals.

Consequently, it is crucial to have a firm grasp of online client management and communication in the context of an eCommerce business. So you need to come up with effective customer relationship strategies.

Here are some of the ways through which you can build and improve relationships with your customers and increase WooCommerce store growth.

70% of consumers agree that a fast checkout process will increase the likelihood that they will make a purchase. 17% of customers will abandon their carts if they have any problems during checkout.

If the checkout procedure is too long or difficult, customers will simply abandon their carts and go elsewhere. If you want to draw in customers, you need to make it as simple, quick, and stress-free as possible for them to buy from you.

Maintain a simple, uncomplicated, and straightforward layout for your shopping cart page. Customers should have the option to either sign up for an account or proceed through the checkout process as a guest.

Make sure they understand what they need to do and where they need to enter their information in order to complete the purchase. Include detailed instructions for returning an item or contacting customer service if there was an issue with their order. Also include the shipping options and associated costs.

To save your customers time, you can also create direct checkout links for your WooCommerce products. Customers will have a more pleasant and successful shopping experience as a result.

Wrap-up: Grow Your WooCommerce Store

If you run an online shop using WooCommerce, these are the WooCommerce store growth tips you should follow. If you want to rule the market, you need to stay abreast of the newest developments and put into practice the top recommendations made by experts in your field.

Although the online retail space is crowded and competitive, there is still plenty of room for growth and success. The most crucial step is to create a sales and marketing strategy that accounts for new developments in the market and in technology.