How to Increase Ecommerce Sales Like a Pro In 2025

The ecommerce battlefield in 2025 is brutal: ad costs keep climbing, buyer attention is scattered across countless channels, AI personalization is changing the rules, and privacy updates make tracking harder than ever. If you’re wondering how to increase ecommerce sales in this environment, the answer isn’t one clever hack. Growth now comes from stacking creative, customer-first tactics at every stage of the journey—awareness, consideration, purchase, and retention.

This guide breaks it down for you: 20+ proven tactics, the best practices to tie them together, and the tech stack that makes it all work. Whether you want quick wins or a long-term system, everything you need to build an ecommerce sales engine for 2025 is right here.

The right approach: Building your ecommerce sales strategies around the sales funnel

Ask ten ecommerce founders how they plan to grow sales and you’ll probably hear ten different answers. Some swear by pumping more money into digital advertising. Others focus on slashing prices or running endless promotions. A few double down on loyalty programs, while others chase new technologies—AI chatbots, augmented reality try-ons, or hyper-personalized emails. Then there are those who obsess over website tweaks, SEO strategy, or conversion rate optimization alone.

None of these approaches are inherently wrong. They’re just incomplete.

When you look at ecommerce sales only through one lens—be it traffic generation, discounts, or even customer retention—you’re treating symptoms, not the root cause. Growth stalls, customer acquisition costs balloon, and you end up with a patchwork strategy that doesn’t scale.

The smarter play is to anchor everything around the sales funnel and customer journey. That means mapping every tactic to the stage a shopper is actually in: awareness, consideration, decision, or retention.

Why does this work so well?

Because customer behavior changes dramatically depending on where someone is in the journey.

A first-time visitor who landed on your site from a Google ad is looking for reassurance that your brand is legitimate. Someone who has already added products to their cart but didn’t check out probably needs a clear shipping policy, faster load times, or a limited-time offer to push them over the line.

By structuring everything around the funnel, your ecommerce store delivers the right message to the right person, instead of blasting everyone with the same generic pitch. That saves a huge chunk of your budget while boosting conversion rates!

Even better, when this approach is done right, it aligns every marketing and sales decision. Instead of chasing disconnected wins, you’re creating a cohesive system where ads attract qualified traffic, your store design supports decision-making, and post-purchase efforts turn first-time buyers into repeat customers.

As a result, you get higher conversion rates, healthier margins, and sustainable sales growth.

Here’s a quick overview of the funnel stages in practice:

• Awareness: Everything starts with brand awareness. If people don’t know your store exists, sales never follow. This stage is about visibility, which includes smart content marketing, targeted digital advertising, and SEO that drive qualified website visits. The stronger your awareness efforts, the more opportunities you create for future sales.
• Consideration: Once shoppers land on your site, their focus shifts to evaluating options. Here, customer experience and trust are the deciding factors. Reviews, detailed product descriptions, and transparent value propositions reduce friction. The goal is to position your brand as the obvious choice by using marketing tactics that build credibility and keep people engaged.
• Decision: At this stage, user experience takes center stage. A clunky checkout process or hidden fees can undo all your hard work. Streamlining checkout flow, offering clear shipping policies, and providing timely incentives ensures you capture interest before it slips away. This is where conversion rate optimization pays off in real revenue.
• Retention: The sale isn’t finished when the order is placed. A strong customer experience after purchase keeps buyers coming back, which costs far less than acquiring new ones. Personalized emails, loyalty programs, and responsive customer support extend the relationship and turn casual shoppers into repeat customers, boosting long-term profitability.

When you approach ecommerce sales through this funnel lens, every piece of the puzzle works together. You generate more qualified website visits through brand awareness, you nurture those visitors with smart marketing tactics that build trust, and you convert them with a seamless user experience. Then, instead of letting them slip away, you deliver a customer experience that drives repeat purchases.

26 actionable marketing strategies and tactics to increase ecommerce sales

Now that the sales funnel is clear, it’s time to get practical. Below, you’ll find specific marketing strategies and tactics that actually work in 2025. We’ll move through each stage of the funnel (awareness, consideration, decision, and retention), so you can see how they fit together.

Think of this as a toolkit: you don’t need to use every tactic at once, but the more you mix and match, the more powerful your funnel becomes.

At the end of the day, each of these are designed to bring in the right visitors, guide them through the buying journey, and keep them coming back for more.

Stage 1: Awareness (Get in front of the right shoppers)

No sales happen without visibility. Before you can turn browsers into buyers, you need to get in front of the right people. That’s what the awareness stage is all about: making sure your brand shows up in the places your ideal shoppers are already spending time.

The focus here isn’t vanity metrics or empty engagement. You need to attract qualified traffic that can move through the funnel and eventually become paying customers.

Below, you’ll find practical tactics to help your store break through the noise and capture new audiences.

Fuel discovery with content marketing and SEO

87% of marketers report that content marketing has helped them boost brand awareness. That’s not surprising when you realize that around 70% of consumer journeys either start with a search or involve one at some point.

Think about the last time you needed a new pair of running shoes. You probably typed something like “best running shoes for flat feet” into Google before looking at any brand directly.

That’s where content marketing pays off. Instead of flooding the internet with random posts, you create resources that directly match what potential customers are searching for and guide them naturally to your products.

For ecommerce stores, that can take the shape of:

• “Best of” roundups that include your products alongside alternatives
• Product comparison articles that highlight what makes your offer stand out
• Buying guides that explain how to choose the right product in your category

Sous Chef puts a lot of effort into content marketing and regularly publishes buyer’s guides that feature their products

To build a content engine that actually drives ecommerce sales, start with three core steps:

1. Identify keywords with buying intent: Skip broad searches like “running shoes” and focus on terms such as “best women’s trail running shoes under $100.” These indicate a shopper who’s close to purchasing.
2. Create content that matches that intent: Write guides, comparisons, or explainer articles that answer the query while linking directly to your product pages.
3. Optimize for search visibility: Use keywords in titles, metadata, and image tags, and connect your content with internal links so Google understands its value and rewards it with higher rankings.

When you search for “best olive oil” on Google, Sous Chef’s shoppable article is among the top search results

When done consistently, this turns search engines into your most reliable sales assistant. Instead of spending heavily on ads alone, you’ll build a steady pipeline of qualified website visitors (people who are already looking for the exact products you sell).

Expand reach with online marketplaces

Sometimes the fastest way to get noticed is by showing up where shoppers already are. Selling through an online marketplace (whether it’s Amazon, Etsy, or even Facebook Marketplace) can dramatically boost brand awareness while driving incremental revenue. These platforms give your products immediate exposure to millions of buyers, which can complement traffic to your own store.

YumEarth sells their candy not only via their own ecommerce store but also on online marketplaces like Amazon

But marketplaces aren’t risk-free. High competition, fees, and limited branding control can eat into margins.

That’s why you want a hybrid approach: use marketplaces for visibility and discovery, but funnel loyal customers back to your own ecommerce store where you have more control and better margins.

Drive sales with social media marketing and social commerce

Previously, we looked at content marketing and how search drives a big share of ecommerce sales. That’s still true, but the landscape is shifting. More and more shopping journeys don’t start with Google at all. They begin with something a shopper saw on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook. In fact, 59% of businesses say they’re making more sales through social media marketing than any other channel, and 54% of users actively research products on social media before buying. That combination makes social media impossible to ignore if your goal is to increase ecommerce sales.

An effective ecommerce social media marketing strategy covers several bases:

• Building brand awareness through consistent, authentic content
• Engaging directly with your audience in comments, DMs, and live streams
• Running paid campaigns that target the right shoppers at the right time
• Tracking performance to double down on content formats that actually drive sales

My Mum Made It has a robust SMM strategy and strong presence on Instagram and TikTok

If you want to take it a step further, you might use social media to build a real community around your brand. For instance, Bibliothèque Nationale decided to use their Instagram account as the platform for the collection presentation.

Bibliothèque Nationale hosted their new collection presentation show on Instagram live

But to unlock the real potential of social, you need to go beyond organic and paid ad campaigns. Just as we saw with online marketplaces, platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are evolving into marketplaces themselves. With social commerce, the path from discovery to purchase happens inside the same app. That means fewer clicks, less friction, and higher conversion rates.

Here are practical ways to leverage social commerce for your store:

• Enable shoppable posts and ads so products are tagged and purchase-ready
• Run short-form video ads (Reels, TikToks, Shorts) with product tags embedded to showcase items in action
• Use influencer-generated content as shoppable ads, combining social proof with instant purchase options
• Activate in-app checkout where available to minimize drop-offs
• Set up dynamic product retargeting ads that retarget users with the exact items they viewed or abandoned in cart
• Host live shopping events where you (or creators) demo products and link directly to checkout

Today, social media goes beyond visibility. It's a sales engine that connects awareness and purchase in a single scroll. Treating it as both a marketing channel and a storefront is what separates the brands that grow steadily from those stuck chasing likes.

Leverage influencer marketing in new ways

Social media marketing goes hand in hand with influencer marketing. Shoppable posts and Facebook ads put your products in front of the right people, but influencers add something your brand account can’t: credibility. Followers trust them, and that trust carries over to the products they recommend. In fact, influencer recommendations impact buying decisions for 49% of consumers, and nearly 80% have purchased something after seeing a product recommended on social media.

The challenge is knowing how to structure the partnership so it actually drives ecommerce sales.

Bazhane invited an influencer to create a collection special edition items

Here are proven influencer marketing formats worth considering:

• Limited-edition drops: Partner on a special edition item or collection available only for a short time. The exclusivity creates urgency, and the influencer’s endorsement makes their audience feel like they’re getting access to something unique.
• Affiliate partnerships: Equip Instagram influencers with custom links or discount codes so they earn a commission on every sale. This keeps costs tied directly to performance and ensures they have a vested interest in driving conversions.
• Unboxings and product recommendations: Influencers walk their audience through the unboxing process and share product recommendations based on firsthand experience. This highlights fit, features, and quality, helping reduce hesitation and pushing shoppers closer to checkout.
• Tutorials and routines: A natural way to show your product in action. A beauty influencer adding your serum to their skincare routine or a fitness trainer featuring your gear in a workout video makes the product part of a lifestyle rather than a standalone ad.
• Giveaways and contests: Still one of the fastest ways to build reach. Ask participants to follow your store, tag friends, or share your post to enter. Each action expands your visibility and brings new potential customers into your funnel.

Minodumonti publishes Instagram posts in collaboration with influencers

Tip: Get the most out of influencer marketing with the relevant social media features. For instance, on Instagram, you can invite a collaborator to publish your post into the influencer’s feed.

Capture attention (and emails) with interactive quizzes

Awareness shouldn't stop at one-off traffic. Instead, you should come up with tactics that turn that traffic into leads you can nurture. Interactive quiz marketing funnels do both. They draw people in with curiosity and give you valuable data in return.

For example:

• A skincare brand could offer a “Find your perfect routine” quiz
• An outdoor gear store might run “What type of hiker are you?”

Hunter & Gather collects the lead’s email before they reveal the personalized product recommendations based on the quiz results

Quizzes double as engagement and lead capture, helping you grow an email list of qualified prospects. Unlike social ad impressions that disappear after the scroll, quizzes let you continue the conversation and move people deeper into the funnel.

Tip: Check out our guide to automated lead generation in our guide.

Make the most out of your paid ad campaigns

Paid ad campaigns remain a cornerstone of ecommerce awareness strategies. Whether you’re running Meta Advantage+ Shopping campaigns, Google Performance Max, or TikTok Ads, they’re often the fastest way to drive traffic and test new audiences. But without careful targeting, ad spend can disappear quickly with little to show for it. That’s why smart brands are no longer content with broad reach, they’re making their ads hyper-relevant by going local.

Geo-targeted campaigns allow you to narrow your focus to specific cities, regions, or even neighborhoods. This not only improves relevance but also cuts down wasted spend on audiences unlikely to convert. For example:

• A DTC coffee brand could run “Free 2-day shipping in Austin” Facebook Ads campaigns targeting only Texas zip codes
• A fashion retailer might promote a weekend pop-up event to people within 10 miles of the store

These ads feel more personal because they speak directly to where the shopper lives. They also stretch your ad spend further by ensuring you’re only paying to reach people who can realistically buy.

Stage 2: Consideration (Move browsers toward buying)

Once you’ve captured attention in the awareness stage, the real work begins. At the consideration stage, shoppers are comparing options, checking competitors, and deciding if your store is worth their money. The sales strategies that win here look very different from those that drive awareness. Instead of generating buzz, the focus shifts to removing doubt, building trust, and guiding browsers toward checkout.

This is where small details carry weight. Clear product information, flexible payment options, and visible trust signals can make the difference between hesitation and purchase. Let’s look at the tactics that transform curious visitors into confident buyers.

Personalize the buying experience

At the consideration stage, shoppers are flooded with options. If your store can narrow choices and serve tailored recommendations, you immediately stand out. Personalization does exactly that. It shows potential customers that your brand understands their needs and helps guide them toward the right purchase.

Skinny Mixes offers personalized product recommendations on the product page

Practical ways to add personalization in ecommerce:

• Dynamic product recommendations: Use browsing and purchase history to suggest relevant items on product pages, in the cart, or via email. For example, “You might also like” or “Complete the look” sections.
• Personalized email flows: Instead of generic follow-ups, send recommendations tied to what someone viewed or added to their cart.
• Customized landing pages: Use website personalization to serve region-specific offers (“Free next-day shipping in LA”), or highlight collections tailored to the visitor’s interest (e.g., showing men’s products first if that’s what they’ve browsed).
• Behavior-triggered messages: Use exit-intent popups or personalized SMS with targeted offers like, “Still interested in the running shoes you viewed? Here’s 10% off for the next 24 hours.”

Tip: Go through our ultimate list of effective website personalization examples to draw inspiration for your ecommerce store. Then, learn more about personalization engines to personalize your customers’ experiences.

Enable live chat or chatbot support

A well-placed live chat can save a sale. Many shoppers abandon carts because they have one unanswered question—about shipping, sizing, or product use.

Dropps uses a FAQ chatbot with a live chat available during working hours to increase sales at the consideration stage

Offering instant help, whether through a human rep during working hours or a chatbot after hours, reassures hesitant buyers.

Tip: Take it a step further by programming quick replies for common objections so customers don’t have to leave the page to find answers.

Offer flexible payment options

Price hesitation is one of the biggest friction points in ecommerce. BNPL (buy now pay later) services like Klarna, Afterpay, or Affirm remove that barrier by letting buyers split payments into installments.

Oh Polly highlights their BNPL payment options on the product pages of the website

Offering these at checkout signals that you’re customer-friendly and accessible. For higher-ticket items, it’s often the final push that turns “maybe later” into “I’ll buy now.”

Introduce product bundles or upsells

Choice overload can stall a purchase. Bundles cut through the noise by packaging items that naturally go together. A skincare brand can offer a “starter kit” with cleanser, toner, and moisturizer, while an electronics store might upsell cases, chargers, or headphones alongside a main product.

These product bundling offers increase cart size and help shoppers feel they’re making the “complete” choice rather than guessing.

Tip: You don’t have to stop at pre-made sets. Instead, use an upsell or cross-selling widget to let customers create their own package from recommended products.

For example, someone buying running shoes could be prompted to build their own bundle with socks, insoles, and a water bottle.

Offer detailed product pages (beyond the basics)

At the consideration stage, your product page is your best-performing salesperson. A skimpy description or one stock photo won’t win over a buyer who’s comparing you with three other tabs open. What convinces them are the details that remove uncertainty and make the decision easy. In fact, 85% of shoppers say product information and pictures are important when deciding which brand or retailer to buy from.

Fenty Beauty combines social proof with showcasing product features in “Before and after” sliders

Here’s what a high-performing product page should include:

• High-quality images from multiple angles (ideally with zoom and 360° views). Lifestyle shots show products in context, while close-ups highlight quality.
• Short demo videos that show the product in use—how a jacket fits when moving, how a gadget works out of the box. Video often outperforms static images when it comes to boosting conversions.
• Clear spec sheets and sizing guides so buyers don’t need to leave the page to find answers. For apparel, include real customer fit feedback (“Runs small, order one size up”).

Zalando lets their customers know how products fit

• FAQs and objection-busting content placed directly on the page, covering shipping, materials, care instructions, or compatibility. The fewer doubts a shopper has, the more likely they are to buy.
• Social proof elements like star ratings, customer photos, or even UGC TikToks embedded into the gallery. These act as trust builders right where the decision happens.

ColourPop loads their product pages with photos and videos from different angles, product details, and customer ratings

Well-optimized product pages help reduce post-purchase regrets, lower return rates, and save your support team from answering the same questions repeatedly. When a customer can find every piece of information they need without leaving the page, the path to purchase becomes frictionless.

Deploy email remarketing sequences

Not every visitor buys on the first visit, but that doesn’t mean they’re lost. Well-timed email flows can pull them back in.

Use browse-abandonment emails with recently viewed items, cart reminders with subtle urgency, or even content-driven emails that explain how to get the most out of the product. The key is to keep your brand in their inbox while they’re still making a decision.

Sometimes Always hits their browse-abandoners with a remarketing email campaign; Source

Run retargeting ads with social proof

Just like remarketing emails, retargeting ads remind shoppers of what they left behind. Instead of blasting them with the same generic product image, include testimonials, star ratings, or influencer shoutouts.

Joymode uses a quote from a customer review in their retargeting ads

Social proof in your retargeting strategy makes these ads more persuasive and harder to ignore. For high-consideration products, this reassurance can tip the balance.

Leverage trust signals across the site

In ecommerce, trust is often the foundation of conversion. Display clear return policies, highlight secure payment options, and include delivery timelines above the fold.

Certifications (organic, cruelty-free, carbon neutral) or trust badges also carry weight.

Taza proudly displays all their certifications and trust badges on the product pages

These subtle cues collectively lower risk perception and make buyers more comfortable completing a purchase.

Showcase customer reviews and UGC

Shoppers trust other shoppers more than they trust you. That’s why verified reviews, star ratings, and user-generated content (UGC) consistently outperform polished brand copy when it comes to driving sales.

Make it easy for past customers to upload photos or short videos of their purchase, and display them prominently on product pages, in ads, and across social channels. A quick TikTok of someone unboxing your product can often sell better than a professionally shot campaign.

You can read through Meow Meow Tweet product reviews from verified buyers on every product page

Layering in real-time social proof elements can take this even further. Signals like “Currently in 37 customers’ carts” or “18 people are viewing this product right now” act as both reassurance and urgency.

They tell shoppers your product is popular while subtly nudging them not to wait. Combined with authentic product reviews and UGC, these cues make browsers feel like they’re joining a crowd of satisfied customers rather than taking a risk alone.

Suta taps into customer FOMO with social proof elements

Gamify browsing with unlockable perks

Sometimes, breaking hesitation is as simple as making the experience feel rewarding. Unlockable perks—like free shipping when the cart hits a certain value or a discount after browsing multiple pages—encourage shoppers to stay engaged and move closer to checkout.

Gainful uses a dynamic free shipping progress bar to rewards add-to-carts

Popups are one of the most effective tools here, but timing and mechanics matter. You don’t want generic interruptions; you want smart, behavior-based triggers that feel relevant:

• Time-based popups: After a shopper spends a set amount of time on your site, reward their engagement with a perk.
• Scroll-depth popups: When someone scrolls 70–80% down a product page, surface an offer like “Add one more item for free shipping.”
• Exit-intent popups: Triggered when the mouse moves toward the browser’s close button or tab, these can save abandoned sessions with a small incentive.
• Cart-value popups: Appear when a cart is just shy of a threshold (“Add $15 more for free shipping”).

These mechanics keep browsing from feeling purely transactional. Instead, shoppers feel like they’re unlocking bonuses as they go, subtly nudging them toward bigger carts and higher conversion rates.

Offer virtual try-ons or AR demos

For categories like fashion, furniture, or beauty, visualization is half the battle. Virtual Reality try-ons or Augmented Reality product demos let shoppers see how sunglasses look on their face or how a couch fits in their living room. These tools cut uncertainty, reduce returns, and build confidence in hitting “Buy Now.”

Fenty Beauty allows customers to try products on virtually before buying

Stage 3: Purchase (Maximize conversions at checkout)

You’ve done the work of building awareness and guiding shoppers through consideration. Now comes the critical moment. The checkout stage is where browsers turn into buyers, and where every small detail can make or break a sale. Abandoned carts cost ecommerce brands billions every year, so your sales strategies here should focus on simplicity, trust, and creating a little extra incentive to complete the purchase.

Let’s look at the practical ways to turn checkout into a high-converting machine.

Enable 1-click checkout across channels

The more steps between cart and confirmation, the more sales you lose. One-click checkout removes friction by storing payment and shipping info across devices and platforms.

Integrations like Shop Pay, PayPal One Touch, or Apple Pay give customers the ability to buy instantly—whether they’re on mobile, desktop, or even inside social apps. For shoppers, it’s effortless; for you, it’s fewer abandoned carts.

Offer contextual upsells and cross-sells

Checkout doesn’t have to be a dead end. Instead, it can be your chance to increase order value. Contextual upsells (like “Add a leather conditioner for your new boots”) or cross-sells (“Pair this phone with a wireless charger”) feel helpful rather than pushy when they’re directly related to what’s in the cart.

KOTN uses a checkbox to recommend adding a “you may also like” product right before the checkout

Tip: Keep it subtle and relevant, and you’ll boost revenue without disrupting the buying flow.

Gainful upsells in an unintrusive way, with a shoppable “customers also bought” section

Add trust elements at checkout

At the final step, customers want reassurance they’re making a safe choice. Displaying trust badges, SSL certificates, and secure payment icons helps reduce anxiety. Add visible guarantees, like “30-day free returns” or “Satisfaction guaranteed,” right near the payment button. These small cues reinforce credibility and prevent last-second hesitation.

Tip: Give our conversion copywriting guide a read to understand what kind of copy turns website visitors into buyers.

Use exit-intent offers for cart recovery

If a shopper hesitates and moves to close the tab, don’t let them slip away silently. Exit-intent popups at checkout can recover lost sales with a timely offer: free shipping, a small discount, or even a bonus item if they complete the order now. These offers work best as a safety net, not a standard expectation, so use them strategically.

Awareness Avenue encourages cart abandoners to complete the order with a limited-time discount code exit-intent popup

Offer surprise gifts at checkout

Delighting customers pays dividends. A small freebie added at checkout—stickers, samples, or accessories—can increase conversions and turn first-time buyers into repeat customers. Even better, it boosts AOV when you frame it as an unlockable perk (“Free gift with orders over $75”). The surprise factor builds goodwill and keeps customers coming back.

Charlotte Tilbury surprises their customers with a freebie selection at the checkout

Stage 4: Retention (Turn first-time buyers into loyal customers)

Winning a new customer is expensive; keeping them costs far less and drives far more profit over time. Retention is where margins grow, customer acquisition costs shrink, and your brand builds staying power. At this stage, the focus shifts from “How do we get them to buy?” to “How do we get them to keep buying?” The right retention sales strategies turn one-off transactions into ongoing relationships that sustain your ecommerce business for years.

Ensure top-notch customer service

Every retention tactic (whether it’s loyalty programs, predictive reminders, or creative packaging) relies on one thing: your ability to deliver on promises. If the product arrives late, support is unhelpful, or issues go unresolved, no discount or upsell will save the relationship.

Outstanding service is the baseline that makes every other strategy work.

Great ecommerce service includes:

• Fast, reliable response times: Customers expect quick replies, whether it’s live chat, email, or social DMs.
• Clear, transparent communication: Proactively update customers about shipping, delays, or issues before they have to ask.
• Multiple support channels: Give customers the freedom to reach you where they’re most comfortable.
• Empowered support teams: Equip staff to resolve issues on the spot with discounts, replacements, or credits, without forcing customers to jump through hoops.
• Proactive follow-ups: After resolving an issue, check back in to confirm satisfaction and reinforce trust.
• Consistency across touchpoints: From checkout emails to post-purchase follow-ups, the tone and experience should always align with your brand’s promises.

Get this right, and every other retention effort has a chance to succeed. Miss the mark, and even the most creative campaigns won’t stop customers from leaving.

Surprise and delight with post-purchase packaging

The moment a customer opens their order is an underrated sales opportunity. Instead of plain boxes, treat packaging as an extension of your brand. Add handwritten thank-you notes, samples of related products, or discount cards for the next order.

Even a small unexpected touch makes customers feel valued and sparks word-of-mouth referrals. This is where unboxing videos and user-generated content often begin, turning a simple delivery into organic marketing fuel.

Leverage predictive AI for personalized replenishment reminders

Predictive AI is making retention smarter. By analyzing buying patterns, you can send timely reminders before a product runs out.

For example, a pet food brand can prompt a reorder 25 days after the last purchase, or a beauty retailer can suggest replenishment for a serum every 6 weeks. Tie these reminders to email, SMS, or app notifications, and include quick-add buttons that drop the product straight into the cart.

Done right, replenishment campaigns feel helpful, not pushy, and they keep repeat sales flowing automatically.

Create gamified loyalty programs

Loyalty programs work, but gamification makes them stickier. Instead of generic points, give customers milestones, badges, or tiered rewards that make them feel like progress is part of the shopping experience.

Offer perks for more than just purchases: reward referrals, reviews, and social shares too. For instance, reaching “Gold” status could unlock free express shipping, while “Platinum” customers get early access to new drops.

Tip: For more customer loyalty and retention strategies, check out our guide.

Best practices for increasing ecommerce sales in 2025

You now have a full set of tactics across awareness, consideration, purchase, and retention.

But tactics alone don’t guarantee results.

The ecommerce brands winning in 2025 are far beyond trying things at random; they’re building systems. That means combining strategies in ways that fit their funnel and sticking to best practices that keep everything working together.

These best practices are the guardrails that make every other sales strategy pay off.

Build a CRO-first culture with regular audits

Treating conversion rate optimization (CRO) as a side project is a costly mistake. Too many ecommerce teams redesign their site once a year and call it progress, while everyday friction quietly kills sales.

A CRO-first culture means running systematic CRO audits at every stage of the funnel. Don’t just look at overall traffic and sales; drill down into the details:

• Are product pages loading in under 3 seconds on mobile?
• Do customers abandon carts when shipping fees appear?
• Is navigation intuitive enough to get from homepage to checkout in two clicks?

The actionable playbook is simple but powerful:

• Review analytics monthly to identify high-exit or underperforming pages
• Run heatmaps and session recordings to see exactly where users hesitate or drop off
• Conduct customer interviews or on-site surveys to uncover pain points you can’t see in the data
• Prioritize fixes that remove the biggest bottlenecks first, whether it’s optimizing checkout flow or simplifying forms

Each improvement may feel small, but the compounding effect is massive. Over time, a CRO-first mindset makes your entire operation more efficient, stretching every dollar of ad spend and every visitor that lands on your site.

Run A/B tests continuously

Regular CRO audits tell you where problems exist in your funnel, but they don’t tell you which fix works best. That’s where A/B testing comes in. Instead of relying on gut instinct, continuous testing shows you exactly what drives conversions.

The scope is wide: ad creatives, landing page headlines, checkout copy, product images, even the structure of bundles. Small tweaks often outperform big redesigns. For example, you might find that a cart banner promising “Free shipping” converts better than one highlighting “Fast delivery.”

Tip: Check out our guide to digital experimentation to learn more about different experiments, their pros and cons, and applications in ecommerce.

Stay ahead with AI and emerging tech

Technology is driving the next wave of ecommerce sales growth. The stores that scale fastest in 2025 are the ones applying new tools to shorten buying journeys, personalize experiences, and keep inventory aligned with demand. Innovation here directly impacts revenue, not just efficiency.

Practical ways to use technology to lift sales:

• Smarter product recommendations: Deploy machine learning that adapts in real time to browsing behavior, raising average order value with highly relevant suggestions.
• Dynamic pricing models: Increase conversions by automatically adjusting prices based on demand, seasonality, or competitor shifts. Learn more about pricing experiments in our guide.
• Conversational chatbots: Capture more sales by answering purchase-related questions instantly, reducing drop-offs during decision-making.
• Visual search functionality: Let shoppers upload images to find similar items, making product discovery faster and more intuitive.
• AR and VR experiences: Remove hesitation with virtual try-ons for fashion or furniture previews in real spaces, boosting conversion rates.
• Predictive demand planning for inventory management: Ensure bestsellers remain in stock while avoiding overstock on slow movers, keeping sales consistent.
• Voice-enabled shopping: Position your products to be easily found and purchased through voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant.

The key is to focus on solutions that directly influence buying decisions. Whether it’s helping customers choose faster, reducing friction at checkout, or keeping the right products in stock, these technologies are proven to increase ecommerce sales when implemented with intent.

Balance discounts with value-add incentives

Discounts work, but they’re a double-edged sword. Train your customers to expect them, and you erode margins while making full-price sales harder. The smarter approach is balancing discounts with value-add incentives.

Instead of constant markdowns, offer perks like free shipping thresholds, loyalty rewards, or bundled gifts. Use discounts sparingly to close sales or clear inventory, but rely on value-driven incentives to protect profitability and keep customers engaged without cheapening your brand.

Prioritize mobile-first experiences

Most ecommerce traffic now comes from smartphones, and a growing share of purchases happen there too. That makes mobile optimization one of the most critical levers for increasing sales. A store designed with mobile as the primary experience (not as an afterthought) captures more revenue simply by reducing friction where most shoppers buy.

Key areas to audit include:

• Load speed: Pages should load in under three seconds on mobile connections. Anything slower risks high bounce rates.
• Navigation: Menus and filters need to be clear, easy to scroll, and designed for thumbs. Complex dropdowns create unnecessary UX issues.
• Checkout flow: Autofill-ready forms, mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal), and minimal steps cut abandonment.
• Visuals: Images and videos must adapt to smaller screens without losing clarity or creating awkward formatting.
• Tap targets: Buttons and CTAs should be large enough to tap comfortably without accidental clicks.

Use the right tools to increase ecommerce sales

Even the best strategies stall without the right infrastructure. To scale effectively, ecommerce teams rely on tools across several categories:

• Customer engagement software for email, SMS, and remarketing flows
• Personalization engines for product recommendations and behavior-based targeting
• Analytics platforms for funnel tracking, heatmaps, and A/B testing
• Support tools for live chat, chatbots, and customer service efficiency

Managing each of these separately often leads to bloated tech stacks, overlapping features, and more time spent on integrations than on selling. This is where all-in-one solutions can make a real difference.

Personizely is one example: it combines website personalization, on-site widgets, A/B testing, and integrations with major email and ecommerce platforms in a single tool. That means fewer moving parts, easier execution, and a cleaner workflow for teams that want to focus on growth rather than tech maintenance.

Ready to increase ecommerce sales?

Ecommerce growth in 2025 won’t come from chasing tricks. It will come from combining smart, customer-focused tactics at every stage of the funnel. The businesses that win will be the ones that connect awareness, consideration, purchase, and retention into a single, well-oiled system.

If you’re looking for momentum right now, start where the impact shows fastest: streamlined checkout, authentic customer reviews, and simple loyalty flows. Then, build the deeper foundations: AI-powered personalization, community-driven marketing, and a clear brand story that earns repeat business.

Ready to put these ideas into practice? Personizely can help, bringing personalization, on-site widgets, testing, and integrations together so you can turn strategy into measurable results.

Sign up to Personizely now, the first 14 days are free!

How to increase ecommerce sales FAQ