How can product positioning improve conversions on your ecommerce app?

Making conversions and selling products is the raison d'etre of any given ecommerce store. There are a number of tips entrepreneurs can find on increasing conversions for their ecommerce store online.

One complaint entrepreneurs often have is that many conversion specific tips online are very generic. This may not seem wrong from the perspective of an entrepreneur. There is very little practical advice for new companies and selling products in their early stages of struggle.

This is partly because the initial days of struggle are almost mandatory for a new company. No store or app has a right to sell products and become successful. Entrepreneurs have to go through the process of trying different things and learning their craft before they start getting regular conversions.

One tip entrepreneurs often ignore by branding it as ‘general’ is product positioning. It is possible product positioning may not yield incredible returns. However, it is the best way to make the most of an ecommerce store.

First, let’s get the basics out of the way.

What is product positioning?

Product positioning gets down to the tactical part of marketing a product.

Let’s take an example. Assume you have an ecommerce app selling kids footwear. You created the app using a WooCommerce to app builder for Android and iOS.

Once the app building is complete, you break down your target audience into the following segments -

• Parents looking to buy footwear for their children

• Children trying to influence their parents into buying them footwear

Product positioning essentially gives marketers a framework to create the best possible angle to sell the product to the target audience. In this example, marketers have to find two different ways to sell the benefits of a given footwear product that appeal to parents and children.  

What are parents looking for when buying shoes and sandals for their children? They generally look for durability and brand reliability. Thus, marketers can pitch products keeping in mind the needs of the parents.

Can the same tactic be used for children? No. Kids don’t generally look for durability and brand reliability. They are much more inclined to want a stylish and trendy pair of shoes. Thus, both parents and children are targeted by selling a different set of benefits that come with a product.

In essence, product positioning is a tactic that forces marketers to sell products based on the needs of a specific segment of the target audience.

How does product positioning help with conversions?

The end objective of any given sales tactic is to increase conversions. Product positioning is no different.

The example above shows the power of product positioning in a practical setting. The sections below enable users to see the greater benefits of product positioning for an ecommerce app. Given the effort it takes to either build an app from scratch or use a WordPress to Android app builder, it makes sense for readers to imbibe the following points.

#1 - Make the most of your products

How do entrepreneurs generally go about increasing conversions and sales?

The tactic generally adopted by entrepreneurs is adding more products to the ecommerce store. This practice ignores other issues that cause low conversions.

Let’s continue with the example above. Assume you only created an app marketing campaign to attract children to your products. This means you’ve ignored a large chunk of your target audience.

Not targeting parents means you’re missing out on a large part of your target audience. If the conversions then don’t meet expectations, it is unwise to simply add another product to the store.

The solution here is product positioning. It essentially ensures marketers approach each segment of the audience separately. In the long run, this means every product reaches its entire target audience.

#2 - Relating to the needs of prospective customers

Another reason product positioning helps with conversions is its ability to relate to customers.

The entire point of product positioning is addressing the specific needs of a segment of prospects. Audiences are sold benefits that matter to them, not a generic marketing slogan.

This process is inherently aimed at relating more closely to the needs of the prospects.

Since their specific needs are addressed, prospects are much more likely to go deep into the sales funnel.

This generally improves the chances of an ecommerce app to negate customers from choosing other brands. This is because they identify more with the store that addresses their needs.

Benefits like increase in customer loyalty and conversions are a welcome byproduct of product positioning done right.

#3 - Sheds light on customer value

Sales numbers and conversions from different segments sheds light on the overall value of each segment.

A product can have a very large target audience. Let’s come to the kids footwear store example. We segmented the audience into two segments - parents and children. This however is a very broad classification. Marketers technically have to segment their audience to a much greater degree.

Also read: Build a premium mobile app for your footwear brand and reinvent your business

Marketers have to approach each segment differently. This doesn’t just mean a difference in marketing copy. A difference in investment and resources is also fairly clear.

Take the kids footwear store example again. Marketers will be able to learn which segment of the audience eventually leads to greater conversions. This is very valuable information for marketers who wish to allocate the right level of resources to every segment of the audience.

An in-depth analysis in the case of ecommerce apps generally requires the use of mobile app analytics tools.

In conclusion

Developing an ecommerce app is not a joke. Even when using one of the best free online Android & iOS app makers, there is still a considerable amount of effort needed to make an app successful.

This piece brings to light the role of product positioning in making an ecommerce app successful. As a practice, product positioning is rooted in the simple principle of crafting concise marketing copy that packs a punch.

The latter sections of the piece discuss the role of product positioning in driving conversions. It is possible that this practice will not yield immediate results. However, it is an important step in setting up a long-term strategy to improve conversions and customer loyalty.