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Guide · increasing online store sales · by John Kiskipelis
Increase online store sales: the 10 levers and which one to pull first
An online store’s sales are the product of four numbers: how many come, how many buy, how much they spend per order and how many times they buy again. Every “tip” you will read about increasing sales pulls one of the four — and it is worth it only if it pulls the one that is weakest in your store. This guide, written by John Kiskipelis, shows the ten levers UpCommerce works across 30+ clients selling in Greece, which one to pull first depending on your numbers, and what four of those clients saw in practice — without forgetting that more sales do not always mean more profit.
The equation
Sales = visitors × conversion × average order × repeat purchase
Four numbers you already have in GA4 and the backend. A 25% increase in two of them (×1.56) does more than a 50% increase in one — because they multiply. And the fifth number, the margin, decides whether the increase is worth it.
How many come and how many of them buy. The first is raised by promotion, the second by the site. The conversion rate per channel also tells you who is coming.
How much each order leaves and how many times the same customer comes back. They are the two numbers nobody usually looks at — and the cheapest to raise, because they need no new click.
An increase in sales in a category that leaves a loss is an increase in loss. Before you pull any lever, know what is left per category. Online store profitability →
The 10 levers
The ten levers for increasing an online store’s sales — by the number they raise
Grouped by which of the four numbers they pull. None is “first” for everyone; first is the one that pulls your own weak number.
1 · Visitors: channels with purchase intent
Google Shopping and Search, Skroutz: the customer searches for the product, you show up. Measured in cost per order, not impressions. Google Ads for online stores → · How to sell on Skroutz →
2 · Visitors: channels that create demand
Meta, TikTok, creators: they show the product to people who did not know it. They work when the creative and the retargeting are right — and when the site converts, otherwise you buy visitors who leave. Meta Ads for online stores →
3 · Visitors: SEO that stays
Categories and products that rank bring the same people with no cost per click. It takes months, but it lowers the cost per order in every other channel. Ecommerce SEO →
4 · Conversion: the product page
Images, price and availability without scrolling, shipping and delivery next to the button, answers to the customer’s questions. It is usually the point that gives the biggest increase at the lowest cost.
5 · Conversion: checkout and payments
Purchase without an account, shipping known early, card, cash on delivery, instalments and digital wallets, a form that works on mobile. Every step removed is orders that stay. CRO for online stores →
6 · Conversion: trust
Reviews, a returns policy in one sentence, phone, address, secure payment. An unknown store sells when it proves it exists.
7 · Average order: free-shipping threshold and bundles
A free-shipping threshold slightly above today’s average order, suggestions of complementary products, bundles at a package price. They lift the basket without a new visitor — as long as the margin is calculated, not only the revenue.
8 · Repeat purchase: email automations
Abandoned cart, welcome, repeat purchase, win-back. The customer you already paid for in advertising buys again without a new click. Usually the most underrated lever. Email marketing for online stores →
9 · Repeat purchase: a reason to come back
Points, priority on new arrivals, service that remembers the customer, delivery that keeps its word. Repeat purchase is built on the experience of the first order, not on a programme.
10 · Measurement: the one number a month
Cost per new customer per channel, against the margin. Without it you do not know which lever worked. Work out your threshold: ROAS calculator →
Which lever to pull first — depending on the number that is failing
The site works, nobody sees it. Levers 1 to 3, measured in cost per order, and SEO so that it stays.
More promotion here buys more loss. Levers 4 to 6: product page, checkout, trust — and a check of who comes from each channel.
The store sells once to each person. Levers 7 to 9: shipping threshold, bundles, email automations, delivery experience. It is usually the cheapest increase.
The most common — and the reason tips do not work. Start from measurement (lever 10) or from a few-minute test: Online Store Profitability Index → · If the store is not selling at all: the 8 things we check first →
What clients saw
What increasing sales looked like in four stores we worked with
The clients’ own numbers, as they report them — so you can see which lever gave what. Every store is different; the numbers show what is possible, not what anyone promises.
On the same budget, by reallocating advertising and growth tools: +2,311% from ads, +337% from the tools. Lever 1, without a new euro. Published by Skroutz. See the case study →
An international brand shipping from Bulgaria: +45.7% year-on-year revenue within three months, 86% of revenue from Skroutz’s tools, average order +41% in three months. Lever 1 — and the average order rose from the channel and the strategy, not from discounts. See the case study →
Rose Poupée with the online store reaching over 40% of the company’s annual revenue, with a gender-neutral menu that opened a new audience; Christou 1910 with a fifth of revenue online in under three years, almost from zero. Mainly levers 1, 2 and 8. All case studies →
The mistakes
The five mistakes that keep sales down while the budget goes up
We see them often in the stores we review. None is fixed with more money.
Only the “visitors” lever
Every month more budget on advertising, with the same conversion rate and the same average order. The other three levers have no cost per click.
Sales growth without margin
Revenue goes up, cash does not. Categories that sell at a loss grow the loss as they grow.
Discount as a lever
It lifts revenue for a month, cuts the margin and teaches the customer to wait. The free-shipping threshold and the bundle do the same job without training people to expect discounts.
One ROAS for the whole store
The algorithm sells what sells easily: brand and cheap items. The rest of the store never sees budget, and the average hides that a large part of it does not sell.
No repeat purchase
Every order from a new customer, every customer paid for in advertising. A store without email automations and without a reason to return buys the same people every month.
Performance marketing agency
Levers 1 to 3 and 8, measured in cost per new customer — by a team managing €2M+ in budget a year, with 85% retention.
Performance marketing →CRO for online stores
Levers 4 to 7: product page, checkout, trust, average order — more orders from the same traffic.
CRO for online stores →Online Store Profitability Index
A few-minute test: which number is failing in your store.
Take the test →E-commerce Profitability Audit
The full check across six areas, written report in about 15 days.
Profitability Audit →Growth Partner Program
Google & social ads for online stores with a dedicated account manager.
Growth Partner Program →The next step
Write down the four numbers and pick one lever
Visitors, conversion rate, average order, share of customers who bought again — for last month. The weakest of the four tells you which three levers deserve your next month. And the margin per category tells you whether the increase will be profit. If you want help finding them, the Online Store Profitability Index → is free.
If you would rather look at it with people who do it every day: the UpCommerce team in the 30-minute intro call for channels and site, or John Kiskipelis as an ecommerce consultant → for the strategy behind the numbers, in a separate engagement.
Frequently asked questions about increasing online store sales
How do I increase my online store’s sales?
By pulling one of the four numbers that make them: visitors, conversion rate, average order, repeat purchase. Find which is the weakest in your store from GA4 and the backend, and work the levers that raise that one — not the whole list of “tips” at once. And check the margin: an increase in sales in a loss-making category is an increase in loss.
What is the fastest way to increase sales?
Usually the one that needs no new visitor: the product page, the checkout, the free-shipping threshold and the email automations. They work on the people who already come and cost little. Advertising is fast only when the site converts; otherwise you buy visitors who leave.
How much can an online store’s sales grow?
It depends on where you start. Among UpCommerce clients we have seen +33.84% Skroutz revenue in three months on the same budget (NewCult), +45.7% year-on-year revenue and +41% average order (Fitone), the online store at 40%+ of annual revenue (Rose Poupée) — the clients’ own numbers, not promises. Every store has a different weak number.
Do I have to raise the ad budget to sell more?
Only if the weak number is visitors and the site converts reasonably. If conversion is low, more budget buys more loss. If the margin cannot carry it, more sales mean a bigger loss. The budget goes up after the other levers are working.
How do I increase the average order value?
A free-shipping threshold slightly above today’s average order, suggestions of complementary products on the page and in the cart, product bundles at a package price. Always with a margin calculation: a bundle that lifts revenue and cuts profit is not an increase.
Is email marketing worth it for increasing sales?
It is usually the most underrated lever: the cart, welcome and repeat-purchase automations bring orders from customers you already paid for in advertising, with no new click. It works even with a small list, because it sends to the right person at the right moment.
What role does Skroutz play in increasing sales?
For products Greek shoppers compare, Skroutz is one of the channels where the customer already searches — and the same store can raise its revenue there significantly without new budget, by working advertising and growth tools together, as NewCult did. The guide on how to sell on Skroutz explains the steps.
How do I know whether the sales increase also brings profit?
From the margin per category: what is left from each order after VAT, product, shipping, commissions, returns and advertising. If that is positive and the increase comes from categories that keep it positive, it is profit. The online store profitability guide has the calculation step by step.
