Here are the essentials of this guide in 5 key points:
Above all, create an irresistible offer: Before looking for traffic, build an offer that makes you want to buy. Combines a clear value proposition, real urgency, a solid guarantee and a bonus with a high perceived value. Without a concrete offer, even the best traffic won't convert.
The 3 essential levers to get started: SEO for free traffic, paid advertising (Meta/Google) for immediate results, and email marketing for an ROI of €36 per euro invested. Master these 3 channels before dispersing.
Measure or die: Follow your CAC, your ROAS and your LTV religiously. Aim for an LTV:CAC ratio of at least 3:1 to be profitable with your margins.
Acquisition without loyalty = loss of money: Your goal is not to make a sale, but to create repeat customers. A customer who orders 3 times is worth infinitely more than a one-shot buyer.
2025 and beyond = year of short videos and first-party data: Reels convert 2.5x better than images, TikTok Shop explodes, and your email list becomes your most valuable asset with the end of third-party cookies.
E-commerce marketing is based on 3 phases: acquisition (attracting visitors), conversion (turning into customers), and retention (getting redeemed). Retaining a customer is 5 to 7 times cheaper than acquiring a new one.
The 3 key stages of the customer journey:
- Awareness : he discovers your existence via an ad, a post, a Google search
- Consideration (Conversion) : he compares, hesitates, reads the reviews, adds to the basket
- Action & Loyalty : he buys, then comes back to order again
A customer who orders 3 times a year generates 5x more profit than a one-shot buyer. This is why acquisition without a retention strategy = guaranteed loss of money
Creating an irresistible offer, the real lever that sells!
An average offer generates average sales. Without differentiation by offer, your visitors will choose the cheapest or the best known competitor. An irresistible offer combines 5 levers: a clear value proposition, a price perceived as fair, genuine urgency, a solid guarantee, and a bonus with a high perceived value.
Why an average offer = average sales
Concrete example with phone cases:
Banal offer: Case at €19.99 + delivery €4.99
Irresistible offer: Case at €24.99 with:
- Free delivery
- 2nd case offered (value 15€)
- 60-day money back guarantee
- Surprise gift in each package
The second offer wins despite a 25% higher price, because the perceived value explodes that of the competitor.
The 5 elements of an offer that converts
1. An ultra-clear value proposition
A clear value proposition solves a specific problem in up to 3 seconds.
Bad: “Designer phone cases”
Good: “The only case that really protects your iPhone from falls (tested at a height of 3 meters)”
You are not selling a product, you are solving a problem or bringing a concrete benefit.
2. A price perceived as fair (not necessarily low)
Price is never an issue if the perceived value is greater.
Techniques to increase perceived value:
- Price anchor: 49€ 29€ today
- Total value of the bundle: “Total value €89, today €49”
- Breakdown: “Only €1.60/day for one month”
- Free bonuses with high perceived value
3. Urgency and rarity
Create a legitimate reason to buy now instead of later.
Effective techniques:
- Limited stock: “Only 7 left in stock” (be honest)
- Temporary offer: “This promotion ends in 48 hours”
- Limited edition: “Capsule collection, will not be coming back”
- Countdown timer: Visually creates urgency
⚠️ Abusing false urgencies (permanent promotions, fake stocks) destroys your credibility. Use them sparingly and honestly.
4. Guarantee and reinsurance
Reverse the risk: take responsibility for it yourself instead of the customer.
Essential reinsurance elements:
- Satisfied or refunded 30/60/90 days: You assume the risk
- Free delivery: Eliminate a major psychological barrier
- Visible customer reviews: essential social proof
- Responsive customer service: Display email, number, opening hours
- Trust badges: secure payment, guarantee, fast delivery
The more risk you assume, the more the customer trusts.
5. Bonus and goodwill
Add an element that tips the scales, with high perceived value but low real cost.
Effective examples:
- Mystery gift (cost: €2, received value: €10)
- Bundle: buy 2, get the 3rd free
- Free guide: “10 tips to make your phone last 5 years” (cost: 0€, perceived value: 20€)
- VIP club access with exclusive promotions
- Free samples (beauty)
Examples of irresistible e-commerce offers
Example 1: Dietary supplements
Classic offer:
“Vitamin D supplement - €19.90 + €4.90 delivery”
Irresistible offer:
Vitamin D 3-month pack: 49€ instead of 59,70€
- Free delivery
- Free nutrition guide (value 15€)
- Satisfied or refunded 60 days
- Bonus: premium pill box as a gift (value 12€)
Result: Average basket increased from €19.90 to €49 (+145%), conversion rate doubled.
Example 2: Clothes
Classic offer:
“Organic cotton T-shirt - 29€”
Irresistible offer:
Buy 2 T-shirts, the 3rd for free (value 29€)
- Free delivery from 50€
- Free 30-day returns
- Limited offer: more than 48 hours
Result: Average basket of €29 → €58 (+100%), emergency created.
Example 3: Tech accessories
Classic offer:
“Bluetooth earphones - 49€”
Irresistible offer:
Complete pack: Earphones + protective case + fast charging cable = 59€ instead of €79
- Free express delivery (get them tomorrow)
- 2 year warranty (instead of 1 year)
- Satisfied or refunded 90 days
- Surprise gift in each package
Result: Average basket +20%, reduced return rate thanks to the extended warranty.
Mistakes you should definitely avoid
1. Multiply the promotions constantly
Constant discounts condition your customers to expect -30% and destroy your perceived value.
2. Lying about the emergency
“Only 2 left in stock” with 500 units in reserve destroys all credibility. Customers refresh the page and check.
3. Complicate the offer
An offer that can be understood in 3 seconds converts. An offer requiring 3 paragraphs scares away.
4. Foolishly copy competitors
Doing exactly the same thing as everyone else makes you invisible.
5. Neglecting the presentation
A great deal on a lousy page with blurry photos won't convert. The shape = the background.
How to test and optimize your offer
4-step test method:
- lance a first version with 2-3 irresistible offer elements
- Measure your conversion rate over 2-3 weeks (minimum 500-1000 visitors)
- Change ONLY ONE item (bonus, guarantee, or emergency)
- Compare : if it goes up, keep. If it goes down, go back.
Items to be tested as a priority:
Test tools: Google Optimize (free), VWO, or Optimizely for A/B testing.
Now that you know how to convert your traffic with a concrete offer, let's move on to building your customer acquisition strategy!
The essential acquisition levers
SEO & Content Marketing, sustainable and free traffic
SEO generates free and lasting traffic. Once positioned on Google, you receive qualified visitors without paying, month after month.
How to do it?
- Optimize your product sheets and collection pages with the right keywords
- Create a blog to answer questions from your customers (like this article!)
- Work on your title tags, descriptions and site structure
The most successful e-commerce stores all have a minimum of work done to optimize their visibility on search engines.
Concrete examples:
The biggest e-commerce stores (like the ones you see selling on Shopify) all have an active blog and ultra-optimized product sheets. It is no coincidence.
Paid advertising (SEA, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads)
Paid advertising makes it possible to test a product quickly and to scale sales from the first weeks.
The platforms to be preferred:
- Meta Ads : perfect for reaching a large audience with precise behavioral targeting
- Google Shopping : ideal for capturing the intention to buy (people who are actively looking for your product)
- TikTok Ads : explosive for viral products and young audiences, but beware, the learning curve is steep
The formats that are performing in 2025:
- Reels and short videos (15-30 seconds)
- Carousels with before and after or customer testimonials
- Dynamic retargeting campaigns (you relaunch those who visited your site)
Start with Meta Ads, it is the most accessible and the most documented platform. Once you have mastered it, diversify to Google and TikTok if your audience is present on these channels and your product is suitable for them.
Email Marketing & Automation, the king of ROI
Email marketing generates 30 to 40€ for each euro invested thanks to fine segmentation and complete automation.
The essential automated sequences:
- Welcome email : after registering for your newsletter
- Relaunch abandoned cart : 1 hour, 24 hours and 48 hours after the abandonment (this is where you recover 10 to 30% of lost sales)
- Post-purchase : review request, cross-sell, promo code for the next order
- Reactivation : for customers who have been inactive for 60-90 days
Recommended tools : Klaviyo, Brevo, Mailchimp.
Influencer marketing & UGC, social proof in action
Micro-influencers (5k to 50k subscribers) are often more profitable:
- Higher engagement
- Accessible prices (free product or a few hundred euros)
- Highly qualified audience
UGC content (User Generated Content), these are the videos and photos created by your customers or creators, that you reuse in your ads. It's authentic, it converts better, and it's cheaper than a studio production.
Example: 10 micro-influencers test your products → 50 UGC videos → used in Meta Ads → 2-3x better performance than studio ads.
Affiliation & Partnerships, from acquisition to performance
You only pay for sales made (5-20% commission). Content creators, bloggers and specialized sites promote your products without risk for you.
The niches where it works best:
- Fashion & accessories
- Beauty & well-being
- High-tech & gadgets
- Training & digital tools
How to build your acquisition strategy step by step
Step 1: Diagnose your current traffic and conversions
Before you spend a cent on ads, you need to know where you stand. Ask yourself these questions:
- How many visitors do you get per month?
- Where do they come from (Google, social networks, direct...)?
- What is your current conversion rate?
- What are your most visited pages and which convert the best?
The essential tools:
- Google Analytics 4 (GA4) : to analyze your traffic
- Google Search Console : to see what keywords you are appearing on
- Hotjar : to understand the behavior of your visitors (heatmaps, session recordings)
Step 2: Set clear goals and KPIs
You can't improve what you don't measure. Here are the indicators that you should definitely follow:
Concrete example:
If your average basket is €60, your CAC is €25 and your customers order an average of 2 times, your LTV is €120. Your business is profitable.
📊 Do you need to go further in analyzing your performance? These KPIs are the basis, but there are dozens of other indicators to monitor to optimize each stage of your funnel. Discover our complete guide to e-commerce analytics and KPIs to master data analysis, build relevant dashboards and make decisions based on real numbers.
Step 3: Choose the right channels according to your budget and stadium
Not all channels are the same depending on your level of experience and budget.
The expert advice : do not disperse. Start by mastering 1 or 2 channels, then diversify once you are profitable.
Optimize and measure your acquisition
Generating traffic is good. Being profitable is better. Here's how to make sure that every dollar invested earns more than one.
Understand and calculate the CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
Simple formula:
CAC = Total marketing expenses/Number of new customers acquired
Example:
You spend €2,000 on Facebook advertising over a month and you generate 80 sales. Your CAC is €25.
The key question : is this CAC profitable? To find out, compare it to your average basket and your margin. If you sell a product at €60 with a €40 margin, a €25 CAC gives you €15 in gross profit. That's fine, but you still have to deduct your fixed costs.
Track ROAS, average basket, and conversion rate
ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) : it's the ratio between what you earn and what you spend on advertising.
ROAS = Sales Generated/Advertising Expenditure
Example:
You spend €1000 on advertising and you generate €3,000 in turnover. Your ROAS is 3 (you get 3€ for each euro spent).
ROAS benchmarks:
ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) alone says nothing. What matters is whether you are profitable after paying:
- Your advertising expenses
- Your product costs (COGS)
- Your delivery costs, packaging, transaction
- Your fixed costs
The formula for calculating your minimum profitable ROAS:
Minimum ROAS = 100/Gross margin%
Detailed example:
You sell a product to 60€ with:
- Purchase/manufacturing cost: 25€
- Shipping/packaging: 5€
- Transaction fees (3%): €1.80
Gross margin = 60 - 25 - 5 - 5 - 1.80 = €28.20 (i.e. 47%)
Minimum ROAS = 100/47 = 2.13
➡️ If you spend 500€ In advertising, you must generate minimum 1065€ of CA to be in balance.
Realistic benchmarks according to your situation:
- ROAS < your minimum threshold : you lose money, optimize or stop
- ROAS = your threshold ± 0.5 : you are in balance, it's limited
- ROAS = threshold + 1 to 2 : profitable, you can scale carefully
- ROAS > threshold + 3 : excellent, scale to the fullest
The 3 mistakes to avoid:
- Compare your ROAS to that of others : a luxury brand with a 70% margin can be profitable at 1.5 ROAS, you're not
- Ignore hidden costs : product returns, after-sales service, storage... they eat up your margin
- Aim for too high an ROAS too fast : sometimes better is an ROAS of 2.5 with 10k€ of turnover than an ROAS of 5 with 1k€ of turnover
Immediate action:
Calculate your minimum profitable ROAS now with this simple formula:
100 ÷ your gross margin% = your minimum ROAS
If you don't know your exact gross margin, Start with an ROAS target of 2.5-3 and adjust according to your real numbers after 1-2 months of data.
The tools to measure all of this:
- Google Analytics 4 : traffic and conversions
- Meta Ads Manager : performance of your Facebook/Instagram ads
- Klaviyo : performance of your emails
- Hotjar : visitor behavior and points of friction
E-commerce marketing trends
Marketing is changing rapidly. Here's what's going to explode this year (and what you need to incorporate into your strategy).
The rise of TikTok Shop and Live Shopping
TikTok is no longer just a social network, it's a sales platform. With TikTok Shop, creators can sell directly from the app, without redirects.
Why is it powerful?
- Minimal friction (purchase in 2 clicks)
- Emergency and viral effect
- Conversion rates sometimes 3 to 5 times higher than traditional ads
The Live Shopping (direct sales) is also a hit, especially in Asia. It's happening in force in Europe.
The return of CRM and first-party data
With the gradual end of third-party cookies and the restrictions of iOS, first-party data (the data you collect directly) is becoming your black gold.
How do I get them back?
- Newsletter subscription forms
- Customer accounts
- Quizzes and quizzes
- Loyalty program
A good CRM (like Klaviyo or Brevo) allows you to finely segment your audiences and personalize your messages.
Generative AI in automating acquisition messages
Artificial intelligence now makes it possible to create advertising content, emails and product descriptions in seconds.
Concrete applications of AI in e-commerce marketing:
- Generation of advertising hooks and text variants
- Writing personalized cart reminder emails
- Creating video scripts for ads
- Automatic optimization of product descriptions for SEO
- Massive A/B testing with dozens of variants
The real benefit? The time savings are colossal. Where you used to take 2 hours to write 5 versions of an ad hook, the AI allows you to test 50 variants in a few minutes. So you can more quickly identify what is really performing with your audience.
Attention: AI is a tool, not a magic solution. The best results always come from a combination of artificial intelligence and your business expertise. AI generates, you validate and you optimize.
The importance of short video content
TikTok Reels, Shorts, and videos are breaking all engagement records. If you are not yet in the short video, now is the time to get started.
The formats that are popular:
- Product demonstrations (15-30 seconds)
- Authentic customer testimonials
- The catchy “hooks” in the first 3 seconds
- “Before/after” formats
Key figures 2025:
- 73% of consumers would rather watch a short video than read a product description
- Short videos generate 2.5x more engagement than static images
- Product pages with video have an 80% higher conversion rate
Practical cases: 3 examples of winning strategies
Nothing beats concrete examples to understand how it all fits together in real life.
Case 1: Fashion Brand — Influence Strategy + TikTok Shop
Sector: Streetwear clothing for 18-30 year olds
Strategy:
- Partnership with 15 TikTok micro-influencers (10k-50k subscribers)
- Creation of 50+ UGC videos
- Use of these videos in Meta ads and TikTok Ads
- Activating TikTok Shop for direct purchase
Results:
- +120% sales in 3 months
- CAC reduced by 35% thanks to creative UGC
- Average ROAS of 4.2 on TikTok Ads
Case 2: Beauty Brand — Automated Email + UGC
Sector: Natural cosmetics
Strategy:
- Aggressive email retrieval via pop-up (10% reduction)
- Automated welcome sequence (5 emails)
- Relaunch hyper-personalized abandoned cart
- Integrating customer testimonials into emails
Results:
- 42% of sales come from email marketing
- 18% of abandoned carts recovered
- Email ROI of €28 for €1 invested
Case 3: Brand Accessories — SEO + Google Shopping
Sector: Animal accessories
Strategy:
- Active blog with 2 posts/week targeting questions from pet owners
- Extensive optimization of product sheets for SEO
- Highly targeted Google Shopping campaigns
- Retargeting blog visitors to products
Results:
- 60% of traffic comes from organic SEO
- CAC of only €12 (vs €30 on average in the sector)
- +85% in sales in 6 months
Take action now
The 3 golden rules to remember:
- Build an offer Who makes you want to buy
- Start with 1 or 2 channels of acquisition that you really master before dispersing
- Measure everything : CAC, ROAS, conversion rate, LTV
- Test, optimize, start again : marketing is a game of iterations
You now have all the cards in hand to build a real profitable acquisition strategy. All you have to do is take action.
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