Do you own an online store? Are you looking for ways to achieve greater success this year? Do you have any ideas for changing your approach to boost sales and profits?

There is a lot that goes into running a successful online store. At first, you may not think about anything more than comparing product ideas and trying to understand which pricing structure will work best for your business model. Over time, however, you’ll learn there are many other details that require your attention, and your business needs are always growing and changing. As  people become interested in crypto tokens, for instance, you’ll need to decide if there are any relevant changes you need to make to your business or its infrastructure to scale and stay on the cutting edge.

If you’re open to change, you’ll find it much easier to reach your goals as an online store owner. With this in mind, let’s examine five online shopping stats that are sure to change the way you do business:

1. On Black Friday 2017, there was an increase of 16.9 percent in dollars spent compared to the previous year.(CNN)

Simply put, there are times of the year when you’ll find it easier to make sales online. One clear example is Black Friday and the ensuing shopping season in general, but depending on your industry, there are likely other prime seasons for making sales, too.

More importantly, though, your business must be ready to handle the increased volume during these high-volume sales times. It’s one thing to attract more business, but another thing entirely to continue to run at peak efficiency while supporting it. You don’t want to risk customers by providing poor service just when people are taking the most notice of your site.

2. 34 percent of online store owners sell through their own website, with 40 percent also selling through social media.(Big Commerce)

It’s easy to believe your website is the only place you can make sales, but nothing could be further from the truth. If this is the strategy you’ve been using up until now,  you may want to start considering other options for the future. Facebook and other social media platforms allow you to get your brand in front of a much larger audience.

Remember that you don’t necessarily have to make sales on social media (although one-click purchasing is becoming more common on these platforms), you can post calls-to-action that redirect traffic back to your website, where you can provide additional information and support to encourage conversions.

3. 79 percent of Americans are now shopping online. (TechCrunch)

There used to be a time when having an online store was still completely optional, but in today’s tech-centered world, if you don’t have an online presence, you should expect the competition to pass you by. With nearly 8 out of 10 Americans shopping online, you can’t afford to ignore this pipeline to your audience any longer. Not only do you need to have a functional website, it needs to have the streamlined checkout processes and intuitive features your customers have come to expect from their interactions with major online retailers like Amazon.

4. 69.23 percent is the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate.(Baymard Institute)

This is a problem facing many online store owners. They do a good job driving traffic to their website and engaging their audience while they’re there; however, something happens when it comes time to place the actual order.

If your store’s shopping cart abandonment rate is entirely too high, you need to spend some time analyzing why this is the case. Is your checkout process too complex? Are your prices too high? Are your customers turned off by high shipping costs or other “surprise” fees tacked on to the end of their transaction? Are you doing something that gives the impression their financial information may not be secure?

A high shopping cart abandonment rate can hold you back from reaching your goals, so it’s critical to determine what is causing shoppers to leave their products behind.

5. The mobile shopping segment is worth $3.2 trillion, up from $1.5 trillion in 2013. (Fit Small Business)

If you want to get every last dollar out of your online store, you need to make it simple for all consumers to browse your website and make a purchase, which is why a mobile-friendly design is an absolute must in today’s market. Don’t ignore the mobile experience provided by your website; make sure you confirm that all your processes are just as streamlined and your site design is just as appealing when it is converted to a mobile platform.

These online shopping stats are sure to change the way you run your store. If you’re already achieving a high level of success with your online store, you don’t want to sit back and assume this will continue; don’t sit around the office watching People You May Know and hoping for the next order to roll in (it may be a movie about social media, but it still probably won’t change your marketing game like taking these tips to heart!). Even if you only take one of these to apply to your business, there’s a good chance it’ll have a positive impact.

Which online shopping stat was most surprising to you? Share your feedback in the comments.