Quick Guide: How to Set Sales Goals for Your E-commerce

We all want the magic formula for having a successful business, but none of this is possible without a clear direction 🎯 

At YaVendió! we know this well because we have helped over 100 e-commerce businesses boost their sales and achieve commercial success, thanks to having clear sales goals. 

Today, we will help you create your own method to establish SMART sales goals for your business. 

 In this article, we will discuss: 

• What sales goals are

• How to set your sales goals in 6 steps

• Types of SMART goals to increase your e-commerce sales

In a nutshell, what is a sales goal? 

Sales goals are measurable targets that the commercial area sets to increase your business's sales. These are developed periodically (monthly, quarterly, annually) and take a long-term approach.

Clear sales goals act as a roadmap for your team. 

6 steps to set your sales goals

Here we present the six key steps to define goals that drive your commercial growth.

Step 1: Review your history and diagnose 📃

You can't take medicine without knowing the symptoms of the ailment. Therefore, first, you must know your company's real situation to determine where you should focus and the goals to implement.

To improve sales, it's necessary to identify your business's weaknesses and strengths, as well as the current state of your industry. Developing a SWOT analysis or a PESTEL analysis can help you at this stage. Only then can you get a realistic view of your starting point.

Step 2: Work SMART, not hard 😉

Work smartly with the SMART methodology and define your goals with precision. To develop your SMART sales goals, consider these steps: 

• Make them specific: Your goals must be concrete and clearly defined so that sales become possible.

  
  

• Ensure they are measurable: Goals need to be measurable to assess their success or failure. Therefore, you must apply a specific measurement method like dates, percentages, numbers, etc. It will help make your goals achievable.

  
  

• Keep them achievable: Be realistic. Goals beyond your means will only make you lose time and opportunities for improvement. Look for challenges, but not impossibilities.

  
  

• They should be relevant: Your goals need to be aligned with long-term objectives and your company's current situation. There's no point in aiming for indirect actions when direct business impact is needed.

  
  

• Time-bound: Put a timer on it; that is, limit the success time. It's important because it will help you know if it's feasible to achieve it or not. 

An example of a sales goal using the SMART methodology would be: Increase Chanel handbag sales by 20% in the first quarter of 2025.

Step 3: Set actions and metrics ⚡

The question you should ask yourself here is: What actions (specific activities) and metrics (indicators) do I need to meet those goals?

Actions may include:

• Staff training

• Promotional campaigns

• Optimization of sales channels

• Customer follow-up, etc.

While metrics will allow you to measure the effectiveness of these actions.  

Step 4: What is not communicated, does not exist 📢

Communicating sales goals to your team and involving them will make them feel included, boosting business success to a personal level.

Remember, it also implies that your workers are aware of their weaknesses and strengths. Therefore, it's important to have good feedback with them.

On that note,  Sebastián González, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at YaVendió!, gives us valuable advice on how to do it assertively:

Step 5: What is not measured, cannot be improved 📊

The market is always changing, so measuring and adjusting your sales goals is a crucial task for continued growth.

During the journey, you'll realize if you set goals too high or low. These intermediate results will have to be adjusted to more realistic scenarios. Remember that it's a constant monitoring. But don't worry, there are tools to help you achieve this.

🤖 For example, if your business focuses on sales via WhatsApp or social media, the chatbots of YaVendió! have a platform that will allow you to monitor your sales goals quickly and easily.

You can obtain metrics such as the number of chats answered, final sales, response time, and more.

Step 6: A motivated team moves mountains 💪

“You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”, says the old saying. And maintaining your team's motivation is as crucial as making sales.

Keep in mind that the company's motivations are not necessarily aligned with your collaborators' interests, so you must create sales strategies that drive their skills to an individual level.

One way to achieve this is through sales commissions based on the number of new clients. 

4 types of SMART goals for e-commerce sales

There are many sales goals depending on your business's needs. Choose, based on the previous points, which are the most important ones to start with.

Here we present some sales goals with examples for your e-commerce:

1. Conversion goal

It's about getting the customer to take the action you have set. It can be as simple as making an online purchase. 

For example: Increase the closing rate of WhatsApp sales by 15% over the next 3 months.

There, you are working on your sales staff's skills and the sales speech. Similarly, you can reduce conversation time, abandonment rate, increase conversion through live chat, and more.

🤖 At YaVendió! we can help you achieve these goals with an AI specialized e-commerce sales chatbot. Chat today with YaVendiosita! and get a free demo. 🎁

2. Sales goals by channel

It's when you have multiple sales channels like social media, website, WhatsApp, etc.

An example of this goal would be: Generate 20% more direct sales through social media channels over the next five months.

Always remember to set the time frame for each goal.

3. Income or billing goals

This focuses on the total monetary value of sales. In other words, these goals are related to the total income we want to achieve. 

For example: Generate S/20,000 in sales during the second quarter.

4. Sales goals for added value

When we sell products with additional value to the customer, we provoke greater profit margins. There are two cases where we can apply them:

• In additional sales (upselling), the goal is to get the customer to purchase a more expensive product than initially considered.

  Example: Achieve that 40% of customers buying at the online store choose an iPhone 16 Pro Max instead of an iPhone 15.

  
  

• On the other hand, in cross-selling, complementary products are offered that add to what is already being purchased.

  For example: Ensure that 20% of customers buying keyboards for PCs (main product) at the digital store also purchase a mousepad (complementary product) during the Christmas campaign.

At YaVendió! we are ready to boost your goals

Write to us to learn how we can help you achieve your online business goals with a virtual AI seller. 🚀