Do you know what’s more disappointing than having NO people visit your online store? It’s when you actually get them to visit – but only a few of them make a purchase! Imagine that – people see you, they see what you’re offering, and they say, “Nah.”
E-Commerce optimization is a holistic approach to improving your website and allowing visitors to convert into customers easily. From navigation and design to content and product descriptions, everything on your website should intentionally lead users towards the end goal of purchasing your products or services.
What is a reasonable E-Commerce conversion rate?
According to a survey of more than 70 E-Commerce marketers, 64% report conversions between 3% and 5%.
So, while your store’s conversion rate will undoubtedly vary based on your industry, price point, target demographics, and more, that 3-5% range can act as a benchmark for getting started in terms of better understanding and augmenting your customer journey.
Optimize for both desktop and mobile
You are not aware of your target customers’ devices, so optimizing your E-Commerce website for mobile and desktop platforms is essential. It is possible to reach the maximum number of shoppers with your products and improve conversions by having a responsive design. And, since Google has moved to mobile-first indexing, your website has to take a mobile-friendly approach nonetheless. Mobile E-Commerce accounts for 50% of the market presently. Consequentially, you can’t afford to ignore mobile users. In short, keep your E-Commerce website responsive for every device and make the viewing experience optimal, irrelevant of the channel or platform.
Website speed optimization
Optimizing your website’s page speed will enhance the user experience for your shoppers and improve satisfaction. Interestingly, if your website takes more than two seconds to load, 53% of your shoppers are bound to lose interest. In fact, a single second lag can result in a 7% loss of conversions, so consider heightening the website loading speed as a vital part of the E-Commerce Conversion Rate Optimization process.
What can you do to optimize your website’s page speed?
Test your website’s speed - how fast does it load?
Go for optimization of images by compressing the sizes. This will profit you greatly because pictures with sharp clarity fill more space on the website source.
Use website caching to store a version of your website that can be delivered on-demand.
Deploy a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for geographical advantages.
You can utilize Google PageSpeed Insights or GTMetrix, or Pingdom to check your site speed.
Build trust
Trust is a prerequisite in E-Commerce – people will only transact with you if they trust you. To optimize your conversion rate, you need to be very deliberate about how your site is likely to be perceived.
Ensure that your website has a modern look and feel. Research suggests that online buyers tend to rely on gut feel to determine whether or not a website is trustworthy, and that’s mostly based on first impressions.
Display your phone number prominently. Follow web conventions as much as possible – show your number at or near the upper right-hand corner of the site.
Show security seals like those for VeriSign, Norton, or McAfee. Give that extra visual emphasis on pages where users have to put in their information.
“Borrow” credibility from logos of large companies that use your products and services or media mentions from known institutions. Keep the logos muted so they don’t overpower critical navigation elements.
It takes a lot of work to build trust and credibility online immediately. A good starting point is being particular about where and how trust elements are used.
Experiment with the CTA copy
Using Generic CTAs like “Sign up” and “Start trial” won’t give you the most effective conversion rates. Spend some time improving the copy, and it will provide you with an easy outlet to win. Begin with a CTA that commences with “Yes.” It’s highly efficient psychologically because it outlines the offer in a positive light. For instance, try this: Yes, I want [your offer]!
It works a lot better than a generic CTA copy. Try various CTA buttons and copies to see which ones get the best clicks.
Heatmaps and recordings tell you when visitors avoid the CTAs. Then you understand you have a problem and need to spend time changing the necessary elements.
Optimize price presentation
How you display your price points can make or break certain transactions. Managing pricing display can be one of the key levers you can use for E-Commerce conversion rate optimization. For example:
Remove the currency symbol (e.g., 100 instead of $100)
Strip out extra characters (e.g., 100 instead of 100.00)
Lower the position of the price within the page
Tuck a smaller price into an insignificant position
Change the leading digit (e.g., 499 instead of 500)
Drop a whole number if possible (e.g., 99 instead of 100)
Divide the price when it’s a subscription or something similar (e.g., 10 a month, instead of 120 a year)
Combine savings
Show price points in decreasing order
Test adding an option that will not sell well to make other choices more attractive
Easy checkout process
If your website’s checkout method is too lengthy, complex, or unusual, you may lose shoppers by the ton. With a streamlined and straightforward checkout process, the buyers cruise through any checkout stage and smoothly purchase your products. Prospects and leads often hesitate to enter their personal credit/debit card details while making any purchase. Installing the requisite security certificates and displaying them on the payment page usually works wonders. Just make sure not to present them any reason to feel uncomfortable or make it hard for them to trust your website.
Allow Buyers to Checkout as Guest
Mandatory registrations to buy from your online store should be avoided. Allow customers to browse and complete their purchases without going through the lengthy signup process. If they are pleased with the outcomes, they will go through the signup process for future purchases!
Reveal “free shipping” (or shipping fee) on the product pages
High shipping charges are a leading cause of cart abandonment, and no shipping charges are what beautiful shopping dreams are made of. E-Commerce businesses that offer free shipping have multiple advantages over those that don’t, but we all have our financial constraints.
If you charge for shipping, mention that cost upfront. A big chunk of your potential customers will abandon their carts if they are charged for shipping during the checkout. So, make sure your customers aren’t faced with any unpleasant surprises as a part of the checkout process.
Provide live chat support
An effective live chat software provides a seamless user experience by addressing confusion and doubts instantly and conveniently, leaving less room for drop-offs. Also, calling customer support over and over again is the last thing a user trying to make an online purchase would want. If you are thinking of efficiency in customer service, think live chat. Guide that reluctant visitor who has been confusedly hovering over various elements by initiating a helpful chat session.
Generate promo codes
All credits to the conversion expert, Craig Sullivan, for this one. The trend is, you ask customers if they have a promo code in the checkout process. And give them a blank box to enter this code if they have it. There are SO many sites that do this to increase sales. But this one can often backfire. The majority of customers leave the site to google for active coupons. Often they get distracted with other stuff they find and never come back to complete their checkout.
Here’s what Craig suggested you can do about it:
Step 1 – Create a link that says, “Got a promo code?” instead of a blank box that asks you to enter the promo code.
Step 2 – Once the customer clicks on that link, open a collapsible div that shows two options:
a. Enter the promo code (for those who have it)
b. Generate promo code (for those who do not have it; for their next purchase)
The promo code generated by customers will only be delivered when they complete their current transaction. This will prevent people from leaving the site to find the coupon code if they do not have it. Plus, it will also motivate them to complete their current order, which should reduce your cart abandonment rate.
Conclusion
To boost conversion rate is to improve your marketing return on investment. The more users you convert, the higher is the impact you drive on your top line from your current traffic. The tips mentioned above are great to start to improve your conversion rates strategically. Keep in mind that some of these are likely to drive better results for your business than others. The important thing is defining your goals, gathering data, and continuously running objective tests to find out what resonates with your target audience.
We are happy to help you; if you have any questions regarding conversion rate optimization (CRO), contact us by clicking here.
