Research performed by Compass has recently revealed that the typical transformation rate for e-commerce businesses is a mere 1.4%, yet those that achieve the best results attain up to 3%.
It is hardly surprising to those who handle or promote an online store that, in general, only 1 sale is made with every 100 visitors.
Do you want to be just average? Do you aspire to stand out from the crowd? Better than your competitors? It’s critical to have a conversion rate above the norm to turn as many site visitors into buyers as possible. You should strive to get a conversion rate that is higher than 1.4%, preferably around 3%. Reaching greater heights could be a reality in some fields, but generally, 3% should be considered the peak.
Fortuitously (or perhaps unfortunately), many digital stores have some shared problems. Problems that can usually be fixed fairly quickly and easily.
Here are 10 tips for mastering e-commerce conversion rate optimization:
1. Never Underestimate the Power of a Search Box
Roughly three out of ten individuals who use an e-commerce site take advantage of their search box to quickly pinpoint the items they desire. It is vital to put forth effort to guarantee you are maximizing the opportunity the search box affords.
Make sure to put the search box in an obvious spot in your store that can easily be noticed. This should not be concealed in the lower part of the website or below what you can see on the screen initially. Ensure that your search box is simple to locate and don’t try to produce something that already exists.
If you don’t have a certain item being requested, think of methods to offer a similar alternative or, at least, get imaginative with how you can motivate an alternative search to be conducted or browsing to be done differently. If you need motivation, take a look at Baymard.com’s post on 50 ‘no results page’ illustrations.
2. Offer Universal Free Shipping
Imposing a delivery fee (especially if your rivals do not) can severely impact the success of online stores. It is of the utmost importance to keep track of what your rivals are offering so that you can be at least as competitive as they are, but even better if possible.
If you don’t carry a certain item being queried, consider options for substituting it with something else or, at the least, brainstorm how to direct the customer to look for something different or explore the website differently. If you’re in need of motivation, have a look at the article from Baymard.com that features 50 instances of “no results page”.
3. Implement Independent Reviews
As a buyer, it can sometimes be worrisome when a shop gathers their own reviews since it may not be trustworthy. Once the sun sets, how can anyone be certain that a review present on a retailer’s website is authentic, and not simply given in exchange for a reward or money? A lack of trust in an e-commerce store can be responsible for a low rate of purchases.
Retailers have recently reported that only around 2% of reviews are not authentic, however experts think that the real number could potentially be quite a bit larger.
Marketers should make sure that buyers have motivation to believe the ratings and reviews of preceding customers, and the simplest solution is to enlist with an external assessment program. Although Trustpilot is a well-known choice that lots of people use, Feefo and Reviews offer services comparable to Trustpilot, with all of them operating similarly.
4. Offer Live Chat Support
Whether you adore it or loathe it, live chat is a great asset for e-commerce outfits who are on the lookout for extra methods to interact with plausible buyers and customers and to swiftly respond to inquiries from folks who would rather not make a call or delay for an answer via email.
If someone needs a quick answer before making a purchase, they may not have the opportunity to call or wait for an email response. Although it may take a while, live chat typically provides a response in a brief period of time in these circumstances.
If you don’t provide any answers or a convenient way for customers to ask questions about the products you have for sale, then it is possible that you will not make the sale.
5. Communicate Your Value Proposition
A key query to keep in mind when attempting to raise the rate of sales in your online shop is, “What makes your business unique in comparison to the other businesses?”
Businesses are not doing an adequate job of conveying their unique aspect to possible buyers; in other words, clarifying in an uncomplicated manner why someone should pick them instead of their competitors and what sets them apart.
Your value offering may involve the products you offer, their cost, your expertise and background, or maybe the rapid delivery service you conduct, but if people are unaware of this, how can they utilize this information to inform their Shopping decision?
6. Improve the Quality of Your Product Images
An infographic from NuBlue recently concluded that customers don’t merely want to surf around on an e-commerce site; instead, they wish to have a full experience.
It is totally true that there has been a great change in the quality and originality of product imagery over the last few years. This is why the transformation is so noticeable.
In other words, if your product pictures are poor and lacking creativity, it will result in fewer sales.
Customers expect to see the finest quality pictures with the product as well as pictures illustrating what the item looks like when being used. It’s no longer enough to take pictures of your products on a white background; it’s important to have images of them actually being utilized.
7. Take Time to Perfect Your Product Descriptions
Although it is obvious to a lot of people, it is astonishing how many businesses that trade online rely basically on the product information that is supplied by the creator of the item.
Not only does this create an issue with having the same content multiple times, it also does not provide an ideal experience for the user.
It’s wise to put in some effort to create an accurate and detailed account of the item you are offering, as the customer may have already familiarised themselves with the standard specifications of the product prior to their purchase. It may be a significant financial outlay to bring on board a talented copywriter, yet the improvement in conversion rate that results from truly expert copywriting is well worth the investment.
9. Structure your site so visitors can easily find products.
Organize your product categories in a reasonable way by featuring selections like ‘Search By Color,’ ‘Look for by Product Type,’ and so forth. Your purpose should be to guarantee that you use as few levels as you can so that a user can get to the item they are trying to find as quickly as possible.
Providing customers with an automated way to view the best items offered as well as supplying them with an effortless search tool on your website can have a tremendous effect. It is essential to be aware that the quicker a person can locate an item, the greater the probability they will purchase from you.
10. Make your checkout form easy to understand.
Make sure that everything on your checkout form is clear and comprehendible, like the CVV number and the accepted data inputs.
Try to restrict what can be entered into certain form fields to make the user experience more efficient.
- When a user types a credit card number, format it for them as they go along to make it easier to read and harder to mess up.
- In a date field, don’t let the user type but have a date picker or dropdown.
It is essential to guarantee that customers do not experience unease or face any obstacle while completing a purchase – especially as many people are hesitant to submit their private credit/debit card information.
Digital wallets help tremendously with this.
Digital wallets, such as PayPal Express, Amazon Pay, and Apple Pay, are online payment processing tools and applications. They let people sign in with their account details, and automatically fill in the necessary information. It is faster and more secure for everyone.
11. Always show shopping cart contents.
If they can’t find their cart, they cannot checkout.
Ensure that a shopping cart symbol is displayed with a link to it upon the customer adding a product to their cart. Furthermore, make it possible for customers to view the items they are purchasing as they complete their transaction.
12. Let customers checkout as guests.
Give people the ability to purchase products without having to create an account since you will likely know their name and email address through their transaction.
Making the user sign up gives them an extra reason to abandon your store.
Tools That Can Help Improve Ecommerce Conversion Rates
There are some invaluable and useful ecommerce tools to help analyze your current conversion rate issues, including:
HotJar.
HotJar provides an outstanding way to comprehend the behavior of visitors to your website at an overall standpoint.
You can use this tool to map the clicks, cursor movements, and scroll depths of users. Depending on your strategy, every heatmap experiment will give you a look at the ways in which visitors to your site click, shift, or scroll – allowing you to identify their action patterns.
Alternative methods of data collection like replay of user interactions, real-time recommendation fields, and bespoke customer surveys can offer your enterprise the insight into how to connect with customers and what services they desire.
You may also configure attribute-based filters through visit length, page views, country, and device separately or together so that you can look closer at particular groups and kinds of users.
Quantcast Measure.
Quantcast Measure serves a purpose that falls between the capabilities of Google Analytics and those of Facebook Analytics. It tracks user activity on websites, and at the same time supplies detailed demographic information for each individual click.
This consequence leads to thorough comprehension of visitors on an individual basis and it then can be translated into business knowledge allowing design teams to customize content and visuals in a manner that will reverberate more fulsomely.
Quantcast’s unique feature allows you to see statistics in two different ways; as a proportion of the total or how it compares to comparable websites in your geographical location.
This invaluable tool provides you with an understanding of the parts of your audience that you are hitting more than the general population.
Google Analytics.
Google Analytics can be beneficial to the majority of websites. The platform gives you a great view into your website visitors, including:
- How visitors found your website. This could be from keyword searches on Google, referral websites or direct visits.
- How long visitors stay on your website.
- Where the visitors come from.
- If the visitors are returning or new.
- What browser or operating system was used, and if the visitor used a mobile device or computer.
- How many visitors converted, and which interaction led to the conversion.
- Link to your Google Adwords campaign to track paid traffic as well.
BigCommerce Analytics.
BigCommerce provides a Analytics feature in the administration panel which showcases every deserted shopping cart, such as what items were in the cart at that moment of abandonment.
Analytics can be found on In-Store Searches to reveal what customers are inputting into the BigCommerce search engine program.
This approach to conversion optimization works to join what your customers want with the language and content that already exists on your website.
Examine the queries your potential clients are inquiring that are not appearing. This can help you work out what subsequent actions are essential, such as including products in the store.
BigCommerce Analytics presents a variety of dashboards that are especially advantageous when you have customers. These two techniques will provide assistance in determining the cause of conversion issues without the need of direct customer contact. Merchants of BigCommerce can arrange a session with our team in order to gain more understanding of conversion rate tutorials offered by BigCommerce University.
