For almost every e-commerce business, conversion rate is one of the key factors for measuring success as well as ensuring the future growth. In any e-commerce website, when more and more visitors undertake a desired action on the page – for example, making a purchase or downloading an e-book – conversion rate increases.
So, if conversion rate is so important in the game of e-commerce business, how would you ensure that it increases with time? Optimization is the most viable and effective option that can make your website a preferred destination for online shoppers. Optimization is also a vital strategy for you because it helps cut down the cost of acquiring new customers considerably, thereby improving ROI.
The key question, therefore, to answer is: What steps should you take to optimize your e-commerce conversion rate?
Here are some of the highly effective tips that help you increase the conversion rate of your e-commerce business in 2018:
Improve your website’s usability
The first and foremost thing you need to keep in mind is to make your website as smooth and easy as possible for your visitors to complete their purchases. For that you must simplify every process that you want your shoppers to undergo such as navigation, search and checkout procedure. As a rule of thumb, it is of paramount importance for any e-commerce website to make sure that customers can easily find what they are looking for. So when your customers are able to locate their desired products, they should have an easy access to all the useful details about the product. This is a great way to help them make an inform decision. Thus you should incorporate the following crucial things on your website:
Easy Site Navigation: Unless your site is easily navigated, no one would like to explore it for purchasing items. It includes neat categorization of products so that people locate them easily, clearly placed contact page, and FAQ page to get more info.
Efficient Search Bar: A search bar is very handy when shoppers have to find specific products, albeit you have to make it more efficient. Moreover, try to display it at the top right side of your site, where it is usually found.
Necessary Call-to-Actions: You can expect different types of audiences who are visiting your website – leads, promoters, customers, etc, who perform different things. So you need to incorporate different call-to-actions, for example, “Purchase Now”, “Add to Cart”, “Download Now”, “Read More”, “Fill the Form”, “Sign Up”, etc.
Smooth Checkout Process: The checkout process should be easy to perform, which should take just a few steps to complete. Otherwise, the visitors will more likely to abandon the cart.
Better user experience: In order to increase your e-commerce sales, you need to have an engaging and user-friendly site. For that you have to create better user experience by using better e-commerce extensions. This will drastically improve your site’s conversion rate.
Innovatively place your product images
First off, you need to use high quality and high definition product images that can depict finer details. It is better to use as more and more images because that way customers know exactly what they are getting. Furthermore, when placed effectively and strategically, images convey vital information about the products. For example,
Zoom option allows shoppers to gain a better impression.
Showing multiple angles of products creates a sensory appeal in the eyes of viewers.
Images used during checkout can provide a quick visual reminder.
Putting images that show the product in use is an extra added advantage.
You can show product in such a way that its features are also visible.
Try using 360 degree view. It will be better.
Improve your product descriptions
A well-written product description sheds a valuable insight by underlining the benefits of the product so that customers are fully convinced before making purchase. A unique and informative description around your product will give you an edge in terms of grabbing your viewers’ attention towards the product. The more you engage your customers with information-rich content, the more likely you will have them purchase your items.
Moreover, an easy-to-read and crisp summary of your products will convey the essence as to how exactly they are good for. You need to focus on communicating its value to your customers, for it will create a sense of need in their life. Hence, try to write an enticing and impactful product description for each and every product on your e-commerce site.
Incorporate relevant and engaging product videos
According to a research, 73% more visitors who watch product videos buy them. Another one reveals 71% of customers think video explains the product better. So, clearly, videos are increasingly becoming topmost priority for businesses. In addition to images, product videos have great potential to take your e-commerce business to the next level, which is why you can’t ignore to include videos into your mix. They better help consumers understand your product and provide as much information as possible. This makes videos an extremely effective way to demonstrate your products and their benefits to your viewers. The following points will tell you why videos are the future of e-commerce business:
Google favors and prioritizes sites that have videos because it displays a mix of search results including videos, images, news and maps.
Videos are more sharable and clickable
Watching videos captivates users as compared to reading descriptions and posts.
They quickly convey an incredible amount of information.
Generate trust through social proof
90% of customers in a survey conducted by Marketing Land accepted that their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. By putting yourself in consumers’ shoes, you would realize that you wouldn’t buy a product unless you trust the brand or the product works. So, what does this mean? An effective way to win your customers’ trust is through the recommendations of other consumers.
To start with, highlight testimonials of different flavors and tones, ranging from quotes and paragraphs. It would be better if you get people in highly relevant positions such as social influencers on your side. Next thing to include is reviews, which are probably the most important when it comes to social proof. So, you can reach out to your general audience through different channels and ask them give their reviews or feedback. Another social proof you can utilize is a case study. To do this, you need to choose a right client that best represents the values and benefits of your brand.
Tackle shipping cart abandonment
Shopping cart abandonment happens when a potential customer drops out of checkout process before completing the purchase. It is an important aspect that you have to pay careful attention to since a high rate signals less conversion rate and hence, reduced sales. If you are experiencing shopping cart abandonment, you need to tackle it as soon as possible. First off, it is also important to understand the reasons behind this issue. Let us take a look:
Lack of trust – Users aren’t always comfortable providing their credit card details.
High shipping costs
Time consuming and complex checkout process
Lack of payment options
Comparison shopping
Doubt
Technical issues and glitches
High prices
Now, in the event of users abandoning their carts, first thing you need to do is to look at analytics data and identify drop-off points, conduct user research surveys, or compare your checkout flow to competing sites. So, when you figure out any of the above reasons behind shopping cart abandonment, you can take appropriate action.
Provide live chat support
Live chat is a potent way to provide valuable and convenient information to your customers in real time. A Forrester study reveals that 44% of online customers say that having questions answered by a live person is a highly important feature a website can offer. It is convenient for customers due to which live chat on a website can generally lead to improved sales numbers. It provides immediate access to customers’ pain points because when they use live chat, they will try to ensure that a specific product will perform as advertised.
Offer free shipping
Free shipping is a great way to show that you really care about your customers and also that you provide value to their money. The fact is offering free shipping makes your customers believe that are getting some sort of deal even if they aren’t. There are as many as 50% of e-commerce companies that offer free shipping because a majority of consumers have stated that they would purchase more products if free shipping were available. High shipping cost is also the topmost reason why customers abandon carts. If free shipping is not a viable option for you all the time, you can charge an upfront or flat shipping rate. That way you can prevent visitors abandoning your cart.
Conclusion
Running an e-commerce business successfully is not a walk in the park; there are many elements that you need to factor into and many details that you need to pay attention to. E-commerce optimization allows you to look into what little or big changes you need incorporate on your website. The above tips are an attempt to help you achieve you a better e-conversion rate for your website.
