Improve your e-commerce conversion rates
Getting traffic to your e-commerce website is one thing, getting visitors to convert into customers is something else. If you are receiving a healthy level of traffic to your e-commerce website, but sales are still low it could be because of one of these reasons:
- Lack of call to actions
Sometimes people just need that extra nudge to get them to commit to purchase. Having ‘buy now’ or CTA’s next to your products will help them make that decision. Even on sliders or within content pages and blog posts, if you are referencing a particular product, include a call to action so that it is easy for your visitors to convert.
- Make your CTA’s stand out
Make sure your ‘buy now’ and ‘add to cart’ buttons stand out and are a different colour, you will often see orange used (just take a look at amazon). Whilst it’s important to have consistency in design, look and feel across the website. It’s also important that those all important Call To Actions don’t get missed completely.
- Free Shipping and Delivery information
If you offer free shipping on purchases then make sure you advertise the fact across your Website, from the home page right through to checkout. It can be a real selling point. It’s also a good idea to have a separate deliver page to clarify the following:
- Expected dispatch and delivery times
- Any special delivery services you offer
- Shipping charges if relevant
- Which countries you deliver to
- Delivery method
Also, for larger items, information about time slots is also vital in helping people make a decision about whether or not to purchase.
- Up-Selling
You will often see “people who purchased this product also purchased’ on e-commerce websites, this is a good way to up-sell additional items whilst someone is already in the buying frame of mind. We often make impulse buys and this is a good way to take advantage of that fact by offering complimentary items. For example, if someone has added a pair of trousers to their shopping cart, showing them a range of tops that would compliment is a good way of gaining additional sales.
- Make it easy to pay
Show that your website payment method is secure using HTTPS:// and also displaying the fact throughout your website to put people’s mind’s at rest. Payment methods should be displayed on the footer of each page, there is nothing more frustrating than checking out, only to find that you cannot use the method of payment you have available to you.
Make the checkout process as quick and painfree as possible, offering guest checkout as standard will help reduce the number of sales you lose in the checkout process.
- Make it easy for people to contact you
Have your phone number and email address easily visible on every page, this not only makes it easy for people to get in touch, but it also helps instill trust which is really important for e-commerce, particularly if you are a brand that many won’t have heard of before.
- Show product reviews
Using a tool such as trustpilot to allow customers to leave reviews is another great way of helping instill confidence and trust in your company. We are more likely to listen to the opinions of others than we are to those messages a company sends out about itself.
Don’t be afraid of negative feedback, but make sure you deal with it quickly and publicly.
- Great search Functionality
Make it really easy for people to find the things they are looking for. Having a search option on your website is a great way of helping potential customers navigate your website. This is particularly important if you have a lot of products on your website.
- Stock availability
Be open and honest about availability of stock, you will simply annoy people if they purchase and are then told retrospectively that the items isn’t currently in stock. Make it clear before a purchase is made and also give some indication of how long it will be before the item is available.
- Consistently update
Even if your product range is pretty static, updating your pages can help keep the consumers interest. Updating your homepage images is a great way of doing this. Show your products in different ways and give people ideas or information about how best to use them.
These are our top ten ways to make sure you aren’t harming your e-commerce conversion rate. There are many more (you might have a few yourself). But if you start with these, then you should see an increase in conversion rates across your e-commerce website.
