The triumph of your e-commerce store is highly dependent on the efficacy of your current e-commerce platform in delivering your physical or digital products to your intended customers, as well as on your conversion rates, whether you’re trying to promote your latest product or sell your recent e-book to complement your online business.
Measuring your e-commerce conversion rates can be a valuable KPI if you are revising your current strategies, or if you want a defined understanding of which online sales tactics are driving the most growth.
E-Commerce Conversion Rates
A key performance indicator known as the e-commerce conversion rate can indicate the number of customers and users on your platform who are performing the desired action. To illustrate, the conversion rates can gauge the proportion of individuals who finalize their purchase compared to those who abandon their filled-up cart.
For those seeking simple ways to increase their e-commerce conversion rates, keep reading to discover our latest insights on the industry.
E-commerce websites have employed these strategies to assist the site proprietors in preserving and increasing their customer base within their targeted ideal customer profile (ICP).
1. Apply persuasive design and content on your website/app
To start with, our focus will be on the broader subject of overall website design.
Persuasive design
A principle exists:
None of the other strategies we are going to discuss will have a significant impact if your website fails to engage visitors and facilitate their transactions.
To begin with, your website must be:
- Visually appealing
- Visually persuasive
Although we could extensively analyze the reasons why the first instance is more attractive, it can simply be stated that it possesses a particular quality that the latter lacks.
However, visual persuasion requires a subtler approach. Its primary aim is to direct the attention of your website visitors to a specific section of the page, usually one that will bring them closer to completing their desired action.
Persuasive copy/content
Persuasive copy aims to ensure that visitors remain interested and proceed with making a transaction.
The term “persuasive” in this context does not refer to the need for overly sales-driven copy. Rather, the crucial factor is for your brand’s distinctive tone to be evident in each and every word that appears on your website.
2. Make a simple and easy navigation
If you entered a physical store where the merchandise was disorganized, you would likely leave immediately.
If your website visitors cannot locate what they need with a simple click, they will quickly switch to a competitor’s site.
It is important to note that the greater the number of products you provide, the significance of this increases. An example to consider is IKEA.
Visitors can easily access the intermediary product category page they are interested in by using the navigation bar located at the top of the screen. Once there, they can further explore each individual product category and its offerings.
While it may work fine for those who are just casually browsing your website for potential items to purchase, a more comprehensive search solution is necessary to accommodate those who have a specific item in mind.
Your top priority when improving your website’s search function is to make sure that the products that are most relevant to your visitors’ search term are displayed. Although there are various factors to take into account, this remains your main objective.
In a moment, we will explain why it is important for your product pages to be skillfully composed and contain crucial information that corresponds with your customers’ search terms.
3. Personalize
There are two main strategies to customize the experience for your visitors.
- Providing dynamic content
- Providing pathways for your visitors to take
In essence, the ability to generate and distribute dynamic content enables the customization of content, promotions, and product suggestions for your site’s users. This is accomplished by considering variables such as their demographic and geographic information, their activities on your site, and their past interactions with your brand.
In a recent discussion, we explored utilizing AI and machine learning as the most effective tool for tailoring customer experiences. Take a look at our previous post for a detailed examination of this innovative approach in the eCommerce industry.
When offering options for your visitors, it’s important to take into account the consumer demographic you usually attract. As a result, you’ll be directing them to sets of products that are related to each other, even if they’re not in the same category.
4. Allow shopping via social media platforms
Although advertising and establishing an organic presence on platforms like Facebook and Instagram are not novel strategies, an increasing number of eCommerce businesses are utilizing these channels for direct product sales to their audience.
If the merchandise you provide aligns with Instagram’s commonly shared content, it can be a highly profitable business opportunity.
If your industry revolves around visual presentation, such as clothing, fashion or culinary industries, you must ensure to make your Instagram profile shoppable.
5. Provide multiple discount options
Perhaps the only better than a discount, in the eyes of the consumer, is the ability to customize the discount they’re about to receive.
However, it can be disheartening for a customer to receive an email with a coupon or promotion, add items to their online shopping cart, only to discover that the offer cannot be applied to their transaction.
It is advantageous to offer customers some level of control over when and how they use a particular discount offer.
As we previously mentioned, this not only provides a personal touch to their experience but also motivates them to explore and try new things, which may result in them buying other items they hadn’t planned to purchase.
Quill, an office supply retailer, is another excellent illustration. Essentially, customers may gather electronic coupons in a digital “clipboard” and try out various approaches to use them to cut costs.
By offering a Coupon Clipboard, Quill empowers customers to find the best mix of coupons and promotes transparency. Customers can easily figure out which coupons apply at any given time, avoiding any surprises or letdowns.
6. Showcase social proof
In terms of increasing conversion rates, social proof is huge.
A research by Nielsen has revealed that the highest level of trust in marketing or advertising content is in recommendations from peers, family members, and friends, as reported by 84% of consumers.
For instance, according to the Consumerist, 70% of individuals who buy items online browse through product reviews prior to completing their purchase. To put it another way, product reviews influence 70% of those who make a purchase in some manner.
It is important to note that when social proof is positive, it typically results in not only a higher conversion rate, but also an increase in both average order value and customer retention.
7. Perform A/B testing
Although it may seem mundane, A/B testing can be a user-friendly and effortless technique for determining what elements of your existing e-commerce platform are successful and which ones may require an overhaul.
Essentially, A/B testing involves two main elements: the initial point (A) and the final point (B). In order to initiate A/B testing for your e-commerce website, pinpoint an aspect of your site where you believe consumers may be dropping out of the sales funnel. These specific areas may include:
- The call-to-action at the bottom of your page
- The location of your action buttons
- Your e-commerce content
After pinpointing the specific section of your e-commerce website that you wish to assess, modify the content (be it a button or an entire webpage) according to your preferred result.
The control page, also called “A,” is the first page, while the modified page, referred to as the variation page, is denoted by “B.”
To achieve accurate measurements and results for A/B testing, it is necessary to develop an alternative version of the webpage and allocate 50% of website traffic to this new page.
To effectively gauge your e-commerce conversion rates, it is necessary to utilize A/B testing tools such as Zoho or VWO.
After commencing the A/B testing procedure, it is necessary to be patient and gather sufficient data to obtain the most precise outcomes.
Your A/B testing and conversion tracking software will take on the majority of the task from here, by directing users equally to both the control page and the modified page. User data will be gathered, their actions will be analyzed, and a user-friendly report will be generated to present your findings.
Frequently, these reports will provide details like the number of individuals who visited your webpage, their activities on the page, and highlight significant variations between the two pages.
As an e-commerce manager, you can use these results to identify gaps in your sales funnel and make necessary changes to your current webpage.
8. Keep your site content targeted
Your e-commerce site’s written content plays an equally important role as your visual content in keeping all visitors engaged.
Ensuring coherence between your e-commerce content and your customers’ interests is crucial, given that online shoppers despise deceptive click-through emails and Google ads.
Every little piece of written material on your e-commerce site is significant. It is essential to give your call to action buttons and error alerts a distinct tone, keep them brief, and hold the attention of potential purchasers.
Attempt to alter the language used in your call to action buttons and simplify your e-commerce content to correspond with your connected PPC promotions.
The textual content featured on your online store must offer a personalized touch to every single customer. Ensure that your product descriptions are engaging, amusing, and captivating, while upholding the identity of your brand.
If your brand personality is known for being casual and feel-good, ensure that this translates into all written product descriptions.
Moreover, it is imperative that the content has a smooth transition and is easily readable on mobile devices, since online purchases constitute 15.6% of total retail sales in the UK and 8% of total retail sales in the USA.
Ensure that the text has a good contrast with the website and does not overpower the mobile version of a webpage.
9. Generate real customer reviews and increase engagement
Is your expertly designed e-commerce site causing frustration due to its conversion rates?
Partnering with an experienced e-commerce designer may assist you in creating an innovative platform, however, it is the genuine feedback from your prior customers that truly has an impact. Econsultancy reports that 61% of online shoppers will review comments before completing a purchase.
There are numerous individuals who peruse reviews before buying something. In essence, we are social beings and wish to have faith that the product or service we are buying will be advantageous to us in some way.
If we come across favorable remarks or feedback from other people who have already used a certain product, our tendency is to have faith in the product and its supplier.
Encouraging and simplifying the process of leaving reviews is crucial in order to meet the needs of the numerous individuals who depend on accurate and informed feedback from your prior clientele.
Harnessing the power of social media is an excellent method for enhancing your online reputation and making use of customer reviews.
By now, it’s likely that you’re aware of individuals serving as brand ambassadors, receiving compensation for sharing favorable details and images of goods across different social media platforms.
Utilizing social media can be advantageous for an e-commerce manager. It would be beneficial to generate a unique hashtag that encompasses your product and urge clients to utilize the hashtag when utilizing your product or service.
These social media reviews allow people to have a visual representation of how your product works or looks in the real world and compare it to their unique interests and needs.
Writing case studies is not the same as receiving feedback from customers online; however, it serves as a useful tool for showcasing your proficiency or showcasing the efficacy of your product to a large number of individuals. These case studies can be placed on your site or distributed via social media networks.
A case study can not only validate the effectiveness of your product, but also elevate brand exposure and incentivize people to buy your product or service.
