In this increasingly competitive digital buying era, there are some factors that encourage customers to buy items from your online store or not. This action is called conversion which will be explained shortly. And it’s the foremost thing which you have to care about if you want your store to be successful. One thing to keep in mind is, the conversion doesn’t just happen automatically - you have to optimize your store for it.
What is E-commerce Store Conversion Rate?
In e-commerce, the meaning of conversion rate may be different for a different type of business. The typical conversion rate of an online store is from 1%-2%. If you are doing everything right, you can expect to get 2% sales of total visitors. And your Goal should be a 2%+ conversion rate for your online store.
The ideal definition for understanding conversion rate is:
The ideal definition for understanding conversion rate is:
“Conversion Rate is the percentage of visitors that explore your website and complete required action.”
Some common conversions for the online stores are:
• Successful Sale
• Product Addition to Cart
• Product Addition to Wish list
• Email Follow Up
Below are some tips which can increase your conversion rates:
1. Optimize Store Appearance
• High-Quality Images and Videos
When customers are buying something online, they can’t touch the product or put it on. So the best thing to do here, show detailed product images or videos so customers know what they are buying actually.
• Optimize Structure to Find Product
Keep your store easy to navigate, logically make product categories and filters but try to use as few levels as you can. Sometimes it is also necessary to make a filter will product colors or other various fields. This will allow a customer to reach the product faster.
• Optimize for Mobile Devices
About one-third of sales come from mobile devices. And if your e-commerce store is not providing a great mobile experience, you are missing a lot of sales. Always personalize your store for different devices such as tablets and cell phones etc.
• Grab Visitors Attention Quickly
If you are using a large banner image on your website, try to choose it carefully as you have to grab visitor’s attention in the first 3-5 seconds. Images are the first thing that a visitor will see and use to judge your website.
2. Create Offers
Today’s online customers are savvier than before. And they have more buying options than ever before. To make a visitor click the checkout button on your store will definitely take some effort from your side. In this context consider promotions the best and most valuable tool. Every customer buying online products wants a deal and to know they are getting the best price.
• Offer Free Shipping
If your store is not offering Free Shipping, the customers are going elsewhere where they will get it. In today’s market, Free Shipping is a must if you want to grow. And what if you can’t afford free shipping? It’s just a psychological game - Increase your product price to cover the shipping cost.
• Limited Time Coupons
Create coupons that can be used at checkout for a limited time and get a specific discount. When your coupon code expires this will drive urgency and shoppers will more likely go through with the purchase and not get distracted.
• Competitive Prices
If you are selling a product or brand which is also available in different stores, then you have to set your price at or below the average price to compete with others. Try to adjust your prices frequently to see what resonates.
3. Simplify Checkout Process
If your checkout process is too long or complicated, most customers are going to leave it in the middle. Try to keep your checkout process as simple as possible and short. It will improve user experience and convert more visitors into customers.
• Test Checkout Process
Most e-commerce platforms offer a standard checkout process but you have to take a look at your customer’s usage and your conversion analysis. Continuously applying new techniques and testing can get you to better results. Try to keep your checkout process within one page.
• Checkout Form Easy to Understand
Make sure everything on your checkout form is easily understandable such as CVV, Phone, and other input formats. You can set field limits to make it easier for users to type in. Like when a user enters a credit card number, automatically format it for them. Similarly in the date field, don’t let the customer type anything instead use dropdowns or date picker. Try to Add a Progress bar on the checkout page. This will let customers know how long it will take to complete their purchase.
• Show Shipping Cart Contents
If your shopping cart icon is not easily visible to the customer, they can’t checkout. Be sure to show all the products, prices, shipping fees, or any taxes if applicable on the checkout page. So the customers know what they are actually paying for.
• Offer Checkout as Guest
Allow your visitors to checkout without sign up on your website. When they will buy anything, you will get their name and email. If you are forcing visitors to sign up on your store by pop-ups or anything else – you are giving them a reason to leave your store.
• Make Add to Cart / Checkout Button Prominent
Sometimes a user is willing to buy but could not find Add to cart / Checkout buttons. The effort you put into bringing and convincing the visitors to buy something from your store will go useless if the checkout button is not visible on the product page. Create easy-to-access actionable buttons which prompt the user to do further actions.
4. Build Trust
According to a BuySafe report, 81% of online customers feel concerned when they shop from a website they don’t know. This can lead to loss of sales and even losing customers in long run. That’s why building trust for your e-commerce store is a very important thing.
• Let Customers Know Store is Safe
This looks like a small factor but it has a big impact on the conversion rate. Even if a customer is satisfied with the product and price, he/she may feel uncomfortable giving credit details if your store doesn’t have any trust signals.
1-Install SSL on your store.
2-Show Icons of PayPal, credit card, and other payment options.
But don’t any image if you are not truly secured.
• Use Live Chat Support
Responding to customer queries in real-time can develop much trust impression. If you use live chat software, don’t let its status “Unavailable” sends a bad signal to customers. In fact, it would be better not to add it if you can’t be there.
• Why they should buy from you?
Explain all distinct factors that make you better than any other store selling the same product. State Features like this: What is your unique value proposition? Why should I buy from you? What makes you different from others? Be humble, be smart, be you! Otherwise, why does someone buy from you instead of any other shop?
• Allow Product Reviews
Do you know why Amazon has the largest number of customers? – Because of reviews. Whenever we buy anything online, we first check its reviews. You can offer a discount voucher on reviewing your product. Also, ask your customers to submit complaints if they face the issue so you will know and solve the problem, it will help in increase of sales.
• Great Return Policy
Almost 50% of online shoppers look for the best return policy before buying. But don’t over-promise things you can’t offer. Just make it as simple as possible for a customer to return a product with valid reasons. So having a good return policy can increase conversion rates to a higher extent.
• Display Contact Information
Placing a phone number prominently on your website can decrease the uncertainty of a customer. It will give them a gesture that if anything goes wrong they can reach you out. Also, you can put your social media link so anyone can ask you about-faced issues. This little touch of authenticity can increase your sales.
• Spelling and Grammar Check
It sounds a little bit different but Yes if you have some spelling or grammar mistakes on your website, it will lead to a low conversion rate. Try to check thoroughly any mistakes in your product title and description and remove them.
5. Bring Back Your Customers
If your customers are just leaving your store after adding products to the cart or in the middle of checkout due to some unknown reasons, you can send them a reminder to complete their purchase. This can help to increase sales and make more returning customers.
• Cart Abandonment Software
If your store is getting a lot of abandoned carts, then you can use this software to increase your conversion rate. This software sends an email to customers that have added a product to the cart but then left. In the email, you can show the product and invoice so the customer can complete the order.
• Capture Emails
Some visitors may take more than 1 session to order something from your website. So capturing their email is good practice. You can capture an email by a pop-up offering some discount coupons. After this, you can continuously market to them your new products and offers.
• Measure Conversion Rate
To analyze your current conversion rate, you can use various tools available on the internet like HotJar, Quantcast Measure, and Google Analytics, etc. By doing this you will encounter that problem where a customer is leaving your website. If you fix these issues, you may get a higher number of sales. Some Conversion Rate measures are:
1- From where visitors came to your website
2- How long they stay on your website
3- Country Location of Visitors
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