There are 26 million ecommerce websites on the internet, including yours. The vast majority of those websites (probably including yours) are trying to get products in front of the right people to get them to buy.
And globally, the average ecommerce conversion rate is between 2-3% (depending on the industry/vertical).
Therefore, to survive the fierce competition and succeed in the world of ecommerce, it is crucial to convert website visitors into paying customers. The ecommerce conversion rate is super important for an online business as it is the driving factor for revenue. Even a half-a per cent drop in your ecommerce conversion rate can have a massive impact on your overall sales.
It may seem daunting to optimize your website for conversions, but there are a few things every business should include in its overall optimization strategy. Because, let’s face it, unless you optimize properly, your ecommerce conversion rate won’t increase by itself.
To help you improve ecommerce conversion rate and drive more sales, here are eight actionable steps you can take.
Ways to increase your ecommerce conversion rate
1. Analyse user behaviour
In order to solve your user's problems, you first need to understand them deeply. And this comes by analyzing your user's behaviour.
Poor usability on your website can damage your ecommerce conversion rate. Up to 70% of online businesses fail because of poor usability. Simply improving your website's design and flow could increase your ecommerce conversion rate by 35%.
To do this, you need to analyse your user’s behaviour and see how they navigate your website. And one of the most common ways to do such an analysis is by using heat maps. Heat maps show how users navigate your site, how they scroll, what they see, what they choose to ignore, and what interactive elements they’re clicking on.
By using heat maps, you can determine if there are any issues your customers face while using your website, and you can see which elements your users interact with most frequently. This way, you can tailor your website for the best user experience and increase your ecommerce conversion rate.
There are several heat mapping tools available such as Crazy Egg, Hotjar, Heap and Full Story, which you can use to analyse user behaviour and increase your ecommerce conversion rate. The best thing about most of those tools is that they are very user-friendly, require no coding and can be used with a freemium plan.
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2. Improve customer experience with A/B testing
An A/B test compares two versions of a variable to determine which one leaves the greatest impact. In A/B testing, A refers to 'control' or the original testing variable, and B refers to 'variation' or a new version of the original variable.
Your website analytics and heat maps can tell you what changes are required on your website in order to increase ecommerce conversion rate, but you’ll want to see how those changes affect your website. In this case, you can use A/B testing to determine whether those changes are worth implementing or not.
For example, on your website, most of your CTA’s are blue in colour, and in the heat maps, you see that not a lot of people are clicking on them. So you decide to change the colour and see how people respond. You can do this easily through A/B testing. One variation can have green-coloured CTAs, and the other variation can have black. This way, you can analyse what works best.
In the same way, you can tweak the copy, visuals or layouts of your website and see whether the changes are having the desired effect on your ecommerce conversion rate. A/B testing helps you can eliminate the guesswork and make data-driven decisions to optimise your website for the best customer experience. You can start by using tools like Google Optimise (a free tool by Google) and then transition to tools like Optimizely if you want more features and functionalities.
3. Use high-quality product images
Images of products make it easier for customers to envision how a product might fit into their lives, thereby improving the chances of conversion. As users scroll through your website, compelling graphics can capture their attention.
Making sure your images are relevant and high-quality is crucial for ecommerce conversion rate optimization. Also, showing the product in use gives customers a better idea of what they're looking at and its value.
Think like your customers: what would they want to see before buying? What kind of presentation would catch their attention? For example, a shot of a fitness tracker while it is being used by a person during a workout session or other fitness activity would be more convincing and effective rather than a picture of the same fitness tracker against a plain background.
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4. Convert cart abandoners
Shoppers who abandon their carts at ecommerce sites are often ignored by merchants. They often think that shoppers didn't like the product if they didn't purchase it.
But that’s certainly not the case.
Shopping carts aren't filled randomly by consumers. When they add a product to their cart, it's mostly because they're interested in it.
Even though a high cart abandonment rate can be discouraging, it is important to remember that these shoppers are identifying themselves as your most valuable prospects. There is a strong intent to purchase among consumers who abandon their carts. It’s just that some obstacles prevented them from completing the process.
So, just a small push would be a great way to get these customers back on the website to complete their purchases and increase your ecommerce conversion rate. You can draft a cart abandonment email campaign and send out two to three emails reminding them of their unfinished purchase and creating an urgency for them to complete it. A cart recovery email campaign could generate up to a 15% conversion rate. Brands have seen a 16% conversion from emails sent just an hour after abandonment and an 11% conversion from the second email sent 24 hours after abandonment. Thus, cart abandonment emails are actually one of the most impactful tools to win back customers.
Here are 10 best practices for nailing your abandoned cart emails.
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5. Use scarcity and urgency
It is natural to become anxious and make an impulse buy when time is running out, or there is a scarcity of products you want to buy. Both scarcity and urgency can be huge motivators and can be used to get potential shoppers to complete their purchases and increase your ecommerce conversion rate.
According to Neuroscience Marketing, the addition of a countdown timer can increase the sense of urgency, which leads to a higher conversion rate.
Another study by CXL explains how one brand increased sales by 332 per cent by using a limited-offer sign with a countdown timer.
Additionally, using scarcity tactics like a pop-up that says ‘only 3 items left’ can induce the shoppers to place their order immediately and help increase your ecommerce conversion rate.
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6. Review customer persona and tailor messaging
Customer personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers. They help us understand the customer better and allow us to tailor our messaging.
There may be a large gap between your ideal customer and your actual customer, and you might not know it. This could be one of the biggest factors affecting your ecommerce conversion rate.
For example, if your personas are men in their early 30s but your customer base is predominantly men in their 50s, you'll have a significant disconnect with your audience. Your messaging would not be correct for them as you tailored the messaging for men in their 30s (your persona). This might be one of the major reasons why people landing on your website might not connect and leave, thereby bringing your ecommerce conversion rate down.
Therefore, it is important that you adjust the personas based on the actual customers who buy from you and tailor your messaging specifically towards them to boost your ecommerce conversion rate.
7. Accept multiple payment options
Not everyone wants to enter their card details to pay online. People want to use convenient and safe payment methods that require less effort. In this day and age of numerous payment options, customers are spoilt for choice, but if they don't see their preferred payment option on your website, they may abandon their cart and leave. And your ecommerce conversion rate is directly impacted by this.
Therefore, an ecommerce store's payment option must go beyond just accepting cards. Offering the most popular options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal can be a good place to start. Next, you can add options like Klarna and Clearpay. Or you can analyze and A/B test what your users want and prefer as a payment method and make sure you offer it.
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8. Simplify your checkout process
A complicated and lengthy checkout process is one of the biggest reasons that affect the ecommerce conversion rate on any website. All your effort and money invested into getting customers on your website goes to waste when shoppers abandon their cart because they found it difficult to checkout.
Streamlining and simplifying the customer buying process is one of the best ways to improve your ecommerce conversion rate. Shoppers seldom leave the checkout process midway if it is super easy and quick.
A solution like ‘one click checkout’ makes shopping frictionless and more delightful for customers. It eliminates unnecessary steps during the checkout process and also removes redundant form fields, usernames and passwords. It requires one simple click to buy stuff online. You land on a website, see a product you like and click on the one click checkout button. There you go, that's it.
For example, this is how simple the user journey looks when a shopper buys from a website that offers Simpler one click checkout:
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Improve your ecommerce conversion rate the Simpler way.
Simpler is a one click checkout solution provider that partners with 1000+ online stores.
Simpler one click checkout is the simplest way to buy things online. It is faster, more seamless, and gets 35% higher conversions than the average checkout, thanks to a frictionless buying experience and flexible payment options.
From analytics about your shoppers’ details that can help you boost your remarketing efforts to revenue tracking capabilities, sales reports, and simple payout statements, Simpler is your all-in-one checkout solution made to increase your ecommerce conversion rate
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It can be installed on your website within minutes and supports all major e-commerce platforms. The best part? You don't have to replace your current payment processor at all.
Stop leaving money on the table! Reach out to us and learn more about how Simpler can help increase your ecommerce conversion rate.
You will soon hear from us!
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