How Do I Increase Ecommerce Conversion Rate?

A study says, over 90% of the average website visitors don’t have any intentions to purchase.

Many e-commerce businesses simply focus marketing on social media and opting for SEO services to rank higher on search engines. While that’s essential, it’s only half of the task. The other half is getting those people on the way to goal conversion. This could be either buying the product, successful form fill-up or signing up as a member.

In short, the website conversion or conversion rate optimization process is transforming the traffic you get to your website via SEO, social media ads, content marketing, and other digital marketing efforts into paying customers.

Find out the 6 distinct factors that will optimize e-commerce website conversion rate.

1. Convert time into money

Time matters, whether you’re trying to get the attention of the visitors on social media or on your landing page. So, you’ve done your study, and slowly but steadily, you are getting visitors to your website. But there’s one catch. Getting them to your website is only half the battle won. Keeping them there to browse your products is a completely different ballgame. Keeping visitors on your website long enough for them to take an action (a.k.a. make a purchase) can be even harder.

According to a study, 92% of first-time website visitors don’t have any intentions to buy. What’s even more alarming is that most users will leave your website after 10 to 20 seconds.

According to another study, most visitors seem to be using mobile to browse your site on the go, making it even harder for ecommerce businesses to capture the attention of their visitors.

So, what should you do?

This is where having a rich value proposition can hook the attention of the spectators.

As the ‘Weibull Hazard Function Test’ proves that, most visitors are ready to bounce almost instantly, even if they had started browsing to buy. The best way to stop your visitors from clicking away at this crucial stage is to give them an offer they think twice.

This can be in the form of a discount coupon, sweepstake for when they do purchase the product, or a promise of delivering them the best quality product or service available. That last part will have to be backed up by solid proof, whether it’s a testimonial from past customers or social proof in form of reviews and ratings of your product or service. The idea is to give the potential customer something to delight that they even considered clicking on your site and not the hundreds of other options out there.

2. Put yourself in your customers' shoes

Take a good, deep look at your website. How does it look and feel to you? Is it appealing? Does it provide you the answer you search for? And more importantly, does it have a clear call-to-action (CTA)?

Needless to say, you will have to put yourself in your audience’s shoes to get an answer.

The websites that have the best conversion rates are the ones who nailed the following:

• Simplicity – They don’t use flashy colors and unconventional text sizes to distract the reader.
• Navigability – They have easily located dropdown menus that are simple to navigate.
• Hierarchy – The most important information comes first and is presented in simple language.
• Consistency – All the thematically related pages appear uniform.
• Accessibility – Web pages should appear the same on handheld devices and PC screens.
• User-Centricity – Don’t cloak. Be clear to your audience, and they’ll repay it.

If the web page contains multiple products with an equal level of importance – problem. If the web page contains multiple products but with only one product highlighted – no problem. Allow visitors to filter through the product’s features according to size, color, style, price, etc. When it is designed and developed intelligently, your website should be coherent and lightning-fast.

Now, what does that look like?

Let’s take a look at any successful e-commerce website like Amazon or Flipkart. Go ahead, check them out if you haven’t visited. Your time won’t waste. I promise.

What will you see is exactly what the website creators want you to.

The case study given above ticks all the boxes of what makes a website that converts – simplicity, navigability, hierarchy, consistency, accessibility, and user-centricity.

The visitor is at once guided straight to the landing page and the information they are most likely going to be interested in:

• Free shipping (boosts your average order value)
• Price (no surprises or hidden costs)
• Call to Action (make sure your CTA is visible)

3. Optimize checkout funnel

For a better conversion rate, you need to shorten the checkout journey. We already know that the average load time of a website should not be more than three seconds. It has been found that conversion rates drop by an average of more than 4% with each additional second.

But, that’s just the time it should take for your website to fully functional on the user’s screen of choice.

The checkout process is the steps that every buyer has to take to complete the transaction. It goes from getting on your product page to complete buying the product.

Needless to say, your visitors who have an intention to buy a product will want a simple in and out procedure that doesn’t complex. So, the shorter the e-commerce checkout flow is, the more likely it is to convert a potential buyer into a paying customer.

For improved website conversion, you need to keep the buying process as fluid as possible by collecting minimal buyer information. Once they become a recurring customer, you can always ask them to provide personal information for a customized solution, at which point, they’ll be glad to share.

Ideally, this is what a checkout form should look like:

• Simple layout
• Multiple yet orthodox payment options
• No redirecting to another website to make the payment

4. Utilize virtual assistants and chatbots

Chatbots are completely revolutionizing the way everyday business processes are carried out on the web. One of the major reasons why chatbots, automated chat, or chat widgets have become an indispensable part of the e-commerce model nowadays is because they allow visitors to get the information they need on the fly. This is far more efficient than anything else since that’s the beauty of machine learning, AI, and IoT. But, you get the point, which is, chatbots offer customers the information they need regardless of the time of day or location.

Chatbots are intelligent enough to sense the context of the question and execute the right bot flow. However, chatbots cannot find answers or perform a set of activities on their own. On the other hand, a virtual assistant (for example, Google Assistant) can crawl through indexed resources and offer assistance for a wide range of conversations.

Both chatbots and virtual assistants are great for website conversion because they do not need refreshment breaks like humans, can work round the clock. This means your visitors get the information they are searching for in real-time, 24X7. For example, an e-commerce virtual assistant (VA) can help a visitor with product and research-based tasks.

This alone is enough to give your visitors a push in the right direction i.e., the path of conversion.

Chances are, your average consumer likes to use chat services. So, why not use chatbots to get a conversation started on your website?

5. Optimize CTA

A call to action (CTA) that’s easily identifiable and understandable prompts the visitor to take a particular action. Whether that’s to make a purchase or register for something. This CTA needs to be clear in its intent.

Placement

The CTA typically needs to be placed at the top of the fold. This is the place where the visitor can easily read it without having to scroll down. CTA’s that are placed at prominent positions are far more effective as compared to those that are below the fold or other sections of the page.

Shape and color

The shape and color of the CTA also matter very much. For example, in the name of consistency, many businesses make the mistake of designing their CTAs using a similar color and font size as the rest of their website. This only blends the CTA in with the rest of the content on the page, making it even harder for it to catch the attention of your visitors.

Being benefit-centric

All too often, we read CTAs that are just poorly written. A bad copy is like a spoiler. Bad CTA copy looks something like “buy here”, “click here”, “download”. All of these CTAs typically do not perform well because they are vague and not benefit-oriented.

To encourage the visitor to click on CTA without hesitantly, you need a CTA copy that is benefit-centric, as in, offers the visitor something in return for their action, and not just a promise of what might happen. Some good examples of CTAs are – “sign up”, “try for free”, “get started”, “learn more”, “join us” etc.

6. Deal fairly and honestly

An important factor while setting up a business is to remember that getting people to buy from you is all about creating trust. A conversion rate optimization plan for an e-commerce website is no exception. Think about it. You wouldn’t want to invest in a brand if you didn’t know where it was based, nor would you lend money to a stranger.

For the customer, buying online is pretty much the same thing. They want assurance. They want to know where you’re based, your authority in a niche, and even more importantly, that you’re not going to sell them snake oil. Since people tend to rationalize a purchase based on emotion, you need to make them reassure that you’re a real person, your products are genuine, and your website is legit.

The best way of doing that is by providing your contact information (NAP – name, address, and phone number), whether it’s a physical address, phone number, or email address, or all three. Your customers need to know that they will have somebody to talk to if there’s a problem. Getting fluid post-purchase service - is their main concern. So, address it professionally.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these 6 tips should help you get off to a good start with your e-commerce website conversation rate optimization. Since websites are created for different markets and along different verticals, you can always find ways of fine-tuning your landing pages and web pages for better conversion using the right combination of A/B testing, industry best practices, and the latest trends.