Driving traffic to your e-commerce website may be one of the most significant tasks undertaken for your digital marketing strategy. Neglecting the e-commerce conversion rate pathway for your e-commerce website would amount to injustice to your traffic effort.
Therefore, it is crucial to consider intricately, if not wisely, how your e-commerce website will convert visitors into valuable leads or even customers. Having a higher conversion rate means you will generate more revenue, which proves your e-commerce business is growing.
Here are the twenty e-commerce website tips for driving conversions to your e-commerce website. Implementing them correctly will help you drive more conversions for your e-commerce business.
20 Tips For Driving Conversions To An E-commerce Website
Tip #1: Fast Loading Speed
The speed of your e-commerce website contributes to its conversion rate. The faster it is, the better. Your visitors will be able to see everything that you have to offer, and they can browse through the web pages of your e-commerce website at ease.
The ideal loading speed of an e-commerce website should be between one to three seconds. If your e-commerce website takes longer than that to load, expect most of your visitors, if not all, will leave and look for other e-commerce website that sell similar products.
Here are some tools you can use to find out how fast does your e-commerce website loads:
Tip #2: Showcase USP
The first question that digital marketing consultants would usually ask their clients is, “What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?”
USP here refers to Unique Selling Propositions. Your USP is important to separate you from your competitors. Does your e-commerce website have something that other e-commerce websites do not have? When visitors visit your e-commerce website, is there something compelling that they would return to visit or buy again?
Most e-commerce websites hardly have a USP or are aware they need one. Many of them would attempt to cover a niche, e.g. female corporate female dresses, but fail to highlight what truly makes them stand out from competitors from the same niche.
For instance, if a woman named Miss Emerson owns an e-commerce website that sells female corporate dresses, she can further sharpen her proposition by using “female corporate dresses made from the finest silk”. This way, Miss Emerson would differentiate herself from her competitors and make it more memorable for visitors to remember to share it with their friends via word-of-mouth.
Tip #3: Keep The Web Design Simple
Another thing that you need to focus on is the web design of your e-commerce website. If it does not look appealing, visitors might reconsider shopping from your e-commerce website. Even though everyone knows the saying “do not judge the book by its cover”, it is part of human nature to do that subconsciously.
The only thing you can do to prevent visitors from judging the web design of your e-commerce website is to keep it simple but not dull. A good web design should be visually appealing and persuasive. An e-commerce website that has these qualities tend to have a higher conversion rate.
For example, between these two images of an e-commerce website, which one do you think will convert more customers? Modern consumers nowadays will surely choose the first one since the brand showcases how consumers should wear the product they are selling to them.
Tip #4: Use High-Quality Visuals
Image is the crux that will make or break your e-commerce website. Since visitors cannot touch or see the product physically when shipping online, include images that showcase the product as clearly and articulately as possible. Even though many e-commerce websites have survived using images solely without text years ago, that will no longer work today. Consumers are getting smarter nowadays, so you need to use high-quality visuals to impress them.
Besides showing the product from different angles, consider adding a zoom feature to all images. Doing so will allow customers to visualise and inspect the product more.
The GIF below is an example of a zoom feature on high-quality visuals on Amazon.
Tip #5: Improve The Copy Of Your Content
Apart from using high-quality visuals on your e-commerce website, you should also improve the copy of your content. According to a study conducted by Referral Rock, 36% of digital marketing experts conveyed that copy has the most significant impact on an e-commerce conversion rate.
To experience the same result, consider improving your copy. Make sure it provides every information about the product to help potential customers with their shopping.
ALSO READ: SEO Copywriting: How To Optimise Your Content?
Tip #6: Easy Web Page Navigation
Going to a brick-and-mortar is the same as visiting an e-commerce website. If all displayed products are not properly categorised and arranged, it will be hard for customers to browse through each rack and purchase.
The same scenario can happen to your potential customers online. Once they land on your e-commerce website, being able to navigate through the website easily will determine their shopping experience.
Here are the things you need to do to guarantee they will experience smooth navigation on your e-commerce website:
- Offers internal search feature
The red box in this picture is Sephora’s internal search feature on its e-commerce website.
- Add product categories
- Include autocomplete feature
The image showcases Shopee’s Autocomplete Feature on its e-commerce website.
Tip #7: Be Clear and Upfront
Honesty is the best policy, and this applies to e-commerce businesses too. If you do not tell the truth about your product or delivery details and get caught by your potential customers, expect them not to trust you.
Instead of adding sugar-coating words in the product description and delivery details to nudge your potential customers to make a purchase, you should display honesty at all times. Doing so will help avoid the notion of expectation vs reality.
The expectation vs reality posts that you have seen on your news feed is not just a meme. Customers are posting them to let others know of the shop where they bought the item, and if that happens to be your e-commerce store, that can ruin your reputation and market.
The only way to prevent that from happening is to be clear and upfront with your product and delivery details. Make sure to also answer honestly when your customers send you an inquiry regarding your products.
Tip #8: Allow Shopping On Social Media
As more people purchase online and the e-commerce industry expands, the concept of online shopping continues to develop. Besides shopping on your e-commerce website alone, allow your potential customers to shop on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Letting them shop in the marketplace that these social media platforms have will help increase your conversion rate because almost everyone uses social media.
Instead of going to your e-commerce website, they can browse through your products directly on the social media they are currently using at that time. Doing so helps consumers save time and makes it easier to purchase.
Tip #9: Offers Multiple Discount Coupons
Offering multiple discount coupons is another way to increase your conversion rate on your e-commerce website. It is not surprising since most consumers love sales.s
According to Quartz, 45% of shoppers will not consider shopping unless the items are on sale. The only way to cater for this type of consumer is to offer multiple discount coupons.
Here is an example of how Sephora offers multiple discount coupons to its potential customers.
Tip #10: Optimise For Mobile Devices
Although mobile shopping has already existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of mobile shoppers has expanded rapidly in the last two years. According to Statista, mobile retail commerce sales have increased from 67.2% (2019) to 79.2% (2021).
See the graph of mobile commerce sale below:
This increase is not surprising since 83.72% of the world’s population own and use a smartphone. That is why it is safe to say that mobile retail commerce sales will continue to increase in the years to come.
ALSO READ: Mobile SEO: A Guide To Optimising Your Website For Mobile Phones
Tip #11: Personalised Shopping Experience
You can also increase the conversion rate of your e-commerce website by offering a personalised shopping experience to your customers. Doing so will make your customers feel more valued, which helps gain their trust and nudge them to make a purchase.
Here are the things you need to consider for personalising the shopping experience of your customers:
- Customer’s shopping history
- Items added to their wish list
Your customer’s personalised shopping experience will be curated according to their interest, likes and recent searches. Below is an example of how it will look like:
Tip #12: Allow Guest To Sign Up With Google Or Facebook
Even though signing up and creating an account on an e-commerce website is not difficult, not everyone has the time to do so. With a faster pace of life, everyone’s time has become more valuable.
Rather than wasting time filling out personal information on an e-commerce website for every purchase, consumers prefer fast checkout, especially if it is an emergency.
Cart abandonment is more common on e-commerce websites with complicated and lengthy sign-up processes. According to Shopify, the second most common cause for customers abandoning their shopping cart is the inability to create an account.
Consider allowing guests to quickly sign up by using their Google or Facebook page account to create an account to solve this problem. Doing so enables customers to create an account hassle-free and start shopping on your website.
Here is an example from Asian Beauty, an e-commerce store that sells beauty products in Singapore. The red box in the image below allows visitors to sign up using either their Google or Facebook accounts.
Tip #13: Target Shoppers Who Abandoned Carts
Speaking of cart abandonment, did you know 17% of shoppers abandon their shipping cart due to the complicated checkout process? The more steps you have in your checkout process, you are less likely to drive conversions on your e-commerce website.
If you do not want to lose that 17% of shoppers, you should simplify your checkout process. And for those shoppers who still choose to abandon their shopper cart on your e-commerce website, you can still target them through remarketing.
Remarketing is a technique that e-commerce business owners use to allow them to track visitors who have visited their e-commerce website and use web cookies to target them. Your ads will be shown to the customer who visits the other platform which is on the network such as Facebook or Instagram.
For example, after visiting your e-commerce website, a customer logs on to Facebook. If they did not purchase anything, remarketing would remind them about the item that piqued their interest by displaying an ad on their news feed.
Tip #14: Highlight Return & Exchange Policy
As mentioned above, consumers nowadays are getting smarter. This study from UPS has proven that when they find out that 67% of shoppers will only consider buying the item they are interested in once they have reviewed the return and exchange policy.
The only way to turn that potential 67% of shoppers into your paying customers is to highlight your return & exchange policy. Doing so will prompt them to check that first and reassure them they will be safe to shop from your e-commerce website
Tip #15: Provide Multiple Payment Method
Even though online shopping is convenient for most consumers, not all think the same. Some consumers prefer multiple payment options which causes them to leave an e-commerce website if their preferred payment option is not available.
As an e-commerce business owner, know that you cannot please everyone, and the only way you can encourage these consumers to shop is to provide multiple payment options.
Apart from credit and debit cards, here are other payment options you can include on your e-commerce website:
- Digital wallet
- Bank transfer
- Prepaid cards
- Buy now, pay later
- Cash on delivery
Tip #16: Suggest More Delivery Options
Besides providing multiple payment options, your potential customers will appreciate your e-commerce website more if you can suggest more delivery options.
Some customers require urgent delivery and based on your service provided, you should cater to this group of customers. For example, florist, quick-service delivery.
You can consider adding some of these delivery options for your customer::
- 2-day shipping
- Same-day delivery
- Overnight shipping
- Expedited shipping
- International shipping
Tip #17: Add A Review Section
Having a review section on each product page helps increase the conversion rate. According to Consumerist, 70% of online shoppers always check online reviews made by customers who have already purchased the item. Reading reviews gives them invaluable insight, like how the product looks like and what they can expect after purchase..
Besides having a review section on each product page on your e-commerce website, you should also encourage your customers to leave feedback on what they have bought. This will create a loop and influence new visitors who are browsing your product for potential conversion.
Tip #18: Include Customer Support
You can also increase your e-commerce website sales and conversions by including customer support. Letting your customers know that they can reach out to your business will give them more peace of mind to shop.
Here are your options when including customer support on your ecommerce website:
- Live chat
- Landline number
Tip #19: Run A Blog Page
Whether in person or online, most consumers will only buy something once they have done their research. And the perfect place to find information about the product they have the plan to purchase is from your e-commerce website.
Even though each item you offer has a description on its product page, it is not enough for some consumers. They will need more than the material used, size, and colours to make an informed purchase decision. Pros, cons, and benefits are some information that most consumers are looking for before purchasing. The only way to relay all of them is to write a blog article about each topic and link that to your product. For example, if you are running a fashion brand, you can write a blog on ‘Styling Tips’ and include your products giving your readers recommendations.
Tip #20: Create A Sense Of Urgency
When time is running out, it is normal for anyone to get tense. Neuroscience Marketing even found out that adding a countdown timer to a product page can raise the sense of urgency, resulting in a greater conversion rate.
So include a countdown timer on your landing page or each product that is on sale to create a sense of urgency and will nudge customers to purchase now, or they will regret not doing so later.
Conclusion
As much as how different everyone is from one another, e-commerce websites are not the same, and so are their customers. That means businesses need to strategise according to the nature of their business to guarantee results.
The outcome of conversion rates will differ from the industry type of an e-commerce website, including its target audience. To guarantee you will move in the right direction for driving conversions to your e-commerce website, consider reaching out to an e-commerce and SEO agency. They will help you come up with a perfect digital marketing strategy that can increase your e-commerce website conversion rate.
For more e-commerce website tips that can help increase conversion rate, contact OOm, an e-commerce and SEO agency in Singapore, at 6391-0930 or leave a message on our website.
