6 Ways to Improve Your eCommerce Conversion Rate

1. Provide as much information as possible

Online shoppers have no opportunity to handle or see the products. They are going to rely on the retailer to offer a suitable online alternative to physically seeing and touching a product. The key here is to eliminate any doubt the customers may have when it comes to purchasing.

Make sure that your product descriptions (https://blog.kissmetrics.com/product-descriptions-boost-conversions/) are as descriptive as possible and filled with decision-making information. Customers should be able to see the answer to all of their questions presented in one easy-to-locate area of the page.

Additionally, pictures can often be more important to customers as they decide whether or not to purchase your product.

When you can offer features such as 360-degree views of a product, various picture angles, pictures of the different color options, and even videos to accompany your standard product description, you can increase consumer confidence in actually proceeding with the sale.

2. Offer a multi-channel eCommerce experience

Customers today are frequently turning to channels other than PCs to shop online. In fact, some customers utilize multiple channels throughout a single transaction.

For example, a customer may initially shop for some items while on their work PC. Later that day, they may pick up where they left off while on their train ride home, only this time they will be using their smartphone to actually proceed with the sale.

By ensuring that you are presenting several different shopping options to your customers, you can be sure that you do not kill a potential sale simply because online shopping is not an option on their desired channel.

3. Offer a chat feature for customer service

If for any reason your product descriptions and pictures are still not answering all of your customer’s questions, you are going to want to make yourself available to answer those questions.

Having a phone number to call is great, as is an email address, but having an online chat feature trumps them all. The customers are able to stay on your website, and immediately have a way to resolve the problem.

You decrease the likelihood that the customer will get frustrated and leave, or click away from the site and never return to make the purchase.

4. Decrease shopping cart abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment happens when customers assemble a cart only to leave the site without actually purchasing anything. These shoppers came very close to converting, but ultimately did not.

However, it is important to recognize that these shoppers represent a unique opportunity to recover this seemingly lost sale.

When customers are invited back to their cart via an email, and especially if that email is accompanied by a coupon, they can be enticed to actually make their purchase. If your business does not have an automatic system to identify abandoned carts, they will not have this opportunity to recover sales and increase conversion rates.

Position your business to recover these customers by implementing an automated workflow that will remind your shoppers of the cart they have abandoned.

5. Show your existing customers you value their business

Inc.com reports that it is more expensive to obtain a new customer than it is to retain an existing one. By showing your existing customers that you appreciate their continued business, you can increase conversion rates among this segment.

Demonstrate your appreciation with loyalty programs, and coupons that will present increased opportunities to shop.

In doing so, your existing customers will be able to increase the frequency of their shopping, and better yet, the overall dollar amounts per transaction. In this way, you can increase your customer value in addition to your conversion rates.

6. Free shipping is essential to conversion

When customers get to the point where they are ready to make their sale, shipping costs can be a deterrent that ends the entire sales process. ConversionXL reports that with half of all eCommerce retailers offering free shipping, customers have come to expect it when making purchases online.

Therefore, if your business is charging for shipping, those costs may surprise your customers, or be too high for them to want to proceed.

The best way to overcome this is to simply offer free shipping. However, if your business cannot reasonably do that, flat rate shipping may be adequate, and it is important to offer full disclosure that the shipping will not be free so that the shoppers can keep it in mind as they assemble their carts.

By the time a customer has made it to the point of being charged for shipping, the customer is well on their way to increasing your conversion rates. Make sure shipping costs are not the reason you are killing your sales.

Conclusion

You want to make purchasing as easy as possible for your customers. Eliminate doubt and hesitation throughout your customer’s buying process, and do not give them any reason to turn away from your site. By keeping the above information in mind, you can keep your potential customers from slipping away, and increase your conversion rate.