05 Feb Boost your ecommerce conversion rates
While it is pretty simple to “set up shop,” it’s not as easy as you’d think to actually sell the products. With the amount of competition that exists online, you need to make sure your online store is configured to take advantage of every conversion opportunity. There are a few tactics that could literally make or break your online business. To help make sure you’re converting all of your potential customers, consider these tips.
Shipping Costs
One of the most frequent cited reasons for shopping cart abandonment is shipping costs. While most e-commerce sites now offer free shipping – at least beyond a certain threshold – whatever your shipping pricing model is, it should be well advertised on every page of the site. There seems to be a familiar pattern developing around shipping information being displayed as part of the top banner, generally to the top right. This area may also include other options pertaining to how a buyer might receive your merchandise, such as same day shipping options, pickup in-store etc.
It’s All in the Description
What would you say to your customer about your products if you were to talk to them face-to-face? Chances are you wouldn’t tell them the weight and size of your product as the first thing. Instead, you’d focus on how that product could help your customer and what benefits they’ll receive from using it. Well-crafted product descriptions can create huge conversions for you.
A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words
People often decide whether to buy a product or not just by looking at the pictures. In fact, the product photographs are more than likely the first thing someone will notice when they visit your product page. High quality photographs are a must for making sure you are reaching your highest conversions online.
Customers don’t have the ability to actually touch a product and see for themselves the quality or usefulness of it. Therefore, your pictures (and video) have to do this job for them. Help out your customers by having pictures that showcase the product from different perspectives.
Brand trust
Let’s face it, the Internet is a buyer beware environment. While there are obviously many legitimate operators, there is so much misinformation, misrepresentation and outright fraud going on that shoppers are rightfully wary of any brand or website that they have not heard of before. If you are a smaller operator, the onus is on you to project the legitimacy that would lead an anonymous buyer to provide you with their credit card and personal information.
What Reassurance Do I Have for My Purchases?
While consumer confidence in online shopping is strong, it doesn’t mean potential customers are automatically going to trust each and every brand. Don’t lose out on a sale because your basic store policies are not published or are difficult to find. Customers have a few basic questions that they want to know.
How much is shipping and when can it be shipped? What is your return policy? When do they need to order something by to have it be received by a certain date? This last one is especially important during holiday seasons. Not only will providing this information help increase conversions, but it will also save you time by cutting down on customer service inquiries as well.
Returns and exchanges
Next to shipping costs, the next biggest question people have is what your return policy is. If you offer free returns promote that. Even if you don’t, insure that there are no surprises or ambiguities that could cause a potential buyer to feel uncertain about completing their purchase.
