In a fiercely competitive digital shopping world, there are some dos and don’ts that businesses need to follow to persuade customers to buy their products/services. And these guidelines center around conversion, the most important metric you need to keep an eye on as you plan to increase your website visitors and revenue. Though attracting more and more traffic to your website is important, boosting the lead conversion rate is even more important.
Conversion rate refers to the percentage of users that have completed the desired action. And conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a process of optimizing your website to encourage more and more visitors to complete the desired action, like making a purchase to subsequently increase the conversion rate. Other small goals may include adding items to a cart, creating an account, or signing up for a newsletter.
CRO Tips for Actionable Ecommerce
1. Provide limited-time coupon codes
Create discount or coupon codes that customers can use for a limited time and avail of a discount of a specific amount or maybe a percentage of the purchase amount. As the limited validity of the coupon code drives a sense of urgency, shoppers tend to make their purchase decisions promptly.
2. Structure your website to help visitors find the products easily
Structure the product categories logically by providing options like ‘Shop by Product Type’, ‘Shop By Color’, etc. The goal should be to ensure that you use as few levels as possible to allow the users easily reach the product they are looking for.
Similarly, setting up a rotating banner to showcase unique and high-selling products and implementing a website search to allow customers to find suitable products easily can make a significant difference.
Always remember – the faster a visitor is able to find a product, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
3. Customer reviews and product testimonials
According to a survey on the use of product ratings and reviews on ecommerce websites in 2022 in India, 64% of the respondents go through the ratings and reviews when shopping online.
Therefore, customer reviews are a must-have as they act as social proof to potential shoppers about your business’s success and validity. You can even offer a coupon code or any other type of incentive to urge customers to post a review.
Similarly, product testimonials are of great use for product-based businesses. By having the customers describe why did they choose your business and the benefits they have received, you are establishing your company as one that can be easily trusted to provide valuable products.
4. Have a convenient product return policy
As of 2020, around 86% of the global consumers surveyed responded that they looked for retailers with easy product return policies while deciding where to make purchases. Additionally, 81% stated that they switch to a different retailer if they have a bad experience with returning goods from one retailer.
Therefore, do not over-promise, but make it as painless and easy as possible for the customers to return products. This is not a direct conversion optimization tip but is another basic business practice for conversion rate optimization. By gaining your customers’ trust with an easy return policy, you can drive sales and increase your conversion rate.
5. Add filters to your category pages
Filters are crucial in helping customers navigate and reach the right product.
Perform research to find out different questions that your customers share about the products and create filters on your category pages for them.
For example, a few of your customers’ main concern is price range. In that case, you can create a filter for price on the category page and help them eliminate the products with a price that falls out of their budget.
Conclusion
As online shopping has become more and more of a driving force within retail businesses, having a well-designed and structured website with all the essential elements is crucial to attaining short-term as well as long-term success.
It is important to have ‘boosting conversion rates’ as your end goal as it would encourage your customers to do what is more important, i.e., buy your products. So, improvise your products, optimize your website, and build lasting, valuable relationships with your customers.
