The most common strategy an eCommerce site utilizes first is to increase its website traffic. In 2019 your eCommerce site will be competing with over 1.4 million eCommerce sites just in the US alone and globally competing against roughly 2-3 million eCommerce stores. We are going to talk about 6 ways to double your eCommerce conversions.
You also have to compete against giants like Amazon and Walmart to name a few!
All of these eCommerce companies are competing for a share of over 1.92 billion potential customers spending online. That figure is set to grow to an estimated 2.1 billion by 2021.
To ensure your eCommerce site makes a profit and ultimately stays in business you not only need to generate your traffic but your website has to convert that traffic into a paying customer.
A great way to ensure your eCommerce shop is profitable is to increase the store’s conversion rate. A typical eCommerce sites conversion rate is on average between 2-3%.
So, if your current conversion rate is 2% and your website receives 1,000 unique visitors then you can expect to convert roughly 20 visitors into paying customers.
If you can increase your conversion rate then you can increase the total number of paying customers!
Sounds simple right? Well, unfortunately, conversions don’t just happen. You have to optimize for them.
To compete with all those stores you need to stand out. To that end here are 6 conversion hacks that will improve your conversion rate and improve your bottom line.
1. Improve The Search Box
On a typical eCommerce store, the navigation takes priority over the search box. More often than not there are multiple categories added to the site’s navigation to better categorize products.
This can be problematic for a number of reasons but we feel the most important reason is that it stops your potential customer finding what they are looking for quickly and easily.
Sure, those categories will help the site from an SEO point of view but if your customers cannot find what they are looking for, then no matter how much traffic you get, it’s going to seriously dent your conversion rates.
A quick way to address this is to make your search box/bar is a prominent feature of your website. That will help customers find what they are looking for quickly.
Look at how the big companies apply this. After all, they spend millions of dollars to improve their conversion rates so if it is working for them then there’s nothing to stop you from doing the same!
Take Amazon For Example:
The search bar is a prominent feature in the header which is one the most used features of their site.
Macy’s does the exact same but they take it further by excluding a full navigation bar and only include the main categories of their site:
2. Display A Customer Service Number
Your customers need to feel safe and secure when they are shopping with you.
Big companies can often get away with not displaying a phone number as they are already considered trustworthy. However smaller eCommerce stores don’t have that trust, yet.
Displaying a customer phone number in prominent positions like in your header, footer, and the checkout page can instill trust and increase conversions.
It also provides reassurance to potential customers that a real human is a phone call away if they are having problems placing an order on the site or simply need a hand in choosing the right product for them.
3. Use An SSL For A Secure Website
Customers need to feel safe on your site. With all the data breaches going on potential customers are reluctant to pass on their card details if a site doesn’t feel safe OR show that it takes customer security seriously.
Implementing an SSL certificate not only secures the connection between your site and a customer’s browser to prevent man in the middle attacks stealing customer data but also shows a nice green padlock.
All of this will demonstrate that you take their security seriously.
Depending on which provider you use for your SSL they can also provide various trust badges to display on your site.
Alternatively, you can signup for a free McAfee account which gives you a badge showing that your site is safe and periodically checked to ensure security.
It’s relatively cheap to get an SSL and you can obtain one for as little as $10. Often your web hosting provider will offer this free with your hosting. Another added bonus of implementing an SSL is that it can have a small boost towards your SEO efforts.
4. Use Product Videos And / Or Demos
You may have nice images and product descriptions for your product but for a customer, it just isn’t the same as going into a real store and touching and seeing a product in real life.
You can easily close this gap by providing a video demonstration of your product.
The Sierra Designs site Does A Great Job Using Video
It gives a potential customer a very quick overview of what a product is like in real life rather than just staring at website copy, mages and reading the text.
A walking demonstration often answers questions and concerns that customers may have prior to purchasing.
Make sure your video is clear and demonstrates how easy to set up and use your product is. In all, you’re just making it easier for them to make a quick decision to purchase and buy from you!
5. Use Product Scarcity Conversion Hacks
As humans we love offers. Just walking down to your local grocery store you can quickly see how offers are widely used.
Ecommerce stores are no different. Although they exist in a digital world you can still apply scarcity offers that can be very powerful motivators.
They can often evoke a sense of urgency in your potential customer to make the purchase there and then!
Look At Macy’s They Use Scarcity All Throughout Their Website In Various Formats
Not only do they have a limited time special offer but also provide an additional bonus if the item is purchased before a certain date.
There are many scarcity hacks you can apply like: time limits, limited offer, x people just purchased, x amount remaining, etc.
Just be careful to not apply everything. Carefully select the best option by using an A/B testing tool like Google Optimize or Optimizly to determine which is the most effective scarcity tactic to deploy on your site. This will help with the overall user experience and conversion rate.
6. Display UGC (User-Generated Content) Reviews
Customer reviews are a great way to instill trust with new customers. Often before a purchase, potential customers will look for reviews from other shoppers prior to making a purchase.
The traditional options are to look online or visit review sites to see what other shoppers say.
However, reviews on these sites can often be manipulated and that can have a negative effect especially if your competitor is using dirty tactics. It happens.
So how can your site use customer reviews effectively?
As an example, look at Social media sites. They are awash with people showing off their newly purchased items whether that’s jewelry, fashion items or electronics. People love to show off their new stuff!
Why not incorporate that on your site?
Utilize direct reviews on your own website. Using a follow-up email after the purchase asks for an honest review in the form of a video review. This can skyrocket your conversion rates.
Skull Shavers does an excellent job at this:
Not only do they ask for a video review but they allow the customer to enter into a prize draw!
You can automate this process (depending on the eCommerce software you use) with a plugin. If your running your eCommerce store on Shopify then the Stamped plugin will automate the whole process.
It’s mobile-friendly and includes social sharing as a bonus which will not only drive more traffic to your site when your customer posts directly to their social communities but is sure to increase your conversion rates.
BONUS HACK – Offer Multiple Payment Options
Use different payment options to cater to different types of customers.
If you’re selling a high-value item then not every customer will want to enter in their card details in case things go wrong or worse still, if they still don’t trust you!
Adding in additional payment options can provide additional reassurance and security for potential customers. PayPal is often the most popular option and preferred choice when it comes to customers feeling safe and making a purchase.
PayPal isn’t the only option though. The digital world moves fast and so does the payments industry.
Klarna is a relatively new provider in the market but its highly popular with store owners and customers with some excellent payment options.
It gives the eCommerce store security that they will get a payment for shipped items and also offers options for customers to shop now and make payments later without you the store owner losing out. A win-win situation for all.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are so many conversion hacks that you can undertake that it can often seem impossible to implement.
We have only discussed a few here which we feel are some of the most important but yet underutilized in the eCommerce world.
You don’t have to use them all at once. Do a few at a time and you will see your conversion rates improve over time.
As you start to make changes your data will show you what works and what doesn’t. That’s the perfect time to ramp up the working elements and fine-tune them to have an optimal conversion hack.
Now it’s your turn. What’s your favorite conversion hack? Or what works for your eCommerce site? Tell us some ways to double your eCommerce conversions that you use. Let us know by leaving a comment below.
