Proven Tips That Boost Conversion Rate of eCommerce Websites

Dennis Walters
4 min readJun 7, 2016

--

The revenue generation and expansion of any Ecommerce business significantly depends on the conversion rate of Ecommerce websites. The more your website is able to turn visitors into customers, the more you grow. Therefore, the ultimate question is: How to boost conversion rate of Ecommerce websites?

Here we have tried to explain the answer to the most important and relevant question about the conversion rate of Ecommerce websites:

Homepage

  • Your homepage should clearly define what you can offer to your customers. Don’t try to lure visitors with unclear messages. It might generate traffic to your website, but it will not lead to conversion. Irrelevant visitors are of no use to your website. Be specific and make visible what actually your business is. For example, if your firm deals with wooden furniture, don’t display pictures of steel furniture anywhere be it advertisements or your home page.

Proper Display Of Products

  • Product image is a must while selling online. The customer is buying the product by looking at the available picture; therefore, the picture must be of high quality. Showcase different angles of the product to make the consumer more confident about buying the product.
  • You can also use videos for products wherever suitable.
  • Product descriptions should be clear and contain all the crucial information the consumer might need before settling their purchase.
  • Also, add product reviews so the buyer can read and know the experience of previous buyers. The reviews will lead to consumer satisfaction about the product and hence will boost conversion rate of your website.

Optimize Search

  • Study the most searched items on your website. Now, you know what your visitors are looking for. The one which is most searched for should be placed on the home page so that maximum visitors can reach for it at one go.
  • Your search should be optimized in such a way that when a visitor searches for something specific through the search box, he gets the exact thing on the very first page that appears before him. This minimizes the chances that the visitor would migrate to another competitor site. So, this surely helps in improving your website’s conversion rate.
  • Add filters to the search. It will help the customer save time and efforts while looking for the merchandise of their choice. The filters must include price, relevance, old to new and vice versa, and other specifications based on the type of products your e-commerce business deals with.
  • Make the search easy and automatic to keep your visitor engaged and eventually converting them into consumers.

Personalization

  • Make the search automatic as in if someone is looking for something from a specific category; suggest them more items of the same kind in the sidebar or the bottom bar. This will lead to more navigation by the visitor and more chances that he/she will find something of their choice.
  • The visitor might not buy it at one go. Make sure that when they return, a personalized home page welcomes them. The items that they browsed earlier, should be on their ‘recommendations’ or ‘top picks for you’ list on the home page.

Hassle-Free Shopping

  • Make shopping easy and hassle free for the customer. Abandoned shopping carts are one of the biggest problems e-commerce businesses suffer from. Of other reasons, complications during the check-out are very common, if not most. Make it easy.
  • Don’t force your visitors to register. It might annoy them and result in your loss. Let them purchase as a guest if they don’t want to register right then. You can suggest membership or registration at a later stage when they may find it more beneficial while make a purchase decision.

Buyer-Seller Communication

  • Your contact information should be displayed on the homepage.
  • The option of live chat also facilitates conversion rate of your website as the customer doubts are cleared via chat.
  • A ‘Frequently asked questions’ column should be there to make the customer more familiar to your business structure.
  • Return and exchange policy must be displayed clearly.

Shopping Cart/ Wish List

  • Keep on displaying the items in the shopping cart to keep reminding the visitors what they want to buy.
  • Give an option of preparing a wish list. Here visitors can save and shortlist what they like and later on return to buy the same. You will also get to know the consumer’s preference and act accordingly.

Product Prices

  • Make sure your products are genuinely priced or the customer will move to another place where they can find the same product at a much lower price.
  • Display the exact price of the product. Don’t add up hidden costs during check-out. Any taxes if applicable should be clearly mentioned.
  • Show the shipping cost with the product. If at a later stage the customer finds that the shipping charges are too high, they might opt out.

Payment Methods

  • Offer as many payment methods as you can. The more the merrier. Surveys have found that customer is likely to opt out if they do not find their preferred payment method.
  • Decode the columns required to be filled for payments. Not all customers are used to credit/debit card payments online. Make it easy for them by putting notes that describe what needs to be filled in what column. For example, many people won’t know where to find the CVV number. Help them locate it on their card.

Up Sell

  • Be a smart seller. Once your visitor converts to a customer, display products relevant to their previous purchase(s). For example, if they buy a phone, offer them phone covers and other accessories for the same phone.
  • Offer them discounts on combined purchases. For instance, if one buys a laptop, suggest the laptop and laptop bag at a lower price if bought together.

Conclusion

Basically, you need to provide efficient user experience to your visitors. All the above steps will help you provide the kind of experience your user expects from you. Once they get what they expect, you get what you expect from your business.

--

--

No responses yet