If you’re a retailer of any kind, conversion is something that you need to focus on. But for online retailers, the way that you generate and monitor conversions is slightly different.
Let’s take a look at conversions, why they matter, and how to get more of them.
What is conversion in eCommerce?
The ‘conversion’ metric refers to the rate at which your site visitors are converted into paying customers. There are actually a number of steps that a customer needs to be persuaded to take in order to make a purchase. In many cases, just a few small tweaks might make the difference between a customers taking a step toward conversion, and not taking that step.
If you can identify these steps, and identify which ones represent the greatest stumbling blocks to a potential purchase, then you can vastly improve your conversion rate. Let’s take a look at a few of the things to pay attention to.
High-quality images
If your customers can’t see the products that they’re buying, they’ll be very unlikely to make a purchase. The more detail and clarity, the better. Have the product on display from multiple angles, or present a spinnable, zoomable representation of the product.
Page Speed
If your website doesn’t load quickly enough, the visitors will lose patience and bounce back to the search results before they have a chance to make a purchase. In the case of an unfamiliar site, the bounce rate is around two seconds.
Simplify payments
The more digital hoops that a customer has to jump through on the way to a purchase, the less inclined they’ll be to make that purchase. With the right open banking solution, you can hugely simplify the payment process. You should also think about presenting a few different payment and financing options.
Customer service
Your customers should have an easy means of getting in touch with you, via live chat. You can handle enquiries using a combination of chatbots and flesh-and-blood sales assistants. Make sure that the chat window isn’t obtrusive – this can be as annoying as it can be helpful.
Optimise for mobile
Since most of your customers are going to be accessing your site via their mobile phones, you should make sure that everything loads rapidly on a range of devices. This goes especially if a majority of your customers are younger people, who disproportionately favour mobile over desktop when it comes to shopping.
Show reviews
Reviews are a simple and effective way of indicating that your site is trustworthy and that your products are reliable. Use recognised review services like Trustpilot, and encourage your customers to leave their own feedback and opinions. If you get a negative review, make sure that you respond to it in a way that’s reasonable – even if the review itself is less than reasonable.
