5 tips for eCommerce conversion rate optimization

Turning website visitors into paying customers and conversion rate optimization is one of the most important things an eCommerce business needs to do. No matter how many people are looking at your website, you won’t get very far if they don’t decide to make a purchase.

Having a professional-looking website, showcasing high-quality products, providing good customer service, and offering competitive pricing are all great ways to encourage people to buy from your business. Those things aren’t always enough though. Sometimes, you need more subtle persuasion.

This is because a whopping 95% of purchasing decisions are made subconsciously. Have you ever been shopping in the real world and wondered why shop owners present their items in certain ways? Have you pondered why they display prices the way they do? It’s likely to stimulate the subconscious parts of customer’s minds to encourage them to buy.

Similar psychology tricks work for eCommerce, too. Knowing how to influence the subconscious decision to buy or not can help you optimize your conversion rate and make a big impact on your sales figures.

Here are five tricks to help you with eCommerce conversion rate optimization. Follow these tips to encourage consumers to press “buy”.

1. Make It Simple To Decide

The paradox of choice is an interesting concept that eCommerce business owners should be aware of. Most of us probably think that having no choice is the worst possible situation. However, having too much choice results in similar feelings to having no choice at all.

If customers have too many choices, they may not make a decision at all. A great example of this is your Netflix account. Have you ever wanted to sit down and watch a movie only to find yourself scrolling through the endless choices without picking anything?

This is the paradox of choice causing decision paralysis. A lot of people think giving customers as much choice as possible will encourage them to buy from your business. In reality, it can result in customers leaving your site without buying anything at all. They simply can’t decide which option is best for them.

Even if a customer does still make a purchase, too much choice can lead to lower levels of satisfaction with said purchase.

For example, let’s say your eCommerce store sells t-shirts. Each t-shirt is available in more than 20 designs for customers to choose from. A customer finally decides to buy one of the designs and goes through the checkout process. While they are initially happy with their purchase, there is some doubt in their mind about whether they made the right choice. Could a different version of the t-shirt be better than the one they chose? Does this t-shirt suit them better than all the others?

This type of thought process can easily lead to dissatisfaction with a product. If too many customers feel this way, they may not return to your store as they start to think your products aren’t good enough. In reality, the problem isn’t with your products. Your business is simply offering too many choices to your customers.

2. Show That Others Are Buying

Humans are very sociable creatures. Most of us don’t like feeling left out. We want to fit in with others around us. This is easily seen in real-world shopping. Imagine you are shopping in your local mall. As you’re walking, you see several people carrying a bag with a store’s logo on it. You keep seeing more and more of these branded bags and wonder why so many people have them. This encourages you to go to the store in question to see what the fuss is about.

Not wanting to miss out or be the odd one out is a powerful feeling. It frequently leads customers to spend money at a specific shop. This is also true of eCommerce businesses.

Some eCommerce websites display notifications saying how many people are currently looking at the same item as you. Others show how many people have purchased the product you are looking at in the last 24 hours. These small details can actually go a long way in persuading someone to buy the product in front of them.

Another way to show viewers that other people are buying your products is by displaying customer reviews on your website. One study found that 99.9% of online shoppers read reviews at least sometimes before making a purchase. A lot of people who read reviews put a great deal of trust in them. If there are several positive reviews from people who have already purchased a product, there is a greater chance of making a sale.

We are all influenced by the people around us and the people we look up to. If your business can show customers that other people are making a certain decision, it may encourage them to make the same decision too.

3. Build Loyalty With Added Value

The main goal of an eCommerce business is to make sales. Sometimes though, giving items away for free can be just the thing that will lead to increased sales in the long run.

Offering customers something free may encourage them to make a purchase in the future. After all, customers don’t want to feel like they owe you something. They want to reciprocate the good deed.

Simply offering free shipping can be enough in some situations. One study even found that 84% of consumers surveyed have made an online purchase specifically because shipping was free. Think about what that could mean for your business. If you offer your customers free shipping on their orders, sales figures can quickly grow to a whole new level.

If you want to add value by giving things away for free, you can offer potential customers a free gift with every purchase. They’ll feel that they’re getting more for their money, and will feel better about their purchase.

Another option is giving potential buyers the opportunity to try a product for free or giving away samples of your products on your website. While you need to first make sure that your business can afford to do this, it can be an incredible way of making customers seriously consider buying from your store.

This is not only a positive marketing strategy, it’s also a way to create loyalty among your customers.

4. Make Everything Easy

We all want things to be easy. Deep down, the majority of people want their life to be simple, organized, and stress-free. The same is true for online shopping. If a customer has to go through a long, drawn-out process to make a purchase, the chances are they are not going to bother.

If your eCommerce storefront is easy to navigate and simply and clearly laid out, more people will complete the buying process. This is partly due to the speed at which someone can make a purchase. Some customers are spontaneous buyers – they haven’t planned to buy anything but they see a product they like and immediately want to buy it.

If your checkout process is too long, or if it’s a long process to add an item to the cart and buy it, the rational part of the brain can kick in. They may persuade themselves against going through with the purchase. However, if a customer can buy what they want in just a few clicks, they don’t have time to think too hard about it before ordering.

Another convenience factor to consider is shipping speed. If a customer can order from your website quickly and easily but then has to wait a long time for delivery, they could change their mind and cancel the order. A study actually found that slow shipping is one of the main reasons for cart abandonment. If shipping is too slow, it can lead a customer to abandon their purchase mid-way through the buying process.

If everything about shopping with your business is easy, more people will do it. You might be surprised how much this can impact your sales.

5. Give Customers a Good Deal

The biggest factor in whether someone decides to make a purchase or not is the price. Most of us have a monthly budget to stick to and there may not be much room for additional purchases outside the necessities. That’s why price is such an important factor for eCommerce businesses.

People want to feel like they are getting a good deal. They want to feel savvy and believe that they got the best possible price on their purchase. That’s why showing a discounted price can have such a powerful impact on customers’ buying decisions.

The anchoring effect is where our initial perception of something stays in our mind and influences our later decisions. This is why more customers could be persuaded to buy something simply by showing that the product they are looking at is worth more than they are actually paying for it.

A lot of eCommerce websites do this simply by showing a higher price crossed out next to the actual price they are selling the product for. This gives the impression that it’s worth more than its sale price. An example of this could be a garden furniture set. The set is being sold on your website for $150, but next to the sale price is a crossed-out price of $250. Customers looking at the garden furniture now have in their mind that the set is actually worth $250 but they can get it for $100 less than that. This may encourage them to go through with their purchase.

Offering customers other “deals” can also help generate more sales. Things like free gifts related to the purchase for orders over a specific value can be enough to persuade people to buy. Let’s say your website selling garden furniture is offering customers a free furniture cover on all orders over $100. The set they are looking at is being sold for $150 so they feel like they are getting an additional item with their order without having to spend any more money.

Using price anchoring and an additional free gift deal can give the impression of a fantastic bargain. Not only is the buyer getting a garden furniture set for $100 less than its original price, but they are also getting a cover for it for free. A lot of customers won’t be able to resist an offer like that and will purchase the garden furniture.

There are many ways to optimize the conversion rate of your eCommerce business and start making more sales. However, it takes capital to get started and grow your business. You need funds to stock up on inventory, market your products, and cover shipping costs.

8fig’s Growth Plans were designed for eCommerce sellers by eCommerce experts specifically for this purpose. We provide you with fast, flexible, and continuous capital infused into your business at each stage of your supply chain. With a steady flow of capital, you’ll be able to scale your business and reach your full potential. Boost sales and grow your business with funding from 8fig.