Did you know that businesses waste 76% of their budgets on things such as the wrong keywords? Imagine you start getting thousands of views per month, but you still can’t seem to make eCommerce sales. The problem may lie in your optimization strategy, or lack thereof.
If you want to keep from being part of that statistic, you need to use eCommerce conversion rate optimization. By optimizing your conversion rates, you can keep from wasting your precious marketing budget. Then, you can get more sales and grow your eCommerce business.
How to Calculate Your Conversion Rate
When working on eCommerce conversion rate optimization, you need to consider your current conversion rate. First, you’ll need to figure out what conversion rate you want to track.
You can track things such as:
- Email list signups
- Purchases
- New visitor conversions
- Returning visitor conversions
Once you decide what to calculate, you’ll need to look at your analytics. If you want to look at your conversion rate for purchases, take a look at how many people view your sales page.
Then, determine how many people bought the product. Divide the number of sales by the number of views. For example, perhaps 100 people viewed the page, and 20 people purchased.
You would divide 20 by 100 to get a conversion rate of 20%. Repeat the process with whatever conversion metrics you want to track.
Why Conversion Rate Optimization Matters
If you can improve your eCommerce conversion rate, you can get more sales and build trust with your audience. Even if you want to focus on a different metric, such as email list signups, those conversions can help your business.
When you get more email subscribers, you will have a bigger group of people to sell to later. Then, you may have a higher conversion rate for your next launch.
You can do different things to optimize your conversion rate. For example, one business may choose to improve website navigation, while another may edit the copy on their sales pages to be more engaging.
CRO Process
To increase your eCommerce conversion rate, you should understand the process of conversion rate optimization (CRO). Fortunately, you can repeat the process whenever you want to improve conversions.
Consider the following steps you can take to increase conversions for your eCommerce business.
Collect Data
First, you need to collect data that relates to your current and ideal conversion rates. If you want to track your sales conversions, you should look at the traffic to your sales pages.
Then, compare that to how many sales you have made on those products or services. You should also look at other metrics and key performance indicators.
The more data you can collect and analyze, the easier it will be to decide how you can optimize conversions. So look at things like overall traffic, bounce rate, exit pages, and traffic to specific sales pages.
Put the data into a spreadsheet or another place where it will be easy to access and review. You and your team can then go over the numbers to help improve your business strategy.
Determine What to Improve
Now that you have some important data points, take a look at them. Figure out how your products are converting and if you’re happy with those conversion rates.
You should look at a few different things that you can change to improve conversions. Maybe that means editing the sales page copy. Or if your sales pages don’t get much traffic, maybe you decide to link to them in more places.
Luckily, you don’t have to just change one thing to optimize your conversion rate. But you may not want to change a ton of things at once because it can be unclear what helps the most.
So decide on a couple of things to change. Then, you can track those changes to, hopefully, see an improvement in your sales or another conversion metric.
Design and Develop
The next step in eCommerce conversion rate optimization is to design the changes. Use the data and what you want to improve to help with this.
If you want to edit the sales page copy, you might also decide to edit the design. Then, you can make it more compelling or make the page easier for your customers to use.
Along with this, you can develop tests and functions to help with conversions. Implement different settings and analytics to meet your goal.
As you design and develop new changes to your eCommerce business, make sure they’re of good quality. That way, you’ll be able to increase conversions rather than reduce them.
Test
You should also conduct tests, specifically A/B tests, after you make design changes. If you’re working on the look and feel of a sales page, develop two versions to compare.
As each page gets traffic, track the conversion rates for the different versions. This can tell you which version of the sales page will be more profitable, so you can implement it for all of your customers.
Another way to use A/B testing is with email signups. If you struggle to get signups, you can place a subscription box in different places on your website and use different calls to action.
Your email marketing software should allow you to track which forms get the most subscribers. Then, you can use more of the same text and design when adding new forms to your site.
No matter the types of A/B tests you decide to run, give them time to provide results. After a month or so, look at the data, and implement the more successful version for everyone who visits your online store.
CRO Strategies
Before you try a ton of things to improve conversions, think about what can get you the results you want. Then, you can go through a few strategies to get more sales.
Build Trust
One of the most important steps to improve your eCommerce conversion rate is to get your customers to trust you. Make sure you position your business as an expert in your industry.
Maybe you sell beauty products, and you use a blog or other pages to showcase your knowledge of beauty. Then, they can feel better about purchasing from your eCommerce store.
Another thing you can do is install an SSL certificate to help secure your site. Customers can then know that your site will encrypt their credit card information, making them feel better about placing an order.
Add Contact Information
Another fantastic tip to help with eCommerce conversion rate optimization is adding your email and phone number to your site. Place the information somewhere that customers will see.
Use your contact page to share how you can help them and why they should contact you. Then, customers may feel better about purchasing something if they know you’re a quick phone call or email away.
If you don’t have one already, you can set up a separate business phone number to keep from sharing your personal number.
Be Unique
Your unique selling proposition is an excellent way to set yourself apart from similar online stores. Think about what separates you from your competition.
Maybe you offer a generous return policy, or you make products that customers won’t find elsewhere. Or perhaps you donate a certain percentage of sales to a charity.
No matter what it is, share what makes you different to help convince people to buy from you. Then, you may be able to increase your eCommerce conversion rate.
Improve Navigation
Another way to improve your eCommerce conversion rate is to work on your website navigation. Consider how easy it is to find products and if the site offers a good user experience.
Make sure you have a navigation bar that takes people directly to the shop section. You might also want to create different product categories or filters to help customers narrow their search.
It can also help to use a search bar in case buyers know exactly what they want to buy. Then, they can search for the right item and go straight to the options you have.
Know the Checkout Process
Your existing checkout system can be one of the best eCommerce conversion rate optimization tools available. If you’ve never gone through the process of buying something, do it.
The process will show you what it looks like to place an order on your site. You may find problems that could keep people from finishing a purchase, such as a requirement to log in, or a limited number of payment methods.
Whatever the issue is, do what you can to fix it. Then, you may notice an increase in your eCommerce conversion rate.
Track Cart Abandonment
After you optimize your checkout process, you may still lose customers. In that case, consider installing software that can track when people abandon their carts.
Customers leave their carts for many reasons, and sometimes they just get distracted and forget to come back. Using cart abandonment software means you can contact the customer and encourage them to finish the process.
Soon enough, you may get another sale that you would have lost otherwise.
Price Strategically
Adjusting the prices of your products may also help improve your eCommerce conversion rate. Of course, you need to make a profit from each sale, but you also want to be competitive.
If your prices are significantly higher than competitors without a good reason, you may lose sales. Lowering your prices may help you get more conversions.
On the other hand, you may need to clarify the benefits of your products and why they’re worth higher prices.
Offer Coupons
One of the best tips for optimizing your eCommerce conversion rate is to offer coupons. Specifically, offer coupons that last for a short period to increase sales for that day or week.
You can send the coupon code to your email subscribers and use a pop-up to encourage new people to join your email list. Then, you’ll be able to get more sales using that discount.
And you’ll have more people you can sell to through email when you launch a new product or have another sale.
Ship for Free
The next method to try for eCommerce conversion rate optimization is free shipping. Many customers expect that of online stores, so not offering it could cause you to lose sales.
You can offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount, or you can offer it on all orders. Before you do so, make sure you account for the cost of shipping when pricing your products.
That way, you’ll still be able to increase conversions without losing out on profits.
Write Good Descriptions
Your product descriptions can also affect your eCommerce conversion rate. Think about what you would want to know about a product before purchasing it, and include as many details as you can.
At the very least, your product description should include the size, weight, and color of the item. You might also want to include the materials, such as when selling clothing.
If you sell cosmetics or food, consider sharing a list of the ingredients, especially if there are any common allergens. That way, people can determine if the product is a good option for them.
Focus on Visuals
Along with writing your product descriptions, be sure to take photos of the items you sell. If it makes sense, you may also want to film the products, such as if you want to share a tutorial on how to use something.
Photos and videos let you show off your products, and the images let customers get to know more about what you sell. Be sure to use good lighting and a quality camera, even a smartphone camera.
That way, you can make your products look their absolute best on your website. If possible, photograph items from every angle to help customers picture what the item will look like when they receive it.
Implement Customer Reviews
Another fantastic eCommerce conversion rate strategy to use is customer reviews. Letting your customers leave reviews can help potential buyers learn even more about your products.
They can figure out how the products work in practice, and the reviews can help you improve your products. If you have a lot of good reviews, someone may feel better about buying from you.
And while bad reviews may turn customers away, you can figure out what to do to make your products better. Plus, you can respond to customer reviews to see how you can help the customer with the defective item.
Use Big Buttons
Wherever you use buttons to add items to the cart or to take people to the checkout page, make the buttons big. Buttons are easier for customers to spot than text links, and you can use different colors.
That way, people won’t have to struggle to find the right link to do what they want to do. When choosing the colors, make sure the colors look good on your site and encourage action.
You can use your brand colors, but you may want to use green or yellow, which are bright and easy to spot. Then, you won’t have to worry about losing customers because they don’t know how to purchase something.
View Your Analytics
Your analytics can be an excellent resource to help you optimize your eCommerce conversion rate. Website analytics tell you a lot of things about your store.
For one, they can tell you where your customers come from and how they find your site. Your analytics can tell you how many people visit multiple pages and if people bounce after one page.
Use your analytics to figure out what methods are working to get customers and conversions. Then, you can keep from wasting time on strategies that don’t provide results.
Proofread Everything
Perhaps you’ve done everything you can, but you still struggle with eCommerce conversion rate optimization. Go through each of your products and pages and look for spelling and grammar errors.
Those things may seem small to you, but they can make a big difference for customers. Too many misspellings can make people lose their trust in you.
If that happens enough, it can cost you quite a few sales and slash your eCommerce conversion rate.
Examples of Successful Conversion Rate Optimization
While it can help to understand how eCommerce conversion rate optimization works, you should see it in action. Then, you can make sure it’s the right strategy for your business.
Seeing examples can also help you understand how the process might work for you. That way, you can determine how you can make it work.
Joy Organics
Joy Organics needed help with digital marketing and data tracking. The company hired Northpeak to help improve conversions from the data and marketing efforts.
After setting up some analytics, tracking interactions and goals became easy. At first, the focus was on which products had the highest conversions and which pages ran slowly.
Once we figured out those results, we were able to help Joy Organics offer a better customer experience. Faster load times helped the company see a quick boost in revenue.
To further help the company increase conversions, the next goal was to configure funnels. Making the data clearer was also important.
Qualitative and quantitative research also came into play. That led to a change in the call to action on the home page, which helped encourage people to shop for products on the site.
Joy Organics was also able to get rid of things that weren’t working, such as express checkout. Then, they could focus on the more effective tools.
The Numbers
After working with Northpeak, Joy Organics saw huge changes in their conversion rate. Profits increased by a third, and the click-through rate grew by over one fifth.
In the seven months of hiring Northpeak, revenue at Joy Organics increased by about 97%. The lifetime value of a customer also increased by 15%.
These results took about seven months to achieve. But those numbers helped Joy Organics grow and improve the return on investment for their marketing strategy.
Pre-Order Now
Another case study to look at is Pre-Order Now. The Shopify application helps other businesses offer products for pre-order, which can help other businesses increase sales.
It was the first app of its kind, but competitors started taking away some of the business. So Pre-Order Now hired Northpeak to help.
They wanted to understand why sales were lower than before and how to increase sales and retain customers. We used tools such as Google Analytics and Shopify to track data.
Solutions included offering a free version of the app for potential customers to try. We also worked on SEO to help the app rank higher in search results.
A/B testing helped improve the design of the landing page to increase sales conversions. With our help, Pre-Order Now was able to take back control of the market.
The Numbers
We helped Pre-Order Now for about four months. In that time, they were able to increase net profits by 30% due to the research we conducted.
The company also got 43% more paid upgrades compared to before. Pre-Order Now’s founder dropped the other agency they hired because of the results we helped them achieve.
Now, the company is able to attract more Shopify store owners. Even if you don’t have a traditional eCommerce store, you can still optimize your conversion rate to be able to make sales online.
eCommerce Conversion Rate Optimization Done Right
When looking to grow your business online, you have a few options. Of course, you can spend a lot of time and money on marketing.
But eCommerce conversion rate optimization services can get you better results without wasting your business budget. Instead, you can focus on what works to help your business make more sales.
Be sure to consider a couple of examples and the process of optimizing your conversion rate. Then, you can give your business the boost it needs.
Do you need help with eCommerce conversion rate optimization? Get your free proposal today.
