Success stories of Amazon, Ebay and other popular E-commerce websites flood publications. You are reading one of those publications, get fascinated by its unbelievable story, and pledge to open an E-commerce store that could mimic their success. Few years later, you manage to open you own E-commerce store but could not reach anywhere close to the target you have set for your E-commerce business.
Have you thought why it is so? There could be various reasons for it but one of them could be lack of conversion rate optimization. Do you want to convert your visitors into leads and leads into paying customers? If yes, then here are ten elements that you should incorporate in your E-commerce website today and see your conversion rate graph go up.
#1. Clean and Simple Layout
As Leonardo Da Vinci puts it, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” That notion fits perfectly on E-commerce web design as well. When you try to pack everything on your website, it make your website look much more cluttered. Moreover, this confuses the visitor and they will eventually abandon your website after spending few seconds on your website.
On the contrary, if you opt for a clean and simple layout with lots of white spaces, it is not only easy on the eyes of the users but also has speed advantage. The simple your website is the faster it will load and the better will be the user experience. Similarly, the lesser choices you give to the user, the better as it don’t confuse users by giving so many options.
#2. Speed
Continuing from the last point, your website load times play a critical role in overall user experience. According to Kissmetrics, decreasing the page load time’s increases conversions. Even a minor few seconds delay in page load time can send your conversion rate plummeting. Similarly, shaving few seconds off the page load times can enhance the conversion rate of your website.
In fact, reducing the page load time from 8 seconds to 2 seconds led to 74% increase in conversion rate. Get rid of some extra baggage and make your website nimble so it can load within couple of seconds. You can use other tactics such as minifying code, sending less HTTP requests to server or using a dedicated content delivery network to boost your website page load speed.
#3. Product Description and Details
The way you describe a product on your E-commerce website will affect buying behavior of customers. When writing the product descriptions, highlight the benefits not the features and technical specifications. Buyers care more about the advantages and they have nothing to do with technical specifications of the products.
#4. Product Photo or Video
In order to lure customers to click on the “Buy Now” button, you need to use high quality product images. Instead of telling people what the product does, it is better to show them your products in action. Product videos are a great way to do that. According to statistics, 73% consumers say they are more likely to buy a product after watching videos that explain how it works. 58% purchasers think companies with product videos can be trusted whereas 44% buyers said they would purchase more products from an e-commerce website that feature product videos.
#5. Ratings and Reviews
Imagine you have to purchase a product online. You visit the product page on your favorite E-commerce website. How would you decide whether to buy a product or not? How would you evaluate the quality of the product? You will read reviews and look at product ratings, right. Although, you cannot control the product reviews and ratings but it can help perspective buyers in making the right decision so do not forget to include them even if there are negative reviews.
#6. Simple Checkout Process
Remember the long forms comprising on several different pages with dozens of form fields. Complicated checkout process is one of the biggest reasons for shopping cart abandonment. The best way to fix this issue is to ask for information you really need and design short, simple forms that takes few minutes to fill. This will significantly reduce the shopping cart abandonment rate and boost the conversion rate of your E-commerce website/
#7. Live Chat Support
A new user land on your website but could not find what he or she is looking for. What he will do next? He will abandon your website. You guessed it right. Did you want him to take that action? No, right. So, what could you do about it? To prevent perspective buyers from jumping from your website to competitor’s website, you can incorporate live chat support in your E-commerce website. This provides an opportunity for buyers to get help and tell what they are looking for. It is then up to your customer care representative to guide customers in the right direction.
#8. Easy To Understand Return Policy
Most customers struggle to get their heads around the return policy because it is either so complicated or written in such a way that normal user could not understand it. Most consumers tick the box that says, “I agree to the terms and conditions” and press the button without even bothering to read the return policy. That is why they have nowhere to go if they receive a defective item or broken after few days of use. As an E-commerce business, you want your return policy to be as easy to comprehend as possible so your customers do not have to face similar issues.
#9. Multiple and Secure Payment Options
What would your reaction be when you are trying to purchase a product and your preferred payment method does not exist? To ensure that does not happen to any of your customers, make sure that you offer them wide range of payment options. Another hurdle that stops buyers from making purchases is the security of payments. Take measures to ensure secure financial transaction by setting up a secure payment gateway.
#10. Customer Testimonials
Last but certainly not the least are customer testimonials. To build trust and boost your credibility, you should include customer testimonials from your happy customers. This will help you attract new customers and persuade them to purchase a product from your E-commerce website. You can use it as a social proof to portray yourself as a trusted business. DubaiMonsters designs E-commerce websites by incorporating all these elements.
Which element do you think is most important for boosting the conversion rate of your E-commerce website? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.