“Very few customers complete their purchases. What should I do?” 

“We invested heavily in our website, why don’t we see more sales?” 

These questions often go through merchants’ minds, especially when they have a lower conversion rate than they expected… Thankfully, this challenge can be addressed.

Conversion rate is one of the most important statistics in eCommerce. Getting people to your online storefront is one thing, but you don’t see a dime unless you make a sale. So, how do you make sure your store traffic converts into customers? We’ll go over five best practices to fix low conversion rates. 

Breaking it Down: What is Conversion Rate?

A conversion rate is the number of online shoppers who make a product or service purchase, become a subscriber, or otherwise take any action that generates revenue for your store. This number is divided by your total visitors. For example, if you have an online store that has 100 sales and 10,000 visitors during a specific period, your conversion rate is 1%.

What is a good conversion rate? It varies depending on the products you offer, but most stores should consider 1.5% average, 2% good, and 3% excellent.

A high average conversion rate indicates you're doing something right, such as your website design, content optimization, marketing, product line, and customer service. It generally informs you that people want what you offer, but not only that, you’ve also succeeded at marketing your store.

If you’re experiencing a low conversion rate, there are a few fixes you can make to turn things around. Implement a few of them to your storefront, and test the results!

1. Initiate A/B Testing

When a site uses the same design and copy, it is difficult to determine which element is causing a drop in conversion rate. That's where A/B testing comes in! Often called split testing, A/B testing will use two versions of the same page with ONE variable changed.

You can make a variant with one new design or idea for each trial. This split test will help determine which changes yielded better conversions. The one that delivers better results becomes the live version. 

Using long A/B tests can find the most critical elements in your design, while short tests can quickly identify which don't matter.  It's also helpful if you suspect a particular page on your website is performing poorly, and you want to get the best A/B combination on that page. Implementing A/B testing involves the following:

• Optimizing landing pages
• Product detail pages (PDPs) by highlighting demand
• Improving the SEO of your entire eCommerce store
• Making your website easy to navigate
• Optimizing your site for desktop and mobile
• Making your website available in different languages
• Improving Page Load Time
• Improving the quality of your product images.

To get started, make a priority list of variables you want to change. Then, create multiple versions and split test them, keeping track of your desired KPIs for each version. Remember to change one variable at a time, and remain patient to get the best view of your results.‍

2. Incorporate Pops on Your Website

Another step to improving your low conversion rate is incorporating Pops on your website to catch the customer's attention. These are small and attractive pop-up windows that connect a customer to an item, particularly when the page is opened.

For best results, make your Pops relate to a relevant upsell on product pages, and to your current promotion on your homepage. Pops on your online store will ensure that your visitors have a clearer idea of what they are getting once they click on it.

Once your customer goes through the main navigation, they will arrive at an individual page. You must design the page effectively to provide continued customer attention.

Keep your pop-ups relevant, and attractive… and don’t overuse them. Nobody wants to wade through multiple pop-ups on the same page, or several on the same visit.

Here are a few variants of Pops you can include on your eCommerce site:

2.1 Push Notifications

Immediately after you drive visits to your website, customize a push notification, so visitors get another opportunity to convert leads. Don't “sell” your product or service in the notification – this is annoying and could result in potential buyers leaving your online store. You don't want to take that risk. Instead, use the notification as an avenue to thank them for visiting your website. Also, add a link to an article or video that provides them with more information about your business.

2.2 Product Recommendation

Suggest products that could interest your online visitors based on the product(s) they are currently viewing or shopping for.

2.3 Social Proof

Social proof involves using social media interactions like brand mentions, shares, retweets, and Facebook post likes to encourage additional interest from online visitors. Include buyers' reviews and feedback to encourage and convince your online visitors to purchase your products.

3. Strengthen your CTA Copy

Effective CTAs direct visitors to a page telling them more about the offer. Similarly, a great CTA works to drive your visitor further into the funnel by further incentivizing them to take the desired action. A straightforward way to make your call-to-action more noticeable is by using a different font type. Headings and body copy need to be in a different font to make them noticeably distinct from each other. You can strengthen your CTA copy with the following tactics:

• Make your CTA buttons appear more 'clickable'
• Insert your CTA buttons in the right places, i.e. where the eye naturally goes to on the page
• Focus on your short button copy
• Evoke emotion or a sense of enthusiasm
• Use action words
• Leverage FOMO
• Add images where appropriate
• Experiment with colors

You can also incorporate your CTA into the following website content:

3.1 Create a Clear and Compelling Value Proposition

State the value you offer most concisely as clearly as possible. This copy is likely to be short, but the value proposition needs to be compelling, either as a solution to a problem or fulfilling a desire. Make sure you double-check the spelling and grammar, too!

3.2 Set up a Sales Funnel

The 'Call To Action' section should begin a sales funnel. You can set up as many steps or levels as you want, with links to the next step of your call-to-action or 'CTA.' According to Google analytics data, 50% of eCommerce website traffic comes from prospects who clicked on a CTA from a paid ad or organic content. It's crucial to have clear and compelling CTAs along your funnel.

3.3 Create Urgency

Stress the importance of acting now by mentioning when or how quickly something else will happen if the reader is not on your page. For example, if your call to action is intended to generate interest in a bonus you are offering, share how long the bonus lasts.

3.4 Gamify your Site Experience

Some of the most effective ways to implement gamification in your eCommerce store are by awarding loyalty rewards programs, motivating prospects to take specific steps by giving them digital badges or points based on their success. You can also make it fun with an Easter egg hunt, large prizes for solving puzzles, etc. The aim of geocaching has constantly been enhancing visitor engagement, which you can also incorporate into your gamification strategy.

4. Improve your Customer Service

Customer service not only helps your reputation but also boosts your conversions. Responding to customer queries as quickly as possible can increase sales and profitability significantly. In addition, integrating an automated customer support tool to complement the human customer service will improve your customer interactions' overall quality and detect possible complaints before they turn into new negative reviews that will hurt your conversion rate.

Give your customers options. It's proven that the more informed your customer is, the more likely they are to purchase from your online store. Give them multiple payment solutions like debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, credit cards – make things easier by creating a FAQ section for each service.

Implementing a call back option for payment failure will help convince the customer that security is vital, and payment failure should not be a reason for abandoning transactions. Here are a two customer service initiatives you can implement:

4.1 Invite User Engagement and Feedback

Build trust by engaging with and communicating effectively with your customers. User engagement is key to driving traffic to your online store and driving sales. With the customer feedback tab, you can allow for rich feedback from your customers that will inform your product development process and ensure customer satisfaction.

According to the Statista survey, 62% of US online shoppers read at least five or more reviews when browsing electronics and clothing on eCommerce stores. This shows that customers reviews have a massive impact on the conversion rate of your eCommerce store.

4.2 Integrate Multiple Channels for Constant Communication

Customers want a real-time response to their inquiries, with most having more than one device – meaning that the disappearance of the unified inbox doesn't present any new challenges for them. Your store needs to welcome them with open arms on whichever platform they choose to communicate. 

Having various communication channels is essential for improving the low conversion rate. Multiple communication channels across multiple platforms, including web, mobile, and other devices. This allows customers to follow your company on whatever choice method they prefer. Remember that your customer should be able to find you wherever they are. According to eMarketer, it was estimated that ad spending on social platforms in 2021 will generate over $100 billion in revenue worldwide this year. The overall ad market rebounds, digital spending will increase by 20.4% in 2021.

Running paid ads in those channels can be expensive and difficult to scale. The advantage is that it will create various backlinks to your eCommerce website, improving your low conversion rate. 

With customer service, you can increase your conversion by implementing the following principles:

• Always delight your customers
• Create an element of surprise like communicating discounts
• Build a community through reviews and social media
• Deliver an omnichannel customer experience
• Personalize your customer experience

Conclusion

Many factors contribute to a store’s success. Try one or two of these methods to boost your conversion rate, and stick with it. You’ll start to see results with a consistent application of the principles. Test combinations until you find what works best for your store.

Want to get your CRO audited by a Shopify Plus expert? We offer multiple audits to analyze your store and offer actionable deliverables to boost your conversion rate. We can also roll up our sleeves and implement data-driven decisions to add percentage points to your conversion rate. 

Contact us to learn more.

Image courtesy of Photo by Kaleidico and Oleg Laptev