Getting visitors to your site is only half the battle won. You aren’t making any of the profit unless the visitors convert, I.E: pay and make a purchase. After all, this is how ecommerce stores make money.
The average conversion rate is around 2.75% for most industries. The top 25% companies seem to be converting at a rate of 5.5%. Not everyone who lands on your page visits it with an intention to purchase, hence you can never have a 100% conversion rate.
So how do you improve your business’s conversion rate? It’s all about finding what’s preventing users from converting. Here are some solutions:
1. Make Your Website Secure with Multiple Payment Options
According to research, 18% of users decide to abandon their purchase for security concerns. It’s quite understandable why users would be apprehensive of sharing their personal details on a new site.
The solution is to join hands with a trusted name like PayPal and 2Checkout as your payment partner. These payment gateways are trusted by buyers all around the world, and will make your website look authentic. Other than this, you may even use an ecommerce platform like Shopify which comes with payment gateways integrated into the platform itself.
Other than this, make sure to use multiple payment options, from PayPal to Skrill to debit and credit cards. Research says that 8% users are not able to move ahead with a purchase due to the absence of their preferred payment method. You do not wish to lose on these clients, so make sure to offer as many payment methods as possible.
Moreover, offer gift cards as well. The use of gift cards is on a constant rise. According to reports, digital gift cards were among the most sold items in 2017, growing at a rate of 200%.
2. The Buying Process Should be Simple
The buying process should be made as simple as possible. If it takes users a lot of time to complete a purchase, they may quit in between resulting in low conversion rates.
According to this report, around 35% of users abandon a cart because the website requires them to make an account. Most users find this to be a nuisance and would rather abandon the purchase than make an account. A simple solution for this problem is to allow guest login or to login using their social media accounts.
Other than this, make sure to have clear policies regarding payment, delivery and returns. You can also use infographics, as they tend to have a strong impact on users and can be used to make a point. Businesses like Amazon now use infographics to explain a procedure to users as infographics seem to be more effective.
3. Help Should be Readily Available
It is all about making the user experience good. While prices are the same at almost all stores, you can compete on the basis of overall experience. This can be done by making the buying process easy and providing users solutions to all their problems, even before the problem arises.
Most users prefer a self-help method instead of getting in touch with a customer service agent. The best option is to create a FAQ section and provide answers to all possible questions.
However, other than this, at times the help of a live person is necessary. People are now moving away from phones and emails as the waiting time is usually very long over the phone or email. These days around 70% of users prefer to get help via online chat, where the average time it takes to solve a problem is just 46 seconds.
4. Keep Prices Low and Have Special Offers
Keep your prices low and stay away from having hidden charges. In fact, high charges is the reason why 61% of people abandon a purchase. This includes taxes, shipping costs etc. Always mention the total cost clearly, instead of showing it as a final cost in the end.
Other than this, look at having free or discounted offers. A good option is to provide buyers with free shipping, which is the number one thing most buyers look at when purchasing a product online. In fact, around 80% of buyers agree that they are more inclined to come back to a store if it offers free shipping. Almost an equal amount of users will even purchase more to reach a minimum threshold to avail free shipping. This is one of the best ways to boost conversion rates.
These simple but effective tips will help you boost your conversion rates and make more money. Look at your competitors and try to outdo them by improving the overall customer experience.
