If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or not, having a strong ecommerce presence can make all the difference to your business’ bottom line.
Tools like search engine and social media marketing, remarketing and now Google Shopping – where searchers are shown a photo of your product alongside its description and price directly in their search results – are excellent at putting your products right in front of the right people.
But driving your target audience to your site is one thing, and converting those visits into sales is another. Today’s online shoppers are savvy and seeking friction-free spending experiences. As an ecommerce business, your focus needs to be not only on getting found, but also making it as easy as possible for your customers to buy from you, on both mobile and desktop.
So, here are our tips for boosting your conversion rate – and improving your marketing ROI.
- Every second counts
When it comes to your website, speed matters. Forty percent of users will click away from a website if a page takes longer than three seconds to load. Check your site speed – especially if you have image-heavy pages. - Prioritise usability
A poor user experience (UX) will quickly send customers bouncing off your site to buy elsewhere. Keep in mind that mobile accounts for around 65% of ecommerce traffic, and 62% of users are less likely to buy from you in the future if they have a poor experience on your mobile store. Optimising UX and making your site easy to navigate across both desktop and mobile is critical.
- Invest in good imagery
Shopping online involves an element of risk. Without being able to hold, feel, experience a product for yourself, how can you know what you’re really getting? Give your customers confidence with quality, high-resolution images that offer an accurate depiction of what you’re selling. Ensure a good colour likeness and take your pics with a simple choice of background. While there is some good photo editing software out there, as well as helpful tools like photo light boxes for DIY, if you’re not confident with your photography skills, then paying for a pro is an investment worth making. - Don’t skimp on descriptions
Understanding your customer is the secret to high-converting product descriptions. Features and benefits matter, but also consider: What are your customers’ pain points, needs, concerns or motivations – and how does your product solve that for them? Using a technique like future pacing (where you provide a description of what life will be like for them once they have made this purchase), can help your customer imagine the outcome of owning your product before they’ve even handed over their cash. You know what they say, sell the sizzle and they’ll buy the steak! - Make checkout easy
The less barriers in the way to buying, the better. Take a look at your checkout process. Are there too many steps? Are you asking for information that is going to frustrate your shoppers into abandoning their cart? Offering your customers the option to check out as a guest, rather than creating an account, is a simple way to boost your number of sales conversions (37% of shoppers say they abandon their cart because a site wanted them to create an account). Autofill options also help reduce friction for returnee customers. Offer different payment options through a trusted system, and consider adding Apple Pay or Google Pay. Afterpay has also become a popular buy-now-pay-later option, that will also help reduce the number of abandoned carts. - Don’t let your shoppers slip away
It can be easy to feel disheartened by abandoned carts – but you’re certainly not alone. Around 69% of online carts don’t make it all the way through checkout. But one of the best things you can do to convert those carts back into sales is to create an abandoned cart email workflow. Land in your customer’s inbox with a strategic and timely email, and you have a 40% chance of that email being opened, a 21% chance the link is clicked on, and then a 50% chance that those users will go on to complete the purchase! The odds are too good not to ignore!
- Ensure your ad spend is working hard for you
Throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing if it sticks is not a strategy you want to apply when it comes to your digital marketing. Get strategic about where you’re spending your money to ensure it’s reaching the right audience, at the right time. Make sure you have the bottom of the funnel covered with Google Search and Shopping, then build in a strong remarketing strategy and audience targeting to reach new users.
If you’re wondering why your digital marketing spend isn’t quite reaping the returns you had hoped, give your online store an audit using the tips above. And if you’re keen to find out more, get in touch with us for a complimentary strategy session with one of our digital marketing advisors!
