As a woman I naturally love to shop but, believe it or not, I hate going to the mall, hunting for parking, and dealing with bad customer service. In my opinion, a trip to the mall is time consuming and hectic. For me, online shopping is the best way to shop since you can do it from the comfort of your home while having time to research each item and make a better consumer decision. I buy a lot of items online; the only thing I probably haven’t purchased online are groceries and believe me if my local grocery store provided it, that’s exactly what I would do. I prefer it because shopping online is convenient, efficient, and informative.
The reason why a consumer completes a conversion varies. If you have an E-commerce store, you have to really understand the reasons why someone shops online and really try to mold your store around your consumer’s needs and wants. If you provide a consumer with everything they need in order to convince them to make that conversion, your site will be successful.
The look of the website is important. A shopper knows within 5 seconds or less whether they want to shop on your site or not so having great aesthetics is the first step. Through Google Analytics, you can see what the bounce rate percentage is on your home page or other landing pages are. If it’s a high percentage like 85% or more, then you need to at least consider redesigning the look and feel of your site. You can consult an internet marketing firm for the best solutions on lowering the bounce rate average. For one, I am most likely to purchase an item from an online store that looks dynamic, looks credible, and has great information on their products.
Before buying, a consumer wants to research and compare; this is why online shopping has become so popular. If you have a physical store, having an e-commerce site to compliment your store is also a great tool to bring shoppers in. About 90% of the time I go to a “physical” store; I log in to the online store first and research what I’m looking for. Having a functionality or link that allows the consumer to see the availability of the product at your physical location is incredibly useful to your consumer. If you don’t have it at the physical address near them they can choose to travel to a farther location or place an order online. This leads to a better consumer experience and making the consumer willing to come back to your store more often, possibly next time purchasing it online since they already have had the item.
When I compare products and research what I’m looking for, I like to see full specifications of the product including sizes as well as customer reviews. Customer reviews are very helpful to the user. Sometimes store owners are wary about this because they are afraid of a bad review. But the bad review is actually helpful because sometimes it describes the product well and the experience the consumer had which might allow the consumer to make the judgment that another similar product on your site is the actual product they are looking for. Again, reviews are great because customers not only rave about your product but they give details about the product that are not otherwise in the usual specifications which give s the consumer a better idea of what the product is, thus making them less nervous about ordering the product online.
When a consumer is shopping online, they can’t physically hold the item, they can’t feel the texture, they can’t smell it, and they can’t try it on. This is why product information and product images are so important. Having great product pictures of the product will likely convince the customer to make a conversion and purchase the item. If they feel it’s a good representation of the product and they can truly get a feel of what they are purchasing, they will feel more comfortable to purchase the item online. Provide pictures from different angles and if the product comes in various colors, show the product in all colors.
Lastly, remember that when consumers shops online, they want to feel safe when purchasing their item. Make sure you have a secure site and paste the secure site image seal from the gateway you decide to use on your site. You might want to offer a PayPal option in case the buyer still feels uncomfortable. Also, the shopping cart page is a popular exiting page. This is where customers may go through the whole process and then abandon their carts; this is where analytics come in to play so that you can see the point of abandonment and make the necessary corrections and monitor progress. Make the process simple and as straight forward as possible so the consumer doesn’t feel like it’s too long of a process especially when they are purchasing just one simple item.
As a business owner, you probably shop online as well. Next time you log on to shop, think about the details that are convincing you to go through with the purchase. Jot down what you like and what you think is missing from the page. If it works on you, there is no doubt you can use the same details in increasing your own site conversion.
Increasing Conversions on an E-Commerce Site
The reason why a consumer completes a conversion varies. If you have an E-commerce store, you have to really understand the reasons why someone shops online and really try to mold your store around your consumer’s needs and wants. If you provide a consumer with everything they need in order to convince them to make that conversion, your site will be successful.
The look of the website is important. A shopper knows within 5 seconds or less whether they want to shop on your site or not so having great aesthetics is the first step. Through Google Analytics, you can see what the bounce rate percentage is on your home page or other landing pages are. If it’s a high percentage like 85% or more, then you need to at least consider redesigning the look and feel of your site. You can consult an internet marketing firm for the best solutions on lowering the bounce rate average. For one, I am most likely to purchase an item from an online store that looks dynamic, looks credible, and has great information on their products.
Before buying, a consumer wants to research and compare; this is why online shopping has become so popular. If you have a physical store, having an e-commerce site to compliment your store is also a great tool to bring shoppers in. About 90% of the time I go to a “physical” store; I log in to the online store first and research what I’m looking for. Having a functionality or link that allows the consumer to see the availability of the product at your physical location is incredibly useful to your consumer. If you don’t have it at the physical address near them they can choose to travel to a farther location or place an order online. This leads to a better consumer experience and making the consumer willing to come back to your store more often, possibly next time purchasing it online since they already have had the item.
When I compare products and research what I’m looking for, I like to see full specifications of the product including sizes as well as customer reviews. Customer reviews are very helpful to the user. Sometimes store owners are wary about this because they are afraid of a bad review. But the bad review is actually helpful because sometimes it describes the product well and the experience the consumer had which might allow the consumer to make the judgment that another similar product on your site is the actual product they are looking for. Again, reviews are great because customers not only rave about your product but they give details about the product that are not otherwise in the usual specifications which give s the consumer a better idea of what the product is, thus making them less nervous about ordering the product online.
When a consumer is shopping online, they can’t physically hold the item, they can’t feel the texture, they can’t smell it, and they can’t try it on. This is why product information and product images are so important. Having great product pictures of the product will likely convince the customer to make a conversion and purchase the item. If they feel it’s a good representation of the product and they can truly get a feel of what they are purchasing, they will feel more comfortable to purchase the item online. Provide pictures from different angles and if the product comes in various colors, show the product in all colors.
Lastly, remember that when consumers shops online, they want to feel safe when purchasing their item. Make sure you have a secure site and paste the secure site image seal from the gateway you decide to use on your site. You might want to offer a PayPal option in case the buyer still feels uncomfortable. Also, the shopping cart page is a popular exiting page. This is where customers may go through the whole process and then abandon their carts; this is where analytics come in to play so that you can see the point of abandonment and make the necessary corrections and monitor progress. Make the process simple and as straight forward as possible so the consumer doesn’t feel like it’s too long of a process especially when they are purchasing just one simple item.
As a business owner, you probably shop online as well. Next time you log on to shop, think about the details that are convincing you to go through with the purchase. Jot down what you like and what you think is missing from the page. If it works on you, there is no doubt you can use the same details in increasing your own site conversion.