7 Simple Ways To Boost Conversions As An Online Retailer

Finding the answer to the age-old question on how to boost conversions for your eCommerce store is a challenge, particularly so for smaller retailers. Often the problem stems from the conversion rate that you may be experiencing. Your site may be experiencing good levels of traffic and visitors however these may not be converting into the sales that you hoped or needed. We find this is particularly common for smaller stores who do not have the resources to constantly monitor and perfect the store.
Our biggest recommendation for this would be to get the basics right first. This is most often the difference between a successful store and one which does not convert visitors into customers.
This list is not conclusive on how to boost conversions as an online retailer, however, we recommend considering the basic list of checkpoints to improve your online store.

1. Best Sellers

How often do you find yourself visiting a website and looking at their top sellers? You aren’t the only one, your homepage has probably the highest visitors. You have approximately 15 seconds to catch the visitor’s attention and the best way to do this is to show them something that they are likely to be interested. Therefore it makes sense to show your top selling products on your homepage, this then gives new customers an immediate representation of what you sell.
Secondly, visitors are likely to have similar interests to existing customers so by advertising your best selling products you are promoting what it is likely visitors are after and are showing them that they already sell well.

2. Organised Navigation

This is our Digital Campaign Manager, Hayley’s first task when we begin working with a client. It is essential to organise your Main Menu and Product Category using clear product structure. Navigation based on abstract concepts and wording that may make sense to you, don’t help your visitors find what they came to your store for.
Consider how bricks and mortar stores organised departments and displays based on related products or alphabetised products so customers can locate these goods with ease. You should implement a similar layout on your online store, therefore, users can find the specific products they need easily.

3. Page Load Speed

This is an area that we are continually telling users that they must implement. We mention it in almost all content that we have written about how to improve your website, here are two that we mention it in. Now Is The Time To Conduct A Site Audit & Website Evaluation: What Google Doesn’t Like About Your Site. Although you may not think that there is a direct relation between faster loading pages and purchasing decisions, with such ease of access online now, consumers are more impatient and are likely to leave your website if it does not load quick enough.
As an eCommerce store you have an increased amount of visitors coming from mobile devices, therefore it is even more important to check your site speed for mobile and desktop visitors. Thankfully our friends at Google have created a test where you can check the speed of your site, and it offers specific mobile optimisation hints.  

4. Quality

Quality should be considered and implemented in every aspect of your business. Although to some stores this may seem an obvious point, we want to emphasise the importance of quality images of your products. These images will be seen as a reflection of the quality of your products that the visitor is considering buying, therefore make sure each product features several high-resolution and high-quality photographs.
Throughout product pages, we would like to reiterate the importance of quality, apply this to the product descriptions that you have alongside the high-quality pictures. We recommend creating unique descriptions as this will help you rank for the products that you are selling, especially if you are selling third party products. Write in detail the specifications of the products, where relevant include the technical specifications as well.

5. SEO & PPC

A marketing campaign that encompasses your products is essential. By incorporating a well-performing website with an effective campaign you will benefit from an increase in traffic, and high-quality traffic at that. However, if you were to not have one without the other, you are likely to damage your brand.
By putting a budget behind an organic, paid or combined campaign is going to direct an increased amount of traffic to your website. If your website is not performing or underperforming in any of the areas discussed in this post, the traffic you are directing to your site is unlikely to convert and will probably bounce.
We discuss in depth the advantages to a paid campaign for your eCommerce store in this video. Simply click here to watch it now!

6. Competitive Pricing

Although this may seem like an obvious point, we want to express that clear pricing and shipping information influences a consumer’s decision to purchase from a particular eCommerce store.
Consumers are creatures of habit and after finding a product on your site they are likely to research your product to explore whether it is less expensive anywhere else. If they find it cheaper elsewhere they are unlikely to give you the custom. Educate yourself on what your competitors are charging and decide whether to make sure you are competitive or be sure that your website justifies a higher price tag.
This links back to high-quality descriptions as if your prices are higher you must make your visitors aware of why you are in a higher price bracket.

7. Upsell

This is an age-old method that you can apply to your eCommerce store as much as your corner shop uses it. At the till products that visitors pick up as it is there or they think they need. Recreate this approach on your website.
The benefit of upselling taps into the fact that you have already gained trust from your visitor who has decided to purchase a particular item.
Consider these methods depending on your product base. If you sell clothes offer a method that brands like ASOS have, “Complete The Look” and include the other clothing items that the model is wearing. Another upsell opportunity comes in the form of “You Might Also Like” or “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”. To group together a variety of products and promote selling certain products.  

In Conclusion

These are only a selection of 7 ways to boost conversions as an online retailer, there are hundreds of other methods that you can use however it is important to get the basics right to begin. You have got to be able to walk before you can run. However, if you believe that you are already confident in these 6 areas, or have added them to your to-do list, we recommend you download our free video on how to sell more on your eCommerce store.
Simply click the link below to get the video for free!