In the past, we wrote about the growth in online shopping, and most importantly – the growth in mobile shopping, and as the holiday shopping season approaches, it’s time to gear up. Online shopping needs to be easy. You must ensure that your online customers can buy from you in the easiest and simplest way possible. Shopping cart abandonment is very common across all sectors (average of 67.89%) and a lot can be done to minimize these numbers as much as possible. I’ve gathered a few simple tips that will help reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase sales on your site.
7 Essential Tips to Increase Sales on Your Site
Identifying the Leak
The first important thing to do is to connect the shopping cart to Google Analytics. Sometimes we think we know where people leak out in the conversion funnel, but only after setting up the right key events in Google Analytics can you truly discover where the leak is coming from and who is leaking. By identifying the leak, you can start fixing it. And when I say fixing it, I mean – testing it.
Mobile Compatibility
In the past year, mobile traffic grew to 31.7 percent of all web traffic (IBM). If your shopping cart is not mobile-compatible, you’re doing something wrong. Stop everything and fix this issue.
Progress Bar
People don’t have time. They want to know the length of the process and they want to see upfront that it is fast and easy. Show users where they are progressing and how close they are to completing the purchase process. Look at the progress bar of the clothing store HAGGAR – it is clear, concise, and clean.
Exit Paths
I already wrote about this in the past, people lose interest easily, so don’t help them leave your website. Don’t add any link that takes them away from the shopping cart. No ads, no “Home” button, and in general, if you have to add any link, make sure it opens in a new tab. The fewer options you give customers, the more purchases you will get. Peak simplicity.
Security
People need to feel secure, to know that you are trustworthy and keep their details safe. Use “security icons” (recognized icons that will make the user feel secure), show a variety of payment methods to make them comfortable, and do not, do not add unexpected costs or items in the shopping cart.
Bring Them Back to You
Email marketing is a great tool when used correctly. Recently, in the middle of an attempted purchase, I abandoned the shopping cart right before checkout because the site surprised me with shipping costs (these are the unexpected costs I mentioned). The next day, I received an email offering a 15% discount to complete the purchase. Clicking the link led me straight to the payment page and showed me that I was getting the discount. This is a great way to bring people back, and these are the most relevant people you can get to complete the purchase. To be able to do this, don’t forget to ask for customers’ email addresses before leading them to checkout. That way, you’ll have their address if they leave midway.
Social Proof
People use recommendations from friends to make purchasing decisions about products or services. Here are some ways to obtain social proof:
- Testimonials – a great way to show people satisfied customers.
- Numbers – show them the number of people who have already purchased your product, this can help a lot. Numbers are a great validation method and can dramatically increase the number of conversions.
- Reviews – the most popular social proof method – allowing previous customers to express their love for the products. Of course, you need a good product for that…
Conclusion
In conclusion, moving forward through your shopping cart should be easy and fun. I’ll let Google speak for me, and I hope your customers will never feel such frustration:
About the Author
This guest post was written by Talia Wolf, CEO of Conversioner. The post was originally published on the Conversioner blog. Conversioner is the leading optimization company specializing in increasing client revenues using psycho-emotional elements through improving the website checkout process, landing pages, mobile apps and pages, banners, and more. You are invited to read more of her articles on her website.
