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The best e-commerce site is one that converts shoppers into buyers. And while each site is different, some of the highest performing sites likely have one thing in common – a great user experience.
But shoppers can be fickle, and abandoned carts are a common occurrence that not only drains your marketing resources but also serves as a reminder of all your missed sales.
With more than 70% of all online carts abandoned by shoppers, what can you do to create a user experience that results in a high e-commerce conversion rate?1
Your e-commerce conversion rate is an important metric that calculates the percentage of website visitors who perform a desired action (such as making a purchase or signing up for your newsletter) out of the total number of visitors.
A high e-commerce conversion rate can be a great sign that your site is successfully attracting, engaging, and converting casual site visitors into paying customers.
Conversely, if your e-commerce conversion rate is below average, it may signal that your current marketing strategies, site design, and user experience have room for improvement.
Calculating your e-commerce conversion rate is simple: Divide your total online conversions by the number of site visitors, then multiply by 100.
Let’s say you run an e-commerce bookselling business. If your site receives 1,000 visitors every month and 100 make a purchase, your e-commerce conversion rate would be 10%.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) in e-commerce refers to ways of improving the percentage of site visitors who convert.
Some conversion rate optimization tactics include the following:
A better e-commerce conversion rate doesn’t just mean more sales. It may also be an indicator of high customer satisfaction and boosted customer loyalty.
Here are eight tips that may help boost conversions – and, over time, turbocharge your business growth.
Show shoppers their payment options right when they get to your website. This removes a potential barrier at checkout and can help reduce shopping cart abandonment.
Would the navigation on your website make sense to someone who has never visited it before? Ideally, a new visitor should be able to get to the item they’re looking for in three clicks or less. If it takes too long for someone to find something, they’re less likely to convert.
To improve e-commerce conversion rates, try adding a comprehensive internal search tool to help customers find what they want. This is especially helpful when you sell a wide variety of products or products with multiple SKUs.
How many clicks does it take to get a customer from product exploration to checkout?
Common conversion rate optimization best practices include shortening the steps towards payment – for example, by placing a purchase button on each product page or giving customers the chance to buy now or continue browsing. This smooths out the experience toward checkout.
Too many categories can overwhelm a new visitor to your site, so stick with the basics. If you sell items that are in high demand, give them their own category so it’s easy for customers to find them. Try adding the most popular products to your home page.
Visitors who can’t easily find answers to their questions are more likely to abandon their carts. This is especially true for products or services that require a certain level of understanding – like tech equipment, for example.
That’s why another popular conversion rate optimization tactic is to pay close attention to the questions you hear most often and address those. Plus, FAQs can help boost your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
Take a quick peek at your homepage – is your CTA hiding at the bottom? If it is, try moving it toward the top, where shoppers can see it once they land on the page. Better yet, put your CTA at both the top and bottom of the page, or make it “sticky” so it follows the customer as they scroll down the page.
In addition to being immediately visible, your CTA should be attention grabbing. Test a few enhancements like font size or color and see which CTA generates the most clicks.
If you’ve ever searched onlinefor a restaurant or dry cleaner “near me,” you’re probably familiar with the local listings that appear under a map on the first page of results.
You can help your local business be included in these results by adding your location to the content and alt tags on your website. Updating your tags with a target location makes it clear to both search engines and potential customers that your business services a specific area.
The final step in the process is the most crucial. An optimized checkout experience should allow shoppers to complete their transactions quickly and seamlessly. Provide customers with secure payment options like PayPal that can save them the hassle of entering their personal information.
One study that surveyed over 3,300 online stores found that the average conversion rate for e-commerce hovers at 1.3%. The same study found that the top 20% of stores have e-commerce conversion rates of around 3.2%, while the top 10% have 4.8% conversion rates.2
That said, e-commerce conversion rate benchmarks will vary depending on the type of product or service you’re offering, your target audience, your industry, and even the time of year.
Want more tips on how to help optimize your store and your e-commerce conversion rate? Check out this guide.
In partnership with three expert business owners, the PayPal Bootcamp includes practical checklists and a short video loaded with tips to help take your business to the next level.
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