LWC LLC

Ecommerce is a huge industry. In fact, the global ecommerce market is worth over $1 trillion! But as with any business, it can be tough to survive in an overcrowded marketplace. The key to success for any ecommerce site is conversion rate optimization (CRO). In this article, we discuss 12 ways that you can boost your conversion rates and increase sales on your website.

What is Ecommerce Conversion Rate Optimization?

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) in ecommerce refers to the process of increasing the percentage of visitors to an online store who complete a purchase. This can be achieved through a variety of methods, such as improving the overall user experience, streamlining the checkout process, or offering incentives to complete purchases.

CRO is an important strategy for ecommerce businesses because even a small increase in conversion rate can have a significant impact on revenue. By optimizing your conversion rate, you can potentially increase profits without having to spend more money on advertising or other marketing efforts to bring in new traffic.

How Do You Measure Your Ecommerce Conversion Rate?

To measure the conversion rate of your ecommerce store, you can use our CRO Calculator or the following formula:

Conversion rate = Number of conversions / Number of visitors * 100

To calculate the conversion rate, you first need to determine the number of conversions and the number of visitors to your site. A conversion occurs when a visitor to your site performs a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for your newsletter. The number of conversions can be tracked using tools like Google Analytics.

Ecommerce Conversion Rate Benchmarks

Conversion rates can vary significantly depending on a variety of factors, such as the industry, the product / service being sold, and the quality of the website where the sale is taking place.

Here are some benchmarks that can serve as a general guide:

• The average conversion rate for ecommerce websites is 2-3%.
• The top 25% of ecommerce websites have a conversion rate of 4.3% or higher.
• The top 10% of ecommerce websites have a conversion rate of 6.3% or higher.

12 Ways to Improve Your Ecommerce Conversion Rate

1. Use high-resolution images in your product listings

Using the best images is important for any site, but it's especially important for ecommerce. Use high-resolution images in your product listings and make sure that they're the right size before uploading them to your website. This will ensure that your product images look as sharp and clear on the screen as they do in real life.

2. Offer free shipping or expedited delivery

Offering free shipping is an easy way to make potential customers more likely to buy. In fact, it has become so common that customers are conditioned to expect free shipping when making their purchases.

3. Create a return policy

Make sure you have an excellent return policy so buyers feel confident about shopping with you. This increases shopping satisfaction and reduces buyer remorse (which can lead to lost sales). You should leave a link to the returns policy on multiple pages so that customers can easily find out how to return products.

4. Offer answers to common questions

Make sure you have a clear contact page, so shoppers can get in touch with customer service if they need assistance. Include the hours of operation and any other important details about your team for customers' convenience! Include a customer service chat so if shoppers need assistance, they can get in touch with you and not have to go through the trouble of emailing. This increases shopping satisfaction because it makes customers feel like their concerns are important even after they've already purchased something!

5. Improve your site load times

Site load time is extremely important for any company, but it's especially critical if you run an ecommerce website. If your site takes too long to load or visitors get a "server not found" message when visiting the page, then they'll be inclined to leave and go elsewhere. To ensure that this doesn't happen, optimize images on your website by lowering their file size or converting them into vector graphics (such as PDFs). You should also remove unnecessary plugins from your website code in order to avoid slowing down the loading speed of pages.

6. Consider using A/B split tests

Split testing is a powerful way to improve your conversion rate. Split-testing allows you to see which version of a design or content works better for customers and leads them to convert more often. Conducting an A/B split test can be as simple as changing the button color on your website from green to red, but it's important that both versions are tested in order not to skew results based off of personal preference.

7. Include customer reviews of your products

Customer reviews are an important part of any shopping experience. In fact, customer reviews have become so ubiquitous that shoppers will often ignore products with less than five stars on Amazon. Including customer reviews is a great way to build trust and show your customers why they should buy from you instead of one of your competitors. Reviews also give the potential buyer more information about what they're buying which leads them to make better decisions when making purchases online.

8. Send an abandoned shopping cart reminder

When shoppers add items to their carts but then leave without checking out, it's considered an abandoned cart. The best way to deal with these lost sales is by sending a shopping cart reminder email that includes all the products in the shopper's cart. This encourages them to come back and complete their order before someone else purchases those items.

9. Offer free returns

On orders above a certain dollar amount or offer guaranteed exchange policies to make it easier for them to buy from your store without worrying that their purchase might not be right for them. This increased shopping satisfaction, which will reduce buyer remorse (which can also lead to lost sales!)

10. Offer discounts or coupons

Be sure to offer discounts or coupons on products for shoppers who sign up for your email list, which will boost the number of people on your mailing list. This also helps to increase shopping satisfaction and reduce buyer's remorse (more about that in tip #11!)

11. Add video testimonials from satisfied buyers

To show off how much they enjoyed using your product, be sure to add video testimonials from previous satisfied buyers. This increases customer engagement with the site too! Include social proof by showing reviews left by other customers so potential customers don't feel nervous buying online because they might be worried no one else has tried this before, but it turns out lots have–and loved what they bought!

12. Use infographics

An infographic is an illustration that represents information, data or knowledge through graphic visual representations such as charts, graphs, maps and diagrams. They can be a great way to break up text-heavy posts because they are easier for people to process visually than just reading words on their screen. Plus this will give your blog some added "umph" with imagery while still being super informative!

How Should Ecommerce Websites Perform SEO?

1. Setup

The first thing to do is prepare the tracking. Google analytics has been a go-to for years when it comes to conversions and monitoring page visits - however, they're not your only option! There's also Crazy Egg (great for split testing), Hotjar, Clicktale…the list goes on.

2. Audit

Next, you can conduct a site audit to determine the biggest obstacles that could be preventing your users from converting. One great technique for figuring out which parts of your site users find unappealing or frustrating is by looking at their exit points. Google Analytics has a metric called the exit rate. You can calculate this by going to Behavior > Site Content and looking at your page's exit rates.

3. Get testing

It's time to A/B test your CRO updates. Create two different versions of the page and show each version to a randomized group of people who land on your website. For example, you may use a green CTA button on one version and an orange CTA button on another.

Final Thoughts on CRO for Ecommerce Websites

In conclusion, there are many ways you can improve your ecommerce conversion rate within a digital marketing campaign. There's no one-size-fits-all solution and the best way to know what will work for you is by experimenting with different strategies-you'll never know what will work unless you try it!