5 Ways to improve your ecommerce conversion rate

The costs of setting up an online shop might appear to be much lower than paying the rent and utility bills that come with a bricks and mortar store – and you can attract customers from outside your local area. 

But if you work in ecommerce, you’ll know how competitive the market can be. The industry is dominated by retail tech giants, who spend millions of pounds every year on developing their websites and marketing their products online. And, while your budget might only be a fraction of this, it reminds us that what you save in running a physical store can be quickly eaten up by these costs. 

This is why, like any investment, your website has to deliver value. The goal is to convert casual visitors into potential and actual customers, with some of them going on to become repeat customers and brand advocates.

What we’ll cover:

– What is a good ecommerce conversion rate?
– How to improve conversion in ecommerce
– Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) for ecommerce

What is a good ecommerce conversion rate?

In ecommerce, the path to purchase can be much shorter than in other industries. Impulse buys are common – a user might spot an ad or land on your website and make a purchase in just a few clicks. At other times, they may spend longer in the consideration phase, especially for bigger ticket items, often carefully comparing product features, prices and reviews. 

In general, a good website conversion rate is around 2-5% depending on the industry. Research from Shopify, one of the world’s biggest ecommerce platforms, found that the average rate for its users is 1.4% – which seems low but is considered good for this industry. 

Like other types of  marketing conversions, ecommerce conversions are measured on the number of people who took action – except it refers specifically to the number of orders. To work out the percentage, divide the number of orders by the total number of visitors to your website and multiply by 100. 

Your ecommerce conversion rate gives you an idea of how well your website is performing, and what this means for your bottom line. But it’s important to measure it alongside other key metrics such as return on advertising spend (ROAS), customer acquisition costs (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), which includes the number and value of orders, and the cost of processing returns.

How to improve conversion in ecommerce

Improving conversion comes down to optimising your website – a process known as conversion rate optimisation (CRO). It’s an ongoing task that draws on the skills of different teams, including web developers, designers, copywriters, digital marketers and UX specialists. 

All of these people play an important role in making sure a website is quick to load, easy to navigate, readable and viewable on any device. 

It goes without saying that customers are more likely to respond positively if a website ticks all these boxes. We all do it. Still, when you’re on the other side, it’s easy to become derailed, trying to be too clever with design, copy and interactive features, and for different teams to work in silos without considering the whole customer journey, including the barriers to purchase and opportunities. 

Adopting a CRO strategy encourages you to scrutinise every aspect of the user experience, and make improvements based on changing behaviours and expectations. Here are five areas to focus on:

1. Improving site speed and overall health

The good thing about off-the-shelf ecommerce platforms, like Magento and Shopify, is that they make it relatively straightforward for your designers, digital marketers and developers to optimise. Simple steps include using the latest version of the software, a new theme and compressing images. There is also plenty of developer support available for more complex improvements. 

Site speed is a ranking factor for Google so focusing on it will also support your SEO efforts but, really, it’s just common sense. If sites are slow to load, and not optimised for mobile, users will drop off before they’ve made an order.

2. Friction points – and opportunities

If you’re seeing a high bounce rate and low conversions, it’s likely that there are friction points in the customer journey. But how do you know what they are? Analytics tools, such as Hotjar, can give you a deeper understanding of how customers interact with your site, such as whether they’re ignoring a call-to-action, and also ask them for feedback and suggestions.

You can also use A/B testing to see which version of your website works best. The data you collect helps you identify the sometimes hidden or unexpected opportunities for improvement.

3. Quality

The quality of your copy, imagery, design and overall experience is vital for your brand reputation, SEO, and, of course, conversions. In fact, they’re all closely linked. Your website is your shop front, and if anything’s a bit off, you won’t win over potential customers. The same applies to physical stores – but quality is particularly important online when customers can easily go elsewhere if your site doesn’t look professional. 

Getting the basics right is essential. Copy should be unambiguous and error-free; the design and branding has to be clear and consistent. You need good shots of all your products, plus all the relevant details. Beyond that, it’s a good idea to include positive customer testimonials and reviews, and blogs to demonstrate your expertise and engage users.

All this can persuade customers to complete a purchase, reducing the number of abandoned carts, while ensuring they have all the information they need beforehand to reduce the chances of a return or negative review.

4. User Experience (UX)

We can’t stress enough how important user-centric experiences are to conversions. 

Regular testing helps you to determine what they want and how they behave – but putting your findings into practice can feel like a big step, often requiring a change of mindset and adjustments to your site. You might discover, for instance, that users aren’t bothered about the product features you’ve listed, or that they’re switching off because your language is too jargon-heavy or not very human. Similarly, designs might need to be pared back if they’re distracting to users. 

Naturally, you feel invested in your site, professionally, financially and probably emotionally. However, prioritising internal stakeholders’ needs over users will ultimately reduce your ROI.

5. Clear calls to action (CTAs)

Generic or vague CTAs are rarely effective. You need to be precise with your messaging – phrases like ‘buy now’ or ‘shop our summer range’ are better than ‘click for more information’ because the action is obvious. CTA buttons should also be in prominent and intuitive places so that users can quickly make a decision. Your analytics tools can tell you whether your CTAs are in an area of your site that’s being ignored. 

More direct sales messaging isn’t off-putting to users if it’s done well, and it can create fear of missing out if you have time-limited special offers. When your copy and imagery are persuasive, a sales-led CTA is the next logical step in the journey. Avoid anything that’s intrusive or targets customers when they’re not quite ready to buy, as it looks spammy.

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) for ecommerce

CRO for ecommerce strategy goes hand-in-hand with your SEO and brand strategies. Your marketing efforts will quickly come undone by poor on-site user experiences, resulting in low conversion rates and high customer acquisition costs.

On the other hand, by prioritising the user, you can steer them towards purchase, reducing drop-offs, cart abandonment returns. Smooth transactions and as-expected products generate positive reviews which in turn lead to more conversions. 

Get in touch with Tank to see how we can support your CRO strategy.