16 Ideas to Consider Testing to Increase Your E-commerce Conversion Rate
Driving sales and revenue is a crucial objective in e-commerce. However, even with a top-notch product and a well-designed website, marketers, sales, web developers, and web designers often need to collaborate to turn visitors into buyers; this is where e-commerce conversion rate optimization (CRO) comes in.
The E-commerce conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase on your online store. Let's explore 16 ideas for you and your team to consider testing for e-commerce conversion rate optimization. From optimizing website speed to offering personalized recommendations, testing these ideas gradually can help your E-commerce business turn more visitors into customers.
Idea #1 - Optimize your website for faster load times
Website speed is vital in e-commerce conversion rate optimization, as a slow website can lead to high bounce rates and lost opportunities. Consider testing your website's performance to identify opportunities to minify CSS and JavaScript files, compress images, lazy-load images, optimize third-party resources, or reduce the number of plugins on your site, if necessary, to name a few. Some popular tools for website performance testing and monitoring are:
Idea #2 - Use high-quality product images
Using high-quality product images allows website visitors to visualize your product's features in detail and make a more informed decision about the purchase they intend to make. As a best practice, consider using images that show your product with consistent backgrounds, proportions, different angles, and good lighting. And consider compressing your product images to a reduced file size that maintains image quality and does not negatively impact page load performance. As a reference, read The Complete Guide to E-commerce Photography, an excellent guide created by Mandy Gleason.
Idea #3 - Use videos to showcase your products
Product videos can provide a more detailed representation of your product and help website users build confidence in purchasing from your E-commerce store. Consider using videos that highlight the features of your products and ensure your videos are well-produced, have good lighting, and have high quality. Here's a helpful guide on Product Video Marketing Best Practices and Examples by Joey X.
Idea #4 - Offer free shipping
Free shipping is a powerful tactic to incentivize website visitors to make purchases and can also help increase the average order value (AOV) of your E-commerce business. Consider testing free shipping for website visitors that meet a minimum order value — to make this test more cost-effective for your business.
Idea #5 - Make checkout easy
The checkout process on your E-commerce site should be as simple as possible. Consider simplifying the checkout process by requiring only the necessary information, such as shipping and payment details. In addition, make sure your checkout process is friendly across desktop and mobile devices and is easy to use.
Idea #6 - Use customer reviews and ratings
Customer reviews and ratings can help build trust and provide social proof to your E-commerce site visitors. Consider using a third-party review platform like Trustpilot or Yotpo to collect and display reviews. Also, be consistent in reminding customers to leave a review after making a purchase.
Idea #7 - Offer multiple payment options
Offering multiple payment options can facilitate a purchase. Consider accepting PayPal, credit cards, and other popular payment methods, and make sure your payment process is secure.
Idea #8 - Use upselling and cross-selling
Be creative and test upselling and cross-selling, as these tactics can increase the average order value and boost sales. Consider providing journey-aware recommendations to each website user. Here are a few examples of upselling and cross-selling tactics on Amazon.com:
Idea #9 - Provide a guest checkout option
Many websites require account creation to complete a purchase, which is unfortunate. Offering a guest checkout option can make it easier for users to buy from your E-commerce site without creating an account. Consider testing this idea and make sure the guest checkout process is simple and easy to use. Here's a quick example from Apple's website:
Idea #10 - Use abandoned cart emails
Abandoned cart emails are an effective tactic to recover opportunities. Consider sending follow-up emails to customers who have left the shopping cart, reminding them of the fantastic products waiting for them on your E-commerce site. Here's an example of abandoned cart emails from Reebok:
Idea #11 - Use exit-intent pop-ups
Exit-intent pop-ups can present last-minute incentives to potential customers likely to leave your website. These pop-ups typically trigger when the site user's mouse cursor appears to move in the path to close the browser's tab or navigate to a different page. Consider testing exit-intent pop-ups to present a promo, free shipping, and incentivize the purchase.
Idea #12 - Offer discounts and promotions
Discounts and promotions are great incentives for site visitors to make a purchase. Consider offering limited-time discounts or bundle deals to encourage customers to buy and ensure discounts and promo codes are visible on your website, emails, pop-ups, social media, and promo extensions in your Google or Microsoft Ads campaigns.
Idea #13 - Optimize content for conversions
Your product descriptions, headlines, calls to action, and content should be clear and concise. Consider testing content that is sales oriented or helps guide site visitors on the actions to take on your website. For example, if your E-commerce site sells beauty products, instead of using a generic headline like "Beauty products," consider testing actionable headlines, like:
Shop all your favorite beauty products in one place
Shop the latest trends in beauty and find new favorites
Shop with confidence! Each product comes with a satisfaction guarantee.
Idea #14 - Use customer feedback
Create the opportunity for customers and website users to submit live feedback and surveys through your website. Ongoing customer feedback will allow you to assess your products, customer service, and website experience. Consider testing these website feedback and survey tools:
Idea #15 - Use A/B testing
A/B testing can help you determine which page design, call to action, content, headline, or email is most effective in driving conversions. Consider running different experiments to optimize for conversions, monitor performance, and make decisions based on data insights. A few popular tools for A/B testing include:
Idea #16 - Use retargeting ads
Retargeting ads help bring back potential customers who have visited your website and have yet to take action to purchase your products. Consider building retargeting lists and campaigns to remind potential customers to return to your website and purchase your products.
Here are four tutorials to learn about retargeting campaigns on Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Facebook Ads.
Summary
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is an ongoing process. Be open to testing different tactics to optimize conversion rates and drive more sales to your e-commerce business. Optimizing your website speed, product images and descriptions, checkout process, using social proof, and personalized recommendations can increase the likelihood of visitors purchasing on your website. Remember to continuously test and improve your strategies to ensure the best results. Also, remember that what works for one e-commerce business may not work for another, so it's essential to monitor performance and identify the most effective tactics for driving conversions.
* This article was published in 2023 and will be updated periodically to ensure it remains relevant. Thank you for reading this article, and I hope it helps you identify tactics to test, measure, and improve your E-commerce Conversion Rate. If you have any questions or professional inquiries about marketing and advertising, send Carlos a message.
