If you manage an eCommerce website, you know that shopping cart abandonment is the number one nemesis to profit. There is good cause for concern, as the average shopping cart abandonment rate is roughly 69% equating to $18 billion in yearly sales revenue, according to Forrester research. Fortunately, you can implement certain features into your eCommerce website design to minimize shopping cart abandonment and maximize profit. Discover the details:
1. Provide Comprehensive Pricing
The Baymard Institute conducted a study to determine why people abandon their online shopping carts. They found that extra costs were the number one reason for shopping cart abandonment. When you are transparent with your shipping costs, taxes, and other extra fees, you will see a decrease in shopping cart abandonment and an uptick in returning customers. Price transparency subconsciously strengthens your customer’s trust in your brand and eliminates any financial surprises at checkout. To take it one step further, eliminate extra fees and shipping costs altogether by bundling it into the product cost. Free shipping is enticing to customers, increasing the likelihood of completing the order.
2. List Product Reviews
Your company can have the best marketing strategy, intriguing ad content, and exceptional products, but those elements mean very little if your products have few (or bad) reviews. Shoppers care about the amount and quality of product reviews, as it shows them the realistic nature of your product. The customer who bought this product and left a review about their experience holds more weight than a well-crafted product description written by your company.
If you don’t have reviews, initiate a reviews campaign! Many people will participate in a reviews campaign if they get something in return – a gift card, discount on a future purchase, or store credit. The amount you spend rewarding those who leave a review is minimal compared to the potential future purchases linked to those reviews. (If a customer leaves a negative review, here’s what you should do.)
3. Showcase Popular Products
As with product reviews, showcasing bestsellers on your homepage helps your potential customer feel confident about their purchase knowing other people have bought the same product. Customers do not have to waste time conducting a website search for the product they came to buy. A user-friendly website is vital to speed up the checkout process. Eliminate unnecessary frustration by showcasing your popular products and reducing the amount of clicks it takes to complete the purchase.
4. Offer Zoom-ability on Images
Brick-and-mortar stores have one magical ace up their sleeve that eCommerce websites cannot offer – tangibility. When a customer walks into a shop, they can touch and feel the product, hold it in their hands, test it out, and more. While eCommerce websites don’t offer tangibility, you can compete with brick-and-mortar stores by offering zoom-ability on images (more images, the better)! Provide images of the product by every angle and offer a zoom option so the customer can see up close what the product looks like. Remember, there should be zero surprises once the customer receives your product. Zoomable images can help accomplish this.
(Psst… do you have a brick-and-mortar store but you’re not sure if you really need an eCommerce website, as well? Here are four reasons why we think it’s a good idea.)
5. Readily Available Website Chats
Your eCommerce website should have a contact page. But, we encourage you to take it a step further for people who need immediate assistance – offer a readily-available chat feature. Many chat features will pop up in a corner of the website once the customer arrives at the homepage. This tells the customer that you’re available and ready to answer any of their questions. If possible, opt for real, human responses and forego automated responses. If your customer does not want to utilize the chat message, it can be easily minimized.
6. Create Product Filters
People value their time, and frustration will quickly set in if they can’t find what they want in a reasonable amount of time. If your eCommerce website offers product filters, you are optimizing your customer’s time. Different types of filters include:
- Average customer review
- Brand
- Color
- Condition
- Material
- Price range
- & More
Product filters are especially helpful if you have many products from which to choose. With a few clicks and quick load time, your customers will be browsing your products in no time.
M&R Marketing Can Create Your User-Friendly eCommerce Website!
We obsess over helping companies – just like yours – thrive. Our team believes that the root of success for eCommerce businesses is a solid, user-friendly eCommerce website design. We want to know what you hope for in a website, and we will create one that exceeds expectations for both you and your customers! Reach out to our team with questions: 478-621-4491.
Stay tuned for parts two and three of our eCommerce website series:
- Part 1 – eCommerce Website Design Features that can Increase Sales
- Part 2 – How to Create a Stress-free Shopping Experience on Your eCommerce Website
- Part 3 – 5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid in Your eCommerce Website