| Your conversion rate will tell you how many visitors | | | | that people not only read, but read carefully and take |
| are taking a certain action - it could be completing a | | | | note of. Why? Because they want to find out what |
| purchase (obviously, the ultimate goal) but could also | | | | the next steps are for receiving the product they |
| include completely a contact form, signing up for a | | | | just ordered. |
| newsletter, etc. You can measure this by setting up | | | | - With the above information at hand, this is the |
| goals within your analytics program. This will give you | | | | page we should ask them to refer friends and add |
| valuable statistics and metrics which you can use to | | | | incentives - Receive a discount if you refer a friend, |
| measure against and help improve your business. | | | | etc. |
| You need to optimize the functionality of the cart. | | | | - You could also provide a customer service survey |
| The more clicks you make a visitor perform in order | | | | at this page as well, so you can collect data that will |
| to get to the end result, the more likely they are to | | | | help you to continually improve your cart |
| leave without doing anything. "Abandoning the | | | | Create an impulse offer - FREE SHIPPING |
| process" is a big problem in Ecommerce. | | | | - Studies have shown time and time again that free |
| Below are ways you can optimize and improve the | | | | shipping promotions are powerful offers which almost |
| cart and shopping experience for the customer: | | | | always result in an increase in sales |
| - Simplify the login / registration page | | | | Simplify navigation where possible |
| - Rephrase blocks of text to make the user think | | | | - Where possible you should reduce the amount of |
| less | | | | clicks it takes to find what the user is looking for |
| - Remove unnecessary information at sign up (DOB, | | | | Build customer confidence |
| Phone, etc) | | | | - Prominently display secure and SSL images |
| - Reduce the amount of clicks necessary to signup, | | | | certifications, return policies, phone numbers, etc. |
| increase white space and create a better flow to the | | | | Add as many payment methods as possible |
| process | | | | - CyberSource reported that retailers who offered |
| Remove the create an account success screen | | | | three or more payment options saw an average of |
| - Just adds another click. After signup, take the user | | | | 14% increase in conversions. And Forrester Research |
| directly to the next screen they were expecting to | | | | contends that alternative payment methods help |
| visit | | | | increase sales and reduce shopping cart abandonment |
| Make the Add to Cart, View Cart, Checkout, | | | | The following modules/add-ons is recommended: |
| Continue and Submit Order buttons/links more visible, | | | | - Amazon Inventory Loader |
| prominent and compelling | | | | - This will allow you to export the products into an |
| - Self explanatory. You want to make sure these | | | | Amazon account where we can list and sell products |
| important buttons stand out from the rest of the | | | | Best Sellers Page |
| website. It will draw the users attention and make | | | | - This creates a page that will list best selling items |
| them subconsciously follow the process you want | | | | Contest System |
| them to | | | | - By installing this, you can add a contest signup side |
| Clearly indicate an item has been added to the cart, | | | | box and offer the customer the chance to win |
| and don't send them to their cart after adding an | | | | something in exchange for their email address, which |
| item | | | | you then load into your email marketing program |
| - By default the user will be taken to their cart when | | | | Google Froogle Feed |
| they add a product. You want to skip this and let | | | | - Same functionality as the Amazon Inventory |
| them continue to shop and add more products | | | | Loader, this adds the products to Froogle for sale |
| Simplify the shopping cart page | | | | Better Together |
| - Remove unnecessary text, such as "Visitor carts | | | | - Allows cross selling at a discount; a product can be |
| being merged with member carts", etc. Just confuses | | | | linked with another specific product, another product |
| people. Remove the estimate shipping button and | | | | from a specific category, or any other product, with |
| add that section directly the page, reduces clicks and | | | | an associated discount (in dollars or % off) if both |
| confusion | | | | are purchased together |
| Make changes to the checkout shipping page | | | | Order Steps |
| - Change the language | | | | - Creates a graphical indicator of where you are in |
| - Add white space | | | | the checkout process |
| - Display the checkout button prominently | | | | Free Shipping Rules |
| Make changes to the checkout payment page | | | | - This shipping module allows you to offer free |
| - Same steps as mentioned above with checkout | | | | shipping when more than one requirement is set. |
| shipping page | | | | These requirements include order total, total weight, |
| Reword the checkout confirmation page | | | | and total items. For example, if the minimum order |
| - Change the language so the user is not confused. | | | | total is set to $1000 and the maximum weight is set |
| Make sure they're aware that one more step is | | | | to 5lbs, free shipping would only be given for orders |
| necessary to complete the transaction | | | | that meet BOTH of these requirements |
| - Add the word "Edit" to the images | | | | Tell a Friend - Free Shipping |
| - Modify the layout of the credit card information | | | | - This module will give the customer free or reduced |
| screen | | | | shipping if they tell a friend using the form on the |
| Optimize the thank you page | | | | website |
| - The one time that you have the user's utmost | | | | By implementing the above changes you should see a |
| attention is on the "thank you" page. It is one page | | | | significant increase in your conversion rates and sales. |