If you have an online store, then increasing conversion is very much essential for sustained success. If your customers don't make purchases, your revenue will impacted negatively. It is projected that $7.31 trillion which is going to be spent on e-commerce by 2025. So optimizing your conversion rate optimization is vital to capture a share of this spending.

E-commerce will look different for each business. Some will take an online-only method, and others will leverage multiple channels to attract potential customers. You can do all the marketing and advertising strategies to pull in site traffic and brand awareness. But once you start getting leads and people wish to make a purchase, then you need to do your part in convincing them to pay and convert them into customers.

That is where e-commerce conversion optimization and its rate play their part. This is a vital metric to help sellers understand their place in the market precisely and work for the improvement of sales outcomes by applying the best practices in their strategy.

In this article, we are going to discuss in detail what e-commerce optimization is all about and what strategies to put in to improve your business's sales figures just by paying attention to it. So let's get into it.

What Is E-commerce Conversion Optimization?

An e-commerce conversion rate is a percentage of a website's visitors who purchase from your online store. The common conversions are:

• Online sales

• Adding the products to a cart

  

• Adding the items to the Wishlist

• Email subscriptions

• Social media shares

• Any KPI your company values

Conversion is an extensive topic, as every aspect of the customer experience on your website can influence it. Conversion rate optimization will enhance the shopping experience to achieve a specific KPI, basically sales. It can be applied to landing pages, category pages, or any other place where it is a customer touchpoint.

Conversion Optimization for E-commerce Stores: What Makes It Different?

Conversion rate optimization for e-commerce stores sets itself apart in its nature of selling physical products. This adds more complexity and time consumption to the purchasing process. The distinctive feature of e-commerce lies in its checkout process, which may have 4 to 5 steps. This is where you need to optimize CRO for a smooth customer journey. E-commerce stores need to pay special attention to the entire purchase process, from product pages to the checkout page.

There are friction points in e-commerce stores, such as shipping and returns. This will impact the customer's purchase decision. Therefore, what you can do is adopt a holistic optimization approach. You can do this by enhancing customer confidence through social proof and a seamless checkout process.

What Should Be Your E-commerce Conversion Goals?

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Now that we have understood the basics of e-commerce conversion optimization, you need to know what your targeted rate will be. As you know, every business is different, and identifying the general trends in the e-commerce market helps align targets and performance with competitors. The average e-commerce conversion rate should be 3.68%. If you have an established business, you can aim close to a 3% conversion rate. But if you just set up a new online store, your expected rates might be closer to 1-2% in the initial stage based on web-based marketing.

The sign-up rate for emails comes under 2-5%. The ease of the sign-up process influences the variation. If you have complex interfaces or too many form fields, that will complicate the entire process. This will lead to higher bounce rates where visitors leave without converting.

How Can You Calculate the E-commerce Conversion Rate?

Conversion rate optimization focuses on a percentage rather than volume, which aims to enhance key actions like adding items to the cart and completing checkout instead of solely increasing website traffic. The fundamental metric in CRO is conversion rate, which is calculated by dividing the number of desired actions by the total number of visitors, then multiplying the result by 100 to make it a percentage.

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For example, if your product page had 1000 visitors last month and 30 sales, then your conversion rate would be 3%, which aligns with the e-commerce industry benchmark range of 2% to 5%.

You can manually calculate the number of data generated from analytics tools. But we suggest you set up Google Analytics conversion events, which will offer you an automated way to track and measure your conversion rate.

What Are the Tools That Help Improve E-commerce Conversion Rates?

You can use various tools to improve e-commerce conversion rates. Let us look into it.

• Web analytic tools: These tools will provide data on how users are interacting with your website. This will help you to identify the areas for improvement. Some of the popular web analytic tools are Google Analytics, Hotjar, and Crazy Egg.

• User behavior tools: These tools will track users' movement on your website. This will help you understand how they are making decisions. Some of the popular user behavior tools are Crazy Egg, Hotjar, and Mouseflow.

• CRO testing tools: These tools will allow you to test different versions of your website to see which one performs better. Some of the popular CRO testing tools are Optimizely, VWO, and Unbounce.

With these tools, you can gain valuable insights into how your website is performing, and you can identify the areas where you can improve. This will help you to increase your conversion rates and boost your bottom line.

What Are Some E-commerce Conversion Rate Strategies?

Now that you have an idea about what conversion rates are, how to calculate them, and the target that you want to aim for, it is time to explore ways to enhance your results. If your conversion rate is lower than desired, do not worry. You can conduct an audit of your website, and marketing strategies can help increase conversion from your current website traffic.

To help you through the improvement process, we have put together some CRO strategies. So, keep on reading to get insights into CRO strategies.

Make Attractive Pages

A successful website ensures that visitors can seamlessly find what they need while enjoying an easy-to-read and engaging experience. If your website is outdated, cluttered, or difficult to navigate, you will miss out on important and potential leads. You can enhance your website with the effective approaches below.

• Simplify the user experience: You should design pages with essential information that is simple and easily accessible. Try to display calls to action on your website for a simple visitor journey.

• Use high-quality content: You should engage and educate visitors with graphics and videos. However, you need to make sure that content is well produced and of high resolution to convey professionalism and credibility.

• Write detailed description: You should showcase your products and services with attractive descriptions that highlight their benefits. You should convince visitors to take action by providing valuable information.

• Check for correctness: You should also maintain credibility by eliminating errors, whether they have pricing inaccuracies, spelling mistakes, or typos. If you are consistent and provide an error-free copy, it reflects your professionalism.

• Recommend products: You should also cross-promote related products and services on different pages to make customers aware of your offerings. You can encourage them to explore and potentially purchase multiple terms.

• Use CTAs: You should also maintain clear and consistent calls to action but avoid overwhelming customers with excessive ads, pop-ups, or buttons. Too many CTAs can have counterproductive effects, which turn customers away from your website.

Provide Incentives

Whether a new visitor is visiting a website for the first time or a previous customer, you should provide incentives that can encourage them to make a purchase. Time-based incentives will create a sense of urgency and are particularly effective in guiding customers to act promptly. Incentives come in various forms, and their effectiveness will depend on your business model and offerings. Consider integrating the below-mentioned approach into your CRO strategy.

• Offer free shipping: you should offer free shipping, which is often tied to the minimum purchase amount; it is an attractive incentive.

• Provide coupon codes: You should also provide discounts and additional free products or services through coupon codes to attract customers to make purchase decisions.

• Offer competitive pricing: You should stand out by matching or beating competitors' rates, which showcases your commitment to the value.

• Introduce reward programs: You should foster brand loyalty by implementing reward programs that offer discounts or additional benefits to customers who sign up.

Provide a Seamless Navigation Experience

Your website should not only look great but should also be effortlessly navigable for visitors to find what they need quickly. Spending hours attracting pages won't matter if your customer struggles to locate the right product or service, which leads to frustration and potential loss of business. You can use the below considerations to improve your website's navigation.

• Simple Navigation Bar: You should display all your offerings in an organized manner through a clear and simple navigation bar. It is one of the first places where customers look to find what they need.

• Banners: You can also use banners to showcase some of the popular products or services, which allows visitors to identify your best products quickly.

• Add filters: If you provide a wide range of products, you should enable users to filter products based on common criteria like size, color, gender, or price for a faster and more personalized shopping experience.

• Autocomplete searches: You can optimize search functionality with keywords and auto-completion to speed up visitors' product searches.

• Check Heatmaps: You can use heatmaps to track user interactions, revealing insights into how visitors engage with your website and identify areas for improvement.

Simplify the Purchase Process

After your potential customer has explored your website, selected their product, and added it to their cart, now the e-commerce journey starts. Conversion rate optimization now revolves around guiding customers through the purchasing process with a focus on simplicity and efficiency. You can consider the below points for optimization of the purchasing process.

• Prominent add-to-cart button: You can ensure that the add-to-cart and checkout buttons are visible and consistent throughout your website. If pages are content-rich, strategically place buttons at regular intervals or make them move with the content.

• Streamline checkout: You can optimize the payment and checkout process by minimizing steps, fields, clicks, and pages. A streamlined process reduces the likelihood of customers abandoning their purchases due to frustration.

• Offer guest checkout: While collecting customer information is valuable, requiring the customer to create an account before purchase can lead to abandonment. Consider offering guest checkout to enhance the initial sales experience.

• Easy return: You can implement customer-friendly return policies to instill confidence in potential buyers. The ease of returns can be a decisive factor in encouraging purchases.

• Prefill fields: Try to prefill as many fields on the checkout form as you can. This is helpful for the previous customer who may expect you to have their information on hand.

• Optimize forms: You can evaluate the necessity of each field on the checkout form. Minimize the input requirements, and use the drop-down selections, calendar choices, and auto-formatting to reduce errors and speed up form completion.

Boost Your Website's Performance

Even with attracting content, visitors need help to access information easily and swiftly to avoid missing out on potential conversions. You can take the necessary steps to enhance your website's performance:

• Prioritize Speed: You can make sure your website loads within two seconds for optimal engagement. Studies show that if a website takes more than three seconds to load, the majority of visitors are likely to leave your website.

• Mobile Optimization: You know the significance of mobile in ecommerce. With over 43% of e-commerce sales projected to be made through mobile devices in 2023, so your website must be mobile-friendly. The responsive design will ensure that your website functions seamlessly across various devices and screen sizes.

By focusing on these elements, you can create a user-friendly experience that encourages visitors to stay and explore, which will ultimately increase your chances of conversions.

Build Trust for Better Conversion

Brand loyalty and trust play important roles in boosting conversions. Let's look into the key strategies to build trust and loyalty.

• Customer reviews: You can showcase the customer testimonials and reviews on your website and social media. This positive feedback will build confidence among potential buyers.

• Transparency matters: You can make sure your contact information, corporate statements, and policies are easily viewable to the customer. The transparency about your company and offerings will foster customer engagement.

• Security assurance: You may be displaying third-party payment logos and security badges during the purchase process. You should provide a secure environment for customers' information, which is crucial for building trust.

By incorporating these trust-building practices, you can establish a reliable and trustworthy image, encouraging you to come back again and enhance your conversion rates.

Test Your Way to Success

Testing is a crucial step of conversion rate optimization. What works for one brand might not work for another, so flexibility is key. Let us look at how testing can enhance your strategy.

• Stay flexible: you can adapt your approach based on performance. If something is not working, identify the reasons and make changes to improve results.

• A/B testing: You can use A/B testing to experiment with different approaches. For example, send two variations of a marketing message to different segments of your audience and analyze which performs better based on your KPIs.

• Iterate and Optimize: Testing will allow you to iterate on ideas and find the best fit for your customer base and business needs. Continuous testing is important whether you are refining marketing messages or optimizing website elements.

FAQs

What is e-commerce conversion optimization?

E-commerce conversion optimization involves improving the percentage of website visitors who make a purchase. It focuses on enhancing the user experience to achieve specific key performance indicators (KPIs), primarily sales, and can be applied to various customer touchpoints like landing pages and category pages.

How is conversion optimization different for e-commerce stores?

Conversion rate optimization for e-commerce stores differs because they sell physical products, adding complexity to the purchasing process. E-commerce owners need to pay special attention to the entire purchase process, including unique friction points such as shipping and returns. The approach involves a holistic optimization strategy to create a seamless customer journey.

What should be my e-commerce conversion goals?

The average e-commerce conversion rate is around 3.68%. Established businesses can aim for close to a 3% conversion rate, while new stores might expect rates closer to 1-2% initially. Email sign-up rates typically range from 2-5%, influenced by the ease of the sign-up process.

How can I calculate the e-commerce conversion rate?

To calculate the e-commerce conversion rate, divide the number of desired actions (such as purchases) by the total number of visitors, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage. For example, if a product page had 1,000 visitors and 30 sales, the conversion rate would be 3%, aligning with the industry benchmark.

What tools can help improve e-commerce conversion rates?

Various tools can aid in improving e-commerce conversion rates, including web analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Hotjar), user behavior tools (e.g., Crazy Egg, Mouseflow), and CRO testing tools (e.g., Optimizely, VWO). These tools provide insights into website performance and user interactions.

What are some e-commerce conversion rate strategies?

Strategies to enhance e-commerce conversion rates include:

• Creating attractive pages with simplified user experiences.

• Offering incentives like free shipping and coupon codes.

• Ensuring easy website navigation.

• Streamlining the purchase process.

• Optimizing website performance.

• Building trust through customer reviews and transparency.

• Continuous testing.

How important is building trust for e-commerce conversion?

Building trust is crucial for e-commerce conversion. Strategies like showcasing customer reviews, ensuring transparency about company information and policies, and highlighting security measures (using third-party payment logos) contribute to establishing a reliable and trustworthy image, encouraging customer loyalty and repeat purchases.

Why is testing important in e-commerce conversion optimization?

Testing is crucial for e-commerce conversion optimization because what works for one brand may not work for another. A/B testing allows businesses to experiment with different approaches and iterate based on performance. Continuous testing, whether refining marketing messages or optimizing website elements, helps in finding the best fit for the customer base and business needs.

Boost Your E-commerce Success with Conversion Rate Optimization

Optimizing your e-commerce store's conversion rate is important for delivering exceptional customer experience and achieving your business goals. This will impact various aspects, from engaging leads to surpassing sales targets, which will depend upon your KPIs. You can start by calculating your current e-commerce conversion rate and compare it with your competitors. You can also assess the customer checkout experience and identify the areas for improvement, such as adding new features, streamlined steps, or clearer communication. E-commerce optimization is a fundamental driver for business growth.