When it comes to the conversion rate for e-commerce, you need to consider the customer journey on your website.
Forrester’s research shows that every $1 invested in UX results in a return of $100 (ROI = 9,900%).
You can increase the number of loyal and repeated customers with correct UX optimization. Because if you understand your customers’ problems and needs, you can improve their experience and drive conversions.
In this article, we will discuss 22 tips for conversion rate optimization with benchmarks of 6 top e-commerce websites and learn from the best examples.
Let’s jump right in.
1. Have an Effective Homepage and Category
Your homepage creates the first impression for your customers. If you have an engaging homepage design, it is more likely your visitors will stay on your website.
Adidas has a successful homepage and category design with 80.5 performance points.
They have a simple homepage with all the required elements.
What are the elements of a successful homepage?
Adidas displays newly launched and popular products without cluttering the homepage. Simplicity increases usability. Presenting an organized and functional drop-down menu to access categories maximizes UX performance.
Make it easier for your customers to find the products they are looking for with a well-arranged category section to increase the conversion rate.
2. Make On-Site Search Simpler
You need to assist your customers to ensure they find what they are looking for. A user-friendly on-site search bar drives conversion, more sales, and increases engagement.
Benchmarks of Amazon show that they have an amazing on-site search performance of 97.9.
Amazon provides an easy-to-use search box with a simple dropdown menu to specify the product the customers are searching for.
What are the best practices of on-site search?
- Enable autocorrect, autocomplete, filters
- Auto-suggest and recommendation
- Typo-tolerant search box
- Provide extensive filters and facets
- Mobile-search compatibility
3. Improve Product Listing & Filtering Performance
Optimize product listing and filtering performance to provide an effective product-search and increase conversion rate.
More than half of the customers are satisfied with Adidas’ product listing and filtering performance which is 59.9.
What elements does Adidas include in a product listing?
Adidas provides comprehensive specification in filtering the products such as;
- Gender
- Product type
- Product category
- Color
- Size
- Material
- Brand
- Price range
4. Allow Product Comparison
It is no secret that online shoppers compare products. You can convert visitors into customers by allowing them to compare your products. The benchmark of Best Buy shows that they are one of the top-ranking e-commerce sites according to baymard.com.
Best Buy provides product comparison through which customers can compare the products’ features and prices.
The important point is to know your customers’ deciding criteria. Then, you can achieve a successful conversion rate optimization.
5. Optimize Your Product Page Layout
Cluttered and complex product pages decrease conversions and sales. Having a clear and satisfactory product page layout is an important step in conversion rate optimization.
The latest e-commerce benchmarks show that Apple has a decent product page layout performance.
Apple presents product information, options, and product comparison on a simple and effective product page layout. Moreover, they include the FAQ section, answers from community, ratings, and reviews to convince customers to take the desired action based on social proof.
6. Define Your Products Efficiently
Online shoppers carefully examine the products’ information before making a purchase. Defining your products in detail and providing high-quality images or videos of your products is essential for a better conversion rate optimization.
Apple’s benchmarks prove that they have an amazing image gallery UI.
You can optimize your product page for a higher conversion rate by displaying high-quality images that demonstrate your products’ features.
The top-ranking e-commerce site, Home Depot has a perfect product description performance.
An extensive and detailed product description brings conversions!
7. Use Clear CTAs
Clear calls-to-action improve user experience since they increase your website’s usability.
For example, Home Depot’s ‘Buy’ section performance is 98.4. They provide clear CTAs such as ‘shop now’ or ‘add to cart’ which drive more conversion.
You should use striking CTAs on your popups as well. User-friendly popup services like Popupsmart that can seamlessly integrate with your website and provide modern popup designs that boost conversion.
8. Include Social Proof
Social proof is the cornerstone when it comes to deciding whether to buy a product or not. Include product reviews and ratings on your website for a higher conversion rate.
Best Buy has a great ‘user reviews’ performance of 110.7. They give place to user reviews on the product pages which improves overall UX performance.
- Using popups to display social proof is one of the best practices to gain customer trust and increase conversions.
9. Allow Guest Checkout and Account Selection
Not all your visitors have enough patience and time to create an account to buy your products. Therefore, you should allow guest checkout and account selection for a successful conversion rate optimization. Plus, creating an account should be simple.
Walmart has a good account selection and creation performance of 81.7. They have a shortlist of required input field which does not drive customers away.
10. Get Rid of Complex Password Creation
Improve customer account performance to optimize your e-commerce website for a higher conversion rate. Your customers, either repeated or new, manage their shopping process and brand engagement via their accounts.
Amazon provides a decent customer accounts performance of 63.0.
You can optimize your website for better customer accounts performance like Amazon. How? Make the account creation process easier by eliminating complex password creation which makes customers leave your website.
11. Offer Free Shipping and Shipping Options
Everyone loves free shipping! Include free shipping sign and it will magically convert more customers. Shipping is a crucial factor to consider in online shopping. Make sure you provide enough shipping options to optimize UX.
Best Buy’s customers seem satisfied with their shipping and store pickup performance which is 112.0.
They provide free shipping for many products and allow free store pickup. Moreover, they give the estimated delivery time, shipping options, and information.
12. Keep the Required Forms Simpler
Long and complex input fields decrease UX performance. You should avoid asking for unnecessary information.
Apple keeps the required data simple and to the point. Their customers seem satisfied with it since their customer & address information performance is 87.3.
13. Enable Autocompletion
An autocomplete feature is an important part of a practical on-site search. Top e-commerce brands like Amazon uses autocomplete feature on their search bar.
Why is autocompletion important?
- Provides alternatives to the searched product
- Confirms the availability of the product
- Guides the customers
- Helps to eliminate misspelling
14. Improve Data Persistence & Validation Issues
Customers expect to complete their purchases as fast as possible. You may lose your leads due to continual validation errors. Nobody likes to fill in the same information over and over!
Benchmarks show that Home Depot has validation errors & data persistence performance of 86.7.
Create a smooth online shopping journey for your customers like Home Depot and you will see the difference.
15. Use Drop-Down Correctly
Drop-down menus are like a compass for users to navigate through your website until they reach the products they are looking for. You should test your drop-down menus beforehand to guarantee the usability of your website and maximize the conversion rate. Other than category drop-down, ‘my account’ drop-down is also essential to improve UX.
Benchmarks of Home Depot indicate that their drop-down usability is superb.
Home Depot has an account drop-down performance of 51.4.
16. Review and Edit Cart Items
Order review allows customers to check the general details of their order before completing the purchase. You can enable order review and editing cart items to drive conversion.
Amazon has an order review performance of 67.7.
17. Effective Customer Accounts
Customer accounts enable registered customers to have an interactive relationship with your e-commerce website. Through registration, your customers can;
- Make product reviews
- Engage with the brand community
- Get product recommendations via email
- Store billing data
Amazon has one of the best customer accounts UX performance which is 63.0.
You can optimize the conversion rate by creating user-friendly and efficient customer accounts.
18. Provide Better Order Tracking
Customers see order tracking as a must-have feature of an e-commerce website. Better order tracking means driving more sales and conversion. Shipment failures and lack of order tracking information cause bad reviews and loss of customers.
What are the best practices for order tracking?
- Tracking number and its link
- Estimated delivery time
- Tracking information on the website
- Order number and tracking by user login
- Notifications of delivery status
19. Make Order Return Simpler
Creating the right return policy for your e-commerce business is essential for conversion rate optimization. If you have too generous a return policy, customers may abuse this, and you will end up losing lots of money.
Likewise, if you put scary words like ‘we are not responsible’ on the policy, customers will hesitate to buy, and you lose potential income. Amazon seems to have a great return policy that customer like.
The latest benchmarks indicate that Amazon’s order return performance is 125.0!
What is the general return policy of Amazon that makes it satisfactory? Products shipped from Amazon.com can be returned within 30 days of receipt of shipment in most cases.
Product return opportunities wipe away online shoppers’ hesitations about the products which lead to more sales and conversion.
20. Full Mobile Compliance
By 2021, mobile e-commerce sales are expected to make up 54% of total e-commerce. This means that you should optimize your e-commerce website for mobile compliance! You can see the ultimate growth in your business if you provide mobile e-commerce.
UX benchmarks show that Apple has a mobile e-commerce performance of 57. They provide a clean mobile interface that allows a simple online shopping experience.
Aim to increase the UX performance of these for better mobile e-commerce and conversion rate optimization:
- Mobile homepage
- Main navigation and categories
- Mobile on-site search
- Product list
- Mobile checkout
- Mobile forms
We know the importance of mobile compatibility for better UX performances . That’s why Popupsmart’s mobile popups are ux-friendly.
21. Test Your Website
Better be on the safe side than sorry! You should test your website’s overall performance before completing your conversion rate optimization. This way you will give no place to discrepancies or errors that will lower your conversion rate.
What are some types of testing for e-commerce websites?
- Usability test
- Functionality test
- A/B test
- Database test
- Security test
- Performance test
- Mobile application/ responsiveness test
22. Have an Attractive Overall Design
You have tested your website, and everything works just fine, what now? It is important to pay attention to the e-commerce website design.
Make the right impression on your customers by creating a beautiful website design that reflects your brand. To have an eye-catching design you can optimize;
- Fonts
- Images
- Coherence
- Color schemes
- Mobile-friendly site-wide design
- Highlighted products
Conclusion
Conversion rate optimization varies according to business and industry type. I hope that with these 22 tips for conversion rate optimization with benchmarks of 6 top e-commerce sites, you can drive more conversion.
This post was originally published on Popupsmart.