It’s no secret that Shopify has been on the rise in terms of popularity, especially with eCommerce businesses.
Shopify is a platform that allows you to create an online store, and it has become one of the most popular eCommerce solutions on the web today.
But while you may be familiar with the platform itself, there are still many aspects of Shopify that you might not know about — such as how to optimize your site for conversion rate optimization (CRO).
So what exactly is CRO? And how can you optimize your eCommerce business’ conversion rate? If these questions sound familiar, this article is for all Shopify store owners like you!
What is CRO?
CRO is a marketing strategy that maximizes customer acquisition and engagement by improving the user experience on your website or app. The goal is to increase sales and revenue while minimizing costs through experimentation with different designs, content, and messaging.
Shopify Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a set of strategies and techniques to increase the number of site visitors who make purchases in your ecommerce store. This can be achieved by improving the user experience and focusing on specific aspects of your product or service.
The ultimate goal of conversion optimization is to increase sales, ecommerce conversion rate, and revenue for your business. It’s about finding out what works best for you and your existing customers, then using this knowledge to improve your store.
Shopify CRO Tips for Beginners
1. Set up an automated welcome email
You know how when you sign up for a new service, you get that automated welcome email? The one that tells you the basics and helps you get started?
The welcome email will be sent automatically to each new customer, and it’s an opportunity for you to make a great first impression.
This email should include the following:
- Information about your return policy.
- A link to your store policies page.
- An offer for free shipping on their first order (optional).
The main reason is that it will help you increase your sales by keeping in touch with your paying customers. You can send them messages about your latest products or promotions and remind them to leave reviews on your store.
It’s also a great opportunity to give them a discount code or coupon code to encourage them to make an additional purchase.
The best part? Welcome emails have been shown to increase the unique open rate by 86% and have a 91.43% open rate.
What’s more, a study suggests that 74% of people expect to receive a welcome email right after they subscribe to your list. Another study points out that welcome emails generate up to 320% more revenue per email than other promotional emails.
For instance, ModCloth uses its welcome email as an opportunity to introduce itself while briefly providing some benefits of your purchase.
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The brand also includes a coupon code to entice customers to make another purchase immediately.
Look at how ModCloth uses several appeals to build trust with potential customers, including complimentary style and fit consultations, free shipping, and “for women by women.” This language appeals to a specific audience.
2. Add customer accounts to reduce friction.
When someone is about to make a purchase, they should be able to do it quickly and easily. If they have to fill out a form, there’s a good chance they’ll abandon the purchase.
One way to reduce friction is by adding customer accounts. This allows you to display content based on their purchase history with your store, which can increase the average conversion rate and boost repeat purchases.
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When users create an account, they’re more likely to make repeat purchases since they don’t have to enter their billing information every time they buy something from you. Adding customer accounts also lets them view previous orders and track shipping status so they can avoid problems with missing packages or delays in delivery times.
3. Use Shopify heatmaps to discover what customers are doing.
Shopify heatmaps are a data-driven way of measuring user behavior on your website by tracking mouse movements and clicks during a session. They can tell you which areas of the page are getting the most attention and where people are clicking.
You can use this information to improve your site’s usability while creating an optimal user experience that flows naturally with their journey through your site.
That way, you can learn what they like — and what they don’t like.
If someone clicks “add to cart” but leaves without purchasing anything, something might be wrong with your product description or images.
You’ll also see why some people abandon their carts without making a purchase: Maybe there need to be more payment options available, or delivery costs are too high.
4. Add one-click upsells with plugins.
Upsells are products or services that complement those in your cart. They could be related to the original product or a complimentary item that customers might like along with their purchase. This upselling increases sales by suggesting complementary products at the right time during the customer journey.
Here’s an example of a one-click upsell from Native. The brand offers two options to shoppers interested in their body wash—a one-time purchase option for $8 and a subscription for $6—and subscribers get 25% off their first order.
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Subscribing to a product online allows customers to try it out before they buy. This saves them money if they don’t like the product.
5. Use trust symbols and trust-building elements.
Trust symbols and trust-building elements are powerful tools that you can use to increase your Shopify conversion rates.
Trust is a significant component of the purchase decision, and it’s something your customers need to have to buy from you.
The most common trust symbol is the “Secure Trust Seal,” which indicates that your website uses HTTPS encryption technology. This is a sign of security and privacy and will help convince your visitors that they can trust you.
Here are some more effective ways to use trust symbols and trust-building elements on your Shopify store:
- Use user generated content, aka customer reviews, prominently on your site.
- Add testimonials to your product pages.
- Use security badges like McAfee Secure or VeriSign Secure Site Seal.
- Use social proof like “people who bought this also bought…” popups.
- Include a returns policy (and clarify what this policy covers).
- Use a money-back guarantee, especially for high-priced products or services that require a significant investment of time and effort (e.g., fitness programs).
6. Always show your pricing and make it clear.
It’s important to let customers know exactly how much they’ll pay for an item before they add it to their cart. You can do this by either adding a price tag directly onto each product image or adding a separate “add to cart” button in addition to the main “add to cart” button.
You should also include shipping costs in your prices if you charge extra for shipping. If you’re selling something online, chances are good that you’re going to have to pay extra for shipping costs — so don’t just assume that people will know what they’re getting into when they click on your products!
Another problem with hiding your prices is that people will assume there’s a catch or hidden fee involved — especially if you’re trying to sell an expensive product or service.
Transparent pricing also establishes trust and credibility.
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In fact, researchers conducted six experiments and found that when a company voluntarily discloses its costs, customers are more attracted to the brand and more likely to buy.
Researchers examined buyers interacting with an online retailer in a real-world academic experiment. As the holiday season approached, the retailer added a leather wallet to its site for $115 in five colors.
To promote sales after the holiday, a retailer added an infographic on each product page showcasing the price of leather, construction, duties, transportation, and the overall cost of producing the product.
However, there was a mistake: the retailer included the costs infographic for only three colors.
The researchers didn’t find out about the inconsistency in the labels for five weeks, creating a natural experiment that allowed them to evaluate how shoppers responded to wallets with and without unit costs.
Finally, the researchers found that revealing the cost of each color boosted daily unit sales by 44%.
7. Remove unnecessary elements from your product pages.
The first step to improving your Shopify CRO is removing unnecessary elements from your product pages.
By removing unnecessary elements, you can clear up the clutter and focus on the product itself.
Even statistics suggest that 84.6% of web designers find cluttered web design as the most common blunder committed by small businesses.
But what are these unnecessary elements?
Here are some examples:
- Plain backgrounds. Instead of using a plain white background, try using a photo of the product or an image that relates to the product. The more visually appealing you can make your page, the better.
- Tons of text and descriptions. People don’t read anymore — they scan. Instead of trying to force them to read all of your text, use bullet points and short sentences that get right to the point.
- Too much information on one page. Many products have multiple variations and options available — but don’t be afraid to break up this information into multiple pages with different tabs (like this). This will help keep things organized and make it easy for customers to find what they need when they need it — even if it means having a few extra clicks here and there!
- Remove any images that aren’t relevant to your products (ex: stock photos). If an image does not contribute in some way to the visitor’s experience (i.e., it doesn’t enhance their understanding of what they’re buying), then leave it out!
8. Showcase reviews and testimonials.
Showcasing reviews and testimonials is one of the best Shopify CRO tips for beginners.
This is because it can help you increase conversions and sales by:
- Increasing trust, credibility, and social proof.
- Providing social proof that your products are good.
Helping you target customers who are looking for a specific type of product or service.
That said, it’s essential to balance showcasing too many reviews and testimonials and not enough. If you don’t show any, then visitors may think that your business has something to hide, which could make them not trust you.
If you show too many, then it can look like a spammy tactic as well as overwhelming for visitors who are looking at your site for the first time.
For example, Navy Hair Care saw a 264% increase in repeat-visit rates, an engagement rate of 73% on shoppable Instagram posts, and 360 checkout comments on average when they combined text-based reviews with customer media.
Another example is Alora Boutique which uses the top of its review page to show customer photos. The brand also replies to each review and displays the Fera verification icon to show that the reviews are from real customers.
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You can also add several short and sweet testimonials.
Here’s an excellent example of Baremetrics. They created a testimonial collage – called the “Wall of Love.”
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9. Provide customer support options.
One of the most important things you can do as an online retailer is to provide good customer support. As an entrepreneur and business owner, your customers rely on you for products, services, and help when they need it most.
When someone has a problem with your product or service, they want answers fast — preferably within 24 hours. You should always respond to customers within this time frame so that they know their concerns are being addressed as soon as possible.
If you can’t get back to them right away because you’re busy with other things (like running another part of your business), let them know when they can expect a response from you.
Here are some tips on how to provide the best customer support possible:
- Have a live chat feature on your website. This will allow you to communicate with your customers directly without having to wait around for a reply. It also makes it easier for them because they don’t have to send an email and wait for you to respond – they can get their issue solved right away!
- Offer phone support as well as live chat if possible. If your business has many international customers who are unable to access live chat all day long, then phone support is essential. Phone calls take longer than emails, but at least they’re convenient for everyone involved.
- Create a customer support email address. This can be as simple as “@storename” or “support@storename,” but make sure it’s recognizable and easy to type into a search engine. If you already have an email address set up in Shopify, you can simply set up a filter that forwards all emails from customers to this address.
Most importantly, provide multiple options at once for contacting your store on a comprehensive contact page. Whether it’s a live chat or phone number, ensure your customers have numerous ways to get in touch with you. This will help you meet their needs better and provide better overall satisfaction.
10.A/B test your web pages.
A/B testing is one of the most important parts of conversion rate optimization (CRO). You can use A/B testing to find out which elements of your landing page are working and which aren’t — so you can focus on improving the ones that aren’t.
Before creating an AB test, you need to figure out what you’ll be testing. How you get to know which pages are doing poorly ut are candidates for tests is by going through Google Analytics, heatmaps, and session recordings.
To create an A/B Test, you need to have a hypothesis in mind first. You can do this by writing down your assumptions about how changing certain elements on your site will affect conversion rate or sales.
For example, if you want to increase the number of people who sign up for your email list, then you might ask yourself these questions:
What content could I include in my welcome email that would encourage people to opt-in?
How can I make it easier for visitors to sign up?
The best part? There are plenty of tools available today that make it easy to create effective A/B tests. For example, tools like FigPii and Optimizely allow you to set up tests quickly and easily without having to write any code yourself!
Final Thoughts
Customer satisfaction is a major part of selling products, especially with great customer service. If a customer is happy with their shopping experience and feel like the company knows them, they are more likely to tell others about their experience, thus increasing the likelihood of future sales.
Instead of focusing your efforts on trying to buy your way into customer loyalty with discounts, tiered pricing, and unique rewards programs for loyal customers, focus on what you can do today to create a great experience that will increase customer satisfaction.
