{"id":16504,"date":"2022-11-23T08:32:08","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T13:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/?p=16504"},"modified":"2022-11-23T08:32:08","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T13:32:08","slug":"overcoming-conversion-optimization-challenges-in-e-commerce-your-go-to-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/overcoming-conversion-optimization-challenges-in-e-commerce-your-go-to-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Conversion Optimization Challenges in e-Commerce: Your Go-to Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 12<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The barrier to entry in the e-commerce industry has never been so low. Every year, more than 5 million new e-commerce websites are created.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Before 2021, there were 9.7 million ecommerce websites in the world. Today, that number has nearly tripled to 26.2 million. This surge is primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But even though many e-commerce sites are being created every day, not all of them make it past the first year. In fact, 90% of e-commerce businesses fail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">All this shows how challenging it is to run an e-commerce business. Even if you&#8217;re in a space where the demand for your products is high, success is not a guarantee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are multiple challenges you are bound to face along the way. Some are technical, while some are not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In this article, we will discuss the common challenges e-commerce stores face and provide some effective ecommerce conversion optimization solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What are some of the challenges faced in e-commerce conversion optimization?<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">1. Re-engaging users who have already abandoned a cart.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are a number of challenges when it comes to e-commerce <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/cro\/\">conversion rate optimization<\/a>. The first and most obvious is that tracking and re-engaging site visitors who abandon their carts is challenging.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/cart-abandonment-strategy\/\">Cart abandonment<\/a> occurs when customers add items to their shopping cart but do not proceed with the purchase. The abandoned cart rate has become an essential metric for online retailers, showing how much time was wasted on potential sales.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/shopping-cart-abandonment-rate-statistics-infographic\/\">average cart abandonment<\/a> rate is high. When a data research team calculated the average cart abandonment rate based on 48 studies, they found that e-commerce shopping cart abandonment is\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/baymard.com\/lists\/cart-abandonment-rate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">69.99%<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To re-engage all these users is a mammoth task, but it&#8217;s possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Here&#8217;s how to go about it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Many ecommerce store owners will offer upfront a coupon code to such customers to redeem their cart, but that devalues your brand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">You can first send a reminder email to the customers and wait 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The second email now comes with an incentive like;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0a coupon code for them to redeem their cart or<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">You offer free shipping\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If this doesn&#8217;t work, you send a third email with a reminder with an expiration date for the coupon code.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">2. High Bounce Rate\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/tips-to-cut-down-your-bounce-rate\/\">bounce rate<\/a> is the percentage of people who visit your ecommerce website and leave without visiting any other page. Bounces are usually due to a poor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/e-commerce-user-experience-optimization\/\">user experience<\/a> or poor design, but they can also be caused by technical issues like server errors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bounce rate is a key metric for measuring the effectiveness of your website&#8217;s landing pages, as it provides insight into the quality of your content and user experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To know your site&#8217;s bounce rate, you can use Google Analytics or any other analytics tool of your choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As a general rule, you should strive to keep your bounce rate between\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gorocketfuel.com\/the-rocket-blog\/whats-the-average-bounce-rate-in-google-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">26% and 40%<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. A rate of 41 to 55% is roughly average; 56 to 70% is above average.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16505 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/Bounce-rate-new-article.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"348\" data-wp-pid=\"16505\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gorocketfuel.com\/the-rocket-blog\/whats-the-average-bounce-rate-in-google-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Source<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A high bounce rate means that visitors are not finding what they want on your site, so you need to improve the content and layout of your landing pages to encourage more conversions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Here are some of the reasons why people bounce:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">They didn&#8217;t find what they were looking for<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The website was too confusing or difficult to navigate<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Their needs weren&#8217;t met by your product or service offerings<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The price was too high or low compared to competitors or just not competitive enough<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">They couldn&#8217;t find an FAQ or help page<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">3. There are many paths to purchase \u2013 it&#8217;s hard to track them all.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The conversion rate optimization process is about improving the experience for your visitors and increasing the number of people who buy from your store. The goal is to get more people through the checkout process, which means you want to create an optimal customer journey for each visitor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This can be tricky because people will interact with your website in many different ways. They might start their search on Google and then click through from there, or they might click on your Facebook ad before landing on your site, or they might see a product on Instagram and come back later to buy it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">You&#8217;re not just optimizing one page \u2014 you&#8217;re optimizing every step in the process between discovery and sale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In order to optimize your site, you need to understand how people actually use it. This means getting detailed customer data about how customers and potential customers navigate through the site, what they look at, and where they spend the most time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To do this, you need to capture data on every touchpoint \u2014 from when a visitor lands on your home page until they check out and make a purchase (or abandon their cart).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">You also need to know the following:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Which pages do people visit before checking out<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Which pages do they visit after checking out<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Which products are viewed most often<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Which products are abandoned most often, and so on.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">4. Unclear descriptions of your offer<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Unclear descriptions of your offer are a big challenge faced in e-commerce conversion optimization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The problem is clear: often, customers do not know what they are buying and why.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">You need to give them the right information at the right time before they even make a purchase decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Instead of offering a generic description, describe each product in detail so that users can easily recognize it. The problem is that most online retailers are so focused on making sure that their product pages are clear, concise, and well-written that they forget about the description of their products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you are selling a smartphone, your customer will want to know the specs, like the size and exact dimensions, storage, camera features, sensors, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you are selling a dress online, then you need to provide an accurate picture of the dress so that your customers can know if it fits them or not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For instance, Asos mislabeled their mini skirt as a midi skirt in the image below:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16506 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/Asos-misspelling.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" data-wp-pid=\"16506\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/careless-product-descriptions-can-cost-big-money\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Source<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">5. It&#8217;s difficult to keep up with the number of devices you have to optimize for.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The e-commerce industry is growing at a rapid pace, and with it, the number of different devices and screen sizes your customers use to browse your store. The challenge faced in e-commerce conversion optimization is that it&#8217;s difficult to keep up with the number of devices you have to optimize for.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Your customers are increasingly using mobile devices to shop online, but we know that not all people use the same device for shopping online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you look at the statistics,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.outerboxdesign.com\/web-design-articles\/mobile-ecommerce-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">79%<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0of smartphone users have bought a product online using their mobile device in the last six months of writing this report.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">However, a deeper look at the statistics shows people aren&#8217;t only shopping via mobile phones alone. For instance, in 2020, desktops were responsible for<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.perficient.com\/insights\/research-hub\/mobile-vs-desktop-usage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a035.7%<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0of all visits to U.S. websites, and tablets were responsible for 3.3% of visitors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This means that you need to optimize for multiple devices and screen sizes if you want to reach the widest audience possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">6. Optimizing the checkout page<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Optimizing the checkout page is a big challenge faced in e-commerce conversion optimization, especially if you want your online store&#8217;s conversion rate to meet up with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/cro\/conversion-rate-by-industry\/\">average conversion rate<\/a> in your niche.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The goal of any e-commerce site is to present the user with a clear call to action and relevant product information. The checkout page is an extension of that. It should be designed to make it as simple as possible for users to complete their purchases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you look at the statistics, checkout optimization can increase conversions by\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drip.com\/blog\/cart-abandonment-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">35.62%<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. And one of the major reasons for abandonment during checkout is too long\/complicated checkout process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16507 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/optimizing-the-checkout-page.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"338\" data-wp-pid=\"16507\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/baymard.com\/lists\/cart-abandonment-rate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Source<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Challenging or not \u2013 you need to work on optimizing your checkout page in order to increase conversions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Here are some tips on how you can optimize your checkout page to improve your conversions:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Use a dedicated shopping cart page.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Make sure it&#8217;s easy for customers to find their place in the queue if they have more than one item in their cart.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Provide clear instructions on how to proceed with payment, delivery options, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ensure that your shipping information is also easy-to-find and clearly communicated with customers before they click &#8220;Purchase.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Make sure there is no confusion over any additional fees or taxes that may be applicable after purchase.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Make sure customer service information (such as customer service numbers and email addresses) is clearly displayed on each page of your site.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">7. Too many distractions<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In e-commerce, we are all about getting people to buy our products. This means that we should have everything set up so that when a potential customer comes across our website, they will not be distracted by anything else on the screen other than what they came there for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are many ways to do this, but one of them is by making sure that your website is not cluttered with too many advertisements or offers that pull them away from what they came there for in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The best way to do this is by having a clean and organized website that displays only those things that are relevant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marketingsherpa.com\/article\/case-study\/how-to-convert-225-more\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">case study of Weather.com<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0showed, even though the site was getting strong traffic, conversions were low. To turn visitors into subscribers, the Weather Channel cleaned up its homepage\u2014allowing only one action at a time. It increased conversions by 225%.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ways to overcome the challenges of conversion optimization<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">1. Mobile and tablet traffic is increasing, and optimizing the experience on these devices is important.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mobile devices are often used to make purchases \u2013 especially small purchases. Customers expect a great shopping experience from your website, no matter what device they&#8217;re using.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As per the latest\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/gs.statcounter.com\/platform-market-share\/desktop-mobile-tablet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">stats<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, in September of 2022, mobile (excluding tablets) can be credited for 58.72% of web traffic worldwide \u2013 while tablet drives 2.1% of the traffic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That&#8217;s not it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">From a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/taplytics.com\/blog\/ecommerce-retail-case-study-omni-channel-optimization-drives-higher-ltv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">study<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0carried out by the Boston Consulting Group, brands that invest in delivering excellent cross-platform see up to 20% higher revenues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Thus, optimizing the experience of these devices is crucial. If you&#8217;re not currently testing a responsive design for your e-commerce site, you could be losing out on sales.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The below tips will help you optimize your e-commerce site to serve mobile users better:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Make it easy to navigate with a single tap or click<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Use responsive design so that it displays correctly on all devices<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Optimize the user experience (UX) with responsive design elements like buttons, images, and text<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Optimize for cross-device use by using CSS media queries to change the layout based on device size and orientation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">2. Creating a hypothesis before testing<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A hypothesis is just a simple statement that explains why one thing should affect another \u2013 in this case, why your website visitors might convert more if they were given certain information or offered a certain incentive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you are creating a product hypothesis, you should consider the following:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Users&#8217; knowledge level<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tech skills<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Expectations and needs<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Product security<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Market demand<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Product usability<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Product Features<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Text instructions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It&#8217;s important to have a hypothesis before starting your tests because it helps you be more objective about the results. When we don&#8217;t have hypotheses, we tend to over-interpret what we see in the data \u2014 which leads us to believe we&#8217;ve found something when really it could be just random noise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Let&#8217;s consider this example:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We might hypothesize that removing the &#8220;buy now&#8221; button from the landing page and replacing it with an image of a product will increase overall sales. But what if it doesn&#8217;t?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are many ways we could test this hypothesis:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We could try using only images and no text on the landing page. If that works better than our current version, we have evidence that images have a positive effect on sales.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We could try using only text and no images on the landing page. If that works better than our current version, we have evidence that text has a positive effect on sales.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We could try both images and text on the landing page, but in different places and with different amounts of emphasis given to each one (e.g., moving them around onscreen). If one combination works better than another combination (or if neither does), we&#8217;ve learned something about how our audience responds to each type of content (text or image) in different contexts (where it appears onscreen).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Have a look at these examples of hypotheses for Boldare&#8217;s product:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16508 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/Boldare.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"224\" data-wp-pid=\"16508\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boldare.com\/blog\/product-hypothesis-validation-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Source<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">3. Display trust signals<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Conversion optimization is not just about having a great product or service \u2014 it&#8217;s also about how your customers feel when they visit your site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That&#8217;s where trust signals come into play.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Trust is one of the most important factors in online shopping, according to several studies from Forrester Research and others. And displaying trust signals on your site can help attract new customers, increase existing customer loyalty, and boost sales, which increases your conversion rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In fact, statistics suggest that business legitimacy and concerns about the security of credit card information top the list of the most common trust issues that cause cart abandonment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16509 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/Trust-signals-new.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"469\" height=\"512\" data-wp-pid=\"16509\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bigcommerce.com\/blog\/ecommerce-trust-signals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Source<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are many ways to display trust signals on your website. Here are some of the most effective ones:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Displaying a privacy policy<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Displaying your business address and contact details (including phone number)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Using SSL encryption<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Having a secure checkout facility with 3D Secure payment methods (Visa Secure, MasterCard SecureCode)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Providing social proof by displaying testimonials and reviews from customers who have bought from you before (when they&#8217;re relevant)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For example, when online shoe retailer Shoe Mart ran an A\/B test of TrustedSite Trustmark and their own site&#8217;s seal, they found that TrustedSite Trustmark generated a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.trustedsite.com\/2020\/07\/09\/trustedsite-certifications-generate-14-conversion-lift-over-norton-shopping-guarantee-for-the-shoe-mart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">14% conversion lift<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16510 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/Shoemart.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"321\" data-wp-pid=\"16510\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bigcommerce.com\/blog\/ecommerce-trust-signals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Source<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">4. Use urgency and scarcity to trigger decisions<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Urgency and scarcity tactics are potent tools marketers can use to increase conversion rates on their websites or landing pages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Urgency is what makes someone act now instead of later. Urgency is the need to act quickly or risk losing out on something important. When you see a deal that ends in 5 minutes, that&#8217;s an urgency at work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Scarcity is similar to but different than urgency. Scarcity applies when only a few items are left in stock or some other limited quantity that will soon be gone forever (or at least for a long time).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Urgency and scarcity trigger decisions because it creates an urgency to take action right now before it&#8217;s too late. Scarcity can also help boost conversions because it creates a sense of urgency that forces people to decide before they have time to think about it too much.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Case in point: A digital marketer increased <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/cxl.com\/blog\/creating-urgency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">sales by 332%<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0by creating a sense of urgency and scarcity.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16511 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/the-musicians-guide.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"221\" data-wp-pid=\"16511\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The marketer launched a Groupon for musicians, giving away $1,250 worth of music-related products for just $69. The deal was good for only 100 hours, and there were just 5,000 packages available.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">5. Make it clear what the next steps are<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In e-commerce conversion optimization, it&#8217;s crucial to make it clear what the next steps are. This is true for your homepage, checkout process, and product pages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For example, if you&#8217;re selling a product with three options, make sure that each option is clearly labeled and easy to find. Or, if you&#8217;re selling a single product with multiple variations (for example, size or color), make sure there are clear calls to action for each variation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While not an e-commerce website, you can still take lessons from this Instagram post.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As you can see, this giveaway post for Melted Soapery spells out the rules and steps required in no uncertain terms.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16512 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/giveaway.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"328\" data-wp-pid=\"16512\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drip.com\/blog\/e-commerce-giveaway-examples\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Source<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To enter, the participants must follow Melted Soapery on Instagram, share the post to their social media handles, and tag a friend (the more tags, the more entries). Melted Soapery was supposed to select and contact a winner five days later.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This kind of clarity is needed when you design a giveaway or a landing page, or anything that concerns your customers to take action.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">6. Add testimonials and social proof points.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you&#8217;re an online business owner, you know that adding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/adding-testimonials-to-your-website\/\">testimonials<\/a> and social proof points is one of the most important things you can do to improve your website&#8217;s conversion rate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">They&#8217;re also a great way to add credibility to your website, especially when they come from well-known sources. You see it all the time \u2013 Amazon uses customer reviews to sell products, and so do many other major retailers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">And for a good reason!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">More and more customers are relying on online reviews to gain info about products before they make a purchase. In 2021,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightlocal.com\/research\/local-consumer-review-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">77%<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0&#8216;always&#8217; or &#8216;regularly&#8217; read online reviews when looking for local businesses \u2013 an increase from 60% in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What&#8217;s more,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.qualtrics.com\/blog\/online-review-stats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">93%<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0of customers stated that online reviews influenced their buying decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Here are some ways to incorporate social proof into your e-commerce site:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Add testimonials from customers who have purchased products from you<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Include reviews from customers who have purchased products from you<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Add reviews from third-party review sites, such as Yelp or Trustpilot.com<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">An example of a brand doing it right is Sensodyne, a popular toothpaste brand. If you browse Sensodyne&#8217;s About page, you straight away notice the &#8220;doctor&#8217;s recommended brand&#8221; stamp.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16513 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/Sensodyne.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"246\" data-wp-pid=\"16513\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.referralcandy.com\/blog\/social-proof-examples\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Source<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">You will also find a short paragraph describing Sensodyne as the #1 recommended toothpaste by dentists. It even has a study that backs up its claims.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Final Thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">These are just some of the most common issues faced by e-commerce sites and the best way to solve them. With a little luck, you will be able to avoid these mistakes altogether \u2013 but it does pay to be aware of what others are doing. After all, when it comes to conversion rate optimization, every extra percentage point matters.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 12<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>The barrier to entry in the e-commerce industry has never been so low. Every year, more than 5 million new e-commerce websites are created.\u00a0 Before 2021, there were 9.7 million ecommerce websites in the world. Today, that number has nearly tripled to 26.2 million. This surge is primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.\u00a0 But even [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":16514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}