{"id":2931,"date":"2014-01-07T06:56:36","date_gmt":"2014-01-07T11:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/?p=2931"},"modified":"2014-01-07T06:56:36","modified_gmt":"2014-01-07T11:56:36","slug":"social-proof-5-more-ecommerce-product-page-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/social-proof-5-more-ecommerce-product-page-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Proof & 5 More Best Practices for Ecommerce Product Pages"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Here\u2019s how to improve you\u2019re your ecommerce results: make your product pages the main focus of your business online.<\/p>\n

Your product pages<\/a> are the final turning point on an online shopper’s journey from initial browsing to paying customer.<\/p>\n

If you think in terms of sales funnels, your product page is the pinnacle of the cone without which your funnel is incomplete and obsolete.<\/p>\n

So how are your product pages doing?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Conversion rates<\/a> are the best judge of product page performance. And your conversion rates improve the according to how often customers heed your \u201cBuy Now\u201d or \u201cAdd to Cart\u201d call to action<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, if your product pages should be the ultimate focus of your sales funnel, your purchase call-to-action should be the ultimate focus of your product page.<\/p>\n

1. Calls-To-Purchase<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the last step, but the primary concern of your page. Every aspect of your call-to-purchase buttons must be carefully considered \u2013 even the fact that maybe they shouldn\u2019t look like buttons.<\/p>\n

Clarity<\/strong> \u2013 By using size, shape, color and positioning, your CTP button must be quickly and easily spotted \u2013 distinct from every other element on the page.<\/p>\n

Check the Zappos.com product pages below. On both their desktop and mobile sites, the call-to-purchase button has a unique color among all CTA buttons and it\u2019s the only one with an icon on the button.<\/p>\n

\"Ecommerce<\/a>Wording<\/strong> \u2013 While \u201cAdd to Cart\u201d, \u201cBuy Now\u201d and their variants have become standard for most consumer product pages, if your product is more service oriented, your calls-to-purchase might do better by highlighting a benefit.<\/p>\n

In the images below, check the wording on the calls to purchase. While it is clear and distinct, the CTP on the left asks you to \u201cSign Up\u201d. Ugh! Really?! After all the shopping, reading and comparing, \u201csigning up\u201d is not a particularly inviting call.<\/p>\n

By contrast, the call to purchase on the right gives you a benefit for all the work you\u2019ve done to get there. Click that button and you \u201cGet\u201d a free calling feature Of course you will have to sign-up, but by highlighting the benefit of doing so, you are more likely to click the button and complete the process.<\/p>\n

\"Ecommerce<\/a><\/p>\n

2. The Big Picture<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shoppers are touchy\/feely. No matter what it is, from apples to zebra-striped pajamas, we all want to pick it up, feel the weight, check the size, get a closer look and generally assess the product.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s perhaps the biggest difference between bricks and mortar shopping and e-commerce<\/a>. Technology has taken care of almost everything else, including quick answers to your questions, but it has a long way to go before you can reach into your monitor and grab a product.<\/p>\n

If they can\u2019t touch and feel, the next best thing is to give them a closer look.<\/p>\n

It means big, high-quality images, multiple angle shots and the ability to zoom in.<\/p>\n

And if you want to give them the best idea of how your product looks and works, show it in action with a video.<\/p>\n

Check the Zappos product page below, including multiple angles on the left, a \u201cClick-to-Zoom\u201d feature and a video link.<\/p>\n

\"Ecommerce<\/a>
\n3. Balanced Design<\/strong><\/p>\n

So far, we\u2019ve recommended clear, distinct CTAs and big, multi-angle images. But if you designed your page around those two criteria, it might not be very pleasing to the eye.<\/p>\n

From headline to footer, your product pages have many elements and each one must have its place and space.<\/p>\n

Check the Amazon product page below. I count over 50 (disclosure: I stopped counting at 50) elements on the page, including headers, CTAs, price, stock information, etc.. Yet the page does not feel overly crowded and each element is easily distinguished.<\/p>\n

\"Ecommerce<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Get Your Ship Together<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another thing shoppers can\u2019t do on your ecommerce site is leave with their purchase in hand. That makes shipping info very important.<\/p>\n

Indeed, high shipping costs and not clearly mentioning shipping costs are by far the biggest reason for ecommerce shopping cart abandonment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In other, completely different words, you should offer free shipping whenever possible.<\/p>\n

Check any of the Zappos pages we\u2019ve mentioned. \u201cFree Shipping\u201d is mentioned in three different places.<\/p>\n

5. Give & Get Social Proof<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason why, even if you are not a Mac fan, you still go into the Apple store at the mall. It has a lot to do with the almost constant crowds there. No matter how stubborn we are in denying it, we are all interested in what\u2019s popular. Popularity and word-of-mouth sell a lot more customers than the most expensive advertising.<\/p>\n

Together, line-ups in a store and word-of-mouth buzz are social proof that shows a product is worthy of purchase \u2013 it must be good if so many people like it.<\/p>\n

The problem online is that no one can see the crowd in your store. But social sharing lets shoppers tell everyone that they were on your product page and either bought or are thinking of buying. By adding social sharing buttons, you encourage and get social proof from your customers.<\/p>\n

RELATED ARTICLE: How To Optimize A Product Page On A Shopify Website<\/a><\/p>\n

And you can give them the social proof they seek by including authentic customer reviews on your page. This is as close as it gets to real word-of-mouth. Even bad reviews are good because they add authenticity to your reviews, they give you the chance to respond to concerns and they offer great product research information.<\/p>\n

Modcloth puts social sharing and customer reviews above everything except the product header:<\/p>\n

\"modcloth-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Provide Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your potential customers are full of questions and concerns about buying from you. We\u2019ve already mentioned some of them, including what the product looks like and it\u2019s shipping details.
\nBy giving your customers a quick way to answer as many questions as possible, you eliminate their concerns and increase the chance that they will buy.<\/p>\n

The following are among the common answers your customers want:<\/p>\n