Optimising an e-commerce website to increase sales involves a combination of technical, design, marketing, and user experience strategies. Here are 15 great ways to optimise your ecommerce website and boost sales. We’ve split the recommendations into key groups to help you identify the ones you need and which naturally go together…
Hosting and overall design tips
1. User-friendly design
Ensure your website has an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Make it easy for your visitors to find products, navigate categories, and access essential information like shipping details and return policies.
Testing changes will help you to determine whether the changes have increased sales or made things worse. Assuming your website is being backed up regularly, you should easily be able to remove changes that haven’t worked.
2. Mobile responsiveness
With 91% of people making e-commerce purchases on their phones, it’s crucial to have a website that adapts to various screen sizes and functions flawlessly on mobile devices. Most content managements systems are now mobile responsiveness, so this is likely to be an issue only if your site is really old.
Cart abandonment rates are much higher on mobiles, at 84% (compared to 72% on desktops). Many people browse on their phones and then buy on their desktops so your site needs to work effectively in multiple screen sizes and formats.
3. Fast loading times
Optimise your website’s performance to ensure quick loading times. Slow-loading websites can lead to higher bounce rates and lost sales. If you can increase your load speed by just 1 second, bounce rates decrease by up to 12% and conversion rates can go up nearly 6%.
4. Streamlined checkout process
Simplify the checkout process with minimal steps and form fields. Offer guest checkout options and support various payment methods to reduce cart abandonment rates.
Removing as many distractions as possible from the checkout pages will also increase completion rates. If you can make all menus disappear, we recommend you do so.
5. Effective search functionality
Implement a robust search feature that can quickly help customers find what they are looking for. Consider using filters and sorting options to refine search results.
Make sure that things like product names or serial numbers are formatted consistently. Should there be spaces between parts of a product name, or not. Whichever you choose, make sure this is applied across the site.
Product Page design tips
6. High-quality product images
Use images with multiple views and zoom functionality to showcase products effectively. Clear images instill confidence in the buyers’ minds and reduce the chances of returns. Ensure that the images are big enough (resolution) so that they are shown well. A poor quality, pixelated image will put people off.
7. Detailed product descriptions
Provide comprehensive and accurate product descriptions that include features, specifications, and benefits. This helps customers make informed decisions. Displaying product descriptions alongside customer reviews puts everything your customers need in one place.
8. Customer reviews and ratings
Display customer reviews and ratings for products to build trust and credibility. Positive reviews can encourage potential buyers to make a purchase.
9. Prominent CTAs (Call-to-Action)
Make sure that your CTAs stand out and are in the right place on your page. Make it easy for customers to add items to their cart without being distracted, and that they can proceed to checkout easily too.
10. Product recommendations
Implement personalised product recommendations based on users’ browsing and purchase history. This can increase cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
Be careful not to place this too prominently that it distracts from the main product on the page. Remember that these are additional sales, but you need to get the first one first.
11. Enable social sharing
Include social share buttons within the product page designs so that viewers can easily promote your products within their connections and network. This can generate additional traffic and sales.
12. Clear shipping and return policies
Have a page that makes your shipping deadlines and returns policies very clear. As slow shipping is one of the biggest reasons for cart abandonment, make sure you are giving customers what they want.
13. Live chat support
Offer live chat support to assist customers in real-time and address any queries they might have while browsing or during the checkout process. Make sure that it is clear how quickly you can respond to questions and queries. If nobody is available immediately, make sure this is very clear on the site.
Follow-up marketing tips
14. Abandoned cart recovery
Set up automated emails to remind customers about their abandoned carts and offer incentives to encourage them to complete their purchases. Your ecommerce platform is likely to have some tools for this. Alternatively email marketing platforms like Mailchimp have ecommerce functionality included in their various subscription levels.
15. Keep in touch
Email marketing is a great way to keep in touch with your customers. Once they have bought once from you, you want them to buy again and to recommend you to others. Make sure your campaigns are targeted and relevant to maximise open and clickthrough rates.
By implementing these strategies, you can optimise your e-commerce website for better sales conversion and create a positive shopping experience for your customers. Remember that continuous improvement and monitoring of user behaviour are essential for long-term success.
If you need help with any of these tips, call us on 020 8634 5911 or click here and we’ll call you back
