Why do internet users visit your eCommerce website, browse a few pages, and leave without buying a product?
If you look into it, you’ll find many possible reasons. For example, it may be a distraction offline, a notification could have lured them to another website, or they could have found better offers elsewhere.
Whatever the cause, it’s a potential loss of revenue for your eCommerce business. So, how can you support customers to ensure they buy today and keep coming back?
In this short guide, we’ll explore tools and strategies to support customers while shopping online:
- how to assist the user during navigation and purchase
- when to assist the online shopper
- assistance tools to improve customer care during purchase
- strategies to increase conversions during eCommerce website navigation
How to assist the user during navigation and purchase
Sometimes, your website may not be as intuitive as you think. The more difficulty a user has in finding the right pages and information, the less they’re likely to buy.
Here are 3 ways you can assist a user in finding products and purchasing them:
- Provide the right information to complete their purchase: this includes product information such as description, specification, and pricing. More so, you should provide shipping information.
- Use a simple site navigation structure: The best practice is to structure your website such that any page will be reachable with no more than 4 clicks. Furthermore, have extensive product categories at the top bar of your website. Here we focus on how to optimize eCommerce website menus.
- Have a search bar: this will help users find products easily. Here’s an example by Amazon:
When to assist the online shopper
During the purchase process, shoppers need assistance at some critical stages. These include:
- Finding product information: what are your product’s basic details? What are its specifications? What benefits can users obtain? Shoppers need assistance finding the pages with these pieces of information if they can’t find them.
- Finding payment instructions and information: it’s essential to be upfront with payment instructions and shipping fees. No shopper wants to be surprised with shipping fees on the payment page.
- During shipping: some customers want to track their product’s shipping status while it’s in transit.
Assisting them through these stages will increase their chances of buying and the overall customer experience.
Assistance tools to improve customer care during purchase
Today, providing amazing customer care is non-negotiable. After all, 69% of customers say they’ll spend more with a company that has good customer service.
However, providing efficient care requires the help of tools in various aspects. Here are 4 tools that will improve customer care at all buying stages:
Kameleoon
Kameleoon is a tool that provides A/B testing and personalization features. First, its A/B/N testing feature allows you to experiment with different elements of your pages and track results.
Its AI-powered segmentation lets you show different versions of your website according to various criteria. Furthermore, its AI-powered conversion prediction provides personalized experiences based on a customer’s chances of buying.
Intercom
Inevitably, customers will need information about your product and services before completing their purchase. With Intercom, you have access to live chat, chatbots, and a knowledge base, among other features.
For customers who want to find answers, you can create a knowledge base that answers frequent questions. Likewise, you can answer questions with a chatbot or assign a sales rep to the live chat.
Omnisend
Omnisend is an email marketing software that integrates with most eCommerce platforms and provides other eCommerce features. For instance, you can segment your email subscribers and send them personalized emails based on their website behavior.
In addition, you can send push notifications and make product recommendations according to their interests. You also have access to SMS marketing on this platform.
Qapla’
What happens after customers make purchases? You continue to provide great after-sales care to turn them into repeat customers.
Qapla’ lets customers track their products during shipping. Therefore, you can reduce their anxiety while products are in transit. Your customer care team will also have fewer messages to reply to.
Strategies to increase conversions during eCommerce website navigation
If you run an eCommerce website, increasing conversions is one of your most critical tasks. Here are 5 effective strategies to increase conversions:
Implement fast loading website times
With improvements in internet technology, users are now used to high internet speeds. Therefore, few shoppers are willing to wait for your website to load.
Increasing your website speed can help shoppers find your products faster and consequently improve their shopping experience. Some ways to increase website speed include using a fast web host, optimizing your website code, using a content delivery network, etc.
Include social proof elements
It’s an open secret that people want what other people want. Social proof helps to communicate your product’s acceptability to potential buyers.
Some ways to exploit social proof include:
- Featuring customer reviews and ratings
- Displaying the huge number of your customers
- Using the fear of missing out (FOMO) like the number of products left
These will convince shoppers to purchase more of your products. Here’s an example from Etsy with FOMO and ratings:
Let customers try on products virtually
One of the reasons some shoppers complete their purchase in a physical store is to try out the product before buying. Fortunately, with augmented reality (AR), shoppers can now try out products online.
So, if you’re wondering how a piece of furniture will fit into your living room, an AR app can show that. Beyond that, there are more applications.
For example, Warby Parker lets shoppers try its glasses using their mobile app.
Allow guest checkout
For some shoppers, creating an account is equivalent to putting the cart before the horse. That’s why, according to the Baymard Institute, creating an account was the second most popular reason shoppers abandon their carts.
By offering guest checkout, you reduce the stress and time it takes a user to buy. Then, after the purchase, they can register an account.
Offer free shipping
For some products, shipping costs can discourage prospects from completing their purchase. Of course, offering free shipping for every purchase may be infeasible for your business.
But wherever possible, you should implement it. For instance, you can offer free shipping for orders above a threshold. Here’s an example by JD Sports offering free shipping for orders above £100:
Conclusion
Building an efficient eCommerce website is insufficient to achieve your sales goals. You also need to get involved while they’re browsing your products.
By using the tools and implementing strategies explored in this guide, you’ll be with customers at the most critical stage of the buying cycle. So what are your favorite tools and strategies from this guide?
Author:
Dan Ben-Nun
Investor, founder and CEO @ Adspace. He has +15 years of Experience in digital marketing and consulted over 200 ecommerce brands, generating over $1 Billion in total revenue.
