You look through your online store analytics and notice a trend – the visitor numbers are up, and product page clicks are high, yet when you look at the recent order history the numbers don’t seem to match. If your eCommerce conversion rate is low or your average order value isn’t quite as high as you’d like it to be, working out how you can improve it quickly becomes a top priority.
However, almost 70% of shoppers abandon their cart, so as an online retailer you aren’t the only one experiencing these problems. There are multiple reasons why people abandon their shopping cart, but there are even more ways to overcome this, while at the same time increasing your conversion rate and revenue.
Let’s look at six ways you can drive conversions and increase average order value at checkout…
1. Utilise guest checkouts
2. Offer promotional codes
3. Use upselling techniques
4. Promote your checkout page
5. Provide a great User Experience (UX)
6. Spread the cost of purchases
1. Utilise guest checkouts
A potential customer has been browsing your eCommerce store, discovered products they want to buy, headed to the checkout, and suddenly found themselves faced with an unnecessary barrier… the registration page. Research suggests 23% of visitors will immediately abandon their basket if an account is required. Although getting customers to create an account is a goal worth aiming for, it is not worth losing revenue for.
So, offer alternatives such as guest checkout. Once the order is complete you can then offer the option to create a full account while promoting the benefits of doing so. Rather than going through the guest process each time, opening a full account offers the benefit of:
– Saving card and address details for faster checkout
– Tracking existing orders via your website
– Information and return details for previous orders
– Personalised offers
– Valuable newsletters with updates on products and store offerings
Having account creation as an option rather than being mandatory and presenting in clear terms why taking the time to sign-up will benefit the customer, will help drive conversions.
2. Offer promotional codes
One of the benefits of registering for an account is receiving personalised offers for products you are likely to be interested in. All customers love feeling like they’ve got a deal, and 90% of consumers use promotional or discount codes when shopping. As a retailer, you can combine these two tips through the creation of account-based limited-time promotions.
Consider offering a discount code to users if they opt to register – it could be as little as 10% off their next purchase, but a little encouragement could be all they need so your customers feel like they’re getting a deal, while you’re building a database of important customer information.
The effectiveness of this may be dependent on what your business offers. Statista studies show that when it comes to using promotional codes, food shoppers lead the way with 65% of people using an offer, while entertainment purchases lag behind at 24% and home electronics are just 19%.
A key aim of providing any offer is to change the perception of a price. This can be even more effective when setting it up as a limited timed offer. Customers are getting a deal whilst also feeling a certain amount of pressure to take advantage of it before their special offer expires.
3. Use upselling techniques
Don’t forget to offer adds-ons and upsell as part of your customer journey to increase revenue at checkout.
Providing related product suggestions, product upgrades or bundle offers at checkout can be a simple way to increase your customer’s order size and basket value.
It can be something as simple as a shipping offer where you provide free postage when they’ve spent a certain amount. The postage discount is calculated as they add more to their cart so when they come to make their final purchase, you can let them know by spending £XX more they’ll qualify for free shipping. Then provide them with some product suggestions, based on what they’ve been browsing, to add to their cart.
Or you can offer bundle discounts, such as buy one, get one half price. Or offers where they buy one product to get a discount off a related product: e.g. – buy a mattress and get a pillow for 20% off.
These are all effective and proven techniques to increase average order value.
4. Promote your checkout page
Basket abandonment is often an issue that holds back the growth of eCommerce businesses, so be sure to incorporate the checkout process within your user interface.
Aim to draw attention to your basket icon in as many ways as possible, highlighting the number of items currently waiting to be purchased and showing any discounted prices to highlight the savings achieved.
Make it easy for the customer to navigate towards their shopping cart. Ensure the journey towards is carefully considered and actively encouraged as part of the overall customer experience.
5. Provide a great User Experience (UX)
Throughout any transaction, your customers want to feel in control and when they don’t, they want the ability to query issues. User Experience (UX) in eCommerce is a complex concept that needs care and attention.
Sixty-six per cent of adults say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do when it comes to a good online customer experience. Despite this, in a study of 1,000 businesses the average response time to customer queries is 12 hours and 10 minutes. Even worse, 62% of companies do not reply to customer emails at all.
Ignoring questions on products is a sure-fire way to lose a sale. But keeping customers waiting for hours on end, even when you have their interest, can also lead them to look at your competitors while they’re waiting for you to respond.
Instead, try and streamline your customer experience and offer a variety of options in selected channels. Phone and email still have their place, but today 73% of eCommerce users find live chat the most satisfactory form of communication. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and other social media platforms are also good options, especially when targeting a younger audience.
6. Offer payment options
Customers want to be able to buy the things they like when they see them. They don’t want to have to save up for weeks or months in case an item is out of stock at a later date, but they do want to be in control of their finances.
If you give customers financial flexibility in the checkout process by offering an interest free credit option, they’re more likely to make their purchase there and then.
By removing this conversion barrier and using it as a great marketing tool by showing them how their purchase can be broken down into manageable monthly payments, you’ll see a reduction in your cart abandonment rate.
Businesses who offer interest free credit see increases in sales and increased basket value – it’s a win-win and something that can be easily integrated into your eCommerce store, physical store or for over-the-phone sales.
Find out more about how DivideBuy can help increase your eCommerce revenue using our detailed customer insights and interest free credit solution – fill in the form below…