A. Alternative Payment Options – The more the merrier, give your customers as much choice as possible when it comes to ways in which they can hand over their cash. Visa, Mastercard, PayPal etc. etc. etc.
B. Prominently display security logs – Let the customer know that shopping on your site is safe.
C. Conversion Funnel Length – Simply put, if there are too many steps between the product and the check out your potential customer is more likely to abandon the purchase. The general consensus is that more than three screens in between, drastically reduces conversions.
D. Don’t shock your customers with last minute cost additions. – Many potential customers abandon their purchase if they are faced with additional costs, especially after they have entered their credit card details. Free shipping goes is a more affective way of getting conversations than minimal monetary discounts.
E. Continue shopping options – When customer has added a product to their cart and would like to continue shopping, consider where the shopper might like to go and give them a choice. The home page or the product page of the item they just added would be a bad idea, but giving them the option to see related items or other category pages can help drive sales.
F. Friendly Credit Card Errors – Nobody like to have their credit card declined. Try to hand this process gracefully and with a little understanding. When managing these errors, try to offer your shoppers solutions to common errors and display your customer service number so they can contact you directly if their error persists.
G. Get your customers feedback – Once the sale is complete, ask your customers for feedback about how you can improve the process.
H. Prominently display your contact details – Ask yourself this, would you give your credit cards details to a company that you could not call, email or write to? Most successful eCommerce stores display a contact number on every page, a free phone number is better.
I. Offer coupons, discounts and other incentives – Coupons and discounts are great ways to increase traffic and conversions, make sure they are clearly displayed and show how much the customer is saving. Another incentive could be to offer a discount once a shopper has reached a specific purchase amount, e.g. reach $500 to receive a 10% discount. If you choose this tactic, then make sure you clearly display how much more the customer needs to spend to qualify for the saving. E.g. You are only $25 away from your 10% discount.
J. Make sure your call to action buttons are clear – Placing tiny “buy” or “add to cart” buttons on your product page is not going to help conversions. Make sure these vital components are clear, well designed and well placed.
K. Clear Product Displays – Good quality product images with zoom functionality is going to help remove uncertainty that your shoppers may have when it they get to the check out.
L. Let your customers interact with your site – Encourage user reviews and product ratings, and allow them to suggest items to friends via emailed links. Shoppers are far more likely to complete purchases of items that have positive endorsements from other customers.
M. Shopping verses Information – Product information should be displayed on the same page as the product and should compliment, but not interfere with the purchase process. Additional information pages within your site should also not interfere/distract the flow from product to purchase.
N. Login in to buy - Do your customers really need to login in order to complete a purchase? You can offer this option after the sale is complete, but don’t put first time buyers off by forcing them through a process that does not help you complete a sale. The same goes for repeat visitors, don’t let a forgotten login ID or password get in the way of closing a sale.
O. Out of Stock Honesty – Make your customers aware at the earliest possible moment if a product is out of stock. You can still give them the option to purchase or to be contacted when the item is back in your inventory. Don’t tell them at the checkout or the sale will be lost!
P. Payment Plans – Can your shopping cart offer payment plans? If the answer is yes, then why not offer this option for your more expensive products. Customers like this option as it makes them feel more secure and puts a smaller dent in their wallets.
Q. Cancel Buttons – Come on! Don’t place them next to the submit order button, you are making it too easy for the customer to walk away from the purchase.
R. Remember what your customers like – If your shoppers log in to your site, keep track of their buying habits, promote products that are of interest to them and that let them know you are paying attention to them as an individual.
S. Conversion Funnel Length – Simply put, if there are too many steps between the product and the check out your potential customer is more likely to abandon the purchase. The general consensus is that more than three screens in between, drastically reduces conversions.
T. Let Them Search – Many people shop online to save time. An intuitive search function will help your customers find the products they need quickly and therefore give them more time to fill out their credit purchasing details. Nobody wants to take ages for a quick online purchase.
U. Up sell at the right time – Don’t try to up sell at the checkout, do it before the customer gets their. The check out should be the narrow end of the options funnel and focused on closing the sale.
V. Page Security Issues – Make sure your secure payment pages don’t contain unsecure elements. How would you feel if you were just about to got to the page enter your credit card number and a browser message popped up saying the page you were entering was unsecure?
W. Credit Card Selection - Credit card errors are often generated because the customer rushes through their purchase process. Make sure that they have to select their credit card type and it does not have a default selection, alternatively automatically select the card type based on the numbers entered. Fewer credit card errors mean less abandonment.
X. Guide your shoppers – By clearly guiding your customers through the steps of the payment process to help build confidence along the way.
Y. Making the most of shopping cart abandonment: Send visitor customer service orientated email after they abandon.
For more advice or helpful information, why not contact us via our website at www.gproxy.com.
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