Working to improve the conversion rates of your product pages and website is an ongoing task for eCommerce companies. Tweaks can always be made. Visitor behavior can change over time. Split testing never ends: there is always more work to be done.
But where do you start? What areas of your website should you put the most focus on? While all websites and customer bases differ, there are a few simple split tests that eCommerce companies can run to improve their product pages’ conversion rates.
As you look for areas to split test, keep these sections in mind. They could potentially have a huge impact on your product sales:
Shipping Costs and When to Display Shipping Pricing
Did you know that unexpected shipping costs are the number one reason for eCommerce cart abandonment? Your shipping price—and where you reveal it—plays a key role in a shopper’s buying decision. You can’t blame them, either. High shipping costs radically diverge from what they expect to pay. Showing customers the shipping costs at the end of a checkout process may take them by surprise…and cause them to back out.
Research Now’s recent study shows just how important shipping costs are to customers. When asked about the reasons behind their cart abandonment, respondents overwhelmingly cited shipping costs as a primary driver.
And it’s not just about when you disclose shipping costs, either. Other shipping-related information can have a big impact on your sales. NuFace, a skincare eCommerce company, experimented with displaying a “Free Shipping Over $75” above their main navigation area. The test resulted in a 90 percent increase in orders. It also triggered more than a 7 percent bump in average order value.
Product Pages and Social Proof Elements
Social proof is critical in eCommerce. Customer reviews and testimonials play a huge role in your conversion rates. According to a study by Nielsen, 70 percent of people trust a product recommendation from someone they don’t know. That number surges to 92 percent when they know the person.
Experiment with making the social proof elements on your product page more prominent. Remove barriers to seeing reviews: having to click a link first makes audiences less likely to read them. Remember, customer reviews play a prominent role in your ability to sell. Keeping them hidden from the customer seems counterproductive.
Vegan Horizon, a lifestyle company, improved their conversion rate by nearly 10 percent after installing Sales Pop on their Shopify store. The app shows pop-ups for recent customer purchases, exposing visitors to more products and providing additional social proof to every webpage.
Security Badges and Trust
Shopper confidence matters in potential transactions. Does your product page include security badges to verify that your brand can be trusted? With so many eCommerce companies out there, customers are right to be picky about who they share their data with. A recent study showed that 13 percent of shoppers stated that security concerns were an issue for them when buying products online. Try placing those badges on your product page or even your homepage. See how their inclusion effects conversions.
Payments Options
Customers will abandon purchases that don’t accept their preferred payment method. BizReport’s report showed that as many as 28 percent of shoppers abandoned their cart when their preferred payment method was unavailable. Ensuring that you give your customers multiple payment options—and making that fact clear—could play a huge role in your overall conversion stats.
Call-to-Action Buttons and Messaging
It may seem like common sense, but call-to-action buttons on eCommerce sites have a big impact on the way their customers shop and use their website. This includes the “Buy Now” and “Add to Cart” buttons, and any other action you’d like your users to take on a specific page.
Lifeproof, a company that sells phone cases for extreme conditions, made a simple change to their main CTA button on their navigation panel. They saw their monthly revenue increase by 16 percent.
Black & Decker, a tool supply company, made a few changes to their call-to-action buttons to produce jaw-dropping results. Namely, they changed their “Buy Now” button to “Shop Now” and enjoyed a 17 percent growth in click numbers.
An Ongoing Effort
Split testing never ends for eCommerce companies. New products may bring new audiences to your website, and it’s an ongoing battle. However, by paying attention to the areas of your website that matter most, you can put yourself in a position to run tests that have the most impact on your sales.
