Today, everyone can do their daily shopping for almost everything online. This can range from organic produce to multivitamins.
The growth of online commerce has also resulted in more buying options for customers. You can now purchase in bulk, buy regular retail, or subscribe to receive a product or service on a regular basis.
Why You Need a Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) Tool
Just how big is e-commerce today? In 2017, global retail e-commerce sales amounted to USD 2.3 trillion. Retail e-commerce will keep on growing, with sales projected to reach USD 3.5 trillion by the end of 2019.
If you are an online retailer, you might be wondering how you can get a bigger piece of this pie. As you may already know, the name of the game in the e-commerce world is Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO).
Conversion is when a visitor lands on a website and purchases a product or service. Often, visitors browse and put items in their shopping cart, but do not end up purchasing.
‘Conversion Rate’ is the ratio of visitors who purchase over those who just browse. Some experts refer to the conversion process as the ‘funnel’. This visualizes what web visitors experience and what encourages them to buy products or services.
Successful online sellers know it is wise to invest in a CRO tool to increase sales. However, installing a CRO tool will not magically make visitors buy from a website. A little more consideration is involved in CRO to increase sales.
Consider an Optimisation Strategy and Pick the Right CRO Tool
Overall, you need to enhance visitor engagement to encourage them to make a purchase. In drafting your CRO strategy, remember that optimization is as unique as your online business. Think of the CRO tool as your main partner in optimization. Like onboarding any new business partner, you need to ensure its compatibility with your enterprise.
Currently, there are over 3 million WooCommerce websites. If you run WooCommerce, then you must consider CRO tool compatibility with the plug-in. There are optimization solutions out there that are already compatible with WooCommerce, such as HumCommerce.
In picking out your CRO tool, remember that optimization is as unique as your e-business. You will need to consider your optimization needs based on several categories. These will help you evaluate whether the CRO tool is the right partner for you.
1. Identify Your Buyer’s E-Commerce Profile
In business, it goes without saying that as a seller, you must know your customers. In the age of e-commerce, this age-old advice gets a little complicated. Fortunately, the right CRO tool will deliver the information you need right at your doorstep. A customizable Marketing Report can deliver information about a potential buyer’s:
- Location – Are your clients purchasing from specific cities and localities?
- Product preference – Are your clients browsing through specific product categories more than others?
- Traffic sources – How did your clients find their way to your website?
- Electronic devices – What are your clients using to browse your website?
At a minimum, your CRO developer should deliver reports that give insights on the above categories. Customized reports can show specific sales performance by user location. The CRO tool can also provide a real-time visitor map. The customized reports could then provide insight that you can use to adjust your website and optimize sales.
In 2018, Business Insider reported that 60% of consumers click on mobile ads weekly. Engaging a CRO tool will confirm whether this statistic applies to you. In that case, making your site mobile-friendly will likely optimize sales.
2. Know Your User’s Journey on Your Site
It is also important to learn about how users engage with and experience your site. A CRO tool with Visitor’s Recordings, Heatmaps, and User’s Flow features can help produce insights on user experience. Actionable insights from reader-friendly conversion rate reports are the blueprint to guide you in improving the user experience.
For instance, heatmaps tell you where your clients typically spend the most or the least time on. If a heatmap indicates that visitors spend time reading a product description, the CRO tool features may attribute the description as the reason behind the purchase. You will then have good insight to invest in getting good product descriptions.
These CRO strategies will help improve the shopping experience of your clients. This is different from making hefty investments on driving traffic to your website. Through CRO, your focus is more on quality of experience than high traffic.
3. Do Your Clients Stop and Ponder?
On the customer side, e-commerce has made it easier to ‘walk away’ from your shop. A client may visit your website, place products in the cart, but leave without buying. After a few days or weeks, the same client goes back and completes the purchase.
Have you ever wondered why there is a delay? A Days-to-Conversion feature will track the days or visits it took before the purchase. The Site Search Insights feature tracks what your clients are looking for on your website. Combined with Days-to-Conversion, you will see any relationship between product availability and delayed purchase.
Some online customers like to research what they are buying and compare information between websites. Incomplete or missing product information can cause delays in a purchase. With the tool, you may realize that a simple fix will close the gap.
4. Is There an Alternative Website Layout More Appealing for Your Clients?
Sometimes, online sellers get accustomed to how their websites look. Even when the site is proven ineffective, they may refuse to redesign.
A/B Testing is just the right feature to help settle this issue. This feature allows an online seller to experiment with an element of a website. Two versions of the welcome page could be tested to see if one results in better sales. This provides decision-making support for the entrepreneur without the cost of full market research.
5. You Don’t Have to Pay an Arm and a Leg for a Good CRO Tool
According to Forbes, companies spend an average of USD 2,000 per month on CRO tools. This figure is daunting for many mom-and-pop online businesses and start-up companies. Remember, as an online seller, you have to first lay down your optimization strategy. Afterward, see if the features you need are available for a well-priced CRO tool. Do not go looking for a fancy, expensive CRO tool that you will underutilize.
Remember: Optimisation Is About Quality Over Quantity
Generally, online entrepreneurs may think of investing more in marketing tools to increase web traffic. Optimization emphasizes building on what you already have so that visits turn into purchases.
Investing to gain new visitors is more expensive than increasing your conversion rate. It is more cost-efficient to increase your conversion rate because it means an increase in sales. And in any business, it is optimizing and adding value to customer experience that increases sales.