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Among all the interactions an ecommerce customer has with your site, the checkout process is arguably the one over which you have the most control. Still, pitfalls abound, so when it comes to creating a seamless experience for your customers, make sure you start with the cart.
Here's a 4-step strategy you can use to increase your ecommerce website's shopping cart conversions.
Step 1: Identify Key Shopping Milestones
Think for a moment about how you navigate websites. For most customers, online shopping is not a linear process. Purchase decisions today are increasingly made over time and after a number of different touch points. Customers may compare products reviews, check out the shipping page, or leave and come back after an email offer.
- Use analytics and customer interviews to identify the pages and interactions that most often lead to conversion.
- Optimize those pages by making them easier to find and navigate.
Step 2: Reduce Clutter and Get Rid of Hoops
Make your checkout process as short and simple as possible. There are enough distractions on the path to purchase; make sure you aren't adding to the noise. Test various versions of your landing pages and checkout process. Create a shopping cart widget enabling customers to add to their cart and continue shopping without leaving the page. Ideally, the checkout process itself should be no more than four steps. Include a progress bar, and only ask for the most essential information. After the submission, you can ask for additional information, including an invitation for the shopper to create an account to streamline future purchases.
Step 3: Automatically Email Customers Who Abandoned Their Carts
Customers might abandon their carts for any number of reasons. Use email automation and nurturing to contact customers who did not complete the checkout process. Entice customers back with a discount or a free shipping offer. An eConsultancy survey recently found that 84% of companies who sent emails targeting cart abandonment saw an increase in conversion. This is one simple step that can go a long way.
Step 4: Reward Repeat Customers
According to the Center for Retail Management at Northwestern University, only 12%-15% of customers are loyal to a single retailer, but that small cadre of shoppers can generate between 55%-70% of the company's sales. This goes to show that your job is not done after the original point of sale.
- Make your returns as easy as possible.
- Send specialized deals to customers as their loyalty grows. Whenever possible, link your email automation to actual user behavior, and personalize the messages.
- Leverage social media to invite feedback and publicly act on that information.
- Simplify each successive purchase, storing billing information and reducing steps.
Follow these four steps, and your shopping carts will generate higher conversions and grow fuller and fuller every day.
Photo credit: Rick Harris
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