If you’re running an eCommerce store, it’s vital to remain up to date on online shopping best practices so you can offer consumers the best experience possible.
Some people are still nervous about buying online or inexperienced at it, and everyone’s busy, so you want to avoid making the shopping process more difficult for them.
One of the best ways to help customers and boost your bottom line is to constantly think about what you can do to ensure quick and easy navigation. For example, categorizing and tagging products using tools like taxonomy systems will help your customers find what they want and will ultimately lead to completed transactions
There are many ways to simplify and improve your website, so you should notice pleasing results if you implement a few strategies.
Create an Effective Website
One of the best ways to make it straightforward for shoppers to buy from you is to ensure your website is effective. Your selling platform must be easy for people to navigate.
They should find their way from page to page smoothly and find it simple to add things to their cart and checkout. The navigation should be user-friendly and common sense, and the checkout process not too laborious.
You also want your website to have fast loading times because people won’t hang around for pages to appear. It also pays to have a mobile-friendly website since so many people browse and buy from tablets and smartphones in this day and age.
Ensure your website has quality graphics such as images, videos, and other visuals so people can tell what they’re buying and if it will suit their needs. Include graphics that show products from every angle and inside and out, as appropriate.
Plus, every product needs detailed descriptions, so consumers don’t have to stop and contact your customer service team to get the information they need. However, break information down into readable chunks and avoid cluttering pages with too much data and visual components.
Leave some white space on every page for best results. Also, choose an easy-to-read font for your website and make it large enough that people don’t have to squint to make out the details.
Be upfront about your website’s shipping and returns policies, too. People don’t want to buy things without understanding how long it will take you to ship goods and what they’ll pay for the service.
Plus, they need to feel comfortable they can return goods if necessary. Make it easy for people to locate your shipping and returns data.
Design Website Processes to Suit Your Customers
Design your website’s processes to suit the specific customer niche you’re targeting. To improve conversion rates, make shopping and payment procedures work for your clients rather than easy or as affordable as possible for you.
The extra effort and investment you put in here should come back to you in spades when you get more shoppers finalizing transactions.
For example, when examining the layout of your store and how the checkout works, think about your ideal user. What devices will they use to browse your offerings, and at what time of day are they likely to do most of their shopping?
Will they need to save their shopping cart as they browse because they view goods in between work tasks or looking after young children, or have a quick look at products before falling asleep?
Are they in a rush when they shop, or do they take their time reading every detail? Is more information better for them or only the most pertinent details about products, with data conveyed more visually? Do people like asking quick questions in real-time via Live Chat platforms, or do they prefer customer support via phone calls, emails, or other methods?
These are just some factors to consider. Understand your target market as well as possible so you can suit people’s needs and wants better. It helps to use a session recording tool on your website to get an in-depth look at how people act when they’re on your site. You’ll see where they go, where they pause, and what might make them click away.
Make Multiple Payment Options Available
Today, consumers expect to be able to choose the form of payment that suits them best when they’re purchasing. As such, eCommerce entrepreneurs should make multiple payment options available.
This diversity may cost you more time and money in setup and fees, but you should see good returns from catering to customer desires.
It pays to allow payment via different credit cards, including Diners Club and American Express, plus PayPal and Apple Pay transactions, at a minimum.
You might also like to offer payment via electronic checks, gift cards, reward points, and more. The broader the choices you offer, the more chance there is of having a transaction type your shoppers wish to use.
The easier you make things for consumers, the more likely they are to finalize their transactions. In turn, you’ll boost sales and build your business.
