On average, only 2.86% of eCommerce website visits convert into a purchase. This means that in about 35 visits to an online store, only one generates revenue for the store. What can you do to convert website visits into a purchase? With a smoother checkout process and thoughtful customer journey, you will finally exceed customer your experience.
With over $4.3 US trillion retails sales in 2020, every business that is missing an eCommerce website is missing out on a revenue opportunity.
The worrying data shows the global cart abandonment rate for eCommerce is close to 70%. Baymard Institute took 40 different studies and showed rates from as low as 55% to as high as 81%, to arrive at a global average of 69.89%.
In this chart, we can see a clear picture of how the lack of free shipping is affecting eCommerce website purchase. With that in mind, you should consider your shipping costs and profit margins. It’s psychological for online shoppers to look for free shipping. Unless the total cost of the order seems reasonable or the product is seen as being ‘must-have,’ shoppers are likely to take a pass on making the purchase.
The second most important reason why consumers abandoned the basket on your eCommerce website is because of the cost of return. From 1,888 interviewed U.S online consumers, around 40% said that the reason why they didn’t make a purchase was that it wouldn’t arrive on time. Around 20% of them reported that they didn’t order a product because the delivery date was not precise.
Social Media Influence on eCommerce purchase
Social Media takes a big part in discovery which is what makes social shopping fun and engaging, and brands understandably want to convert that excitement into action.
Gen Z and Millenials are most likely to make a purchase influenced by social media. Around 40% of retailers are using social media platforms to generate sales. Over 55% of Gen Z users said that their clothing purchases were influenced by posts they saw on social media platforms.
In your free time, you may be scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, but during work hours, why not employ social listening? An effective business strategy can help you devise your content strategy and tailor it to what your consumers/followers want to see and read about.
What does social listening include?
Social listening is the process of finding mentions of any given keywords on social media, using special tools such as HootSuite or Mention. Information found with the process of social listening can help you create content that is wanted by your audience and maybe questions they have asked or queries they have searched for.
Facebook Ads
Facebook offers various tools for eCommerce advertising. Facebook can be costly if you invest heavily in Facebook Ads, but the budget depends entirely up to you. On Facebook, you can target audience per interests, demographics and location. For example, if you are selling men hair products, you can immediately exclude women from your target audience.
You can use social media for remarketing. Target people who abandoned cart at checkout and help your customers to complete the purchase. Facebook Ads can help your target that niche and help to convert your customers that visit a website.
Fast eCommerce website
Online shoppers have now more than ever high expectations. That leads to – customer journey that starts online. Not surprisingly, in a world that keeps accelerating, one of the biggest drivers of satisfaction is speed. Fast and interactive eCommerce website is crucial in the world of retail.
One of the reasons why your eCommerce website speed is important is customer experience. Online shoppers will spend only a few seconds on your website and they will want a fast and responsive web design. Speed of your eCommerce website will help to convert your website visits into the purchase.
Being there for website visitors and social media followers by providing a timely response to comments and messages is no longer a competitive advantage; it’s the new standard.
Create Landing Pages
With developing landing pages, your eCommerce store will increase the chances of attracting more customers who are willing to buy your product.
Create clear user-friendly landing pages design that converts. The only clickable elements should guide the visitor to the desired goal. Whether the desired goal is free trial sign up, contact form or purchase button, one CTA should be clear to the visitor. It is always a good idea to remove social media buttons or any other clickable media that could distract the visitor from the desired goal.
Implement User Generated Content
The well known UGC (User Generated Content) idea is simple. Consumers post content (images, videos, blogs or reviews) which is publicly available on social media regarding your brand and product.
UGC can help you generate leads for your eCommerce website. Brands see a 78% lift in conversion rates when customers interact with CGC.
If you want your consumers to start generating the content, you need to develop a social media strategy to engage your visitors. Organize contests on social media or giveaway to engage with your audience.
Key takeaways
We discussed in the article how eCommerce is booming and will continue to grow in the next years. We shared some ideas on how you can convert your eCommerce visitors to make a purchase. Social media showed to be very effective in generating leads for eCommerce website. There are endless possibilities to creative social media strategy that can convert and become a successful sales tool. You can always contact us for in-depth analysis and social media strategy or eCommerce web design.
If you are just getting started with an eCommerce website and online retail, read more about moving your business online.