Business owners like you and me, get ecstatic when they receive tons of traffic on their website.
But what if people visit your store, check a few products, talk with your support team, and leave without buying anything? ?
It can be quite disappointing, right?
So, what's the point of running a business if you aren't making any sales? That's why as a business owner your goal isn't to drive traffic. What you WANT are conversions.
And that's where the actual struggle begins.
You're probably wondering...
- What causes your ready-to-convert customers to change their minds?
- What can you do to remove friction from the process?
- How to convert traffic into sales?
The answers to these and many other similar questions are right here in this post.
So, let's start with the…
5 Reasons Why Customers Leave Online Stores Without Making A Purchase
1. They Can’t Find What They're Looking For
When you visit your nearby store, everything is in front of you. You can touch products and even try them.
Online shopping is different. Visitors are on their own when they shop online.
That’s exactly where actual friction occurs.
What comes to your mind when you see this website? This is not an ideal example of efficient site navigation.
With that being said, and with how this site looks like…
Would you actually buy anything from them?
Maybe yes, if they sell anything not available elsewhere.
Now, look at this.
Can you see the difference?
The first website is cluttered. This means visitors will have a hard time exploring the products and move to different pages. But the second website shows the proper arrangement of products. The user can easily navigate the products and other web pages.
Poor site navigation can be the biggest obstacle for customers. They take a U-turn right away when they can’t find what they’re looking for.
Aside from that, people leave your site buying nothing because...
2. Poor Customer Service
As they say, customer service should not be a department. It should be the entire company. Visitors will leave in a flash if they don't get the help they need.
In fact, it is not only about offering help.
If you put them on hold for too long, they'll leave. Ignore their feedback, they'll ignore you.
Or if their privacy isn’t a concern for you, they won’t care for your business repo either.
Take it or leave it. But that's how things work in business.
Another thing that can affect your conversions are...
3. Complicated CHECKOUT PAGES
Checkout page is where your visitors finalize their orders and share their information with you.
But sometimes the checkout pages irritate the customers and they exit the website without placing their orders.
Unlike product pages, customers do not like to spend time on checkout pages. They want the checkout process to be short and simple.
If the website has a long tiring checkout procedure, or requires the customers to create a separate account, they will leave.
Another reason people exit stores at checkout page is because of the absence of the payment channel they use. For instance, a website offers PayPal. But the customers are comfortable using Amazon Pay.
So, in short, if a website has a long checkout procedure, limited payment options, and requires tons of irrelevant information, people will leave without even waiting for a second!
Another reason that contributes to low conversions is...
4. You Don’t Have Reviews
Like it or not, customers need reassurance before committing to a purchase.
In fact, 93% of customers say they read reviews before buying anything online.
Now, what does that mean?
It means the absence of reviews on your website will take you a step away from the opportunity to serve that 93% of customers. Bitter but true.
Now we move on to the next...
5. They Don’t Trust The Website With Their Sensitive Information
Your customers share lots of sensitive information with your brand.
The last thing they want is to see your site compromising their valuable information.
Did you know you can lose a massive chunk of your traffic if you cannot impress them with your site's security measures?
Yes, I understand these facts are disappointing. But don't worry.
Keep reading as I disclose tricks to improve your Shopify store.
How To Increase Sales On Shopify? Tricks To Improve Your Shopify Store!
1. Land Your Customers At The Right Page
Visitors come to your website from many sources. Such as paid ads, social media posts, or emails.
Hence, make sure that your customer lands on the right web page. If he lands on the wrong page, or the page that isn’t relevant to him, he’ll exit the website.
Let's say a customer clicks on a Facebook ad featuring a particular product. Taking them to the actual collection page instead of your homepage will keep them interested in the products.
For example, if I click on this Facebook ad, I’d expect to go to the same collection/product page and not somewhere else.
When I clicked on one image, it took me to this page:
That’s pretty much what I was looking for.
Another trick to improve your Shopify store and drive sales is…
2. Streamline Your Navigation
It’s easy for brick-and-mortar store owners to offer a personalized user experience.
They have a full-time shop assistant who can answer customer’s queries. They can walk buyers around their shop.
For online sellers, it is not very easy to offer a similar experience.
But it is not all bad news.
You can improve your website navigation to provide customers with a similar experience.
What is website navigation?
It is a plan that helps your customers move from one web page to another web page.
See how ASOS has nailed its site navigation with perfect product categorization.
They also have a well-organized footer with social tabs and payment options.
They have separate tabs for each product category they offer. For example, you can click on Sale if you want to explore products that are currently available at a discount.
Similarly, there is a 'new in' tab to help track all the new arrivals. Clothing, shoes, and accessories have separate tabs as well. In fact, you can also spot their best-sellers by clicking on the 'trending now' tab.
How awesome is that?
ASOS's site navigation is all about simplicity and perfection. I know the most difficult thing to nail is keeping things simple.
But if ASOS can do it, you can do it too.
What else can you try to drive more sales to your Shopify store? Let’s find out...
3. Optimize Your Product Pages
Did you know your product pages are a gateway to conversions?
If you're not driving the desired sales, I'd suggest looking at your product pages with fresh eyes.
Many factors contribute to product page optimization.
For example,
- You must at least include 4 HD images on every product page
- Your product descriptions should be unique and optimized
- Create clear and concise product titles
- Include user-generated content (reviews) on your product pages to build credibility
- Add a stock meter to create a FOMO effect
- Include action-driven CTAs
Sephora's product pages are extraordinary. Isn't their picture collection too cool?
I have already talked about why you need a simplified checkout process.
But I am sure you want to know how you can optimize your checkout pages for more conversions.
Here we go...
4. Optimize Your Checkout Process
Before advising anything, I would like you to ask these questions to yourself.
Does your checkout page look trustworthy?
Is your checkout page streamlined? Not sure?
Okay, let's do it practically. Pick a few products from your store and add them to a cart. Now head over to your checkout pages.
What was your experience like?
This is also what your customers experience. Once you know what they go through, you'll know what you need to improve.
Remember, your checkout process should be straightforward. Only ask for relevant information, such as name, address, contact details, and payment info.
Make it as simple as possible. Remember, your goal is to bring customers down the funnel, not off your store.
There is a reason a single Walmart store makes $153k a day. Look at their checkout page. I love how simple and customer-friendly it is.
Now that you have an optimized checkout page.
You also need to…
5. Be Honest With Your Customers
You want customers to buy products from your ecommerce store, right?
Be honest with them.
Being honest makes all the difference. In the end, honesty is the best policy, right?
Adapt that mindset, then.
Never try to hide your return and refund policy. Display all your policies on your website footer and name that folder ‘important info for our customers.’
Campbell Soup company does this really well on their website. They have a dedicated page highlighting their approach to nutrition and healthy ingredients.
If you aren't transparent about your policies, it's time to change.
Speaking of incentives...
6. Sweeten The Offer By Adding Incentives
Who doesn't like gifts and discounts? We all do.
An instant recipe for conversions is to offer your customers deals and discounts.
Do not wait for them to abandon their carts so you could retarget them with something of greater value.
Present your offers when they are there - on your website.
See how cleverly Estee Lauder has used this tactic to their advantage?
They're offering customers an add-on for their orders worth $80 and $130.
Pretty clever!
Now, we have…
7. Offer Live Chat Support
The difference between poor customer service and good customer service is timing.
Let me elaborate...
Let’s suppose a visitor enters your store and picks a little black dress for her prom coming this weekend.
She is not sure about the size. Also, she has questions about shipping and payment.
She can either email your support team and wait for them to read and respond to that email.
Or, she can tap the live chat button available on your website and clear her doubts right away.
The latter sounds more promising and drives quick conversions.
8. Go Visual
A picture is worth a thousand words.
People who choose an online shopping route are usually busy. They don't have time to visit stores and wait in queues.
They also expect a quick shopping experience when buying online.
How can you go about it?
Reduce text on your website and replace it with visuals.
Add videos, images, and other visual elements to save your busy buyers some time.
It will definitely add to your conversions.
We're down to our last option now. Let's see what it is...
9. Feature User-Generated Content
Nobody wants to take risks - especially when there is money involved!
Customers want to play safe. They want to buy from websites that already have thousands of customers.
Wondering how they gauge that? Through customer reviews.
If you have some fantastic reviews shared by your customers, flaunt them on your website.
You’d be surprised to see how this tactic works...
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