The conversion rate of an e-commerce business indicates the percentage of visitors to a website who perform a specific action, that is, the ratio of transactions carried out compared to sessions. Whether it is making a purchase, filling out a lead generation form, signing up for a newsletter or contacting customer service, the behavior of online shoppers offers valuable information about their interactions with a website. To calculate the conversion rate of an e-commerce business, it is necessary to measure the ratio between the number of conversions and the total number of visitors, expressed as a percentage, according to the following formula:
CR = (Number of Conversions / Number of Visitors) × 100
For example, if 1,000 people visit a site and 50 of them make a purchase, the conversion rate will be 5%. This data is essential to understand how to set benchmarks that can help optimize sales volumes.
There are many strategies that can be implemented to improve conversion rates on your website:
Using a persuasive design. To be truly effective, a website must offer high-quality images and videos that are captivating and convincing. Being able to attract the attention of visitors in a few seconds is crucial in the online sales process: focusing on a persuasive design that makes use of large images on the home page or detailed videos on the product pages will help to give a positive impression to users, helping them to clearly understand what they are buying and to complete their purchases more easily.
Enhanced customer service. According to Meta for Business, 52% of online consumers base their choice of brand to buy on customer experience: many users tend to abandon the purchase from a brand that offers ineffective customer service, preferring instead to opt for other brands that can offer more satisfying experiences and in line with their needs, even if this involves a higher cost. An effective solution to improve the level of customer satisfaction and thus increase the conversion rate could be the adoption of software capable of supporting direct communications with users: live chat and chatbots are among the new trends to consider to improve interactions with customers, as they allow for timely responses and support to be provided in real time or outside of working hours. Improving the customer service of an e-commerce business is essential to increase the efficiency of every process, from shipping the goods to after-sales service. Turning to professionals specialized in the sector can be an effective way to reduce the time spent on resolving unexpected events, satisfy user requests from the first call and intelligently manage the monitoring of all tracking steps.
Optimizing the website user experience. Enhancing the website user experience can be one of the most effective ways to improve the conversion rate of an e-commerce website. Optimizing navigation and site structure enables visitors to quickly and easily find the desired information and the products they are looking for. According to a survey conducted by Retail Systems Research, 52% of consumers express dissatisfaction with slow-loading product pages y or complicated payment procedures, Additionally, more than 90%of users abandon sites that are too slow, opting for competitors or well-established marketplaces such as Amazon. Reducing the number of fields to fill in during the checkout process or providing different payment methods are two strategies that can be adopted to succeed in retaining or acquiring new customers, thus remaining competitive in the online market.
Optimizing for mobile devices (or mobile first approach). mobile experience plays a vital part in the sales process and can lead to significant progress. According to eMarketer, mobile commerce has been constantly growing and reached nearly $436.7 billion last year, accounting for approximately 40% of all e-commerce sales.
This means that optimizing a site for mobile devices has become a fundamental objective to pursue if you want to reach your target audience and improve the overall shopping experience. An effective strategy to have a positive impact on mobile ecommerce conversions includes increasing the font size of pages, optimizing website speed and compressing images.
Increased payment and delivery options. On the one hand, simplifying processes is beneficial for improving the navigability of a website. On the other, when it comes to optimizing checkout steps, it can be useful to introduce additional steps and options, in order to offer new payment and delivery methods. Incorporating reliable tracking services can greatly enhance customer satisfaction and provide accurate and effective data: for example, integrating an after-sales management platform allows you to monitor all shipped orders, automate processes and send personalized and updated communications concerning the status of the orders, thus optimizing customer experience.
Discounts and promotions. Integrating discounts and promotions into a purchase is a highly effective way to attract shoppers to a brand and motivate them to make a purchase. According to data provided by RetailMeNot, almost 75% of consumers consider promotions as a decisive factor influencing their choice of shopping site and the type of products they intend to purchase.
Another approach improving the shopping experience and optimize conversions in an e-commerce business might be offering free shipping: high shipping costs are often among the main reasons that lead consumers to abandon the online shopping cart, while free shipping, together with coupons and discounts, serve as are compelling incentives that motivate customers to spend more.
Follow-up E-mail. sending follow-up emails is very effective for establishing connections with users. These e-mails serve multiple functions, including sending reminders to users who have abandoned their cart, urging them to complete the purchase or simply reaching out to customer after an order to express gratitude with personalized messages. To improve the conversion rate of an e-commerce business, segmenting customers based on specific criteria can be particularly advantageous. . For example, they might be divided on the basis of past purchases or the interest shown towards certain products, so as to offer a better user experience, impact and respond in a targeted manner to customer needs.
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The MBE e-commerce solutions, which are digital, flexible and personalized, help companies to speed up and simplify all their processes. This translates into a satisfying and smooth shopping experience for the customer which helps to optimize your online business and achieve the most ambitious results. Boost your online business with MBE digital solutions.