Conversion rate is one of the most important aspects of every eCommerce business. With more than 820,000 active Shopify stores, there is fierce competition in this field.
There is no single growth hack that can turn your Shopify store profitable overnight.
However, there are several techniques which when implemented correctly can gradually increase your sales.
Here are the top 17 ways to improve the conversion rate of your Shopify store.
Highlight Product Benefits Clearly
People buy products that solve their problems or make their life comfortable. Thus, it is crucial to explicitly highlight product benefits.
Avoid copy-pasting the description provided by the manufacturer. The product description gives you a great opportunity to integrate SEO keywords and highlight the reason why someone should purchase it.
For instance, if you sell food products, then you would want your customers to know if a certain item is made from certified organic ingredients or that they’re 100% cruelty-free.
Here’s a real example from Jadon. They’ve highlighted the product benefits explicitly, i.e., providing more protein, low saturated fats, etc. They have also listed the key details of the item, such as dairy-free, gluten-free, etc.
Highlighting the different features of the product, especially the USP can significantly increase the chances of conversion and reduces return requests.
Leverage Personalization
Personalization is the key to increasing sales funnel conversions. 51% of consumers expect eCommerce websites to anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions. Marketers see an average increase of 20% in sales when offering personalized experiences.
One of the best ways to leverage personalization is by using data science skills. Data science allows you to divide your customers into micro-segments based on various variables, like gender, age, browsing behavior, purchase history, and spending habits.
It can help predict what a customer is most likely to buy next, so you can show the exact products, thereby increasing conversions.
Another way to use personalization is by using a product personalized recommendation app that automatically recommends products to each customer.
Optimize your Customer Lifetime Value strategy
Get more valuable customers for a more profitable e-store.
Upsell and Cross-Sell
Upselling and cross-selling are excellent ways to increase your average order value. However, you should limit the number of choices you provide.
Going overboard with related products or complementary pieces can feel overly-aggressive and might distract the shopper from completing their purchase.
Quad Lock recommends relevant product add-ons to what a customer is already looking at, to encourage users to buy a complete kit.
Shopify development offers various third-party apps that you can integrate into your online store to upsell and cross-sell easily. You can choose an app that suits the best for your business.
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Optimize the Checkout Process
If your checkout process isn’t simple, you might lose a lot of customers right when they are ready to buy. A survey by Baymard Institute found that 21% of US shoppers would abandon the cart if they feel that the checkout experience is complicated (or too long).
One way to resolve this problem is by using a checkout progress bar that shows where they’re in the process and how much is left.
Clear progress indicators like the one below can motivate people to complete the checkout process as they’ll be able to see the end goal.
Another way to optimize the checkout process is by offering one-step checkout. The same survey by the Baymard Institute found that 6% of US shoppers would abandon a cart if there weren’t enough payment options.
Minaal, a company that sells travel gear, surely knows how to optimize the checkout process. They offer two options to shoppers: add the product to cart and continue browsing or buy the product directly.
Offering multiple payment options is a nice way to optimize the checkout process.
Allow Guest Checkout
Offering a guest checkout option takes the checkout optimization process to the next level.
34% of shoppers have abandoned carts because the store wanted them to create an account to complete the checkout.
If you’re worried about losing connection with your customers, then don’t bother, you’ll have their contact details anyway when they purchase.
Here’s an example from WP Standard. I haven’t created an account, and they don’t even ask me to make one. As soon as I clicked on “buy now”, I saw this page. It asks for an email address and the shipping details.
Another great thing about this page is that it offers express checkout options. When you click on any of the alternatives (Amazon Pay, PayPal, GPay, or shop Pay), you won’t even have to fill the form. You’ll only be asked to log in to your account and make the payment.
You can allow the guest checkout option by changing your customer account preferences in settings.
Go to checkout under your settings from your Shopify Admin. In the customer accounts section, choose accounts are optional.
Write Useful and Valuable Content
Apart from writing great content on your product landing pages, you should also leverage blogging to educate, inform, and engage your target audience.
The more value and information you provide, the more your target audience will trust you.
It is also an excellent way to showcase your expertise in your industry, thereby boosting your authority and credibility.
Another advantage of publishing blogs is that it helps to increase organic SEO traffic.
If you sell your products across the globe, you can use the top VPN to check what type of content is trending in your industry in different locations. This will enable you to create content that your target audience loves.
Beardbrand posts content about men’s grooming to supplement their expertise in beard products.
People who visit your website via these blogs might not be ready to buy immediately, but they’ll become aware of your brand and might purchase from you in the future.
Use Remarketing to Target Specific Customers
Remarketing is a form of paid advertising that allows you to connect with people who have shown interest in certain products but left your site without purchasing them.
In remarketing, you show visitors the exact products they window-shopped on your website while they browse the internet.
However, to retarget, you’ll need to collect cookies. You’ve probably seen this message on a lot of websites.
Cookies track the pages a user is visiting on your website without storing any sensitive personal information. When they leave your site to browse the web, the cookie then tells your ad platform that the user has left your site. Your ad platform then starts to retarget the visitors by displaying the exact products they browsed on your site on other ecommerce sites they visit.
Remarketing is a great way to boost conversions because customers who see retargeted ads are 70% more likely to convert on your website.
Reduce Price Shock
Shipping costs are the biggest reason for cart abandonment. 55% of customers bounce back from an eCommerce store because the extra costs (shipping, tax, fees, etc.) are too high.
One way to eradicate this problem is by offering free shipping. Make sure to highlight that you’re not charging anything to deliver the products.
If you can’t offer free shipping, make sure to highlight the cost upfront. This will prevent them from the price shock that they would get by seeing extra costs during the checkout.
For example, Gym Shark has explicitly mentioned the minimum order value for each “free delivery” method. Free standard delivery (estimated two working days) over £35, free express delivery (estimated next working day) over £65.
Similarly, if you’re charging for any other thing (like tax), make sure to mention it on the product’s page to reduce price shock and increase the likelihood of conversion.
Provide Limited Time Offers
Providing limited-time offers is yet another excellent way to increase your Shopify store.
It appeals to the shoppers FOMO (fear of missing out) and encourages them to purchase instantly.
You don’t necessarily need to offer a discount to entice users into purchasing. You can provide limited-time “free shipping deals” or “express delivery”.
Here’s an example from Bootea. They’ve added a countdown timer on their homepage, highlighting that the sale ends in 4 minutes. Once gone, you’ll lose the opportunity to get 20% off.
Make sure to add a timer to show users that they’re missing out on great deals with every passing second.
Integrate Live Chat Software
Live chats lead to a 40% increase in the conversion rate.
Activating live chat helps build a direct connection with potential shoppers right when they’re considering to purchase your products.
Creating a real human connection helps build trust with prospects and boosts the probability of conversion.
However, avoid integrating live chat software if you can’t be there (during business hours) to respond to customers that request a chat immediately.
Shoppers want a quick response, and they won’t wait for hours for you to respond.
The Modern Shop has integrated live chat software to answer its customers’ queries. If you see the below image, they’ve mentioned, “we typically reply within a few minutes”. This is great because it tells shoppers that they won’t have to wait for long to get a response.
If you can’t respond to customers’ queries instantly but still want to give them a solution, you can add a chatbot to your Shopify store.
While they can’t add a human touch to the conversation, they can provide answers to the commonly asked questions. Chatbots can increase the conversion rate by around 2%.
Use Trust Badges
Trust badges are crucial for every eCommerce store. Until people trust you with their credit card information, they won’t make a purchase.
The challenge is to build trust with shoppers on their first visit. They want to know if they’re dealing with a legitimate store that follows industry-standard security practices.
Here are a few ways to establish trust with potential customers.
- Install an SSL certificate in your store.
- Display small images of credit cards and other payment options.
- Add McAfee, PayPal, or other security badges.
- Add social buttons that take your customers to your social media accounts. Customers search for social proof and activity.
- Display your contact info (phone number, email address, and office address) prominently.
Watch Outfitters displays images of credit cards, PayPal, and an icon that says, “100% secure checkout”. This indicates that people can trust them with their payment information.
Structure Your Product Categories in a Logical Manner
Logically structuring your products makes it easier for your customers to find the products they’re looking for. It includes enabling advanced sorting features to help users find specific products from multiple versions.
For instance, Nutriseed, a health products store, has organized its products in different categories. They allow the customers to search for products from food types, juices, health & wellbeing, diet & weight loss, and more.
This allows shoppers to find and purchase their desired products directly by visiting the category it falls in.
What’s more, is that they have also added a search bar to further simplify the product finding process.
When you click on any of the product categories, you’ll see more options to further narrow down the product list.
For example, I clicked on superfood powders, and this is the page I saw. It allows me to choose from various suitability and pricing options.
Make sure to offer as many attributes as possible. The easier it is to find products on your Shopify store, the more likely people will purchase.
Use High-Quality Product Images and Videos
Unlike in a physical store, your Shopify store visitors can’t touch, feel, or physically examine the products. The best thing you can do to provide a similar experience is by using high-quality visuals.
Product images and product videos help shoppers visualize the item they’re buying. This helps increase conversion rates as well as reduce return requests.
Make sure to add multiple images to let your visitors check the item from different angles.
For example, Hard Graft, which sells luxury lifestyle accessories online, uses multiple images to showcase the product. It also shows how the product looks in action to increase the probability of conversion.
You can even add a zoom option to allow shoppers to zoom in and analyze the product better.
Highlight Your Return/Refund Policy
Around 67% of consumers check the return policy before making a purchase.
Customer concerns that if the product didn’t meet their expectations or if they received a faulty product, will they get their money back.
Having a great return/refund policy reduces fears and last-minute hesitations. It also encourages them to commit to a purchase.
Ensure that your return and refund policy is visible on the product description page. Also, mention when shoppers can return the product.
HIUT Denim Co, which sells jeans, has explicitly mentioned that “you can exchange or return your jeans up to 90 days after purchase”.
This boosts the confidence of the customer and guarantees that they’ll get a new product or their money back if they aren’t satisfied, thereby increasing the conversion rate.
Get Customer Reviews
Customer reviews show that you’re a legitimate seller, and your products are worth investing in, leading to a high ecommerce conversion rate.
72% of people read reviews before taking any action. Having customer reviews on your website can increase the conversion rate by 18%.
Another benefit of displaying reviews on your Shopify store is that it helps strengthen your brand’s credibility and reliability.
Here’s an example from Manitobah Mukluks. They’ve mentioned product ratings at the top of the product’s page. They’ve also highlighted how many people (236) have given reviews.
At the bottom, there’s a separate review section which, when clicked, shows what people are saying about the product.
Leverage Email Marketing to Follow Up on Abandoned Carts
Only 2% of visitors turn into customers on their first visit to online shops. But that doesn’t mean that the remaining 98% won’t convert ever.
Email marketing helps retarget them and increase your conversion optimization rate. In fact, 28.3% of all eCommerce revenue comes from successful abandoned cart emails.
When sending retargeting emails, make sure to include the products the visitor has left in their shopping cart.
Additionally, use special offers like free shipping or X% discount to increase the chances of conversion. Add a CTA to drive users directly to the checkout or shopping cart page.
Nordstrom, an American luxury store, definitely knows how to send retargeting emails to increase the conversion rate. The email consists of the item the visitor left in their shopping bag along with an image. They’ve also highlighted their “free returns – free shipping” policy to entice users into trying their product.
Integrate “Notify Me” Feature
An out of stock item doesn’t mean you have to lose the customer. When one of your products is sold out, you can still attract shoppers by giving them an option to leave their contact information so you can notify them when the product is available again.
This also gives you an opportunity to keep in touch with your potential customers and increase the customer lifetime value.
Greats, a footwear company, asks customers to enter their email address to get notified when their size is back in stock.
This helps them retain customers and get more conversions.
Apps like “Notify Me”, can help you integrate this functionality in your Shopify store and capture shoppers’ email addresses.
Frequently asked questions
Improving conversion rates on Shopify can be done through several strategies, including optimizing website design, simplifying the checkout process, and using customer reviews and social proof to build trust. First, ensure the website design is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and has clear calls to action. Next, simplify the checkout process by reducing the number of steps and asking for only necessary information. Use customer reviews and social proof to build trust, and consider offering incentives or promotions to encourage customers to complete their purchase.
A benchmark for a good conversion rate is typically around 2-3%. However, businesses should aim to continually improve their conversion rates by testing and optimizing their website design, checkout process, and marketing strategies. It’s also important to keep in mind that a high conversion rate doesn’t necessarily equate to success if the business isn’t generating enough traffic or revenue to sustain growth.
Wrapping Up
Increasing the conversion rate on Shopify sites isn’t as difficult as it seems. Applying the 17 strategies mentioned above will help you convert more visitors into customers. However, you shouldn’t expect to witness magic right after you implement them. Last but not the least, don’t forget A/B testing as this can help you in identifying the exact elements that are assisting in conversions. Happy Selling!
Author’s Bio
Joydeep Bhattacharya is an SEO expert and author of the SEO Sandwitch Blog. He has helped numerous businesses improve their presence online. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.
