Categories
Marketing

How Optimizing Your Checkout Process Can Boost Your Sales

One of the most important aspects of online retail is the user experience. Your website must be designed in such a way that its users are naturally drawn to your offerings. Besides high-quality design and helpful information, it must also offer convenience to effectively make sales.

To illustrate this point, even a delay of one second in your website’s loading time can cause a drop in conversions of up to 7 percent. This is particularly problematic when you consider that 70 percent of website visitors will abandon their shopping cart before making a purchase.

As such, it is important to optimize your checkout process. There must be as few clicks as possible between your landing page and the payment page. Even then, your page must be perfectly designed to make that purchase all the easier. In this article, we will show you how to make that possible by going over a few important facts.

The underlying causes

Through a series of surveys and data gathering, most of the underlying causes of failed conversions have been determined. Marketers, designers, and business owners use this information to better understand customer behavior. Once that is understood, intelligent strategies could be employed to increase sales.

Here are some of the data points of interest:

  • 61% of customers were deterred by additional shipping and tax costs
  • 35% of customers did not want to make a customer account
  • 27% say that the checkout process was too long and complicated
  • 24% were put off by the fact that they didn’t know what the total cost was
  • 22% said that errors occurred on the e-commerce website
  • 18% were hesitant to put their bank account information on the website.

As you can see, the most important concerns apparent are related to transparency, security, and convenience. These are the things that must be addressed when thinking about optimizing your checkout process.

Pitfalls to avoid, and strategies to employ

Based on various studies, surveys, and statistics, different strategies can now increase the likelihood of turning a site visitor into a customer. Here are some of the tried-and-tested tactics you could employ for your online shop:

1. Don’t surprise customers with additional costs

The most annoying thing for nearly any buyer is finding that the price you intended to pay was less than the actual cost. While shipping is already a common thing people prepare for, other fees like taxes can turn off a customer from making a purchase. This is the most important thing to address, as it can account for up to 61 percent of people leaving before they buy.

If free shipping is not possible, make sure your customer is informed about the price even before they hit the checkout page. This way, they are more likely to make an informed decision. 

2. Allow different options

The most common payment methods are the following: PayPal, Stripe checkout, credit cards, debit cards, and cash. Online payment has become such a commonplace practice that having a robust set of options can raise your conversions by up to 200 percent

3. Allow guest checkouts

Many people are reluctant to provide their email addresses to other websites, especially with all the fears surrounding data privacy and security. As such, it is important to give them an option for guest checkouts. This can allow them to safely make a purchase and can push them to make more down the line as you prove to be a trustworthy website.

4. Reduce the number of clicks

There is a reason why many online shops have a “Buy now!” button right next to their “Add to cart!” It reduces the number of clicks towards a purchase. It allows the customer to buy a product before their hesitation sets in. Additionally, a website should be easy to navigate and understand, and that often entails reducing the number of clicks and designing intuitive payment buttons.

In conclusion

As we’ve mentioned before, convenience is the key to customer satisfaction. And by convenience, we mean that the customer has less to worry about—security, ease of access, and so on. Whatever product you might sell or service you might offer, keep in mind the user experience, and you can quite easily boost your sales.

If you are looking to optimize your payment page, send us at Payment Page a message. We can make the purchase process a smoother experience for both you and your customers. 

Categories
Accepting Online Payments Marketing

What Is the Best Way to Boost Sales Online?

One inevitable challenge that business owners face is when their eCommerce sales or subscriptions start to plateau—or even decline. 

If you are going through this phase at the moment, don’t get discouraged! These things naturally happen at one point (sometimes even more) throughout your operations. On top of that, there’s usually a way for you to pick yourself up and get back on track. 

When it comes to boosting your sales online, however, it’s helpful to remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Every business is unique, so the strategies they need to drive their eCommerce sales will naturally differ as well. 

On that note, you will learn of smart and practical ways to improve your revenue in the sections below. Feel free to experiment with these and mix and match items until you find the strategy that works for you.

1. Work Both on Customer Acquisition and Customer Retention

A common mistake business owners make is focusing all their efforts on acquiring new customers. While customer acquisition is essential to keep your business afloat, you must also pay equal attention to retaining your existing customers. 

Compared to new customers, loyal customers are more likely to add more items to their shopping carts. On top of that, they also tend to have a higher conversion rate and generate more revenue for you for each of their visits. 

Keeping your existing customer base engaged is a cost-effective strategy to drive your sales.

2. Include Video Demonstrations On Your Website and Social Media Pages 

There’s no denying the fact that consumers love videos. In fact, a study shows that the average user spends 88% more time on web pages that have videos in them

Considering this insight, incorporating videos in your promotional strategy may be worthwhile. Videos can easily draw the attention of prospects because of their audio-visual content. On top of this, they help create brand recall in your audience.

If you have a product offering that must be operated in some way, producing video demonstrations is worth giving a shot. This not only draws the attention of prospects but also educates them about the uses and benefits of your product. 

3. Make Sure Your Ecommerce Shop Is Mobile-friendly 

Today, more people are accessing the Internet through their phones. Furthermore, 40% of mobile users have bought something online using their devices

This is something you can’t ignore as an online business owner. You must make sure that your website is optimized for mobile devices; otherwise, you may be driving potential sales away. This may even be the reason why you’re seeing a decline in sales or subscriptions. 

A mobile-friendly online eCommerce website delivers the convenience and speed that customers want in their online shopping experience. 

4. Accept Different Payment Options 

One of the most important things you have to remember if you want to drive more sales is that you must prioritize your customers’ convenience. 

Payment options are a crucial aspect when it comes to providing your customers with a pleasant online shopping experience. No matter how good your product offering is, if you only accept Visa and MasterCard, you may be alienating lots of potential customers. 

Ensuring that you can accept debit cards in addition to credit cards may be the missing piece you need to unlock your eCommerce website’s full potential.  

Conclusion

Stagnating or declining sales does not necessarily mean that your product offering is not attractive anymore. Most of the time, it indicates that you must devise new and creative ways to market and sell it on your eCommerce site. If you aren’t sure where or how to start, begin with the tips mentioned above. Experiment on various executions, refine your strategy, and you’ll be well on your way to devising the best way to boost your sales. 

If you’re looking to reinvent your payment form to boost your sales, why not consider Payment Page? This WordPress plugin integrated with Stripe can make it easier for you to accept recurring payments for your eCommerce store. Head to our website today to get Payment Page as soon as we launch and save up to 30%!