5 Conversion Rate Tips for E-commerce

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who become customers after completing a purchase on your website. It’s one of the most important e-commerce metrics to track.

Globally, the average conversion rate varies from 1% to 4%. In the U.S., the average hovers around 2.27%, but big players like Amazon, which converts at a whopping 13%, drive that number up significantly.

There's still a lot of variation among industries, but 2% is a reasonable CRO goal for most stores. That translates to about 200 conversions per 100,000 visitors. 

If you're not quite there yet, here's how to get moving in the right direction.

1. Use Multiple Trust-Building Elements 

According to a recent Brightpearl study, 51% of consumers say that trust makes the biggest difference in who they shop with. It’s even more important than any other determiner, including brand name and price.

Trust Signals

Trust signals are logos from third-party organizations that verify your business practices‌ — Verified by Visa, Norton Secured, and so on. ‌

Logos like these tell visitors that a company cares about the safety and privacy of its visitors. Offering this reassurance is a great strategy for increasing sales, especially in today’s safety-minded society.

Press logos also make great trust signals. If your business has earned a mention in a well-known newspaper or magazine, posting the publication’s logo can boost your credibility.‌

Your Contact Information

Prominently post your phone number and your primary business address on your website. This kind of information shows people that you’re a real-life business, possibly driving a conversion rate increase among scam-wary customers.

2. Offer Free Shipping

In a survey of 250 merchants in a variety of industries, 56% said that free shipping drives conversions. It ranks above fast shipping, an in-cart discount, and even free gifts with purchase. 

Customers agree. When asked what causes them to abandon shopping carts, 49% pointed to extra costs like shipping and fees. That’s double the number of people who gave any other reason.‌

If you don’t offer free shipping, customers will leave your site and go somewhere else, and they have no shortage of options. 

With Amazon Prime, for example, a shopper can receive almost anything in two days with no shipping costs. If you can't offer that level of shipping generosity, try using free shipping as an incentive. Whenever cart value goes above a certain level, the items ship free. This conversion marketing strategy can work for merchants of all sizes.

3. Collect Emails to Run Abandoned Cart Campaigns

The abandoned cart rate across e-commerce is a staggering 69.8%. That translates to seven out of every 10 of your website shoppers never clicking “buy now.” To get some of those buyers back, set up email capture on your website.

Email capture pop-ups are easy to set up with a service like Klaviyo, which offers custom form building and easy install. You can decide when and where you want the pop-up to appear, and whether you want to entice visitors to sign up by offering them special discounts.

Then, you can use Klaviyo to set up automated abandoned cart emails. These messages remind people about the items they’ve left behind, drawing them back with product appeal and perhaps a promotional offer.

4. Let Customers Check Out as Guests

The next most popular reason for cart abandonment, behind extra costs, is the requirement to create an account. Some people prefer not to give a website their information because of spam worries. Others don’t have the time to fill out a profile.

Whatever the reason, you can easily recapture these customers just by adding a “checkout as guest” option to your e-commerce store.  

5. Optimize for Mobile

Mobile devices drive 54.8% of all web traffic. If your site is slow or difficult to navigate on a smartphone or tablet, customers will quickly abandon it for a competitor.

Websites designed for mobile users get 15% more unique clicks, and 80% of the web’s top-ranked sites are mobile-friendly. If you’re not sure whether your site is optimized for mobile, check the site builder you use or ask your designer. 

Final Thoughts

As you launch your conversion rate optimization strategy, keep an eye on what your stats do with each change. For the most accurate results, crunch your own numbers instead of using a third-party calculator. 

Also, remember to compare apples to apples. Check your conversion rate against your own industry, not against e-commerce as a whole.

The tips presented here will help, but don’t let them become your entire strategy. Keep A/B testing elements of your site and checkout experience to shift the balance in your favor.