eCommerce

5 Tips to Improve your eCommerce Conversion rates in 2022

As the eCommerce industry continues to grow, sellers are ironically struggling more than ever to optimize their conversion rates. 

Because let’s face it, increased competition coupled with a rise in advertising costs has roadblocked many eCommerce businesses. Not to mention that online shoppers are a demanding bunch. They’ll only buy from sellers they trust, and they’re always looking for the best deals. Can you blame them?

So how do you optimize your conversion rates when your potential customers are so hard to nail down?

The eCommerce money challenge

Since 2019, ad costs have increased dramatically and performance-based marketing has become more difficult to stay on top of. Between Google ads and social media advertising, business owners can barely keep up. Those with expendable income are hiring managers whose sole job is to monitor the data and metrics.

But according to Brent Zahradnik, founder of AMZ Pathfinder, for the average established seller, the PPC model “is becoming less and less reliable.” Finding the right balance in 2022 is challenging as the level of ad sophistication has significantly increased, the average cost per click is much higher and the profit margins are low.

eCommerce strategy redefined

While paid advertising is still important, focusing on organic reach may lead to better ROI. 

By placing a greater emphasis on product development and expansion strategy, you’ll likely discover the trick to differentiate your company and products, helping you attract more organic attention. 

You’ll also improve your organic reach by optimizing your website for conversions and by implementing strategic sales techniques (like urgency and reciprocity/loyalty programs) to win over your potential customers.

Below are 6 tips to level up your eCommerce business and convert more customers without increasing your ad spend.

1. Optimize website navigation and user experience (UX)

Ensuring that your site is easy to navigate is non-negotiable. 

Keep in mind that online shoppers will abandon their shopping carts if they can’t quickly find what they’re looking for. Don’t give your potential customers any reason to leave your site.  Help them find the products they’re looking for with ease. 

Be sure your eCommerce site includes the following:

  • A search bar
  • Product categories that are clearly labeled so your products are easy to find.
  • Breadcrumbs to help visitors keep track of their location on your site

Breadcrumbs can even lower bounce rates. By offering visitors an alternative way to browse your site, they’ll be more likely to stick around rather than click back to Google.
Breadcrumbs with structured data on the backend also help Google to better understand your website structure leading to improved SEO.

Breadcrumbs can appear like the following on an eCommerce site:

When you do a  google search, for example, for pink sneakers for girls, Google provides its top two finds below a bunch of images:

If you click on Zappos, you end up here:

If you decide against pink shoes, Zappos has attribute-based breadcrumbs, which are prominent above the images and provide an easy way to navigate to other shoe searches. 

Overall, a website that provides a quality user experience will help you increase your site traffic and sales as well as improve your SEO.

2. Offer free shipping

A recent study found that 48% of all cart abandonments are due to high shipping costs.

Offering free shipping will not only make your cost-conscious customers happy, but it might even increase your average order value. And if you’re worried about losing money by offering free shipping, consider raising your prices slightly to offset the cost.

3. Introduce a customer loyalty program

It’s much cheaper to retain a current customer than to acquire a new one. To prevent losing a customer after one purchase, offer a loyalty program. Loyalty programs provide powerful incentives for buyers to return to your site and purchase more products. 

Because just like you, your customers are bombarded with countless ads a day, and they talk back to those ads.

“Hey, what’s in it for me? Why should I stick with your company when company Y is offering an almost identical product for a dollar less?”

A loyalty program enables you to create meaningful and personalized connections with your customers. Discounts, coupons, or free gifts can be very effective in boosting sales because everyone loves to feel like they’re getting a “deal.” However, when those incentives are attached to a loyalty/membership program, they motivate your customers to become more committed.

But loyalty programs are not one size fits all. Understanding your target customers will help you understand whether you should choose a points-based loyalty program, tiered loyalty program, paid loyalty program or value-based loyalty program. 

And no, you don’t have to figure this all out on your own. Software like Smile.io, YotPo and Kangaroo Rewards empower companies to establish their own unique loyalty programs without having to reinvent the wheel.

4. Simplify your checkout process

The average cart abandonment rate is 69.99%, and studies indicate that about 18% of cart abandonments occur due to a long or complicated checkout process.

To avoid this issue, make sure your checkout process is as streamlined as possible. Only ask for essential information and make sure the process is easy to understand. You should also offer a guest checkout option for customers who don’t want to create an account.

In addition, always offer multiple payment options. This way, customers can choose the option that’s best for them. The most popular payment options include credit cards, debit cards, PayPal and Apple Pay.

5. Create a sense of urgency 

Creating a sense of urgency is a great way to persuade customers to make a purchase. You can do this by offering limited-time discounts or deals. This encourages customers to buy now before the deal expires. You can also create a sense of urgency by displaying how many items are left in stock, informing customers that they need to act fast so they don’t lose out.

Other tactics include countdown timers, flash sales and limited product drops.

Need more conversion strategy?

The above optimization tactics are relatively simple to implement and will enable you to keep pace with the competition.

Still, every eCommerce business is dealing with a unique set of challenges. To decide how to best strategize for your eCommerce or Amazon business or to consult with an expert on how to make an eventual exit, contact us. We’d love to help you grow your business.

Meny Hoffman

Meny Hoffman is the CEO and founder of Ptex Group, the Let’s Talk Business podcast, and the Let's Talk Exits podcast and blog. He's been dedicated to building brands and advising business owners for the past 20 years. More recently, he has started educating and advising within the Amazon seller and e-commerce entrepreneur space.

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