For last couple of weeks, we have been frequently contacted by various cart owners who say that they got an ecommerce site built and they have consumed much sweat of their brows into it, yet they aren’t getting any liquid return out of it. They even paled that despite having some genuine traffic, they weren’t able to convert it into customers.
While reviewing and redesigning their sites, I found tons of mistakes which were keeping prospects from making purchases. It would be worthwhile for many of my friends around to realize some of major mistakes which can actually be fixed with just little planning.
Little Product Information
In traditional brick and mortar stores, customers can have a full view of the product. They can have the products close to their eyes and tight in their hands. All details regarding the product such as price, packaging, label, guarantees and testimonials are readily available for them so that they could fully satisfy their heart and mind before they roll money out of their pockets. It’s daily experience for people like us that we hardly come across highly visual and textual detail description of the product. And if by any means, we happen to find some information that would be presented terribly enough to make customers take their heels.
Fix it now
Make sure that you provide your customers with all that information which is necessary for them to make a purchase. Add all different aspects related to product and visual information highlighting necessary angles of the product.
Little or No Contact Information
Customers don’t ever rise to any sales pitches which are coming from suspicious or dead alley. They want to know whom they are going to make a purchase from and where it is located and likewise, what are further details about the seller etc.
In most of sites that I reviewed, I observed that there was little or no information about the sellers. Just put yourself in consumers’ boots for a while and tell me would you make me a sale if you don’t know anything whatsoever about me. Would you?
Fix it now
Bring your contact details where ever your customers want to have it. The header, top side bars or footer of your website are places where customers are likely to glance over for your contact info. So have it here before you lose any other customer.
Ambiguous/Irritating/Complex Checkout Process
Frankly speaking, checkout is the most important part while getting into conversion rate of any cart site. Most of the sites don’t even bother providing with Guest checkout options while others have made it either too complex or have made it extra smart. Customers don’t feel easy to get along with such practices and prefer flying away.
Since this is most important part, let’s dive deeper into checkout process. Following are top optimization problems found in checkout process.
2-Not allowing Guest Users Checkout: As discussed earlier, allowing guest checkout shows benevolence towards consumers and likewise not allowing it shows prudence on behalf of sellers.
3-Displaying website navigation during checkout: Checkout pages would be as navigation free as possible as it would curb any possible distractions. On the other hand, if navigation is fully functional as on other pages, users would be tempted to have 'to and fro' movements, thus being vulnerable to run down.
4-Losing Customers’ inputs while any submission errors: Nothing could be more horrendous for both customers and sellers when any input gets down the drains. Users won’t ever like to fill the whole lot of info again and thus a potential conversion would ultimately be lost.
5-Design layout causing sore-eyed flow: Exuberant, over flowing and rampant designs are cool but not cool enough to get users glued at checkout process. Make checkout process beautiful but not ‘hot’.
6-Perplexing action buttons with same colors and acute proximity: Frankly speaking, so much buttons calling for action and that too at critical proximity are very offending. Not only make your action eye soothing, but also bring nice descriptions for them.
7-Not providing point to point shopping progress: Obviously buying process carries specific number of phases and customers should know how far they’ve moved in that process or how many steps are left behind. So, show your customers at which buying stage they’re now.
8-Forcing unnecessary information out: Get only what’s strictly necessary and not any extra or irrelevant information in any case. Be precise!
9-Cross selling and up selling during check out process: Though in brick and mortar stores customers cross selling and up selling. It’s quite natural for that mode as customers’ buying power and buying behavior could physically be gauged therein. But, on online shopping carts, it’s quite risky. I’d suggest make one sale at one time. I am sure that getting these mistakes would be a great makeover for your existing carts. Now, see the infographic below for full understanding.
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