Continuing on with our Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing 2022, we believe small businesses that are not setting up and trading online are putting themselves at a massive disadvantage.

Ecommerce, also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions. Ecommerce is often used to refer to the sale of physical products online, but it can also describe any kind of commercial transaction that is facilitated through the internet.

The history of eCommerce begins with the first-ever online sale: on August 11, 1994, a man sold a CD by the band Sting to his friend through his website NetMarket, an American retail platform. This is the first example of a consumer purchasing a product from a business through the World Wide Web – or “eCommerce” as we commonly know it today.

Since then, eCommerce has become increasingly more popular year after year. If you run an eCommerce shop, you’re always trying to boost your sales. Here’s how to increase the conversion rate of your eCommerce site.

Top 5 Ways To Increase Ecommerce Conversion Rates

What’s a good eCommerce conversion rate?

Don’t worry about “average” eCommerce conversion rates you find online. A good conversion rate is one that’s better than what you have right now. Any improvement is a move in the right direction.

There are so many variables that affect conversions, it’s very difficult to have comparisons between sites. The quality of traffic is a major contributor. Rates around 1% and 2% are fairly common.

If you want to improve where you are right now, take note of these 5 ways to improve your eCommerce conversion rate.

Quality Product Images

If we had to pick one thing that would sell a product online, it’s images.

Technically, you could have an eCommerce site with only product images and no product descriptions, but we don’t recommend it. We wouldn’t recommend selling products without images either.

Customers want to see what they’re getting. One of the original tactics to boost eCommerce conversion rates is to use high-quality photos of your product. The more pictures, the better. Show the products from different angles and in context; make them zoomable. 

This is one of the most important things you can do to improve your eCommerce conversation rates. You need to invest in high-quality images of your products.

Product Photo Ecommerce

Product Videos

Images are good, but videos are much better. It is the next step before actual touching and feeling. If you’re not doing product videos yet, do them for part of your inventory and see if it makes a difference.

Professionally created videos will help improve your product conversation rate. Examine your inventory and ask yourself if your competitors are using videos. If they’re not, ask yourself would a video of this product be worthwhile? Remember, just because your competitors aren’t using videos doesn’t mean you shouldn’t either, maybe you have an opportunity to get a headstart.

Great Product Copy

Product descriptions matter much more than you might think. The role of product copy is to give buyers enough information so that they can convince themselves that the product is right. Clarity beats persuasion. The best sales copy is full of complete information.

How long should your product copy be? Offer a concise version and a long version. The shorter version should capture the essence of the offer:

You need to include;

  • Who the product/service is for
  • What it will do
  • Why it’s good

The longer version should answer any and every potential user question. If someone reads the whole thing and still has a question or doubt, you have a problem. If they’re convinced halfway through the copy, they’ll skip the rest and continue to checkout.

It’s important to consistently optimize your product pages. If you notice a product is receiving multiple questions, you should consider including the answer to these questions in the product description.

If you sell stuff you don’t make, add a personal touch and recommendations – consider telling the customer why you personally recommend this product and how it will help them.

Free Delivery

We know what you’re thinking, delivery is expensive when the total is added up for every product sold. You think it’s better to just charge the customer for delivery. This is completely wrong. 

75% of consumers expect free shipping, even on orders under €50. Many eCommerce companies always offer free delivery; some have conditions. Amazon bet its entire Prime membership on consumers’ obsession with free shipping.

Should I charge a small delivery fee instead?

In the book Free, Chris Anderson shares the case of Amazon. Once Amazon implemented free shipping, sales went up in each country except one—France. Why? France charged $0.20 instead of free. While $0.20 is almost free, it sure didn’t seem that way to French customers. (Once they changed it to free, sales went up in France, too.)

The moral of the story is that free shipping is proven to lead to higher conversion rates. 

If you must, then choose to add the cost of delivery into your product price. Do not lead the customer to checkout and then add an additional delivery fee to your product. If you choose this option, make sure you promote the fact that you are offering ‘FREE SHIPPING’ on your website.

Product Reviews

The power of social proof should not be discounted. People use reviews, even when they’re shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. You’re probably doing it, too. We know we are.

Start gathering and showcasing reviews on your site. If you sell commodity products and can’t get users to write many reviews, look into pulling reviews from an external site. If you’re a small business, then you will most certainly need to pull reviews from external sites.

Don’t delete negative reviews—they actually help sales if there are only a few of them. If you’re pulling reviews from an external site, then obviously don’t include negative reviews.

VIMAR Digital Marketing

Do you want to take your business/organization to the next level? Having a website is no longer a luxury for forward-thinking organizations, it has become a necessity in today’s digital age. Book a free consultation with VIMAR today. We are a group of professionals with multiple years of experience developing websites and professional digital marketing services. 

Take the next step and get your business noticed today!