Ecommerce stores have grown in demand with the increase in online shopping by customers. In 2017, global ecommerce nearly reached around $2.3 trillion, and by 2021, it is expected to touch $4.5 trillion.
Today ecommerce owners may find it challenging to remain competitive unless they have a presence across their customers’ preferred channels. With many customers using mobile devices for online shopping, online retailers must provide them with user-friendly navigation and a smooth checkout process to attract them to their websites.
Why may website conversions be vital for your business?
According to VMO statistics, 23% of the customers tend to abandon carts when asked to create an account. Companies can no longer rely on their customers to register on their website using this approach. The main aim of customers is to make a quick purchase within the shortest period. Hence, it is essential to keep the process of conversion short and simple to encourage them to buy from your website.
With the increasing competition in ecommerce, customers may be enticed to make purchases if they are offered discounts on products, they might have already added to their shopping carts. Customers tend to abandon sites with unexpectedly high shipping costs, which means ecommerce companies need to be transparent and clear about their shipping charges.
Sometimes, retargeting customers could be an effective strategy to attract visitors back to your site. Thus, identifying repeat visitors can help engage users with your brand and help boost your conversion rates.
How to optimize your ecommerce site for better user experience?
Most ecommerce retailers invest tons of money while starting their business and putting in their best efforts to design their websites and develop the best products for their customers. However, when it comes to the checkout pages, they do not pay enough attention, leaving visitors frustrated and tend to abandon such sites. The success of your website ultimately depends on the volume of profits generated by selling the products.
Here are a few tips that you can use for providing an improved user experience:
- Use effective calls to action button
It is essential to provide your visitors with realistic expectations while they visit your website. Make sure to provide clear instructions about what they are expected to do and how to go about the process. It would be best if you offered calls to action buttons to enable customers to have a smooth checkout process as they are the essential buttons that need to be kept in mind while designing websites.
- Offer real-time customer service
Focus on building engaging relationships with your prospects and keep the conversations going with them. Follow up with them using an email campaign and address all their concerns by providing practical solutions. Wherever possible, please provide them with real-time assistance using a live chat support system to manage their queries. This can be especially good as all customers may not be able to use technology effectively and may need advice while shopping online.
- Provide progress bar with multi-page checkouts
A checkout process needs to be smooth and allows for an easy transition for the customers without taking much time and causing distractions. It would help to include progress bars for the multi checkout process to help customers understand what stage they are in the checkout process. This can be quite an effective method for customers who may not be well versed with technology and need an update on the ongoing process.
- Improve your site security
SSL certificates can be useful in enhancing trust and confidence among your visitors, allowing them to continue to shop online without the fear of losing their personal information. If you have multiple subdomains, it is recommended to use Wildcard SSL Certificates with various market options. Alpha wildcard SSL is one of the most used to secure an unlimited number of subdomains and the best option when it comes to boosting your website rankings.
- Use visual elements to enhance your site
The checkout page of your website needs to be visual as it helps build your brand’s credibility and boost its identity. Thus, if the checkout page looks like the rest of the site, it helps build trust and security among your visitors. Different types of visuals may be used on the checkout page, including logos, buttons, color, and typography
- Focus on mobile users
Today, there are more mobile users than ever before, making it essential for ecommerce sites to effectively target this group. Your checkout page’s design on the mobile needs to provide a smooth and easy navigation experience for your users. The design elements must offer ease of functionality and give the forms with deeper boxes with big buttons. Create a checkout page that is easy to scroll for the users rather than having multiple flips through screens.
- Use easy to fill forms
It is crucial to make your user experience easy and convenient as much as possible. If there are too many fields, it might not be evident for your online shoppers. Keep the form’s design as simple as possible, where you try to gather minimal information from visitors. If there are any returning customers, you can always pre-populate the field with important information such as address and pin code.
Conclusion
The checkout page is crucial for every ecommerce site, which needs to be user friendly and convenient for website visitors. After all, it is essential to keep your customers happy and provide them with the best online shopping experience by focusing on using lightweight design and making checkout faster to boost your conversion rates. It is also essential to keep your site safe and secure to protect your customers’ valuable personal information to enable them to navigate your website with greater confidence.