There is no doubt that the popularity of online shopping is on the rise. With the global effects of Coronavirus, many consumers have been forced to make more purchases on ecommerce websites.
Now, more and more consumers are feeling comfortable in using ecommerce websites for online purchases. This trend is expected to continue moving forward.
A report by Forrester Research predicts that online retail sales will account for 36% of total sales in 2022. As such, businesses are looking to venture into ecommerce, to leverage this current trend.
Websites are one of the great ways businesses are using to reach out to customers. They not only help reach out to more customers across the globe, but can also facilitate online purchases.
A successful ecommerce website can not only lead to increased sales, but can create a better customer experience, by saving time for the customer with quick purchases and delivery, and you the business owner with faster delivery of your products or services.
If you want to take advantage of this growth, it’s important to ensure your ecommerce website design is successful.
Here are six essentials for creating a website that sells:
1. Abandoned Cart Recovery
The average abandoned cart recovery rate is 68.82%.
This means that if you have 100 carts, 68 will be abandoned. Cart abandonment currently causes ecommerce brands to lose a staggering $18 billion loss in sales revenue.
Cart abandonment refers to customers leaving items in their online shopping cart without completing the purchase. It is not good for ecommerce stores because customers are not buying what they intended to.
That’s like someone filling up their trolley at the supermarket, going all the way to the checkout saying hello to the checkout attendant, and justing leaving the trolley full of items without paying!
There are many reasons for cart abandonment, but the most common is the high costs involved.
49% of online customers abandoned items selected because of the high tax or shipping fees incurred. The other reason is that customers are overwhelmed with the buying process, like needing to create an online account on the website, or they simply don’t trust the site.
Cart recovery is a way to bring those customers back and complete the purchase. There are many ways to recover abandoned carts, but the most effective is through automated emails.
Studies have shown that automated emails have an estimated open rate of 45%. This means that almost half of the people who receive the email will open it.
Automated emails are sent to customers who have left items in their cart, reminding them of what they left behind and giving them a final chance to complete the purchase. It also seeks to understand the reasons behind the abandonment and offers solutions.
The other way to recover abandoned carts is through pop-ups and push notifications. The average conversion rate from pop-ups and notifications in 2020 was 3.09%. This implies that out of 100 people who had abandoned, 3 completed the purchase after the push notifications. These notifications work best when they are personalised and timed well.
Abandoned cart recovery is a very effective way to increase sales, and it should be one of the essential features of an ecommerce website. Businesses should ensure that they have a system to recover abandoned carts and increase their sales.
2. Build an Email Database
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach customers. You can contact them directly with updates, new products, and special offers when you have their email addresses.
Over 4.3 billion people use emails worldwide, so it’s a great way to reach a large audience. Small and medium businesses depend on emails to acquire 81% of their customers, while the same is used to retain about 80% of online clients. Therefore, it is an effective way to keep in touch with your customers and promote new products or services.
Creating an email database is one of the most important things you can do for your ecommerce website.
It allows you to build a relationship with your customers and keep them returning to your store.
Studies show that every $1 used for email marketing has a return on investment of $42. At this rate, the return on investment is 4200%. This is a great motivation to collect as many emails as possible from your customers and create a database.
There are a few ways you can collect emails from your customers. When they checkout, you can ask for their email, offer a free download in exchange for their email, or run a contest or giveaway.
Whatever method you choose, make sure you have a clear call to action, so customers know what to do. And, be sure to follow up with your customers after they sign up, so they feel appreciated and connected to your store.
Once you create the email database, ensure you send personalised emails to customers, not just automated blasts. Personalised emails enjoy an 18.8% open rate. This implies that there is a high likelihood of making sales through emails. Also, use convincing and personalised subject lines to attract a 50% open rate.
Creating an email database should be your topmost priority to succeed in ecommerce. It’s a great way to keep in touch with your customers, increase sales, and boost ROI.
3. Online Reviews
When customers consider a purchase, they often look to online reviews for guidance. This trend is common across global markets, where about 54% of consumers read online reviews even before they choose whether to buy or not.
The habit is more profound in local markets. 87% of shoppers read online reviews.
Additionally, the consumer product review of 2022 shows that 49% of online shoppers trust these reviews the same way they trust personal recommendations. This means that if your ecommerce website doesn’t have any customer reviews, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to build trust with potential buyers.
Online reviews are essential for ecommerce websites because:
- They help build trust with potential buyers
- Can influence purchase decisions
- Are a form of social proof that encourages other customers to buy
- Can help improve your site’s SEO
Ensure you are actively encouraging your customers to leave reviews and make it as easy as possible for them to do so. You can also use review platforms to collect and display reviews on your site.
You can encourage customers to write reviews by:
- Including a call-to-action on your product pages
- Making it easy for customers to leave reviews (including star ratings)
- Thanking customers who have left reviews
- Responding to negative reviews constructively
An ecommerce website with online reviews is likely to see increased conversions and a higher ROI.
Make sure you are taking advantage of this valuable resource. Improve the ecommerce website by incorporating the customer review section and allowing your customers to promote your products.
4. Website Speed
One of the most important aspects of a successful ecommerce website is its speed. Your site must load quickly to keep customers engaged – no more than three seconds.
47% of online shoppers expect a webpage to load in less than 2 seconds.
Webpages that take longer to load lose customers and have a negative impact on the site’s SEO ranking. It affects the conversion rate. The conversion rate depends on various factors such as website design, web page content, customer service, and others. But, it is a known fact that the faster the website loads, the higher are the chances of conversion.
Walmart found that for every one percent increase in conversion rate, they saw an increase of sales revenue from $10 million to $200,000 million. This implies that for every second the speed improves, the customer conversion rate increase by 2%. This is a perfect example of how website speed contributes to the success of any ecommerce business.
If the speed of your website is low, it is time to take some corrective action. Here are a few tips that can help you improve the speed of your website:
- Ecommerce optimisation
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
- Minimise the number of requests on your page
- Optimise images
- Remove unnecessary scripts and plugins
- Enable caching on your web
- Use a good hosting provider
Ecommerce optimisation is the process of improving the performance of an ecommerce website. Various techniques can be used for this purpose, such as reducing server response time, caching static content, compressing files, and others.
A CDN is a network of servers that deliver web pages and other digital assets to users worldwide. This helps improve the speed and performance of your website.
Minimising the number of requests on your page means that you should load only the essential files on each page. This can be done by combining scripts, using CSS instead of images for styling, and others.
Optimising images can help reduce the image file size without any loss in quality. Many online tools effectively optimise images and ensure that web pages load fast.
Removing unnecessary scripts and plugins can help reduce the loading time of your website. These scripts and plugins may not be used by all users and can slow down the loading of your pages.
The hosting provider you choose can also have a major impact on the speed of your website. Make sure you choose a provider that offers good performance and uptime.
5. Easy-to-Use Design
The website needs to be easy to navigate, with a simple and clean design. Customers should be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily. 76% of online users prefer websites that are easy to use while 10% consider appearance.
Over three-quarters of online shoppers want a website to find whatever they want easily. This is an important factor to consider when designing or redesigning your ecommerce website.
Avoid cluttered pages and overwhelming menus. Use clear and concise language, legible fonts, and easy-to-follow navigation. Easy to navigate websites increases the rate of conversion by 18.5%. Make sure all of your product information is easily accessible and customer service information. The easier it is for customers to find what they need on your website, the more likely they are to buy from you.
Don’t forget about the importance of aesthetics either. Your website’s appearance can be a major deciding factor for shoppers, so make sure it looks professional and appealing. A well-designed website will help convert browsers into buyers.
To be successful in ecommerce, it is important to have an easy website to use. This means having a simple and clean design, clear and concise language, and easy-to-follow navigation. Your website also needs to be visually appealing, so make sure you invest in a professional design.
6. Mobile Compatibility
Mobile phone users have been steadily increasing over the past several years. As of 2021, the total number of mobile users was 7.1 billion, and they form 54.4% of web traffic. The number is expected to increase to 7.26 billion by the end of 2022.
Additionally, 79% of mobile phone users buy online. This makes up 40% of total ecommerce purchases so your ecommerce stores need to be mobile-friendly.
Unfortunately, ecommerce websites that do not display correctly on mobile devices, can lead to lost customers.
Studies show that 40% of mobile phone users will shift to competitors if your website is not mobile phone friendly.
You can make your website mobile phone-friendly by having a responsive design and avoiding apps. Apps usually do not work in the background and, therefore, will lead to lost customers and unhappy users.
There are many factors that create a successful ecommerce website, and we have only scratched the surface. But at least these should be implemented as a priority.
Contact us for a free online consultation today and build a successful ecommerce website for your business
