With 71% of shoppers believing that they will get a better deal online than in stores, and with mobile e-commerce up 35% compared to last year for the first quarter of 2014, it is more important than ever for businesses in all verticals to do everything they can with their online presence to ensure the best possible sales outcomes. To help, we have outlined the 5 e-commerce mistakes you might be making, and how to avoid them.
Failing to Make the Most of Quality Images
A picture speaks a thousand words, and this applies to your e-commerce site as well. This is especially true if you sell items whose value relies heavily on its appearance: apparel, décor, art, etc., and even appliances, cars, and more. As it turns out, the image you choose depends heavily on the conversions and sales you see. A case study by Visual Web Optimizer, for example, showed that using larger images resulted in a straight 9.46% increase in sales. Another test showed that an online store was able to improve conversions via site search by 100% when they included images in the search bar. When you’re turning a shopping experience into a digital shopping experience, it’s important to make that experience visual. The more the customer can feel like they’re in-store, the better.
Your Site Doesn’t Look Trustworthy
This is a problem that many businesses grapple with. You know you’re trustworthy, so how can you make your customers feel the love? Part of it is design: unfortunately, we live in a world where books are judged by their covers, so keeping an updated site with quality design is step one. Including customer testimonials is another way to let customers know that you are a trustworthy brand: another customer’s review can sometimes be enough to assuage any doubts. Lastly, having a phone number on your site goes a long way. According to Google, 61% of customers believe it’s important that businesses give them a phone number to call, and 33% would be less likely to refer brands that don’t provide a number.
Choosing the Wrong Shopping Cart
Before you choose a shopping cart for your site, do some research. Think about your functionality needs, feature requirements, integration requirements, budget, need for customizability, etc. Also consider how easy it is to use for you and your customers. The average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is 68.06%, so ensuring that the process is easy is important.
Not Having a Mobile-Optimized Site
This is a killer in today’s mobile world. This infographic shows the way smartphones have impacted retail and e-commerce, with some statistics that may mean an unpleasant shock for businesses that haven’t been keeping up with the quick pace of mobile. Customers using smartphones are 30% more likely to visit a retailer website, and 51% more likely to make a purchase. What happens if they get to the site and it’s difficult and clumsy, not optimized for their mobile device? They’re going to go to a competitor that takes mobile into consideration.
Not Providing A Phone Number
Another killer, especially as it pertains to mobile. Just as customers using smartphones are 30% more likely to visit a retailer website and 51% more likely to make a purchase, customers using smartphones are 39% more likely to call a business. This is partially because converting on the phone is easier than filling out a contact form if they need more information from you, and partially due to other reasons. For example, 67% of online shoppers will call a business directly for any purchase greater than $100. They want to feel secure making their purchase, and security comes in the form of conversation. After all, e-commerce is still a shopping experience, and customers ask questions in-store all the time especially at checkout. Giving them a way to contact you in the moment to ask those shopping-related questions will keep them from abandoning ship and cart.