Ecommerce conversion rate optimization: 9 ways to improve your sales

Uncertain economic times caused by rapid inflation have consumers tightening their budgets. Meanwhile, increasing privacy regulations are making it harder for ecommerce brands to target and convert.

98% of senior ecommerce decision makers in the U.S. agree that changes to privacy regulations have increased the cost per acquisition (CPA). A MOLOCO study found that CPA costs increased by 63% after the release of iOS 14.5, and an additional 94% after iOS 14.6.

The current ecommerce conversion rate averages 3.65%, meaning approximately 3-4 of every 100 site visitors complete purchases.

What is conversion rate optimization?

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a tailored strategy for targeted key performance indicators (KPIs) that's designed to increase the likelihood that a consumer will take the desired action.

The focus is on getting consumers to complete checkout through user-centric approaches that understand consumer motivation and persuasion tactics.

How to calculate an ecommerce conversion rate

The simplest way to calculate an ecommerce conversion rate is to divide the desired action by the number of site visitors. For example, an ecommerce site with 10,000 visitors in November and 100 sales during that same month would have a conversion rate of 1%.

Data should be collected over longer periods to establish meaningful benchmarks.

What's a good ecommerce conversion rate?

Conversion rates vary by industry, but the horizontal average for all ecommerce sites sits between 3-4%. This means your brand should be closing three out of every 100 visitors.

10 Tips for ecommerce conversion rate optimization

1. Optimize product descriptions

Product pages receive highly motivated traffic from advertisements. Since online shopping lacks tactile experience, brands should provide high-resolution images, videos, and detailed product descriptions to help customers visualize items.

2. Offer targeted incentives

Modern consumers expect coupons, fast shipping, and free returns. However, not every shopper needs a discount in order to convert. Targeting on-the-fence visitors with limited-time coupons, free shipping, and other single-use promotions can increase sales while protecting margins.

3. Leverage social proof

Ninety-five percent of consumers read reviews before making a purchase.

• The probability of the purchase of a product with five reviews is 270% higher than the same product without reviews.
• Reviews on higher-priced products can increase their conversion rate by 380%.
• Cheaper items with product reviews saw a 190% increase in conversion rates.
• 62% of consumers are more likely to purchase if they see customer photos and videos.
• 2 out of 3 say they're more likely to purchase after seeing a testimonial video.
• Replacing landing page reviews with video testimonials can increase the conversion rate by 80%.

4. Offer live chat or chatbots

Live chat and AI chatbots replicate in-store sales assistance. Adding live chat can increase conversion rates by 12%.

5. Streamline the checkout process

70% of ecommerce carts are abandoned before purchase. A primary cause is complicated checkout procedures. Recommendations include implementing standard practices and allowing guest checkout to help remove the friction of creating an account.

6. Use calls to action

Strategic buttons save consumers 148 million hours each year at checkout. Multiple call-to-action buttons with clean, simple copy guide users effectively.

Strategic CTAs can:

• Increase the average order value (AOV) by offering either a discount (25% off orders over $200) or free shipping on orders above X amount
• Promote urgency or scarcity with dynamic messaging on items being viewed
• Upsell or cross-sell similar products that the visitor has added to their cart

7. Prioritize mobile responsiveness

More than half of the world's web traffic comes from mobile devices.

• 76% of shoppers stop shopping at a brand after only two negative engagements
• Positive experiences are the deciding purchase factor for 73% of consumers
• Good experiences can boost order values by 1.9x, and have the power to increase revenue by upwards of 80%

8. Create cart abandonment campaigns

Cart abandonment represents $4.6 trillion globally in lost revenue. Campaigns can alert customers to price drops, use geofencing notifications, or deploy limited-time single-use promo codes, gift with purchase, or free expedited shipping.

• 75% of consumers notice retargeted ads, with 26% of them clicking on the ads to return to your site
• Ecommerce brands that personalize their retargeting have seen returns of more than 1,300%

Real-time offers are more effective because they happen while you still have the visitor's attention, and before they get the chance to buy the product elsewhere.

9. Offer digital payment options

As many as 82% of U.S. consumers use digital payments when shopping online. These include digital wallets like Apple Pay, BNPL (buy now, pay later), cryptocurrency, and more.

Optimizing checkout can increase ecommerce conversion rates by 35%.

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Session AI's in-session marketing platform is a solution for converting anonymous visitors. The approach works without any customer data, so it's naturally in sync with a privacy-first world.

Request a demo today.