20+ Tips to Improve eCommerce Conversion Rates (Examples included!)

‍Intro:

The Oddit team is sharing 20+ tips on how to build a better customer experience while increasing conversion. Oddit is a brand-first CRO company that helps DTC companies boost conversion & strengthen brand loyalty.

Let’s jump in! 

Overview:

1. Navigation 
2. Homepage
3. Product page: Subscription 
4. Product page: Conversion Sweet Spot
   

Navigation Tips: 

Just because the world is mobile, doesn’t mean you can forget about desktop. The greatest brands are built on details and consistencies. Use your content & design hierarchy to help guide users towards conversion.

1. Bookend your desktop nav with access to your products and make sure that if you’re going to trigger a dropdown or mega menu, let the user know what to expect with a ‘+’ or chevron.
2. Give the user ownership over their shopping experience – the simplest copy tweak from ‘Build a HouseFit’ to ‘Build My HouseFit’ can be the difference between ‘click’ & ‘close’.
3. Every navigation needs a primary action. Decide what your most important action/link/offer is and give users access to it. Make sure it’s the loudest element in your navigation (yes, louder than your logo).

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The same goes for mobile: (1) start and finish with shopping (2) Ensure there is a primary action and make sure it’s at the bottom of the menu where it’s easily accessible (3) Tighten. The. Screws.

Homepage Tips:

The best products are easy to describe because they are simple – but copywriting can only go so far. Always make sure your product is visualized in an engaging and easy-to-access manner. 

1. Especially when your product is something users may not have seen before, surface some form of social proof (such as reviews or # sold). The example above tells customers “we know this is foreign to you, but look at all these other amazing people that trusted us and love it”.
2. Separate your copy from your image or video. By overlaying them, they both lose their punch. The updated image can still be a video/gif, just needs to be easy to see the ACTUAL product.
3. If you’ve got the whitespace, pull in some key traits or benefits of the product in a punchy, simple manner. Not everyone is used to working out with a fake axe – tell them what’s gettin’ ripped!
4. Ask yourself: Is your subheading truly adding value? Is there any lost communication if you remove it? Unless it’s a resounding yes, delete. Simplify to a simple heading that is easy to scan (especially now that we’re calling out key traits on the image!
5. We love bottom floating menus (it’s the future!) but let users focus at the beginning. Trigger this menu to pop-in once they scroll so your beautiful new (and engaging) header conversion isn’t crushed by overlapping actions.

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Product Page 1: Subscription

There are 2 key areas to a PDP – before the ‘Add to Cart’ button, and after it. The area above it is where you surface the product information that NEEDS to be communicated – the area below is info that’s NICE to have communicated. Here’s a great example of what that looks like. 

1. Review your content hierarchy – is the first thing you want a user to see a ‘back’ button. Nah. The breadcrumb is already giving users access to where they came from – delete any action drawing attention away from adding to cart.
2. Build trust instantly. Surface reviews at the top of your content hierarchy, and add a subtle secondary action to read some of them – if a user needs a little extra convincing, let your brand advocates do it for you.
3. Tighten the screws. Headlines, pricing, sub-copy – the proper type balance, spacing, and flow of this information makes it easier on the eyes meaning it’s easier to read/scan and users can get to taking action faster.
4. Don’t force users to scroll past your add to cart button to get the critical information needed to subscribe. Tell them exactly what they are getting, when they are getting it, and what makes it great.
5. Before users hit the Add to Cart button, give them a nice little reminder of what they are getting. Product clarity is so underrated – the only thing worse than losing a sale is making a sale where the customer doesn’t understand what they bought. The result is nothing more than a bad review, more customer support spend, and likely a refund.
   

Product Page 2: Conversion Sweet Spot

The space between your product images and your Add to Cart is the conversion sweet spot (but it can be a gauntlet if done wrong!). The header images draw the user in (hopefully), and now you just gotta bring it home. 

1. Never lead off with a negative statement – surfacing customs fees or alternate shipping options are for further down the funnel. The only thing a user should see besides your price is a payment option or a savings % badge.
2. Decide what the 1-2 most compelling things about your product are, and move them above the add to cart button where users will definitely see them. Brands get so scared to move their add to cart down the page – it’s fine to bump it (within reason) if the content provides value to your conversion!
3. If you are offering variants/options to a customer, always ensure they have (1) a title so users know where they are (2) a bounding box to better communicate the action requested & (3) space between them. When actions are too close to each other, all you get is accidental clicks.
4. Making your quantity selector tiny is like putting 1 product on the shelf in retail, and leaving the rest in a box on the top shelf for they can’t be reached. Make your quantity full-width on mobile so it’s easy to access. Easy access = better chance the user shops in multiples.
5. Use a single, clear, primary action – add to cart. If you’re going to offer a 2nd option, make sure it feels secondary. Surfacing ‘add to cart’ and ‘buy now’ is forcing users to make an extra decision. They have to decide if they want your product, and how they want to buy it.
6. Use the space under your bottom as an opportunity to lend the user a hand getting to the finish line. Surfacing the free shipping offer and your return policy for example, you’re removing some of the stress associated with the action they are about to take.
   

Big thanks to the Oddit team

If you liked what the Oddit team had to say and want personalized insights to enhance your brand’s website, you can start your own Oddit today to get one free quick win to improve your UX instantly.