Sustainability trends in retail
September 2023
Let's look at how you can increase your conversion rates by providing the best customer experience for your shoppers.
Conversion in retail happens when a browser decides to complete a purchase, becoming a buyer. The rise of eCommerce has made browsing much more efficient for potential customers to compare products than ever before.
Conversion rates are calculated by dividing customer orders by visits to your ecommerce platform. To ensure great conversion rates, retailers take a deep dive into the factors that persuade their customers to stay, shop and buy. Offering discounts is always a great standby for merchants and is an easy and reliable way to move stock that has proved difficult to shift. But discounts won’t provide you with the best profit margin and won’t provide your customers with an overwhelming reason to return.
Market analysis shows repeatedly that the key to healthy conversion rates is to provide your visitors with an exceptional customer experience. PWC found that customer experience was a key factor in purchasing decisions for 74% of Australian and 65% of UK shoppers.
As an ecommerce retailer, it is important that you create an environment that delights customers, makes purchasing a smooth experience, and rewards returning shoppers. Let's look at how you can increase your conversion rates by providing the best customer experience for your shoppers.
To improve conversion rates in your online store, aim to take your customers on a journey that creates the most positive user experience possible. Ensure your ecommerce store has intuitive and clear navigation from landing page to product descriptions, product options to prices. Your customers should be able to easily find all the information they need as they browse. Any distractions that take them away from the buying journey will interrupt the desired pathway to buying.
In 2022, more than half of all online shopping happens on a mobile device, in a trend dubbed m-commerce. In the first half of the year, 79% of US mobile phone users bought something online on their phone. That means that m-commerce needs to be your main focus when designing a website and creating your merchandising plans. Optimising your site for mobile is essential for today’s m-commerce shoppers. Features to focus on should be intuitive adaptation to the shopping platform, touch screen friendly buttons, and an emphasis on visual content to avoid m-commerce shoppers having to read too much text on their smaller screens. For contact forms, embed input fields for your customers convenience.
Customers love word of mouth recommendations. In fact, according to “Nielsen, 92% of shoppers will use customer reviews to make purchasing decisions”. To create an ecommerce platform that shoppers love to buy from, user generated content (UGC) is a proven marketing tool, providing your shoppers with authentic stories that validate their decision to buy. UGC marketing uses influencers and customers' stories to help connect with social media content from platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You can also use your own videos to connect with customers and use analytics to drive sales based on the content customers found the most persuasive.
Don’t let your customers leave without letting them know how much you appreciate them. Engaging with your customers at each opportunity helps make them feel noticed and welcomed. Respond positively to your shoppers' reviews or comments on your site or social platforms. Be sure to thank them for encouraging feedback and offer solutions for any issues customers might mention. Installing chat functionality on your site provides customers with instant answers to any questions they may have and encourages them to continue their journey towards purchasing a product or two, while the customer engagement will encourage them to return.
Partnering with a finance company like etika enables your customers to fulfil their purchases and create a positive customer experience., increase conversion rates and inspire return customers.
Offering your customers interest free finance within their buying journey keeps them moving towards a purchase. As your visitors move smoothly through your optimised eCommerce experience, etika offers customers interest free credit with no fees. etika provides a solution that offers fairer, more responsible finance in comparison with traditional BNPL or credit options. Applications are simple to complete, with a quick turnaround.
etika offers competitive merchant fees, enabling you to usher your customers to the final step of their shopping journey and make their orders stress free.
etika is fully customisable to suit your business, your products or services and the customers you wish to attract. To synergise the finance platform with your own ecommerce site, etika can even tailor their interface to match your own brand colours and themes.
How etika works to enhance your ecommerce customer experience.
Your customer’s shopping pathway becomes smoother and easier to navigate with etika’s interest free finance solution. Your products become realistic purchases for all budgets with a range of payment options that allow customers to spread out their payments in a way that suits them, while still paying the same retail price.
Checkout is easy and is supported by an easy online application, with etika undertaking credit and affordability checks where required - before approving purchase.
To find out more about how etika can help boost conversion and improve your customer engagement, call on 1300-FAIRER (324 737) or contact etika here.
Our office hours are Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm (AEST).
