Your website is like an online shop window for your business, allowing you to show off what you sell and what it is that you can offer potential customers.
Like any high street store, your shop window should be exciting, engaging and inviting, if it’s not you could be losing thousands in missed sales opportunities.
But it’s not just about window shoppers and even if traffic to your ecommerce website is flowing freely, you’ll still need to ensure you’re converting visitors into actual paying customers.
So here are a few things to consider in order to ensure it’s orders you’re counting at the end of the day and not empty shopping carts.
Make sure your website is up to speed
Your website may look great, but if it’s too slow, users will get frustrated and leave your site, quite possibly for one of your competitors who are able to deal with their requests better and more efficiently.
Website speed is one of the most important factors in the success of any eCommerce business, helping to increase SEO and providing a better user experience for visitors who, remember, are potential customers.
So think about things like removing unused and unnecessary assets or reducing the number of fonts, tracking codes and scripts to make their experience as quick and simple as possible.
Be mobile friendly
It’s never been more important to make sure that all of your pages are optimized for mobile and don’t forget about site speed, as those looking for a great deal on mobile devices won’t be afraid to hit the back button if your site takes too long to load.
51% of the time spent online in the US alone is on mobile devices while the mobile market share worldwide is 52.1% compared to the desktop market share of 44.2% – that’s a lot of customers.
You can be pretty sure that those same trends continue in 2021, so it’s vital that your WooCommerce website is geared-up for mobile visitors as well as desktop shoppers.
Simplify your checkout procedure
Online shoppers have thousands of great deals at their fingertips to choose from, so if your checkout process isn’t up to the job, you might just find they’re abandoning their virtual shopping cart at the most vital stage of the transaction.
If your checkout process proves to be too slow or cumbersome you could be dealing with hundreds of empty shopping carts at the end of the day rather than dispatching orders and counting revenue.
So be sure to remove any unnecessary steps during this process which could interfere with a potential purchase as well as providing as much information up front about things like shipping costs, card transactions and returns, which could deter a potential customer from hitting the “Buy” button.
Promote offers & discounts
For the vast majority of consumers discovering discounts, coupons, and other deals is an integral part of the overall shopping experience and vital when it comes to visitors choosing your business over a competitor.
Promoting discounts and offers can be a powerful tool, not only for customer acquisition, but also for customer loyalty – encouraging casual visitors to become regular customers who might have otherwise been tempted elsewhere.
But don’t just take our word for it, as it’s believed that eCommerce vendors that actively provide discount codes to customers are eight times more likely to make a sale than those that don’t.
Devise an effective digital marketing strategy
A good digital marketing strategy gives your company a cohesive plan that is consistent through your many online and offline channels.
It also allows your branding and message to be the same on your point-of-purchase advertising in your stores as it is on your social media pages and website.
If this is something you are not comfortable with or are unable to do in house it may well be worth taking the time to talk to digital marketing specialists in order to get the very most of your online and offline activities.
Need help with your online sales?
Studio Coact are eCommerce experts who provide thoughtful, engaging and clear marketing solutions that resonate with people around the world.
We are a Liverpool based agency which is passionate about businesses fulfilling their online potential, supporting companies from the outset or working with those looking to grow.
Our Liverpool based digital marketing and SEO specialists will assess your previous campaign performance and your website’s capabilities to chart out a marketing strategy fit for the New Year.