Online sales have become crucial for the growth of most companies and understanding the main reasons why shoppers do not convert on eCommerce can help optimize growth. Having an eCommerce website nowadays is almost a mandatory choice: some companies conduct their sales exclusively online, but also many companies with local stores choose to invest in websites to expand their customer base.
The main reasons why shoppers do not convert on eCommerce websites
In this guide we will analyze together the causes that can penalize conversion and lead to a reduction in online sales. Defining these causes helps understand where to focus attention and which strategies we can use to reach conversion rate optimization. The ultimate goals of this optimization are increasing the revenue from online sales, improving the overall customer experience and increasing the net margins obtained from each sale.
Poor engagement
The first cause that can contribute to a low conversion rate is the poor engagement generated by the website. Although quality products remain the beating heart of the businesses, the sales experience is taking on an increasingly central role. When customers choose to proceed with a purchase, they do so not only because they appreciate the product but also because the experience on the eCommerce platform satisfies them - similarly to a retail store.
There are several reasons that can lead to poor engagement. Firstly, one needs to evaluate the content published on the web site to understand if it has the ability to excite and engage customers. Content optimization is the first step towards conversion rate optimization.
Touchpoints availability
Another main cause of poor conversion are the touchpoints available, meaning the Call To Action (CTA) to get in direct touch with the brand. Choosing a wrong or underperforming CTA like a long contact form can limit sales, even if the product or service offered is of high quality. In this case, we recommend giving the easier and faster way to connect with the brand: WhatsApp. To increase eCommerce engagement, it is essential to support customers in the purchasing process. Customers should be able to contact support without any difficulty and in real time.
TextYess is the AI shopping assistant on WhatsApp that uses artificial intelligence to chat with customers 24/7, answering their questions and addressing their concerns in 30 seconds. Initial data shows 25% in chat conversion rate, demonstrating the usefulness of providing customers with timely support and an engaging shopping experience to increase conversion rate.
Distracting elements during purchase
The final step of the purchase, where the customers review their cart and proceed to payment, is one of the most crucial steps in the entire purchasing process. The design of the checkout page must take into account how quickly customers' attention can be diverted elsewhere.
To optimize the conversion rate, it is essential not to distract customers during the payment process. For example, one must avoid pop-ups, videos and other elements that could divert attention from the payment operation. It's no coincidence that most famous eCommerce platforms have significantly streamlined their checkout pages, eliminating all potential sources of distraction.
Too many checkout options
The improvement of the checkout page should not be limited to the elimination of possible sources of distraction but should also concern the number of options available for the customer. Every choice the customer has to make can potentially interrupt the purchasing process, which is why simplification is the winning move.
Adding irrelevant choices to the purchasing experience can make the path more complex and decrease overall sales. This is one of the reasons why shoppers do not convert on eCommerce and one of the elements to evaluate in order to optimize conversion rate.
An unoptimized site for mobile navigation
Smartphones and tablets have made online browsing possible at any time. Mobile browsing is on the rise and it's estimated that the numbers will continue to increase in the coming years. This explains why we need to optimize eCommerce for mobile navigation to avoid losing visitors.
When a potential customer accesses the website from a smartphone or tablet and does not have a satisfactory browsing experience, he may choose to turn to the competitors. Dedicating time to improving the browsing experience can yield significant results. For example, you could speed up content loading, make menus more easily accessible from mobile devices, or enhance the browsing experience with photos and videos optimized for various screen formats.
High shipping costs
Customers dislike paying shipping fees and the success of major online stores has also been made possible by careful shipping management strategies (for example Amazon with its Amazon Prime program).
High shipping costs can disrupt the purchasing process, especially for medium to low-cost products. Data shows that high shipping costs are associated with an increase in cart abandonment and consequently a reduction in the conversion rate. Furthermore, customers may search for competitors with lower or even free shipping and not return to the eCommerce for future purchases.
The suggestion is to carefully evaluate your shipping policy, for example you can offer free shipping for carts exceeding a certain amount or variable shipping costs based on the type of product. It can also be useful to help customers understand the value of shipping, so they don't perceive it as an unjustified cost.
Giving little importance to customers’ reviews
Online shopping is based on trust, especially when purchasing for the first time from a new website. To reassure customers and ensure they complete the purchasing process, it's essential for eCommerce to have a professional appearance and seem trustworthy.
Sharing and making customer reviews highly visible is an excellent strategy to encourage other users to complete their purchase. For this strategy in order to increase the conversion rate, positive reviews are necessary. To obtain these, one must sell quality products or services, handle payments securely and provide customers with professional support. With TextYess always-active AI shopping assistant on WhatsApp, companies can collect tons of feedbacks on the buying experience that are essential to improve the quality of customers reviews.
Help shoppers convert on your eCommerce websites
These are only a few of the many reasons why ecommerce websites convert less, however seem to be the ones generating the higher loss in traffic nowadays. Analyze your ecommerce website and go through each one of them, do you have a smooth check out process? Do you offer an easy and instant way to get in touch with your brand? Good luck!