Ultimate eCommerce Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization

Most eCommerce businesses experience a few good marketing wins and then they get stuck.

And their first reaction is - what are we missing? Is there a new channel that we should explore? Perhaps another eCommerce expert that we should hire? Maybe you’re stuck in the same situation.

Sometimes it’s not a matter of expanding to new channels and throwing more money into ads, but you should do is optimize existing channels first. And that starts with your own site.

Before you start chasing new and better channels (which is important by the way) we urge you to look at your site’s conversion rate. Perhaps there are tools, plugins or design modifications that you could make to dramatically improve your site conversion, as part of your wider digital marketing strategy.

And improving your conversion helps all of your marketing channels, whether that’s PPC, SEO, affiliates, influencers, social media, you name it.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) has been around since the early 2000s and it’s an incredible way to improve everything you are doing in your eCommerce store.

Here are 3 benefits of investing in CRO:

-Improves the bottom line -Improves the sales and efficiency of multiple marketing channels at once -Empowers your marketing team and saves costs

In this guide, we are going to show you exactly how to go about doing all of that.

We’re going to cover the right strategies, tools, and eCommerce platforms that you will need to boost your conversions.

Let’s dive in.

Why Conversion Rate Optimization?

We’ve talked about this a little bit and I want to show you how focusing on conversion rate optimization can help your business.

Let’s say you sell shoes and your average order value (AOV) is $100. You get 20,000 unique visitors to your site every month, and your conversion rate is 1%.

So how many customers would you have on average every month?

Paying customers (conversions) = 20,000 * 0.01 = 200

Revenue = 200 * $100 = $20,000

So let’s say you have a Google Ads expert on your team and he is responsible for bringing you 50% of your traffic. That means that he is bringing $10k in sales every month or half of your total revenue.

What if you could increase your 1% conversion rate to 2%?

Let’s do the math.

Paying customers (conversions) = 20,000 * 0.02 = 400

Revenue = 400 * $100 = $40,000

Improving your conversion rate just doubled your sales. Your PPC guy is looking amazing because his sales just doubled as well, and Google is giving him priority and better placement (because of the higher conversion rate).

You’re happy because you’re making more money. You now have the funds to hire a full-time social media manager and grow your brand.

So how do improve your conversion rate? By using data.

The importance of data

All conversion rate optimization campaigns have to be based on data.

If you don’t know what your users are doing on your site, and if you don’t know your current conversion rate, then how would you know if you’ve improved it? Also, once you make a change, how would you know whether it helped or hurt your conversions?

Every step of a CRO campaign has to be based on the data to have a positive impact on your bottom line. And this is really how the top eCommerce brands make decisions.

Now, I wish that doubling your conversion rate was as easy as writing about it. It’s a difficult and often complex process but we’re going to break it up into tiny bite-sized chunks and present you with some amazing tools that will help you simplify the process even more.

Before we do that, there’s one type of problem that CRO won’t solve - if you’re not getting enough traction at the top of the marketing funnel.

Focus on the top of the funnel first

If you’re not getting enough traffic to your site then your conversions won’t do much for you.

So the first thing you need to do is to make sure that your top of the funnel is set up - that you are acquiring traffic and enough of your visitors are reaching your category and product pages. If you don’t have that many visitors going through your funnel then CRO efforts won’t do much for you.

For example, if 90% of your sales are coming from Amazon/eBay/Wayfair and your site presence is very small then you should work on growing your brand and acquiring more traffic before you venture into CRO.

That being said, this is relative to your business and industry, but it’s an important consideration.

How to set up an A/B test in 3 easy steps

There are three basic steps to any CRO campaign:

1. Design an A/B test

Once you have the data you need on the specific page or part of the marketing funnel that you want to optimize it’s time to create an A/B test. You will need to use software for that like Google Optimizer or Optimizely or another alternative (we will talk about this later in the article).

2. Run the A/B test

Now it’s time to run the A/B test. When you launch it, make sure that you give it enough time to gather enough data and this again depends on the traffic that your site gets.

3. Analyze the results

Don’t give up or get discouraged if the variation that you made was a failure. A/B testing is all about learning and now you have more data about your visitors so create the next iteration and test again.

How do you check if the A/B test results are significant enough? Use an A/B testing calculator.



If you don’t get significant results you might not have identified the correct customer pain point. In this case, you need to go back to the drawing board and the customer journey map and see if there is a larger issue you could tackle.

For example, maybe you were testing your product pages while your customers are getting stuck on the category page. So you would need to go back and optimize the category pages first, before going down the funnel.

If you want to learn more about setting up A/B tests correctly and using data for design decisions, read up on agile methodology and growth-driven design. Here’s a really great in-depth video from Hubspot that goes through a lot of the concepts you need to know:

Pro tip: work with an expert A/B testing specialist to increase your performance even more.

Now that you know how to set up an A/B test let’s talk about all the various tools that the top brands and marketers are using to improve their conversions.

Top CRO Tools

There are so many great CRO tools out there and to make it simpler we are going to break them down into a few categories - tools for A/B tests, data, eCommerce analytics, site conversion, and popups.

Tools for A/B tests

Google Optimize

This is the most popular free tool for setting up A/B tests that should pretty much have all the features you need to get started. Features include A/B testing, multivariate testing, personalization, and redirect tests. It also directly connects to Google Analytics where you can see detailed reports and a dashboard with your test results.



Optimizely

Optimizely is one of the most popular paid tools for A/B tests and conversion rate optimization. It has a visual editor where you can manually build variations without using any code. Marketers - get excited. You won’t need to bug the development department to get this done.

It also has some advanced targeting and segmentation tools and a bunch more built-in. This is a very powerful solution.



Tools for data and analytics

Hotjar

Hotjar is one of my favorite tools. It’s one of the most popular plugins for heatmaps and it can also provide actual recordings of your users going through your site (live). It gets you the data on everything you need to know in order to set up a successful A/B test.

Here’s a really great guide from Hotjar on Conversion Rate Optimization, they give a really great overview of the type of tools and ways you could use to gather customer data on your site.



LuckyOrange

LuckyOrange is another heatmap tool and it’s specifically geared towards Shopify sites. They have a really easy Shopify integration that takes no time to set up and works flawlessly.



On-site Ecommerce Conversion Tools

Nextsale

Ever seen those notifications that someone has recently bought the product that you’re looking at? Those are called urgency or cart notifications. There are a ton of tools that can help you and Nextsale is one of the more popular ones.

It easily integrates with Shopify, Woocommerce, Bigcommerce, and even WordPress. This versatile app lets you customize urgency notifications, create regular popups, and make sale countdown timers.



Loox

One of the most popular ways to improve your conversions is to display photos of your customers using the product.

A great way you could do that is by using a review app that automatically collects customer reviews for you and displays them on your selected pages. Loox is one of the most popular Shopify apps that does that and it’s really powerful because it’s specifically built for Shopify.



It has a special popup and a sidebar element that prompts your customers to leave a photo review and it can send automated emails to them offering discounts as well.



Pixlee

Pixlee is another UGC app that has some really powerful features. It can collect specific images from Instagram posted by your customers (based on a hashtag or a mention) and display them on their corresponding product pages on your site.

You can also use Pixlee to create social photo contests & campaigns, lookbooks, and review pages on your site, and homepage galleries. Last but not least, you can also connect your Shoppable Instagram to Pixlee and track your conversions.



Jumper.ai

This is really cool tool that allows you to not only build chatbots on multiple channels but also lets you combine them all into one unified inbox. This way you can see all of your customer responses from Messenger, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook conversational ads, AdLingo ads, and a host of other channels in one place.

Jumper.ai provides a really powerful way to engage with your customers quicker and increase your conversions.



Popup tools

As an eCommerce store, it’s critical that you have popups in place to help your customers convert before they leave your site. There are a bunch of really good ones, here are our top picks.

Privy

Privy is one of my favorite popup tools especially for brands that are using Shopify. We’ve used this tool repeatedly to get 10%+ conversions on our popups. They have a really great wheel popup that is really popular and provides that extra fun element that users love.



Sumo

Sumo is probably the most well-known popup tool out there and they integrate really well with Shopify and WordPress. It’s a really versatile tool, has all the standard features you need, and some advanced customization as well.



Optinmonster

Optinmonster is another really great tool. It provides a wide variety of templates and is by far cheaper than any other popup tool out there (it starts at $9/mo). It has all the analytics and A/B testing features that you need to really improve your popups and increase your eCommerce conversions.



Social proof tools

Social proof is a great way to make your site more personalized for the user and to make it a better experience for them. Here are some of the best social proof tools for your eCommerce store.

Provely

Provely is absolutely the easiest social proof notification tool you can find. This is perfect for someone that’s just starting out and wants to slap something on their page and move on to the next thing on their plate.

It’s really simple to install, just one line of code, and lets you select whether you want to use live data or historical data from previous weeks/months. That way you can display a larger array of customers and bolster your standing in the eyes of your users.



TrustPulse

TrustPulse is by far the most affordable social proof tool that you can find. It’s quick and simple to install, no coding needed, and it integrates with all of the top eCommerce platforms.



Yotpo

Yotpo is much more than a tool, it’s more of a platform. It has social proof notifications as well as UGC and customer reviews. It has a variety of email features that help eCommerce stores collect reviews, ratings, and answer questions.



Here’s an example of their social proof widget:



Fomo

This tool takes FOMO (fear of missing out) to a whole new level.

Fomo’s widgets have much more functionality as they can display a much greater variety of notifications.

For example, you can display when a product was delivered to one of your customers, in real-time. Who wouldn't want to purchase after seeing this?



What I really like about Fomo is that they are all about honesty. They don’t artificially boost the site activity in their widgets like other tools do.



Proof

Proof is one of the easiest tools to use. It has both the social pulse notifications feature as well as a really advanced site content optimization tool. This is a great tool to use for A/B tests if you are trying to improve a conversion rate on a specific page.



By the way, if your site running on Shopify checkout this super-comprehensive list of Shopify apps to improve your conversion rate and boost your sales.

Top CRO Strategies

1. Add pictures of people to improve your conversions

This sounds like a no-brainer but so many companies still have these homepages without any people or faces on them. Faces of people have been proven to increase conversions. In one recent study, 37Signals added a person’s picture to their home page and it increased their signups by 102.5%.



2. Use psychological validation

One amazing psychological principle that makes the user more likely to convert is validation. Airbnb uses this really well. They validate the password field when a user puts in a strong password and the other fields turn green when the user puts in their information.





This seems like a really simple change but it’s become part of Airbnb’s overall CRO and UX strategy.

3. Experiment with the CTA button text

The click-to-action button on your site is probably the most important element you need to optimize. There are several standard CTA buttons that we’re going to cover. First, there’s the classic case study from Dewalt where they tried changing the button text from “Buy Now” to “Shop Now”. This one small change resulted in 17% more clicks.



4. Experiment with your grid layout

One critical element of your site is the layout you use for your category pages. It seems like a trivial thing, who cares if I display three products in each row or four? That’s what Smartwool thought too until they tested this out.

Their control version had one product displayed larger than all the rest. For their variation, they created a standard grid and made all the products the same size. This small change led to an increase of 17% in average revenue per visitor.



5. Optimize your site for mobile

I can’t tell you guys enough how many sites I see that completely ignore their mobile users. Studies show that by 2021 54% of all eCommerce sales will be coming from mobile users.

So it’s imperative that you not only make your site responsive but also test your site on all possible devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) and make sure that everything looks good.



6. Add filters to product category pages

The users that have the highest purchase intent often use the site search to find exactly what they are looking for. Make it easier for them to use by adding more filters such as featured, new arrivals, most popular, $$$, A-Z, or highest rated.

7. Use exit-intent popups

Popups are an amazing tool to convert your site visitors to leads and what’s even more powerful is to use exit popups. These popups display right when a visitor is about to exit your site and they have proven to be even more effective.



8. Get creative with the “no” button on your popup

There’s no reason to leave the boring Yes and No options on your popup. One option is to make the no button something like “I hate getting more leads” which is a psychological trick that may or may not resonate well with your audience.

But there’s a softer and better way to grab your customers' attention.

The reality is that someone is abandoning your site because they haven’t found what they were looking for. And you can find a way to provide them with more information about your product in a creative way.

Optinmonster does this really well.

Here’s an example of one of their exit popups.

Notice how they removed the “no” option completely.

Their button says “I have a few questions first!” and leads the user to their “contact us” page.



9. Upgrade your site chat

The basic functionality of site chat widgets is just that - the ability to chat with your customers and site visitors. But marketers know that chat is much more useful than that.



If you use a customer chat widget from Recart then you can turn this into a whole new marketing channel. This would connect to Messenger as well and once a visitor clicks on that prompt about discounts, they automatically subscribe to your Messenger list.

10. Show customer reviews visually

We’ve already spoken about UGC tools in this article but they are so cool we’re going to mention them a second time. Brands are seeing crazy improvements in their site conversions by displaying their customer photos. Studies show that 88% of consumers take peer reviews into consideration.

The clothing brand Leonisa started using Pixlee for their UGC which lead to site visitors being 1.85x more likely after interacting with the UGC images, spending 46% more time on the site, and being 273% more likely to return and purchase again.

11. Offer alternative payment methods

Make your customer’s checkout process easier by offering alternative payment methods. These could include Google Play, Apple Pay, Paypal, and other e-wallets.



12. Launch a referral program

Referral programs are a way to encourage and monetize word-of-mouth and improve your site traffic. Use an easy tool like Swell Rewards to quickly launch a referral program on a Shopify, Magento, or BigCommerce site.



13. Offer Free Shipping

Free shipping is not just a fad, it’s actually a really powerful way to increase your conversions. Studies show that 79% of US consumers say that free shipping would make them more likely to purchase online, and 54% of US consumers under the age of 25 years said that same-day shipping is their number one purchase driver.

Considering the fact that 35% of the US are Millenials, and more than half of them prioritize same-day shipping right at the top, it’s no wonder that Amazon is the largest online marketplace in the US.

79% of US consumers say that free shipping would make them more likely to purchase online.



14. Display shipping charges early

One of the biggest rookie mistakes in the eCommerce world is offering a really good price on a product, and then displaying the extra shipping charges at the very end of the checkout process.

Studies show that 21% of shoppers get turned off and leave online shops because of this mistake. So don’t disappoint 1/5th of your online shoppers and display an “estimated shipping” cost early in the checkout process, even on the product page if possible.

21% of online shoppers abandoned orders because the total cost of their purchase wasn’t displayed before they started the checkout process.



15. Personalize your content for each visitor

Imagine you go to 2 different shoe stores to get a pair of sneakers. The first store is far from home and you don’t know the people working there. The second store is closer to your house and the person on staff that day turns out to be a classmate of yours from Highschool.

16. Let your users create a wishlist

This tactic ties in really nicely with personalization. Make it possible for your users to add items to their wishlists. And then send them reminders about those items that they added to the list. This is a great opportunity to get more data on your users’ preferences, to retarget them, engage them in your site more, and use their wishlist as a form of social proof.

Etsy does this really well.

Here’s an example of a wishlist from an Etsy user.



The user clicks on the little heart icon to save an item into their wishlist.

Then the seller can automatically set up emails to go out and offer them a discount on that item, like so:



ModCloth takes this a step further.

They not only display the wishlist option, as Etsy does, but they also display the total number of people that liked the product.



And the user can also share their wishlist with their friends and family and add a gift card option to it, to get a gift for their birthday.



17. Display your content visually

This is one of the principles of copywriting. And Donald Miller said it best - “Imagine every time you talk about your product, your customer starts running on a treadmill. Don’t expect them to burn too many calories”.

Don’t make your customers work harder than they have to.

Here’s an example of how Lemonade, the $1B insurance startup, used this principle:



18. Focus on the value your product brings

So many companies fill up their web copy with product descriptions that focus on the many features, all the bells and whistles, instead of focusing on the customer.

Remember, your customer is the most important person in the room. You need to show them how your product benefits them, and talk about the result.

Here’s a great example of this in action.

Notice on the left, everything is about the product. On the right, it’s all about the customer.



19. Display social proof

One of the greatest things you could do is to let your customers speak for you. That means displaying testimonials, reviews, UGC.

But sometimes it’s as easy as mentioning who your customers are.

Here’s a great example from Counterweight Creative:



Here’s another example from Socios.com These guys actually work with some of the top soccer clubs in the world. See how much more powerful their page becomes when they add those club logos.



Social proof is by far the easiest way to set your landing page copy apart from the competition.

For more tips on how to use social proof check out our guide to user-generated content.

20. Display customer testimonials right under the product

We’ve already spoken about elevating the social proof up the page, and where this is most powerful is on your product pages.

Bring those customer testimonials to be right under the product headline, before the description with all your keywords.

Here’s an example from Booking.com:



21. Educate with long-form content

Seriously, we can’t talk about this enough. You can get way more impressions and traffic if you go from regular seller to educator. Seek to educate your readers and offer value for free.

Example 1: River Pools. River Pools was a swimming pool business on the brink of collapse back in the 2008 recession. They cut their entire marketing budget and started writing blog posts to answer every single customer question they got.

They went from 0 to 300k monthly visitors on the site and were able to save their business.



Example 2: Viral loops

Viral Loops started out as a humble referral widget that let people get more referrals and grow their email list. But then they started cranking out this really high-quality content and telling incredible stories - like the story of how Harry’s got 100,000 email subscribers in 1 week - and they became an authority on referral marketing.

This opened the door to them becoming one of the most popular referral products on ProductHunt.



BONUS: Top eCommerce Conversion Guides

Liked some of our eCommerce conversion ideas?

Here is a good list of resources to continue your learning:

1. A Complete Guide to eCommerce Conversion Optimization (DMI)

This is an oldie but a goodie. Written by the Digital Marketing Institute, it provides a thorough explanation of some of the basic elements of an eCommerce CRO strategy, in broad strokes.

2. 13 eCommerce Conversion Examples (Optimizely)

If you’re ever interested in how conversion rate optimization started back when eCommerce just started, this is a great guide. It has some really great classic examples of checkout pages and CTA buttons.

Come on, you can’t go wrong with a SimCity example from 2015:



3. 20 Reasons your eCommerce Conversion Rate is So Low (Optinmonster)

This is a great guide from Optinmonster that goes in-depth into some of the classic site improvements you could make to improve your conversion rate.

4. 17 eCommerce Conversion Hacks That’ll Double Your Conversions (Neil Patel)

Here’s a great guide by Neil Patel that brings in that SEO angle into the conversation and helps bridge the gap between SEO and CRO.

5. How to Systematically Increase Conversion Rates (Convertize)

This is a great post by Convertize that introduces a lot of the research and the psychology that’s used in conversion rate optimization and provides a really great background on the science behind it. Super interesting read.

Recap

Now that you know all the fundamentals of CRO it’s time for you to go back to your site and start optimizing. Everything that we covered could be summarized into 3 steps:

1. Use data to set up a good A/B test

2. Use the right tools

3. Pick the right CRO strategy for your site

At the end of the day, everything depends on your user data and how your customers interact with your website and brand. So if you ever feel stuck, reach out to your customers with a quick survey and ask for feedback. Your customers are your best advocates.

And if you don’t know where to begin, we highly recommend that you check out our comprehensive CRO Audit tool to get a personalized checklist of the best changes to make for your business.

And let us know which strategies or tools you’ve been using for your CRO campaigns in the comments, we would love to hear from you! 😊