Getting eCommerce operations to flow successfully takes time and resources, especially if you have reached the limit of what your current eCommerce platform is able to support. Personalization, speed, accuracy, and relevance are all key to a solid eCommerce experience. Creating a solid eCommerce customer experience requires more than just data collection. If you’re ready for eCommerce growth and wondering how to increase eCommerce sales, applying an overarching strategy to ensure data is properly utilized will help grow your revenue over time. Consider these items when nailing down your plan.
Improve Site Speed
Customers have no tolerance for slow-loading sites. After about 2.5 seconds, users will abandon the site and look for a more efficient alternative. There are several factors that can boost performance and make shopping on your site faster and pain-free. If there are pages that your customers access more frequently, you can use caching to store frequent queries in the customer’s browser, so requests don’t have to travel to your servers and back. Optimize digital assets like images and videos by keeping file sizes as small as possible and limiting redirects. Clean up unnecessary apps, features, or unused code that could slow things down.
If you’re struggling with a slow site, contact Virid for a free site audit. We’ll help you identify the gaps that are hindering site performance.
Design for User Accessibility
Prioritizing ADA/WCAG compliance is essential for eCommerce websites to ensure that all customers, including those with disabilities, can access and use their services. Achieving ADA/WCAG compliance requires ongoing effort and a commitment to accessibility. Follow WCAG and ADA guidelines to make your site accessible for all customers to shop.
Streamline Product Pages
Product pages should be written concisely and use high-quality images. Stick to 3–5 bullet points highlighting the most unique and relevant features of the product and include photos of all the diverse ways the product can be used or worn. The most important consideration is to ensure that customers can learn as much as possible about the product before making their decision, to guarantee satisfied customers and reduced returns. You can even implement advanced technology like augmented reality that use AI algorithms to help customers visualize your products.
Strengthen Site Navigation
Site navigation should lead customers quickly to their end destination in as few clicks as possible. Most customers already know what they’re looking for when they start using your site and often go straight for the search bar to find it. Adding clearly visible and interactive site search and a site map to your online store can also help customers get to their end destination quickly. If they still cannot find what they need, make sure a customer service phone number is displayed prominently on your site.
Highlight Your Return Policy
Creating a return policy that’s clear and flexible can help give your customers more confidence to complete their purchase, knowing that there is less risk of ending up with a product that doesn’t suit their needs. Your return policy should have its own page on your site and be easy to find (linked in either the navigation or in the site map). It should be written clearly in simple terms, and it should also outline shipping options, how many days someone can take to make a return and include exceptions like a customer ordering an item online and returning it to the store.
Reduce Checkout Friction
No matter what personalization efforts you decide to employ, you need to be sure those efforts are not adding friction to the checkout process. Allow customers to checkout as guests and limit the amount of information they need to provide at checkout. This final stage is where you can lose a significant percentage of your potential customers if you slow down their experience. Allow multiple payment options, offer free shipping if applicable and do not get in the way. If you want to collect more customer information like birthday or style preferences, do that on the order confirmation screen, in a pop-up on the site, or in the follow-up order confirmation email.
Optimize Your Site for Mobile
57% of eCommerce transactions happen on a mobile device. With so many customers using a smartphone or tablet, it is indisputable that customers expect mobile-responsive pages. Developers often take a mobile-first design approach, as sites should work just as effortlessly on their phones as they do on desktop. Make sure your site passes the thumb zone test and that users can still access product reviews, quick shop, and other basic site features on mobile. Don’t forget that mobile devices also have alternative capabilities such as the “click to call” button and GPS navigation.
If you’re looking for more ways to improve the customer experience, struggling with complex integrations, or ready to switch to an eCommerce platform that grows with you, schedule a consultation today.
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