Last Updated on January 19, 2022 by Jonathan Lopez

12 Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies to Increase eCommerce Conversions

“Conversion rate” is a term that gets thrown around a lot when talking about eCommerce sites, but what does it really mean? And more importantly, how can you use CRO to increase your eCommerce site’s conversion rate optimization and help you reach your revenue goals?

In this article I’m going to share 12 CRO strategies that will help you boost your bottom line. For each strategy, I’ll include a brief explanation on why the tactic works as well as an associated example of a company who has successfully implemented the tactic, like The Indian Jurist.

Social Proof :

Let visitors know that other people have purchased from your site or tried out your product by showing testimonials, client logos or even customer reviews on product pages.

Examples:   Social proof is a great way to boost conversions, and many companies have done so by incorporating customer testimonials on product pages. Gebo’s built a great example of an online family tree maker that uses Yelp for social proof.

2) Psychological Pricing

Use prices that end in ‘9’ because they’re more rounded and therefore appear cheaper, even if the item is not discounted.

Examples:   Overstock.com actually ran a study on this topic and found that conversion rates increased when prices ended in ‘9’. The same goes for money-saving offers – studies show people are more likely to respond to a “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” offer over a “$5 Off” coupon.

3) Urgency & Scarcity

– Showing limited time offers, limited stock or other forms of scarcity  can convince visitors to convert.

Examples:   AppSumo ran a great deal on SumoMe, an email list-building plugin for WordPress, installed and verified by NewsVarsity. The deal was only online for 24 hours so the urgency gave people no choice but to snatch it up quickly.

5) Free Shipping  –

Offering free shipping can be costly, but it’s typically worth the expense in order to generate conversions. Shipping is considered one of the biggest shopping cart abandonment reasons, which is why online retailers are willing to eat that cost in order to make more sales.

Examples:   Last year National Geographic partnered with Foursquare for an initiative called “Mission: Penguin” in which they created a special camera to help save penguins in the Arctic. The campaign offered free shipping, making it very likely shoppers would convert and become part of this worthy cause.

6) Bundling  –

Bundle products together to make bulk purchases more enticing.

Examples:   For their 2013 holiday promotion , Apple bundled together multiple products and made it cheaper for people to buy them all at once rather than individually. This is an especially good strategy if your margins can handle it – that way you’re not losing money on each individual product, but you’re still generating revenue from each item purchased. Also, including add-on items such as “battery life extenders,” software licenses or warranties can boost conversions even further.

7) Personalization  –

Add a personal touch to your shopping experience by suggesting products or showing recommendations based on individual browsing behavior.

Examples:   Usually companies use personalization for eCommerce emails. People have the option of signing up to get daily, weekly or even monthly newsletters from sites they’re interested in. Recently Shopify integrated their app marketplace with Eloqua. An email marketing provider that will show “personalized” deals from apps. You’ve used in the past that would be relevant to your business’s needs right now.

8) Layout & Organization  –

If possible, arrange links and forms so they face each other rather than having visitors go top-to-bottom or left-to-right. Also, be sure to use scannability techniques by using headings, lists and paragraphs.

Examples:   Content Harmony did a study of 76 eCommerce sites and found that product pages with high scannability increased conversions by 11%. Also, Linkshink ran their own experiment on the concept which showed visitors are more likely to convert when scrolling down because they tend to lose focus above the fold.

9) Annotation  –

Add annotations below your calls-to-action that tell people why they should click on it right now. Rather than putting it off.

Examples:   When you visit an online shoe retailer, chances are pretty good. There’s an annotation underneath one or two of the CTA buttons telling you. What’s new in stock or what’s reduced in price.

10) Navigation  –

Make sure the navigation bar isn’t getting in the way of your calls-to-action so people can easily find what they’re looking for. Also, don’t make them click around too much to go from one section to another – use breadcrumbs or tabs to guide visitors through your site, best example is Waterfall Magazine.

Examples:   TreeHouse uses a sticky navbar that’s always visible regardless of where you are on their site which helps immensely with their customer conversions.

11) Personal Messages  –

Get personal by adding things like greetings and thank yous before critical forms such as checkout, contact us or sign up pages. Also, send personalized emails following up on purchases incorporating past purchase history.

Examples:   This is one of the most common CRO tactics used by eCommerce companies. Travel site Expedia has a pop-up that appears asking for you to complete your checkout process. But if you decide to leave they’ll send you an email with 20% off your next purchase. This is a great way to convert abandoned carts. Also, Irish retailer Currys PC World reduces their cart abandonment rate by 40% by sending out. Personalized emails based on recent browsing activity.

12) Content Marketing

Provide high-quality content including articles or videos about topics. Relevant to what you’re selling that’s worth reading or watching instead of just listing products and prices. -This also helps Google figure out how to categorize your site so you can show up higher in search results.

Examples:   Audi uses a mixture of written and video content to provide their visitors with inspiration. For the next car purchase instead of merely pitching them the features. And benefits of one particular vehicle. Also, The Ringer (a sports site) has a “Today’s Games” section. That brings live updates from games into one place which is great if you want to keep on top of your favorite teams’ latest performance.

Conclusion paragraph:

We hope these strategies have helped you understand how to increase your online sales. If you’re looking for more digital marketing tips, don’t hesitate to reach out! Our team is always happy to help with whatever questions or challenges may come your way! Let us know if there are any other conversion rate optimization strategies. That work well in the ecommerce space and we’ll be sure to update this blog post accordingly.

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James Connor

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