This holiday season, you might be browsing online and surprised to see your favorite downtown boutique offering their wares on the internet.
Earlier this year, Lightspeed surveyed more than 700 independent retailers and found that the number of them with an online store was expected to double over the coming year.
Just because you build an online store doesn't mean shoppers will buy, however. The average online shopping conversion rate is a mere 2 percent to 3 percent. To capture a share of the growing online sales this holiday season, independent retailers have to take what they know about great experiences in-store and apply that to the digital world. Ready to get started? Here are a few tips for creating an online store that will inspire consumers to convert from browsers to buyers this holiday season.
Merchandise and Stylize
Many products have become a commodity, and retail is all about merchandising. Tell a story with your goods to help consumers not only easily navigate your store, but create an emotional connection with what's on the shelf. Moving online, you're already starting at a deficit as shoppers can't interact with your products hands-on, making it even more important to create a compelling, life-like experience in your digital store. And without a physical space, your biggest asset is imagery.
When uploading photos, choose crisp and clear high-resolution versions that can be easily enlarged without pixelating. And wherever possible, offer images from multiple angles so shoppers get a full view of the product. Think of a shopper zooming in and clicking through as the equivalent of holding up a dress in the mirror. Her interest has been piqued, and the details will inform her decision. You don't want to lose her because she can't see them.
Make the Cart Experience Feel Real
Its easy to think about e-commerce linearly: a visitor browses the store, hits "add to cart" and then moves to the checkout page when they're ready to purchase. However, similar to shopping in-store, many consumers use the virtual basket as a holding area for items they're considering, with a plan to compare and contrast before making a final decision.
When you design your online store, you'll likely have the option to choose a "mini cart" or a "full cart." A full cart is a dedicated page that includes a single-screen view of everything you've added, including product images, descriptions and prices. It enables shoppers to add or remove items all within that page with a single click. Think of it as the dressing room where you can "try on" a couple things and carry out only the ones that suit you best.
A mini cart — a small box that remains on a corner of the screen while a shopper clicks through other items — offers a quick but limited view of of the basket. The typically text-only, scroll through-style box makes it harder for users to compare items side by side or notice that they've added something on accident. While mini carts often drive users to the checkout page faster than their full cart brethren, they can create more confusion or doubt for shoppers once they get there, and any barriers at checkout are the kiss of death of online retail.
Help Customers Through the Finish Line
Having become used to Amazon.com' one-click checkout and alternative payment options that circumvent annoying online forms, shoppers have little to no patience for frustrations at checkout. In fact, nearly 70 percent of items are abandoned in virtual baskets.
Ensure your customers make it through the finish line by implementing the following tactics:
- Keep shoppers focused. While surprising customers with additional discounts or offers at checkout may seem like an easy way to upsell, anything that causes a shopper to click away from that purchase page reduces the chances that a purchase will occur.
- Reduce sticker shock by showing cart totals, including estimated shipping costs, early on.
- Collect minimal information at the beginning of the checkout process. Allow shoppers to check in as a guest rather than requiring them to register for your website, and collect data like their mailing address and email as the last step before confirming a purchase.
Dax Dasilva is the CEO of Lightspeed, a point-of-sale software provider.
- Companies:
- Amazon.com