Conversion Rate Optimization: Improve the Purchasing Funnel
Your purchase process plays a major role in your overall client acquisition. Sometimes little adjustments on your cart can have a tremendous impact on your top line!
Tracking and implementing these improvements may be simple, or not, depending on your commerce platform and its flexibility. Let’s explore some ideas that can positively impact your conversion rate.
Get yourself an ubiquitous shopping cart
The UX – user experience – of your cart needs to be flawless and adapted to the user context and localization. And of course, it should match the device your clients are using : mobile, tablet, desktop…
A best practice when selling software downloads, be it with perpetual licenses or subscriptions, is enabling the purchase within the application (“in-app cart”). The capacity to shop and pay is seamlessly embedded inside the software itself, allowing the user to purchase without leaving the application. Some of our clients have increased their conversion rate by 30% with this feature.
How adaptive is your current cart? Are you able to serve a commerce experience where your prospects are the most likely to convert?
Don’t guess, just test
The challenge of selling cross-border is that what works in one market may not work in another one. When you want to explore ideas for improvements or adaptation to new markets, the best option is to A/B test various versions of your checkout page. Will your cart perform better with a one-step, two-step or three-step checkout? Will the price rounding convert better at 9.99€, 9.95€ or 9.90€? You might be surprised! A/B test works for any parameter that you can control on your cart, from the color of your buttons to the entire layout. In our experience, adjustments to core features such as pricing, page layout, product cross-sells are usually more impactful than changing a color or a font… but it might challenge your marketing & sales established “truths”.
Testing works only if you can implement variations of course, and preferably on your own, without involving any IT. Cart features and design flexibility is a “must have” in your ecommerce platform if you are to committed to conversion optimization.
Payment : the last mile
The payment step is the moment of truth of your online sales process. While payment is so critical, it’s often seen as a rigid and complex “black-box” for many e-commerce managers. Let’s focus on what matters to shoppers: giving the local payment options they expect.
- Can customers pay in their local currency?
You don’t want your prospects to doubt about currency conversions and exchange fees, this could simply lead them to put this shopping basket on hold…
- It’s not all about credit cards…
If you’re doing business the Netherlands, you’d better offer IDEAL. If you’re after German customers, consider SOFORT or SEPA Direct Debit, or you would simply miss to realize your sales potential.
Talking about the payment “black box”: don’t think the job is done once the customers have entered their payment details… For credit cards for instance, the authorization process involves your payment service provider (PSP), the credit card network, the processor, the acquirer and the issuer bank. What influences the transaction acceptance rate is a long list of opaque criteria… Working with several Payment Services Providers and routing transactions to the best PSP depending on the local market and type of credit card can bring you the extra conversion points you deserve. After all, those customers are already convinced by your products!
Conclusion
If you haven’t done it yet, go and grab the quick wins from your checkout process: mobile cart, local payment methods and currencies….
In the longer run, get yourself the right tools and teams to test and implement continuous small changes that will get you the extra conversion points. Conversion optimization is a state of mind and requires a steady effort on your side, along with a flexible e-commerce platform.
The Nexway Team