You have an online store. Naturally, your goal is to get as many people as possible to stop in (digitally speaking) and make a purchase.
Unfortunately, as you know all too well, this is much easier said than done. From bounce rates to cart abandonment issues, there are myriad reasons why buyers leave without having made a purchase or taken any action at all – or in other words, without converting.
Conversion is key, you see. If you don’t have a good Shopify conversion rate, then you will continue to throw good money after bad in your e-commerce businesses, experiencing frustration with each new abandoned checkout process and scratching your head over discouraging metrics.
There is an answer, though. If you want to see more sales, higher traffic, and happier customers in your Shopify store, it’s time to take a look at that conversion rate. Today, we’ll discuss the rate you should shoot for, how a conversion rate impacts your business viability, and how to increase yours today.
Generally speaking, a good conversion rate for Shopify is around 2.5%, according to Shopify itself. However, this benchmark doesn’t refer only to sales, but rather to any action a shopper might take on your site, from engaging with a popup to signup up for emails to purchasing a product. Essentially, it means that the customer does something that benefits you.
For instance, a customer could sign up for email on your site or put something in their cart. In the first case, they’ve converted: you now have an email to market with. In the second case, they’ve still taken action, but no conversion has occurred. However, if you have legally obtained their contact information (say, they’re a previous shopper on your site) then you can email them as well.
It’s up to you how you want to define a conversion, but most Shopify store owners look for sales-related metrics. In that case, says Shopify, an average conversion rate is 1.4%. Hitting 3.3% or more would be a high conversion rate, putting you in the 80th percentile of all Shopify stores.
To determine your Shopify conversion rate, take a look at your Google Analytics dashboard. Divide the total number of conversions (as you’ve defined them) by the total number of people who have visited your site, be that on landing pages, product pages, etc. This will give you your Shopify conversion rate.
Now that you have that number in hand, how can you use it to improve your profits?
The impact of your Shopify conversion rate on profitability is pretty straightforward. When someone new comes to your site – from a social media post, an email, a Google search, or otherwise – they are a prospect, a chance for you to make a sale. The more prospects you convert into paid customers, the more money you’ll make from the same number of visitors.
This is why a low conversion rate is so disheartening … it means you’re wasting good traffic. A high conversion rate, on the other hand, gives you a little more wiggle room when it comes to generating traffic, because you’re getting more – on average – from potential customers.
Unfortunately, you can’t just snap your fingers and up your Shopify store’s conversion rate. To make more revenue and increase the profitability of your materials and actions, you’ll need to take certain steps.
So you’re looking to improve your Shopify conversion rate and see more money. (Who isn’t?)
Although it’s easier said than done, it’s actually not that hard to find ways to increase conversions on your e-commerce site through some simple conversion rate optimization (CRO) efforts. Your goal is to ensure that each target audience member who stops by your e-commerce store gets the customer experience they need to purchase something or, barring that, to come back later and finalize the sale.
Let’s look at the role conversion plays in a winning Shopify strategy and discuss five of the most important tactics.
Believe it or not, you can do your e-commerce conversion rate a huge favor just by simplifying the checkout process. Of the people who abandoned carts, 17% did so because it took too long, 24% were annoyed with having to create an account, and 48% experienced sticker shock when they saw add-on costs.
Reducing the number of steps in the checkout process and asking for only necessary information can increase conversions. For this reason, Shopify store owners should eliminate everything possible from the shopping cart and checkout page. Simplify the “add to cart” process into as few clicks as possible, offer a wide variety of credit card and other payment options, and ensure a good loading speed.
This will do wonders for your customers’ willingness to stick with you through checkout.
Testimonials are also a great way to lift your Shopify conversion rate. Social proof can help build trust with potential customers, helping them understand the value and benefits of your products and your brand over the competition. Promoting positive customer reviews should always be included in your overall marketing strategy.
One common way to share customer testimonials is to include quotes and testimonial snippets in your marketing campaigns and ad copy. Post them on your social media profiles and engage in conversation with anyone who has positive words to say about your brand.
An even more helpful tactic is to add product-specific testimonials to checkout pages when those products are in your customers' carts. This will help strengthen customers’ reasoning for making the purchase.
How do you know when a certain call to action (CTA), functionality, popup, or homepage copy is working? Well, that’s hard to say, given the variety of variables at any web designer’s disposal.
The secret is A/B testing, which lets you put up two versions of the same page to test the user experience on each. In order to gather relevant metrics, make sure both pages are identical except for one element, like the copy used in incentives, or the use of purchase countdown timers. Test key features of your product page templates using an app like Product Options and Customizer. For instance, try and determine whether shoppers prefer radio buttons or checkboxes when making choices.
Your Shopify conversion rate will spike if you make strong efforts toward decreasing shopping cart abandonment rates. A few ways you can do this include:
Adding on-page elements and customizations such as dropdown menus, in-line calendars, and custom text fields also help to increase the likelihood of a purchase and therefore boost your purchase and conversion rates. Look for Shopify apps that help your customers tailor a product to their exact specifications, such as Product Options and Customizer.
Curious about the specific benefits of e-commerce customization? There are several, but some of the most important include:
All together, implementing product customizations increases the user experience, drastically reduces the chance that your customer will get lost in the weeds and simply leave. And per-option add-on pricing allows you to upsell at the same time, helping to increase your average order value (AOV). What’s not to love?
While working on A/B testing, you can also update product descriptions to include key phrases that potential new customers may be searching for. This is the process of updating pages for search engine optimization (SEO).
Adding FAQs can also help with SEO efforts because they put more keyword-rich text onto your page, at the same time providing valuable information to customers that may increase trust and make them more likely to purchase.
By optimizing product pages for SEO, you can bring new customers to your page who are primed and ready to purchase the exact products you’re already offering, thus boosting your sales and resulting in higher conversion rates.
The tips we’ve provided here are tried and true, but even if you start working on them today, it’ll take time to get your Shopify conversion rate to start inching toward that upward trajectory. But the compound effect of adding product customization options, simplifying the checkout process for website visitors, optimizing product pages, and taking steps to reduce cart abandonment will help yield a bustling online store and booming profits.
Apps such as Product Options and Customizer can help you meet your e-commerce goals in less time with fewer headaches. Not only does it allow you to combine multiple listings into one, massively decluttering your shop, but it also enables you to update listings for maximum utility to the shopper.
With color swatches, file uploads, font pickers, and radio buttons and checkboxes, you can enable the ultimate shopper experience for each customer. With each customization, your product gets a little closer to their dream vision. And with each shopper who’s a little bit better served, that’s a small increase in your conversion rate and your average order value – until ultimately, you’re seeing much bigger profits sitewide.
Want to learn more about how customization can help you increase your Shopify store conversions today? We invite you to try Product Options and Customer for free, right now. Don’t wait any longer to up your profits and turn your small business into a dream job!
