3 Tips to Drive Ecommerce Sales from HiConversion

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with HiConversion’s Vice President of Business Development, Bob Lang, to talk about eCommerce revenue optimization best practices. Below are some key takeaways from our discussion on driving more revenue on your eCommerce site.

Who is HiConversion?

HiConversion offers a multivariate revenue optimization service that helps online businesses improve customer experience and increase sales. By measuring the impact of site features like banners, images, headers, and security badges in real-time, HiConversion can determine which assets, and in which location throughout the site, will produce the most revenues.

Since 2011, McAfee has been partnering with HiConversion to offer customers the optimization of the McAfee SECURE™ trustmark. Going beyond a simple A/B test, HiConversion runs multiple variations of the trustmark on a customer’s site in order to find the optimal placement to maximize return on investment.

Turning Browsers into Buyers

Shopping cart abandonment is a huge issue for online merchants, and there are a variety of factors that impact a consumer’s decision to either click ‘buy’ or forego the transaction altogether.

Best practices for site optimization can vary widely from site to site, because the most effective optimization solution is one that constantly adjusts for change in consumer behavior and preferences. However, there are certain aspects that can have an impact on the majority of customers, the majority of the time.

Below are some tips to improving three core areas of your site in order to keep sales from stalling.

1. Clean up your product page

Making your product pages as clean and easy to navigate as possible will increase the chances of a sale, and optimizing the features below will more often than not reduce site friction:

  • Confidence elements: Maximize the visibility of security badges and encryption assurances.
  • Product selection (choosing size, color, etc.): Keep everything extremely clear and easy to select.
  • Call to action: Use “add to bag” instead of “buy” as well as keep it the focal point of the page.
  • Navigation bar: Emphasize your search entry points. If customers can’t search for specifics, they will move on.
  • Shipping and return policies: Don’t bury them! Make sure these are easy to find.

2. Simplify your shopping cart

Once a customer has decided to purchase an item, it is crucial to not lead them astray. Many shopping cart pages contain additional product images and other distracting elements that can cause a buyer to lose interest in their current choice. Simplicity is the key to getting shoppers to continue to the next step.

  • Stop selling: Remove all additional product images and promotions.
  • Security front and center: Use a visible security badge to assure shoppers that their personal information will be safe.
  • Simple layout: Remove additional columns and information. Focus on the product, quantity, and total price.
  • Remove the footer: At this stage, people are looking for a reason not to purchase.
  • Neutral color: Keep the background white and as plain as possible to minimize distraction. 

3. Streamline your checkout

The final step in sealing the deal is making sure that your payment page is as easy to use as possible. If a customer has to work to enter in their payment details, the chances of losing the sale become exponentially higher. Streamline the process by removing extraneous elements:

  • Limit the steps: Typically, a two-page checkout is optimal.
  • Keep payment options to a minimum: If the majority of your customers pay by credit or PayPal, offering five additional payment choices is unnecessary.
  • Simplicity is key: Keep your data fields white.
  • Reduce call outs: highlight all required data fields to avoid stalling.
  • No scrolling required: Try to fit all of the text fields on one page, and keep all actionable items above the fold.

For all eTailers, it is important to understand how the features of your site interact with one another in the eyes of buyers. Even subtly adjusting the elements on a page can change the way consumers receive information and influence what and how much they buy.  Following these basic best practices is the first step to improving sales conversions.

For more information on HiConversion’s services, visit their website here.

Additionally, share your thoughts on this topic in the comments below, and be sure to follow us on Twitter @McAfeeSECURE for the latest eCommerce news and events.

Read more: 3 Tips to Drive Ecommerce Sales from HiConversion

Story added 17. August 2012, content source with full text you can find at link above.