E-Commerce Best Practices That Will Make Your Sales Rates Go Sky-High

After searching through many websites and making purchases online over the years, we are now all able to differentiate a mediocre website from a high-quality one. People love the idea of shopping from the comfort of their homes instead of handling traffic, weather and other obstacles. However, if you are an online store owner and looking to increase your eCommerce revenue, there are several things you can improve to boost your sales rates. From having proper website navigation to building a solid relationship with your customers, we have got you covered by explaining the best eCommerce practices that will make your revenues go sky-high.

Help your customers navigate through your site

Buying online should be a relatively quick and easy process. Therefore, if a person looks up your website and can't find what they are looking for soon enough, odds are they are going to bounce off your site. Thankfully, you can prevent this from happening by correctly implementing the following best practices into your eCommerce store:

• It would help if you considered extending your navigation bar while keeping it simple. Some businesses take the minimalistic approach, placing only their main categories in the navigation bar. However, by putting a wider range of categories, you will decrease the number of clicks your consumers need to make to get to their desired product, which is precisely what you want.
• The search bar should be omnipresent on your website which means that every page on your site should have a visible search bar. Keep in mind that roughly a third of your customers will use the search bar to get to a product quickly.
• Breadcrumbs are another effective tool to help you navigate your customers. In case you are not familiar with the term, breadcrumbs are essentially a path leading from your site's main page to a current page. For example, after your customer viewed more details about a specific product, they can quickly go back to other products in the same category.
• Filters are necessary nowadays since you want to prevent your customers from scrolling through a category until they lose interest and leave your site. By using a variety of filters in each category, you'll help your customers get to a product in a matter of seconds, and they will love it.
• The checkout page is where your customers land right before making a purchase. However, more than 50% of customers abandon their shopping carts because they find the checkout process too complicated. To prevent this from happening, you should aim to make a checkout page without distractions. Additionally, you can inform your visitors about the number of steps it will take to make a purchase and explain every step thoroughly.

Provide high-quality content

If you have read our article on how to build an online store, you know that the content on your website can be in the form of textual descriptions, photos or videos. It is best to combine them where possible so that you can provide enough information about your products. Customers highly value detailed descriptions. Hence, aim to leave little to no need for them to ask more questions.

• Your product photos shouldn't look as if an amateur made them since it will look unappealing to your customers and will probably drive them to another, more professional site. Keep in mind that people look for details in a product before buying it which is valid for both brick and mortar stores and online stores. Providing them with high-quality photos that they can zoom in or have a 360 degrees look will increase your sales rates.
• The product description is the next thing your visitors land on after looking at product photos and it's even more valuable than the pictures. On average, people spend around 20% of their time on a page looking at a product photo, and about 80% reading the product's description. Still, try to make your descriptions truly unique. Give in-detail descriptions but add a personal and a human touch to each of them. Focus on the product's features that your customers will benefit from instead of just listing its technical properties.

Personalize the user experience

By personalizing your website's user experience, you will allow your products to fit into your customers' lifestyles seamlessly. Eventually, this strategy will lead you to higher revenues and a good conversion rate. That’s why it is on our list of best eCommerce practices out there.

• Showing related products at the bottom of each product page can help your customers understand your brand as well as encourage them to make another purchase. Additionally, showing them products they might be interested in based on their search history or previous purchases can be a nice personal touch to their experience.
• Live chat support on the website mimics the presence of vendors in a store. Since your visitors can't approach your employee to ask them additional questions, it's nice to have a live chat with the same purpose. Keep in mind that customers greatly value personal interaction.
• A clear value proposition is vital if you want to convert people from visitors to customers. A good value proposition should deliver specific benefits of your products, explain how it can help your customers resolving their issues and tell them why they should buy from you rather than from your competitors.
• A responsive website is a must-have. Since most people are searching the internet using their phones rather than computers, it's essential to make your website responsive and mobile-friendly. This means your visitor won't have to zoom or pinch the screen to browse your website. It will prevent users' frustration and decrease bounce rates.
• The loading speed of your website can either attract or deter your potential customers. Research has shown that nearly 50% of website visitors expect a page to load within two seconds or less. That's why you should check how long it takes to load a page on your website. Thankfully, you can check its performance on several online programs by typing in the URL of your site.

Build a trustful relationship with your customers

There are several approaches to increase the customers' trust in your business. After all, you're not only looking to get a single purchase from each visitor but rather to build relationships with them. That way, you'll have a wider group of loyal customers and enable your business to grow. To achieve that, you should be transparent and gain people's trust, which is not always an easy task.

• Including trust-badges has been shown to increase sales rates. This is especially important if your brand is just starting or still less known to a broader audience.
• Enabling customers' reviews and testimonials is always a good thing, even if you get a few negative ones every now and then. Shoppers almost always search for product reviews before making a purchase. So, instead of letting them explore the internet, allow them to find testimonials on your website.
• Be transparent about your return policy and shipping costs. Instead of unpleasantly surprising your customers with high shipping fees, let them know about it before they make a purchase. In addition to that, we suggest to make a FAQ page where your customers can find answers to their questions without having to contact you.
• Marking out-of-stock items is extremely important because no one wants to get excited about purchasing a product and then find out it is out of stock at the final step of the purchasing process.

Beside using the traditional platforms and payment integrations you can also utilize blockchain technology for your business. This can benefit you in different ways due to the specific features of this payment integration. For instance, you will be able to acquire new customer groups who are especially sensible with their data. For example, Safex Marketplace, powered by blockchain technology, will allow you listings of your products, private transactions, safe sales, and a whole new group of customers.

Additional features your customers will love

In addition to all of these best eCommerce practices, here are some additional features you can add to your website to increase your revenues:

• Free shipping matters a lot to online shoppers - possibly even more than you would expect. According to a survey, around 65% of people will look up your shipping fees before adding items to their cart. Not only that, but nearly 55% of consumers abandon their shopping carts due to shipping costs. If you can't afford to offer permanent free shipping, you can declare free shipping offers every now and then.
• Promotions and sales work incredibly well when it comes to increasing your sales rates. By putting a product on a deal for a specific time, you will create a sense of urgency for your customers, which will motivate them to buy the product while it is still on sale. Additionally, you can include special editions and offers. Generally, people put more value on things that are rare or hard to find. Lastly, you can add free samples of your products if possible. Your customers will adore it.
• Offering packaging options has recently grown in popularity after several websites allowed customers to choose different packaging types. This will come in handy for customers looking for a gift or a way to pamper themselves. Whichever the case, it is nice to offer them a few options such as wrapping paper or personalized gift messages.

Final thoughts

Now you can follow these several ideas, improve and allow easy navigation through your website. Personalize the user experience, provide high-quality content and build a trustful relationship with your customers that will last for years. Also, don't forget to check out analytics and revise on a regular level, there are always possibilities to improve and find new gateways to sell more. Follow the trends, check out what others kinds of payment methods can offer, and learn why you should allow Payments in Safex Cash and Bitcoin. Consider listing your products on some crypto-commerce marketplace like Safex Market. Think like a customer and you will have much more ideas and grow faster!