How to improve your ecommerce conversion rates

You can put a lot of effort into setting up your ecommerce business, attracting customers to your eBay shop, Amazon shop or website, but there are still a number of barriers that will stop them making a purchase. We take a look at some of the basic things that put shoppers off converting to paying customers and what steps you can take to increase your sales on eBay, Amazon and your online shop.

Increasing your ecommerce conversion rates

Delivery

Delivery costs are one of the main reasons that potential customers will abandon their shopping before they complete the checkout process. To avoid this, you need to be up front about how much shipping will cost, keep your delivery costs as low as possible, and offer a range of delivery services.

Your own website should have an easy to find shipping cost section, as well as shipping costs on individual product pages or a link to the shipping section. If you have a free shipping threshold this should be promoted on your front page, shipping page and product pages - it’s also a good way to increase your average order value. 

On eBay and Amazon you should try to keep your postage costs as low as possible; offer free shipping whenever possible so that your pricing is competitive.

Shoppers will also be put off if they have to wait a long time for their items to arrive. It’s important that your delivery estimates aren’t too long and you should always offer a quicker delivery service for an additional cost.

Trust

When shoppers can’t physically see and examine the products before they purchase it’s crucial that they trust you to deliver a product that lives up to their expectations. You need to use high quality, clear photos of your products, as well as detailed product descriptions so shoppers know exactly what they’re buying. Offering a simple and generous returns policy will also convince customers to place an order.  

Your ecommerce website should also be completely secure and offer trusted payment methods - it can also help build trust to include security logos on your site. Find out more about online security for your ecommerce business here. 

Seller feedback is key to building trust with potential buyers on eBay and Amazon. Maintaining a high standard of customer service and delivery will convince shoppers to place an order. This is especially important if you’re not able to offer the lowest price on some products - sellers with extremely low prices will often have to cut corners with packaging and customer service.  Find out more about eBay seller performance and Amazon customer metrics.   

Product reviews

Another way to build trust with potential customers is to use product reviews. Reviews can help shoppers make the decision to buy and reassure them that they won’t be wasting their money. 

If you’re selling an item that’s part of eBay or Amazon’s catalogue then your listing will be associated with any product reviews for that item. On eBay you can now match your products up with eBay’s catalogue by adding product identifiers to your listings such as an MPN, EAN or IBSN code - find out more about using product identifiers on eBay here. 

Simple checkout process

The checkout process for eBay and Amazon is familiar to most shoppers who will already have an account. However, on your own ecommerce website you need to ensure that your checkout process is as quick and simple as possible - keep the number of pages and information required to a minimum.

Insisting that shoppers create an account can also put shoppers off when they’re just looking to make a quick purchase. You should always offer the option to pay without creating an account, at the end of the checkout process you can give shoppers a chance to enter a password and create an account with the information that they’ve already submitted.

Tracking your ecommerce sales

You can keep track and compare your sales across eBay, Amazon and your ecommerce website with Zenstores Insights. You can also keep an eye on your best selling products and your best customers - learn more about Zenstores Insights here.