Ways To Improve Conversion Rate On Shopify

As we mentioned in our blog "What is Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) and how it can help you" there are elements of your Shopify website that may be harming your conversion rate. This could be things you hadn't even thought of, so before you read on we encourage you to have a look at our original blog to get yourself familiar with how CRO works.

Based on research and experience, the first thing you should do is carry out a 'market' test of your website. This isn't as time consuming or as complex as you might think. You can ask your employees, friends or family to give you honest feedback on your website in a couple of simple ways; if you are a smaller business you may be happy to receive email or social media message constructive criticism that you can review. If you are a larger business (or you are looking for a more structured form of response) you can create a basic survey and ask them to fill it in when they have looked at your site.

Once you have this intial 'gut reaction' constructive feedback, you will be able to immediately see where the pain-points are for your website users. Remember; in facts and figures they might be referred to simply as 'users' but in real life they are customers, and more over, individuals who have the power to make or break your business.

Common areas in which companies often have barriers that slow down (or even prevent) conversion are listed below, as well as solutions to help you improve your CRO on Shopify.

Hard To Navigate:

Have you ever seen an advert whilst scrolling, and when you click on the link the website doesn't quite match your expectations? The photos may look fabulous, but you can't find where the menu is to browse the products, or the menu options are confusing - even worse you click on an option such as "plus size swimsuits" and it's not a unique filter, meaning you have to search through hundreds of options!

Experiences such as this are a real turn-off for customers and they can ultimately end in you losing a sales, or at worst, giving your brand a 'bad name' in that person's mind, so they won't think to click on an ad in the future. You should ensure that your Shopify website is simple and intuitive to navigate; not just for the sake of persuading the potential customer to make a conversion, but also to foster a sense of community for your brand. A confident, clear site will exude it's own prestige - you know what they say, less is more.

The Dreaded 'Different' Devices:

This follows on from the navigation challenges that could be harming your CRO. The good news is, Shopify is very versatile and there usually aren't any issues between devices... but... it's always best to check! For example, did you know that CNBC carried out a survey in 2019 which found that people are waiting a lot longer these days to upgrade their smart phones? This means that a significant proportion of your consumers will be using tehcnology that can be between 2 - 5 years old... which means...? Outdated firmware, software or display issues. Again, don't make this hard on yourself to investigate - there is a simple solution to find out whether your Shopify website works across different devices. Ask people!

You can set up a market survey for your exisiting customers, or if you need more immediate answers all you need to do is get people that you know and trust to open your website on their smart phones, tablets, or laptops. All it takes is a few colleagues or friends who have Android, iPhone etc and within 5 minutes of browsing they can tell if you if they come across any barriers such as menu placement, pop up ads covering content, poorly placed images etc.

Impulsive Decisions:

Sometimes (as a consumer ourselves) we can feel guilty about the infamous 'impluse buy'. Who actually needs a new 30 piece Tupperware set or a bright purple hoover! When it comes to being 'impulsive' wth the actions you want your customers to take on a website, this is the complete opposite. You want customers to stop browsing and take action so that you get that macro or micro conversion.

Examples of quick decision making come in many forms, just as there are many options for layouts and designs for your Shopify site. The most over-used way to hook a customer into a click on your site is a discount promo. They've been browsing for 3 minutes, a pop-up appears offering a 15% discount on their first order... these are a sure fire way for a micro conversion e.g. they will get clicked on, yet a lot of people back out of the purchase at the last minute, abandoning their carts.

Look for something more tangible and long term, sales and after care promises help to build your image as a caring business. For instance, you may wish to offer free returns, or free shipping, then once they have purchased use your marketing email (such as Klaviyo) to promote a 10% discount off their second order - encouraging them to return to the site. You need them to believe that they must have your products or services in their life on a regular basis.