By Tom Butcher
It’s too often assumed that if you can direct traffic to your eCommerce store, then sales will naturally follow.
No matter how much energy you put into your search engine optimization or PPC strategies, this is only part of the task of boosting your sales. Once traffic has reached your eCommerce store, you need to give your audience a reason to stay and convert into paying customers.
If you’re struggling to boost your conversion rate, you might have fallen prey to a number of eCommerce payment mistakes. Do any of these sound familiar?
Enforcing Checkout Registration
Customers can be instantly put off when they reach a barrier in the checkout process, telling them that they absolutely must register a full account with your eCommerce store before proceeding with the purchase.
Modern consumers demand easier and quicker checkout processes, and if they sense that it’s going to be a lengthy affair, then they’ll be likely to abandon their basket.
With data protection standing as a prominent issue these days, it’s important to be aware of your target customers’ concerns. Many would prefer to just pay for their goods without having to hand over extra details and have a permanent account made on your system.
Instead, you should give your customers the option to carry out the transaction through a guest checkout, simply putting their email in for order update purposes.
Keeping Checkout Progress a Secret
From hitting “checkout” to the final purchase confirmation, the online purchasing process can be very long and many customers will feel like it’s never going to end.
Creating an account, entering card details, billing address and separate delivery address, popping in any extra messages to the packers or delivery drivers, reviewing their order – it’s a lengthy procedure. Some customers will get tired of filling out field after field, unsure when it will ever stop. They decide it’s not worth the hassle and leave your eCommerce store.
Nip this issue in the bud by setting up a progress bar at the checkout. This will allow customers to clearly see how far they’ve come and how many more steps they need to go through, giving them that extra nudge of motivation to power through the transaction.
Too Few Payment Options
Depending on your product range and your target customer, you may need to go beyond support for some of the more obvious, major credit and debit cards.
Many consumers have moved beyond the confines of Visa, MasterCard, and Maestro, and into the arms of PayPal, Google Pay, and even obscure cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Investigate the payment preferences of your particular audience and be sure to bolster your eCommerce store with the functionality to process these newer methods.
Undisclosed Delivery Charges
When you monitor your site analytics, have you noticed that a sizable portion of your potential clientele exit your website right before they are urged to make payment? Have you wondered what has influenced them to do this?
Three words: unexpected delivery costs.
Many online shoppers become irritated when they reach the payment stage and are suddenly met with pricey shipping charges. In fact, a shocking 70% of shoppers abandon their baskets for this very reason. They may feel somewhat deceived, lured in with a lower cost but with a catch at the last minute.
Steer clear of this by employing transparent pricing that includes shipping costs from the outset.
Customers will always know how much they’re being charged when they’re adding items to their baskets, and will be more likely to follow through with payment if there are no nasty surprises awaiting them at the end.
Don’t Make These Mistakes!
eCommerce entrepreneurs, big and small, are all prone to making some of these simple but harmful mistakes. Be open with your potential audience and research how you can best serve their purchasing needs and wants. This will build trust and streamline the payment process, boosting your conversion rates.
