February 23, 2016
What do Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Target.com all have in common? They have spent millions of dollars testing how to optimize the purchasing experience to maximize online revenue. Wouldn't you know, all three of these web giants use the same 4 tactics to simplify the purchasing experience? Steal and adopt these 4 strategies to increase conversion rates and revenue. Did you know the average person has an average attention span is only 8 seconds!? That means you web strategy has to be laser focused on creating clarity and simplicity if you want to create an effective purchasing experience. 10 years of experience in our software in surveying over $1B in transaction volume shows that the highest conversion rates happen when the average time to complete a transaction is less than 60 seconds. Here is what that means when building your registration or fundraising page.
Your benchmark for your page should be to complete the entire order process within one one. When we look at the 4 strategies adopted by billion dollar e-commerce companies, it's obvious they are trying to achieve the same benchmark. So, what do billion dollar brands like Amazon, Walmart and Target do to help reach that goal? They do 4 things. Here they are.
When a customer is near to placing an order, all related products, advertisements and non essential information is removed. If a purchase is eminent, the last thing you want to do is have too much information slow them down.Takeaway: Make sure your registration page or fundraising page only includes essential information and nothing more. Don't include too much information on your registration page or giving page. Put all that information, such as your company history, contact information, values and more on your website and not on your payment page.
The call to action to check out was on every page with no exception. The button was always easy to find, usually in the top right hand corner and always in the same color.Takeway: Place your “Donate Now”, “Register Now”, or “Purchase Tickets Now” buttons on every page of your website. This will allow a user to easily select the button once they have made the decision to proceed with a transaction. Making this button difficult to find as they navigate your website will deter them from completing the transaction process. Don't hide these important links under sub menus. It should be clear and impossible to miss.
As soon as a purchaser begins the checkout process, you will notice the primary navigation that was present on the website prior has been eliminated and replaced with a simple navigation pertaining to completing an order.Takeaway: Eliminate any navigation that takes users away from your page or distracts them from completing their order. Fewer things that catch your eye that might you lead elsewhere the better. If you want a customer to view your social media pages, prompt them after purchase instead. Make the purchasing process simple.
Notice how the big ecommerce companies never ask you satisfaction questions during checkout? That is because they only capture what is minimally required to complete the order. The checkout process was 2 steps. Not 5 or 6. They broke out the page in simple segments for shipping and billing and provided the checkout process in 2 pages.Takeaway: Collect just the bare minimum of information that you need (and will use). Reduce the pages or steps to as few as possible. Don't provide any extra information that causes people to think beyond completing their purchase.
Those are the 4 secrets behind billion dollar ecommerce websites that improve conversion and revenue. The more you simplify the process, the better results.
Good luck!