Do you know that 69 percent of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts mid-way before completing a purchase? As an ecommerce business owner, you know the amount of effort it takes to bring traffic to your website. But all of it can go wasted if your visitors don’t complete their purchases.
For the most part, your products aren’t to be blamed for this. Instead, you might be making some rookie mistakes on your website design that’s driving them away.
I had a client last year who had been making two major mistakes (lack of reviews/testimonials, and mandatory account creation). After we added reviews and testimonials to their website, and we offered a guest checkout option, their conversions increased by 33 percent in just two months.
In this article, I’m going to talk about these common conversion killers, and other mistakes that drive customers away.
1. Mandatory account creation process.
A study by Baymard Institute shows that 37 percent of consumers abandon their shopping carts because of a mandatory account creation.
Forcing your customers to create an account before they can complete their purchase, might be killing your conversions. Hence, make sure that your website also allows customers the option of purchasing as guests, without having to register.
2. Long and boring signup forms.
There’s nothing more irritating than having to fill out fields after fields of information before you can make a purchase. As a customer, once I’ve made up my mind to buy something, I just want to grab it and go.
So make your signup forms short and sweet. Make sure that they include relevant dropdowns, radio buttons, and an indication of optional information. Most importantly, keep field labels so that customers can easily fill out what’s needed.
3. Long and complicated checkout process.
A long and complicated checkout process can easily drive away your customers. 28 percent of consumers do not complete their purchases because they get frustrated with a long checkout process.
Hence, I strongly recommend making your checkout process as simple as possible. Make sure that the checkout process is contained in a single page. And please, no irrelevant pop-ups prompting customers to buy additional products. They’ll do you more harm than good.
4. Lack of testimonials and reviews.
Testimonials and user reviews can help you in building credibility and winning customer trust. When someone sees that others have purchased from you and found your products valuable, they are likely to buy too.
Most people are skeptical about making purchases from unknown names or new entrants. So, if you do not display customer testimonials and positive user reviews on your website, you’ll be killing your conversions.
5. Extra costs during checkout.
Imagine adding a product that costs $15 to your cart. You then proceed to checkout where you are shown an additional $5 for shipping. Wouldn’t you simply abandon the process and try to buy the product offline?
That’s exactly how you can drive away your customers if you do not show all costs upfront. 23 percent of consumers abandon their purchases on account of not knowing the extra costs upfront. Hence, make sure to show all costs right on your product page to make the customer experience better.
6. Failing to mention secure checkout.
You might have a robust and secure payment authorization and checkout process. However, if you don’t mention it clearly on your checkout page, you run a serious risk of driving away customers.
Customers need to feel confident that their payments will be handled securely. A simple mention of secure payment reassures your customers that there won’t be any foul play.
7. Not being mobile-friendly.
According to Statista, 23 percent of all e-commerce purchases are made using mobile devices. So if your website isn’t optimized for mobile users, you are losing out on a chunk of your conversions.
Make sure your website content and images are optimized for mobile. Also allow the options of saving products or cart for later for consumers who prefer completing their purchases from PCs.
If you’re guilty of having any of the above conversion killers on your website, make amends right away. Growing a business is a tough job as it is. So let’s not do things that make it even more so.
Can you think of any other conversion killers that can drive customers away? Let me know in the comments below.