It’s so often the case that online shops spend a significant amount of time and resources in getting new customers to their website, that they forget to pay attention to perhaps just as an important part of the sales process; the actual purchase process itself. You ignore your online checkout process at your peril, because if the user experience is too clunky, slow or downright frustrating; your hard earned shopper is likely to abandon the sale before completing the purchase.
The following 6 simple steps have been compiled to help you identify potential sticking points in your purchase process that may be negatively impacting your sales.
1. Don’t Empty the Shopping Basket
More often than not, if a shopper jumps from your website to another, then returns later to complete their purchase, they will expect to see their basket intact. Expecting customers to start again can be frustrating and potentially lose you sales.
2. Don’t Force Opening an Account
This is a huge bug-bear for many online shoppers. We are not forced to set up an accounts before making a purchase with offline shops, so why should we assume it’s okay to put customers through that rigmarole online?
While any benefits of opening an account might be presented as an option, guest shoppers shouldn’t be forced to prolong their purchase unnecessarily by setting up an account they had no intention to open.
3. Streamline the Purchase Process
As far as many shoppers are concerned, the less steps the better when wanting to complete their purchase. The balance here is maintaining enough steps to confirm your customers order together with their shipping and billing details, while not prolonging the process with unnecessary steps or slow loading pages. With a clever use of modern programming techniques, the whole purchase process can be completed on one page.
4. Keep it Simple
Following on from the last step, keeping the process simple with tool tips (explanations made available when hovering the cursor over selected text) and perhaps an image to clarify the process can go a long way to walking shoppers through what for some can be a daunting process.
5. Be Trustworthy, Be Transparent
Modern web browsers are understandably going out of their way to identify unsafe websites to help protect their users. Making implementing a safe transaction process paramount for securing the safety of your customers’ sensitive details.
Another way to earn shoppers’ trust is to be transparent about shipping costs. Last minute surprises which impact the overall spend can result in the purchase be abandoned.
6. Provide Customer Support
Finally, as with any good shopping experience, be on hand to provide help when it’s needed. This could come in the shape of a comprehensive frequently asked questions section, or even a live chat support feature.
If you would like help to improve your customers’ online shopping experience, give us a call on 08450 740068.
