This year, the Asia-Pacific region will account for online sales of USD765 billion, or 48 percent of all retail e-commerce, according to estimates by New York-based marketing-data tracker eMarketer Inc. Consumers are not only shopping more across different platforms, they are also shopping across different applications and devices.
Despite strong growth across Asia-Pacific over the past few years and the growth trends predicted for the coming 12 months, most research places the rate of shopping cart abandonment on e-commerce websites between 50 percent to 75 percent or higher in some instances.
Online retailers throughout Asia are investing significant marketing dollars to attract customers to their websites, apps and social media pages and are offering great products for sale at competitive prices, only to fall short during the checkout process.
While behavioural issues related to the customer not being ready to purchase or comparing prices can be at play, there are a few simple and cost effective dos and don’ts that businesses can follow to keep the virtual tills ringing this year.
DO provide a great customer experience from all platforms
Before we get into the nitty gritty of creating the perfect checkout flow, make sure your online storefront is optimised to provide the best user experience possible in terms of speed, user-friendly interfaces and navigation. Ensuring consistency across the customer journey is also important—whether they are visiting your store, website, or mobile app—and will help foster trust and loyalty in your customers.
DO use great product images
When it comes to product images, make sure it’s a good picture—professional, eye-catching, and with sufficient resolution. Customers expect to be able to have a clear and realistic idea of what they are buying and if they don’t, it’s unlikely they will add it to their shopping cart in the first place. If you can, include more than one image per item, especially if it is clothing or furniture where customers will want to see it from different angles, and allow for zoom functionality. This increases trust in the product, and therefore the likelihood that it will be purchased.
DO provide testimonials and allow people to leave feedback
In our socially networked world, reviews are everywhere and customers actively seek them out. People are more likely to buy your product if they see that others are recommending it and have had a positive experience. Allow your customers to leave reviews about your products and services, and when you receive great feedback, share it on your site where everyone can see!
DO offer purchase incentives
Consumers love a bargain or free offer. A Deloitte study found that 68 percent of consumers choose to shop from sites with free shipping and 74 percent will be influenced by coupons or promotional offers. In addition to a straight discount or free shipping, consider other incentives as well, such as complimentary gift-wrapping or a personalised card with each purchase.
DO provide guarantees and refunds
Does your company have a good return policy or product guarantee in place? If not, you should, because potential customers place a high value on these sorts of services, especially in a virtual retail environment, and it may help to give them that extra bit of confidence they need to make the purchase. Providing a service that goes above and beyond what is expected, such as a no-question asked 60-day return policy, will delight your customers and keep them coming back.
DO build customer support features into the checkout process
Once your shoppers have filled their baskets you want to avoid any reason for them to leave your site and abandon it. Savvy small e-commerce players are building live-chat and self-help features such as Zendesk Embeddables into their websites, apps and online experiences so that customers can reach out for support any time they are stuck or have a question, without the need to leave the page or app. These in-built customer service tools allow for direct engagement with customers in the right place at the right time, while giving support agents more context to personalise their interactions and convert more sales.
DON’T surprise customers with unexpected costs
According to Statistia, 56 percent of online shoppers abandon their carts without paying when they are presented with unexpected costs. Customers don’t want to add an item to their cart only to see additional fees that were not clearly listed on the original product page. Feeling irritated and somehow cheated, they will often click away to another website. To avoid this from happening, make sure your pricing is transparent from the get go and state clearly whether it includes shipping and what additional charges might apply.
DON’T include too many steps or force users to register on your site
One of the biggest turnoffs for customers is a complicated checkout process and being forced to register on a website in order to complete the purchase. In general, people don’t like to part with too much personal information or click a link to another page to view delivery prices—this will lead to frustration and drive abandonment. Your online storefront should include no more than five steps, offer a guest checkout option, and guide customers through the process with ease, allowing them to make edits where needed.
If you follow these eight simple steps, your business will be well on its way to increasing online sales conversion rates, customer satisfaction levels and profits in 2015.
Daniel Scheltinga is director of services and support at Zendesk.