The holy grail of e-commerce is knowing how to optimise your store for better conversion rates and an essential part of this is getting your product pages right on the mark. There's a sure science to the steps to take and many complex strategies to implement, but these tips are the first and essential to follow.
So here's our e-commerce checklist for better converting product pages, scratching the mandatory surface. Give it to your marketing or web team and watch conversions improve.
Showcase Your Products - Images (and Video)
Your store is built for the sole purpose of showcasing and selling your products. You have mere seconds to make them stand out until you've lost your visitor's interest. Ironically visuals are often the most neglected. Don't make the same mistake and focus on creating and displaying great product images. Consider adding video too and check out our article „The Power Of Video For Your E-Commerce Store".
67% of consumers consider clear, detailed images to be very important and carry even more weight than the product information, full description, and customer ratings.
Quality
We mean quality as in overall appeal, not just image quality. Beautiful images are attention grabbing and show the product in the best light possible. If budget allows, we suggest you to consider getting a professional photographer.
Size
To bring your online shopping experience closer to a brick and mortar store, you can only rely on large, hi-res photos. Consumers want to zoom in and have a closeup of every and all details of the product. A popular way to do this is using a pop-up lightbox, allowing you to display the photo on the biggest possible area. As a second option, you can use a zoom feature on hover.
Increasing image sizes grew conversion rates for Skinner Auctions by 63%.
Quantity
Displaying multiple images gives you the advantage of showcasing your product from every angle. For example, shopping for shoes, you'd expect to have views from the sides, front and back, the sole and a view from the top. Having these close-up as well, allows the customer to see every stitch and joint.
If you have multiple variations of products, like colour or style, list all photos for them too. The more complete an overview your customer gets, the better.
Your Call to Action
When decided on making a purchase, people are looking for a button click. – All you need to do is make it easy for them to find. Make it contrasting in colour to the rest of your site and make it noticeable in size. It also needs to look inviting and „clickable“.
Pay attention to labelling your CTA's. Two of the most common labels are „Add to Cart“ directing a customer to the shopping cart and „Buy Now“ taking them to the checkout page. In the case of having additional buttons, like adding a product to a wish list, your primary CTA needs to be first in the visual hierarchy.
Displaying price
People will look for the price near the button. You have to follow the same general guidelines with the price as with the button. Make it stand out by making it bigger, bolder and contrasting in colour. Keep it in the vicinity of the image and close to the button.
Product info, description,
Your product info will consist of two types of copy - product features and product benefits.
Product Features
Product features will list materials, dimensions, weight, technical features, assembly instructions and anything else customers would want to enquire specifically about. The more detail the better, as you'll reduce the number of questions a buyer might have.
Don't have the content in a PDF for download as that's harder to read and reduces any SEO benefit.
Product Benefits
Your product benefits copy will answer all questions related to how the item will benefit the buyer. Best to keep it concise and reflect the „what's in it for me“ value as best as possible.
Additionally add product size copy below the benefits copy, if relevant. If you are selling apparel and using a model on product photos, explain the sizing of the model wearing the item: height, chest size, waist size, and the size of the garment he/she is wearing.
Add Reviews And Ratings
Reviews and ratings on your product pages are social proof and help persuade making a purchase, by reducing any lingering hesitation and risk for the buyer. More product reviews and higher ratings mean better conversion rates. You can opt for testimonials, social media content or actual product reviews.
63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site which has user reviews.
If you're just implementing reviews and there are none, you can run a promotion, inviting previous buyers to review products. Once reviews start coming in, be completely open and transparent - show the bad and the good.
Shipping Rates
As free shipping is so common with e-tailers, people have gotten used to it. So it's self-explanatory to have that info clearly displayed on the product page if you yourself need to charge extra for shipping. Making shipping rates visible only later in the shopping cart or worse yet, during checkout, is one of the biggest reasons for cart abandonment (provided, you charge extra).
It's also a best practice to use standard shipping rates, rather than calculating them during checkout depending on the order. But being able to offer free shipping is a sure way to boost conversions.
Availability, Delivery & Returns
A must have is clearly displayed stock availability, but you can also use options like „Hurry, only 2 left“ to create a sense of urgency. Showing expected delivery times and including a return policy will also aid conversion rates.
Tweaking your site and improving your conversions will take a lot of testing, time and effort, but implementing these 7 steps will have given you a definite good start.
Also, share your thoughts on things you've found that boosted conversions. Have you ever had a sudden increase in sales after adding or modifying a particular element on the page? If so, tell us about it!
