6 E-Commerce Mistakes That Impact Conversions

By Kyle Sanders

Traffic generation is one of the top priorities for e-commerce business owners. However, did you know that retailers lose $18 billion each year from shopping cart abandonment? Recent studies show that on average, around 68 percent of shoppers will abandon shopping carts. Thus, the average conversion rate for retailers is only around 3 percent.

Most e-commerce store owners know that increasing conversions is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to grow revenue, but many continue to make critical errors. Here are six e-commerce mistakes you should avoid to maximize conversions:

1. Poor Website Copy and Product Descriptions

Many e-commerce store owners don't think that product descriptions are that important as the emphasis gets placed on item photos and visual presentation. And sometimes it is true that the product image is more important than the description; however, for many items, the description is more critical.

An eye tracking study by the Nielsen Norman Group compared shoppers on Amazon looking at TVs to Pottery Barn shoppers looking at bookshelves. For the people looking at bookshelves, researchers found that viewers spent more time looking at the photos, whereas people looking at the TVs focused more on the text and ignored the pictures.

Photos of TVs don't give shoppers much information, but photos of bookshelves help customers visualize how the shelves would look in their homes and the images are scrutinized more closely. On the flip side, with TVs, people are more interested in design specifications like screen size, features, and LCD vs. plasma.

When you're deciding which products to write descriptions for, choose feature-centric products, and write thorough and compelling descriptions rather than just emphasizing the images. Include searchable keywords to help with SEO, but remember to focus on pleasing your human visitors as well. Even if your keywords are SEO gold, if your product descriptions aren't well written, your visitors are likely to find better descriptions on one of your competitors' sites.

2. Failure to Cross-Sell

E-commerce owners often make a very crucial mistake when their customers are checking out: failure to cross-sell related items. There are many companies that try to upsell; however it leaves customers feeling used. Alternatively, cross-selling presents customers with options related to the items they're purchasing.

A study by Oracle Corporation shows that cross-selling can increase sales conversion rates by up to 20 percent. An example of cross-selling might be when an online flower shop features chocolates or teddy bears for customers shopping on Valentine's Day. These items can be shown underneath the main item or even suggested in the shopping cart after the customer adds an item. Another suggestion is to offer customers coupons to related items they're purchasing at the checkout page, ensuring they're a returning customer.

3. Mobile Compatibility

Another common design flaw for e-commerce stores is not having a responsive design. As smartphone usage rises, many people shop online using their mobile phones or tablets. Brent Cohler, Director of Mobile Product Marketing for SAP, says, "Eighty percent of mobile users' purchasing decisions are influenced by the mobile channel, even though they may not use their devices to complete the final purchase."

If your site doesn't have a responsive design, then you're missing out on a significant amount of business. Make sure images resize to mobile and that the typography is mobile-friendly as well.

4. Failing to Optimize Images for Search

Images are one of the most commonly overlooked aspects of e-commerce store optimization. They should load fast, which will help with SEO rankings as well as provide a better user experience. Make sure images are optimized for smartphones and tablets as well.

When planning an image design strategy, be sure to include descriptive alt tags. These allow images to show up in Google image searches and drive additional traffic to your site. In addition, create separate thumbnail and main images. Finally use code to reduce image sizes to improve page load times.

5. Requesting Too Much Information at Checkout

Another deadly mistake that increases shopping cart abandonment is requesting lengthy information at checkout. According to Statista, 21 percent of shoppers abandon their carts because the process takes too long. Many shoppers have short attention spans when they're online, so a long checkout form can cause people to leave your site before they complete their purchases.

Simplify your checkout process as much as possible by only requesting information you need. Also, give customers the ability to create an account so they can check out quickly the next time they purchase from you.

Adding PayPal as an alternative payment option is another way to simplify the checkout experience. Many people already have PayPal accounts and are more comfortable using them than giving out their payment information to new vendors.

6. Not Remarketing or Using Return Emails

When customers abandon their shopping carts, they often forget about your site and never return. Remarketing and return emails will bring back some of your customers to your store to complete their purchases.

The first step in your checkout process should be to get the customer's email. That way, if they leave without completing their purchase, you can follow up with an email reminder, or even a coupon to entice them to buy the item.

Another option is retargeting your visitors with ads. Many ad networks allow you to display an ad on their site if the customer has previously visited you. Retargeting often leads to increased brand awareness and return visits.

A study by SeeWhy shows that people who abandon carts and later come back to purchase spend 55 percent more than people who buy right away. More than half of customers will leave and not return if they aren't remarketed to within 24 hours. Following up with visitors through remarketing is an important step to maximizing your e-commerce conversions.

To sum up, be sure to address the following issues to maximize profits from people who are already visiting your store.