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Shopify is one of the easiest and most popular e-commerce platforms for businesses to make sales online. Although it’s simple to set up online sales with Shopify, converting browsers into buyers is not quite as straightforward. The average conversion rate for Shopify sellers is just 1.4% (source: Littledata). In other words, for every 1000 visitors, just 14 decide to make a purchase. This can seem like a measly return for all the effort of driving traffic to your store. That’s why upping your conversion rate is so important. There are a few tried and true ways of doing this.
Below we delve into three of the best methods for boosting your Shopify conversion rate. But first, we’ll take a look at what conversion rate optimization is.
What is Shopify Conversion Rate Optimization?
Shopify conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a fancy term for a simple concept. All it means is making the most of the visitors who land in your store. Your conversion rate is calculated by dividing your number of sales by the total number of visitors over a specific period.
Obviously, your conversion rate will change with the times of the year. It’s likely to go up around Christmas but drop in January. Also, most visitors will take more than one session to become buyers. When CRO is done well, more visitors become buyers. And they become buyers faster.
We’ve already noted that the average Shopify conversion rate is 1.4%. We’d shy away from saying that’s great, but it’s not bad either. Less than 0.3% — 3 buyers for every 1,000 visitors — puts you with the poor performers. That’s the lowest 20% of Shopify stores. The upper 20% of Shopify stores achieve a 3.2% conversion rate.
It is possible to reach a higher rate of conversion than 3.2% but it can sometimes cost more time and effort than makes financial sense. Aiming for 3.2% is a good start. Now for the good bit — how to improve Shopify conversion rates.
Using Shopify Automation Messages
To improve conversion rates on Shopify, it helps to move with your buyer's intent. This means responding to their actions. Actions like abandoning their purchase before sealing the deal. 69.57% of Shopify carts are abandoned before making it through the checkout (source: Shopify).
There are many reasons why people abandon their carts. Some shoppers get distracted and others balk at the additional costs added before checking out. A simple follow-up message to these almost-customers can be enough to have them finish what they started. In fact, 11% of abandoned cart emails result in a purchase.
Obviously, you can’t sit watching your Shopify store all day, waiting to email the almost-customers. Kixie’s automated messages triggered by shopper’s behavior provide a simple solution. These can be set up as text messages, emails, or even a friendly call from a salesperson. Choose a method most suited to your brand.
Setting up SMS and Email Cadence
Kixie’s Zapier integration includes a ready-to-go template for Shopify stores. To get started, connect your Shopify account and fill out the Zap template with your message. There are a few options for triggers that will cause the Zapier action, select ‘new abandoned cart’, define the length of delay between the trigger and the follow-up, and then the method the message will be sent. You can also add WhatsApp chat widget to match your store's branding. Learn more here about Shopify WhatsApp integration.
Using Retargeting to Boost Shopify Conversions
Ever noticed how ads follow you around on the internet? It’s uncanny, isn’t it? One day you’re browsing summer shoes and the next day, you can’t click on a website without being presented with numerous ads for sandals. Welcome to the concept of retargeting.
Retargeting is the advertising method of using paid ads to re-engage customers who have already visited your site. Working with cookies, site visitors can receive relevant adverts on social platforms, website browsers, and blogs that remind them of your brand and the products they looked at.
97% of people who visit your site won’t make a purchase the first time (source: Mailchimp). Retargeting brings them back to you when they are ready to buy. And while they’re still making that decision, retargeting builds trust and credibility. Using this omnichannel marketing approach has you in all the right places at the right time. It can reduce abandoned carts by 6.5% and increase online sales by 20%.
Retargeting Tools to Improve Conversions With Shopify
Retargeting strategies are a little like automated abandoned cart messages in that they are triggered by shopper behavior. When someone visits your site, you give them a cookie. After they leave, this cookie alerts your ad campaign to display your most relevant adverts as they surf the internet.
You’re able to define the parameters of the types of advertising and the length of time to follow visitors. This allows you to target browsers without throwing money away on ads for people who won't engage with your brand. It's a great way to create a consistent brand message that builds trust with interested potential customers.
Simplify Your Shopify Checkout Process
The biggest reason for abandoned carts is found at the checkout. 55% of Shopify customers ditch their carts because additional charges are too high. Even smaller traders can reduce shipping costs. Another 60% find the checkout process is too arduous. By simplifying and streamlining it, you can drastically increase your Shopify conversions and sales.
When people are ready to make a purchase, the idea is to remove all friction. This makes sales as smooth and easy as possible. One of the benefits of shopping online is ease and convenience. If your store isn’t offering this, there are plenty of others that are.
Accelerating Purchases
To avoid putting customers off with additional charges, be clear about postage, packaging, and taxes in product descriptions. If possible, scrap shipping costs entirely. It’s also worth considering how many details you really need to collect to enable a purchase.
It may be nice to know your customer’s birthday for future marketing, but if it stops them from making a purchase, is it really worth it? Shopify recommends offering ‘guest checkout’ options that only ask for the bare minimum before a purchase can be completed.
Improving your Shopify conversion rate can often be done with some simple tweaks to key processes and the way you communicate with site visitors. Ensuring you follow up on abandoned carts with friendly messages, reminding visitors about products they’ve viewed, and removing friction from your checkout are all proven methods for boosting Shopify conversion rates and sales.
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