How do you feel about your photo product store conversion rate? Even if you’re pleased with it, there’s always room for improvement. In fact, you should never stop and rest when it comes to increasing sales and, in this article, we’ll show you 5 ideas to improve revenue.
It’s a well known fact that e-commerce stores survive on sales. As such, it’s vital to find new ways to convert more visitors into active customers. This helps improve your revenue and allows your photo product business to thrive. Need a few ideas? Here are 5 ways to help increase conversions.
1. Prepare Visitors On Your Website
Not every visitor lands on your page fully intending to make a purchase. Some may have simply seen your ad and clicked on over out of curiosity. They want to see what is on offer in case they need it in the future.
This is where you need to encourage them to convert, even if it’s not through direct sales. To make sure they don’t forget about you, invite them to sign up to your newsletter (have you read our latest article about email marketing?) and offer them something in return. A discount on their first purchase, for example, will be very enticing.
Of course, if you’re not successful in getting their email address, you can use Facebook or remarketing techniques to keep them aware of your brand.
2. Adjust Shipping Costs And Options
According to Bigcommerce, 66% of online shoppers decide not to continue with a purchase due to the cost of shipping. These costs are a big reason for cart abandonments, as potential customers seek better rates with your competitors. With free shipping being common among many stores, there’s a good chance they will indeed find what they’re looking for.
Free shipping doesn’t need to be something you offer all the time, however. A limited offer can even work in your favour, creating a sense of urgency that can temporarily increase conversion rates. The importance of shipping costs can’t be understated. In fact, according to rejoiner.com, only 19% of browsers actively put items in their cart. Yet, “of this 19% only 7% of shoppers completed their transaction. The most cited reason for this second level of abandonment was, “the shipping costs and options were unacceptable.”
Changing your shipping options can increase this 7% much closer to 19%, which is a big difference. So, keep your delivery costs as low as possible and offer different options. Many delivery companies offer special services, such as sending items to a specific pick-up point, or even delivering during the evening hours. Both of these can appeal to someone who works during the day, for example, as they no longer need to worry about picking up their package.
You can also include express delivery services – especially during busy periods such as Christmas – which brings us to our next point quite nicely.
3. Be fast
Many e-commerce owners offer express delivery, which is typically under 24 hours, but this will obviously take longer for photo products, due to the nature of printing. However,if you plan out your printing as far ahead as possible, you can certainly offer a timeframe that is fast and competitive for the industry.
A quick turnaround is vital, as there are many shoppers who often leave it too late and want to offer custom, unique gifts. If they don’t believe you can deliver on time, they will look to your competitors to see who can. When it comes to big dates like Christmas, make it clear on your website when orders need to be placed, in order for those orders to arrive before Christmas itself.
4. Make customers feel safe
Customers like to be ensured about the purchases they are making on your website. They only want the best and do not want to deal with unexpected situations.
For example, offer free returns when customers aren’t happy with the quality of the print or product – just remember to use realistic pictures on your website, to avoid any assumed expectations. Furthermore, testimonials from satisfied customers will also put new customers at ease.
Research by Bigcommerce found that 66% of online shoppers expect more reviews from e-commerce stores. You can encourage this by asking your customers to leave reviews on popular e-commerce rating services after their purchase. These are common places that customers look to, as they find them more credible than reviews directly on your website.
5. Promotions
Everybody loves a discount or special offer. While this is certainly easier to do with pre-made products, such as discounted goods from a previous season, you can still do this with photo products. You just need to be creative.
For example, offer a discount on calendars around New Year. Whatever you do, it’s important to not hide these offers. Display them clearly on your website, through banners, on the home page or even through a specialised subpage, so everyone can find them.
There you have it, 5 creative ways to increase conversions and encourage users to shop with your store!
Katarzyna Michałowska
Reader. Writer. Communicator. PR & Marketing Specialist at Printbox. Learning from only the best and writing killer copy.
