6 errors reduce the conversion of your store

In the article I will tell you the real history of changes in online stores and what effect they have given. All stories of 2012-2013.

For many years I have specialized in analyzing the current state of affairs of an online store and the subsequent increase in its conversion. During this time, I have gained some hints, the implementation of which has always allowed for a significant increase in sales. (Significant - this is of course, not 500%, but 1% -5%). In other words - the absence of these things reduces the effectiveness of the store. They accumulated much more than 6, but I tried to write about those whose implementation does not require much time or resources.
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I do not give references. I do not want you to think that this is advertising or SEO. For details, you can always write me a private message.

The main idea of ​​the article is “We all share similar hints in the comment, and then we discuss them.”

How will the article be built?

Based on the previous paragraph, the article could be called "6 recommendations for increasing conversion for online stores." Why did not call? Over the course of half a year, on one of my projects, I posted two types of articles “N recommendations when choosing [product]” and “N main mistakes when choosing [product]”.

The second option was 17% more efficient - this is a fact. I think that people are more willing to read about other people's mistakes and problems than to listen to advice (in part, a mistake is someone's experience) - this is my opinion, which may be wrong.

By the way, the number 6 is not just like that. 7 and 5 - this is already beaten, everyone understands perfectly well that almost always advertising text.

In the article, I will also write the result of statistics and comparison of statistics (I really want to write the word "research", but comparing two numbers is still not a full-fledged study) and my opinion, which may be wrong. First, I want to hear your opinions to find the truth, and, secondly, I urge you to think, measure, analyze.

Where are the numbers from?

Results are made using A / B testing. We showed some users the old version of the site (without changes), others with changes. Efficiency is measured at the output. I almost always use Google Analytics, although, like many, I used to prefer Yandex.Metrica, but after the book “Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountabilit” Avinash Koshik changed his mind.

Error number 1. The address of the store and the nearest metro station are not indicated in the header of the site (“Metro” is relevant for cities with underground)

Adding data on the address and station meters allowed us to increase sales conversion from 2 to 7% for 3 of my projects in 2013. I think that adding such data increases customer loyalty. He feels more confident in the deal. In case of problems, there is someone to demand their solutions. Tomorrow you will not be lost with your site, you have a serious office, not trade with your hands. In addition, he can immediately determine where approximately you are.

For cities without metro, we write the name of the district.

This is really important, it will allow you to stand out among the apartment traders in Chinese things.

Error number 2. The difference between male and female behavior is not taken into account.

One of my favorite stories. My task was to update the site of a small network of jewelry stores. For this, I spent two days working in one of the stores as a real seller, from the inside to understand how they buy this product.

Men buy easier and faster. They know exactly what amount they want to spend, what ring they need. They come to buy. Online shop for men need with the possibility of a clear and understandable choice. Price from $ 500 to $ 600, engagement, with a diamond - wrap. (And they never know the size of a finger). In general, it seems to me that men have come up with the Internet in order to make more efficient purchases, with less time spent.

A man needs:

• data
• comparisons
• specifications

Women buy the same, but this is only a small part of the whole event, the tip of the iceberg. It is important for a woman to try on, feel the peculiarity of the moment, it is important to hear a compliment. An online store for a woman is a beautiful magazine telling her the story of each piece of jewelry.

Women need:

• Photo
• Photo
• Attention to her
• Let imaginary, but the discount, as an excuse to buy

We made two stores, one for men and one for women (or rather for people with a male type of purchase and female) - the overall conversion increased by almost 15%.

Always consider who your buyer is. Try to understand his purchase logic and the problems he is trying to solve with his purchase. We do not buy things or services - we solve our specific problems.

In fact, there is no “male buyer” and “female buyer”, there is a “male type of purchase” and “female type of purchase”. In one person, as a rule, they are both present, but each has a unique proportion.

Error number 3. Not using e-commerce tracking

I see that there are more literate people who understand what a “target for tracking” is. But often, due to lack of data, we make the wrong conclusions from statistical analysis. The most common mistake to measure the quality of traffic only the number of purchases made. This is due to the fact that it is easy to set up tracking of a transaction, and it is more difficult to set up tracking of transaction amounts.

This is especially true when all channels show about the same conversion.

The solution is simple - at a minimum, start tracking the cost of your purchases. For example, Google Analytics allows you to track not just whether or not the purchase was, but what you bought and how much. In the simplest version, you can see which of your advertising campaigns for what amount you earned.

In my case, for the online flower shop, it showed that traffic from Odnoklassniki and VKontakte almost coincides with the number of purchases, but Odnoklassniki have a larger “average check”. Knowing this, it was possible to more intelligently create a media plan for advertising for different groups of goods. We stopped showing ads for expensive bouquets on VKontakte, and the released funds were directed to additional advertising for expensive bouquets on Odnoklassniki. Total store revenue increased by almost 10% next month.

Error number 4. Site tracking tracking is not used.

Any store must simply have to constantly change. It is connected with the fact that the outside world is changing with the buyer.

Distribution problem for stores with a large assortment - what to remove from the range, and what to add new? There are two approaches, it is to adapt to the demand and create demand. The second option almost always does not fit, it requires an incredible amount of resources.

This raises the main question of how to track trends in demand? There are several ways, I will tell the most obvious.

I added site tracking to a sports nutrition store. This made it possible to change the prices and goods of the participants of special store promotions, adjusting them to what the buyer was really interested in. It turned out that a number of popular products were simply absent in the nomenclature. Particularly distressed visitors lack of chocolate flavor for protein.

It is important that this will continue to allow the identification of new needs and trends. Store should not be static. It is always necessary to move and develop, to be ready for change.

4% increase in sales

By the way, we also found out that often people are looking for the time of the store and we added this information to the header.

Error number 5. No mobile version of the site

Mobile phones and tablets capture the Internet. I am sure that anyone tracking the statistics of their site will see this trend. The lack of a mobile version of the site is actually a complete rejection of such buyers. I have to say, an adaptive design is almost always a loop around the neck. Over time, the support and development go crazy. In addition, it is realistic to introduce it when designing a store from the very beginning, and not to tie it to an existing design.

A separate template is simpler and faster, even with incomplete functionality, in our case, in general, you could only watch the goods, and buy only on the full version of the site.

As a result, purchases were added, but there is one “BUT”. In our case, it was impossible to track down, whether they were buyers or not. Perhaps the growth of purchases occurred by itself, but this does not negate the importance of having a mobile version of the site. Because of this, I will not give the numbers yet.

Error number 6. Lack of “after-purchase”

This error applies even to large stores and I am sure that in the near future, we will see the development of this direction - automation and complication of Data Mining algorithms.

What happens after the purchase now? Stores collect our mail and phone numbers and periodically send us letters. If you don’t even have this, then everything is bad, but if you already have a “return” work system, then there is always a way to improve it.

For the building materials store, we have developed a simple algorithm that calculates the potential need and the onset of this need.

We created shopping scenarios. I will describe a simplified example, if you bought a rebar and a mixture, most likely you are making the foundation, which means:

• Now you can offer the necessary formwork
• In a few months (or at the beginning of the next season), you can offer garbage collection and bricks.

This approach made it possible for specific people to send specific proposals that they are most likely interested in right now. The shop stopped selling in part, and began to solve the problem of the buyer.

Sales on returns increased by almost 25%. (But a really great job was done on drawing up algorithms and implementing Data Mining.