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Customer journeys or user experiences are frequently built into eCommerce websites with the very best intentions but frequently fall short for your ideal client.  The path and expectations that you want your customers to have are usually different from what they expect and prefer.  While launching a site that cuts some corners or just fails to consider what your ideal customer likes is leaving money on the virtual table.

Competition is fierce and your customers can easily make a different purchase decision with just a few keystrokes.  Start with these eight common mistakes to begin recrafting your customer experience.

Mistake #1 – Crummy Images and Lack of Videos

Providing High-quality photos of your products are very important. Another way to show up in Google searches is providing great imagery with Alt Attributes on your website. It allows visitors another way to find your products. Also having the ability to zoom in and rotate product images to check out features and details of a new blouse or appliance for the kitchen is really helpful too. An alternative to great product photos is creating a product video. Videos are proven to keep visitors interested and on-page longer than a page without media. If website time is crucial for you, save product video work for your top sellers for now.

Mistake #2 – Descriptions that Aren’t Helpful and Website isn’t SEO-Friendly

Don’t use the same old generic description that other eCommerce sites use.  Provide as much detailed information as possible for your discerning customers.  Most likely this information will not be in the product summary but on additional tabs.  How big is it, how long is it, can it be washed or is it dry-cleanable?  There are many features and benefits to write about to answer your customers’ many questions, and it could make all the difference between them going with you over another website.

Mistake #3 – Lack of Reviews and Building Up Your Brand

Social proof is trusted by approximately 70% of all online shoppers.  Social proof may be in the form of reviews, testimonials, certifications and affiliated partners.  Let your customer read comments about what another purchaser thought about the item once in hand. Google reviews, site reviews, yelp reviews, and Facebook reviews are all helpful. If your having trouble getting customers to write comments about products purchased on your website, offering an incentive can be helpful. Many websites will offer discounts on future purchases, or offering drawings for leaving reviews on past products. Reviews can move you up in rankings in search results so don’t slouch on getting your reviews!

Mistake #4 – No Perks Equals No Growth

Don’t take your company out of the game.  Provide free-shipping, no-hassle returns, and thank you coupons for the next order – think to incentivize, incentivize, incentivize.

Mistake #5 – Specials Specific To Store or “Online Only” Aren’t Clear

If you are a click and mortar, that would be online and storefront, merchant let people know which products and services are available only online and which they can expect only in the store. Make sure these headlines are easy to read, easy to find, and stand out. Use colors that aren’t on your website’s color pallet. Bold or enlarge “online-only” User experience is key here!

 

Mistake #6 – A Secure and Smooth Shopping Experience

Use payment authentication and offer a secure gateway. We are all concerned with cybersecurity and credit card fraud.  Offer an HTTPS connection, display a padlock icon to show a secure gateway and trust certificate logos like Trustwave to demonstrate your PCI-DSS compliance. Don’t forget a privacy policy, terms, and conditions and return policy that is easy to find and understand as menu tabs in your Footer.

Make the checkout process smooth and provide no surprises in pricing, shipping rates, delivery times. The shorter you can make the check out process the better. If there are too many fields to fill out potential customers may get bored and find a competitor site that’s easier to use.

 

Mistake #7 – Non-Responsive Design, Mobile Experience and or Complex Navigation

Your online purchase experience should work easily on both desktop and mobile devices.  Offer the ability to save items in a wish list. We know many consumers start the purchase process on one platform and complete it elsewhere. Depending on the time of day when they want to purchase can determine what device they’re using, so make both user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Mistake #8 – Failure To Keep Improving User Experience / Poor Customer Service

Good user experience is more than just a new website with a lot of pretty-looking widgets and images. Take a look at your analytics for your website, it can really tell the story of what’s happening on your website. You’ll be able to find out how users are moving through your site?  Where your highest bounce rates are? What your click-through rate is? Where are the spots that users abandon the purchase process?  Hopefully, you can pinpoint ways to improve visitor experiences and match the expectations of your website visitors.

 

Mistake #9 (Bonus) Get To Know Who Your Target Audience Should Be.

Know your target audience, this seems obvious, but many times companies don’t take this into effect. Consumers need a reason to shop for your website over eBay, Walmart, Amazon, and other large eCommerce sites. Work on earning your specific audience’s trust and build that relationship so you continue to grow your repeat customer business. Offering products that are important or have value to specific customer bases will help. If you know your target audience’s interests this also helps.

Contact Evolve Payments

Taking the time to address these areas will help you attract and keep more eCommerce customers. If you’re looking for a partner for credit card processing, give Evolve Payments a call at 651.628.4000 or visit or contact us page.