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[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#137514

This is a question aimed at those that run e-commerce shops whether they be VM or otherwise and an interesting topic, hence it’s in Jshare….

I was just wondering do you know what % of your overall visitors go on to make a purchase? Mine is incredibly small – less than 3% I would say. I was also wondering what to do about it, if anyone has any good suggestions fire away.

One thing I do think would make a difference is accepting Credit Cards direct instead of PayPal. Also, having more special offers, although in my case I’m fairly tied down on what I can discount. But really just wondering are there any magic methods to getting visitors to convert to customers.

BTW: This is not an SEO question. I’m strictly talking about after the visitor has arrived.

[wooohanetworks Friend wooohanetworksJoin date: September 2008Posts: 1239Downloads:0Uploads:2 Thanks: 148 Thanked: 138 times in 41 posts]

#288274

What do you sell, how does your shop look like, how the product page. It is all about the presentation and competition. Do you sell locally or not, how many products do you offer? “Is there a huge mall next to your shop”, metaphorically spoken, you simply can’t compete with?

Link? Or confidential?

PayPal becomes more attractive, you only need to login and pay with a click, to accept credit cards directly will make no big difference, would probably become a pitfall investment. Rather also offer Moneybookers.com and such alternatives to PayPal.

1 user says Thank You to wooohanetworks for this useful post

1. scotty

[rdevereaux Friend rdevereauxJoin date: November 2008Posts: 37Downloads:0Uploads:0 Thanks: 10 Thanked: 1 times in 1 posts]

#288277

Scotty,

Jess and I were having problems talking one of our customers out of setting up a merchant account but we did it. Potsamore wanted it set up so he could also use it at trade shows and other events. We called around 7 different companies to get quotes.

We were not against him having the merchant account. We were just worried that he would not be making enough money in the beginning to cover the charges. It is very expensive!!! If you can wait, I think that your online store is making quite a bit of money.

Have you tried banner exchanges and advertising with local magazines to increase traffic to the site? 😉 eSpanglish Magazine advertises for us in trade.

I also would suggest to send coupons to past customers! Return customers are the best way to increase revenue. Plus they already know you are a great merchant. 😉

1 user says Thank You to rdevereaux for this useful post

1. scotty

[bennitos Friend bennitosJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1717Downloads:0Uploads:39 Thanks: 39 Thanked: 474 times in 407 posts]

#288278

Here in holland paypal is hardly used by anyone and creditcards neither. Here iDeal integration is a must (http://www.ideal.nl/?lang=eng-GB) supported by all big banks in holland to provide a secure and fast payment from your own bank. But next to holland not many countries use it i believe.

To get higher sell rates i also use a monthy newsletter, to get people to sign up for this newsletter i put in a coupon code (wich is valid for one month) in every newsletter. Doesnt have to be a big discount knowing they will get a discount coupon every month is usually enough to get people to sign up.

You’r 3% isnt even really bad actually, For statistics about Conversion Rates i recommend looking at the statistics on this website: http://index.fireclick.com/

[bennitos Friend bennitosJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1717Downloads:0Uploads:39 Thanks: 39 Thanked: 474 times in 407 posts]

#288286

The first 3 points on the following website might be usefull for you aswell:

Website

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1. scotty

[questbg Friend questbgJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1912Downloads:0Uploads:1 Thanks: 146 Thanked: 339 times in 197 posts]

#288290

I’m with Bennitos

A monthly Newsletter seems to produce good conversions and also remind people to visit the site again.

I’ve just built a site for a client who is selling British foods to expats here in Bulgaria. Everything is working fine and he’s getting a good amount of online orders. However, over a discussion, he told me he had a load of Christmas puddings left over that he hadn’t sold that were getting close to their ‘sell by’ date.

I advised him that I should build a newsletter offering a discount on said products. He was happy to do this as otherwise he would have to eat them himself or throw them out (not sure what line of Shop you’re in Scotty, so this is probably not at all relevant). He decided to offer 30% discount on all remaining Christmas Puds.

I send the newsletter. He sells all the puds. However, and even more interesting, every single person that ordered a pudding ordered at least 15 other products.

Here’s a thing. Get them to click ‘add to cart’ once, and I think that’s job done. Once they’ve decided to actually place an order and go through the checkout process, they’ll add more to that order. I’m sure this must be a psychological thing!!!

I even do it myself when ordering CD’s or DVD’s, a kind of like ‘oh, might as well throw that one in as well’ attitude.

Cheers
Chris

[wooohanetworks Friend wooohanetworksJoin date: September 2008Posts: 1239Downloads:0Uploads:2 Thanks: 148 Thanked: 138 times in 41 posts]

#288291

This site is okay but really kind of outdated. First they talk about numbers from 2003 and when running over the info I saw they talk about creating thumbnails from large pictures you have so that people…whatever, outdated a bit. Also when they refer to page size etc., 70% of the paying force can and does afford broadband. Not the ones that only could afford to pay for small purchases, you want the ones that can afford a lot more.

It is more and more about attraction, when you use a simple VM Store uncustomized, or a xt:commerce uncustomized, even a Magento without the boost, you will sell low quantities and will only gain “loyalty related customers” that stay as they feel sorry for you, like you or know you personally or want to support you for various loyalty related reasons but not as they get pimped and love to be pimped, you want the ones that just pay but therefore pay a lot more in shops that make them feel crazy good, not to mention the large retailers, there are different laws present, but also the laws of attraction rule there and here especially.

You gotta makes those sweethearts pay, baby!:-*:cool: They gotta scream I am customer, baby!;)

Yes, for real, that is how it works…

[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#288292

wooohanetworks;108321What do you sell, how does your shop look like, how the product page. It is all about the presentation and competition. Do you sell locally or not, how many products do you offer? “Is there a huge mall next to your shop”, metaphorically spoken, you simply can’t compete with?

Link? Or confidential?[/quote] The site looks great, but I would say that. I use OsCommerce with a template from TM. However I do need to change the front page more often. This is another thing I think would help.

I’m not going to post a link as it contains adult content. It’s a lingerie store.

rdevereaux;108324Scotty,

Jess and I were having problems talking one of our customers out of setting up a merchant account but we did it. Potsamore wanted it set up so he could also use it at trade shows and other events. We called around 7 different companies to get quotes.

We were not against him having the merchant account. We were just worried that he would not be making enough money in the beginning to cover the charges. It is very expensive!!! If you can wait, I think that your online store is making quite a bit of money.

Have you tried banner exchanges and advertising with local magazines to increase traffic to the site? 😉 eSpanglish Magazine advertises for us in trade.

I also would suggest to send coupons to past customers! Return customers are the best way to increase revenue. Plus they already know you are a great merchant. 😉

I think from talking to friends etc who would do some online shopping that their is definitely a reluctance to use Paypal, Irish consumers are very weary of CC security and just don’t get the whole PayPal concept. Irish culture would be very different to the states when it comes to credit cards. “Cash is King” here so we use ours as little as possible and are very weary about security. We were one of the first countries to introduce ‘Chip & Pin”, I think you still don’t have that in the states?

scotty wrote:

You’r 3% isnt even really bad actually, For statistics about Conversion Rates i recommend looking at the statistics on this website: http://index.fireclick.com/

Hmmm, my figures tie in pretty close to those. Maybe I’m not that far behind at all. Which of course means my problem is lack of traffic rather than lack of conversions. Interesting to see that 70% of people who ‘Add to Cart’ never go through to purchase. Avg. Session duration (3.5 mins) is about same as mine too.

Thanks for your replies guys (and gals). I think looking at those figures that it’s actually an increase in traffic I should be aiming for. Grrr… I hate SEO! :((

[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#288293

questbg;108339I’m with Bennitos

A monthly Newsletter seems to produce good conversions and also remind people to visit the site again.

Yes this is something I’ll have to do properly. The newsletter function in Osc sucks though so I’ll have to come up with a better (and cost effective) method.

[bennitos Friend bennitosJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1717Downloads:0Uploads:39 Thanks: 39 Thanked: 474 times in 407 posts]

#288294

<em>@wooohanetworks 108340 wrote:</em><blockquote>This site is okay but really kind of outdated. First they talk about numbers from 2003 and when running over the info I saw they talk about creating thumbnails from large pictures you have so that people…whatever, outdated a bit. Also when they refer to page size etc., 70% of the paying force can and does afford broadband. Not the ones that only could afford to pay for small purchases, you want the ones that can afford a lot more.
</blockquote>

Start with reading what i actually said, i said that the first 3 points might be helpfull. As those points are still valid 2003 or not and worth paying attention on.

1. Encourage impulse buys. Fast food restaurants understand this concept. Think: “do you want fries with that?” Well, you can do that online as well:

1. Suggest related products. Amazon.com is a leader in this technique. An online shopper searches for a particular book and clicks to view the details and reviews. The detail page offers the book at a special price if the customer buys it together with a book on a related topic or by the same author.

2. Associate linked products. If a customer buys a video game, ask if he’d also like to buy some batteries, games, or other peripherals. Those are items the customer may forget to purchase or might not realize are available.

3. Limited time offer! A visitor is more likely to take advantage of a special offer if she knows there’s a time limit. “Only 2 days left!” But don’t get carried away. An advertised limited time offer really needs to expire. Otherwise, you lose the trust of your customers.

2. Offer online-only specials. Many Web users prefer to gather information about products online. They visit a few sites to get an idea of what’s available and at what cost. But they don’t complete the sale online. Instead, many log off and head directly for nearest brick and mortar store to make their actual purchase.

Combat this tendency by providing an incentive to buy online. Advertise an offer that’s only available at your website and you give your visitors added incentive to become a customer. Remember though: most users are quite well educated about what’s available. They’ll know if your offer is really a special deal.

3. Ship larger orders for free. It doesn’t take much more time and effort to pack and ship 5 items than to pack and ship 1 item. It’s more efficient for you to pack more items in each order, so give customers an incentive to purchase more at one time.

How? Many online shoppers really hate paying shipping charges. It’s not uncommon for the shipping charges for a small, low-priced item to add an extra 50-70% to the purchase price and customers feel that retailers take advantage of them.

But for a small retailer, small orders are a pain to deal with. Raise your profit margin and encourage larger orders by offering free shipping for multiple-item orders or orders that reach a certain dollar level. Large online retailers have found to this to be very effective at boosting sales.

[questbg Friend questbgJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1912Downloads:0Uploads:1 Thanks: 146 Thanked: 339 times in 197 posts]

#288303

<em>@scotty 108342 wrote:</em><blockquote>I’m not going to post a link as it contains adult content. It’s a lingerie store.
</blockquote>

Cool 😎

PM me the link 🙂

I use ‘Communicator‘ for Newsletter management. It’s free, piece of cake to configure and sends out really nice looking newsletters.

1 user says Thank You to questbg for this useful post

1. scotty

[shertmann Friend shertmannJoin date: September 2008Posts: 339Downloads:0Uploads:1 Thanks: 22 Thanked: 42 times in 26 posts]

#288311

well in my own experience i will point out some basic info about e-commerce:
1.- always remember that the visitor/ buys in the best case is around 10% so if you look yours are not so bad.
2.-the best way to keep or make customers to stay is always make a dintinction between you and your competition, you have exclusive products? specials? promotions? customized product? the customers always want an advantague when they buy a product.
3.-create a newsletter about topics or information related topics of the items you sell. if your store is about healthy food create a newsletter about nutrition and care and encourage your clients to visit you and buy products in the store or read a complete version of the products.
4.-think about give a free stuff with the sell products or make promotional campaigns that will help a lot.
5.-if you can make any agreement with pages or newsletter that have potential customers, or create an afiliates programs for webmasters go for it.:D;)

1 user says Thank You to shertmann for this useful post

1. scotty

[nefar Friend nefarJoin date: December 2007Posts: 434Downloads:0Uploads:2 Thanks: 78 Thanked: 42 times in 1 posts]

#288334

<em>@scotty 108317 wrote:</em><blockquote>This is a question aimed at those that run e-commerce shops whether they be VM or otherwise and an interesting topic, hence it’s in Jshare….

I was just wondering do you know what % of your overall visitors go on to make a purchase? Mine is incredibly small – less than 3% I would say. I was also wondering what to do about it, if anyone has any good suggestions fire away.

One thing I do think would make a difference is accepting Credit Cards direct instead of PayPal. Also, having more special offers, although in my case I’m fairly tied down on what I can discount. But really just wondering are there any magic methods to getting visitors to convert to customers.

BTW: This is not an SEO question. I’m strictly talking about after the visitor has arrived.</blockquote>

Tuning your site for higher conversions rates is something that will never be done, you should always be analyzing your traffic and tuning. (Assuming you have a decent amount of traffic you need a good base to see reactions to your changes) There are many factors that come into play from an incoming visitor to point of purchase. There is no one magic formula that will turn those visitors into a paying customer. (I sure wish there was though lol)
I’ve seen a simple color change increase conversions and a logo change do the same.

This being said there are some things you can look at to give yourself an idea of what perspective customers are doing.

1.) Where is your traffic coming from? (what keywords, phrases are being used, what do your links look like in the serps?)

2.) Is the incoming traffic even interested in your product?

3.) What page are they landing on?

4.) What’s your bounce rate?

5.) If it’s high, is it high because the traffic you’re getting is not your target market or is it a design flaw? ( do you know your target market?)

6.) Who is your customer? What are their needs, what else interests them. If you don’t know what your customer really wants you can’t tune your copy for them.

7.) If you are getting quality targeted traffic do you have high cart abandonment? (you should be tracking this if not get google analytics and setup funnels & goals)

8.) Those customers that do browse around where do they exit, what are they looking at, how long do they stay on those pages? What is your “Flow” — Ie.. majority of my viewers go from my main page to page A,B,C then everyone leaves… Why? Perhaps you will find out that 90% of your viewers leave when they hit your payments accepted page (assuming you have one). That would tell you off the bat paypal is probably a serious issue for you at the moment.

9.) Paypal is good for an additional way to accept payment. It is not good as your main payment solution. This is especially true if you are using the standard or business option and not the “merchant” account option. (which they want $30.00 a month for a total ripoff!)

The standard payment option takes them off site and the landing page they use is tuned to look as though the customer needs a paypal account in order to pay. Paypal does NOT care about you making that sale they care more about getting someone signed up for their service or getting you to pay them $30.00 a month go get off that landing page. Which BTW if you pay the $30.00 a month for their merchant account they actually raise the processing % on your sales. (If you’re not tracking your customers traffic patterns however you don’t know if this main issue at the moment)

10.) Do you know the 80/20 theory? That’s why newsletters work. 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers. Know it, capitalize on it.

A newsletter is meant to keep and resell your current customers, not turn a new visitor into a sale. A newsletter will not increase your conversion ratio on new visitors. Basic sign up ratio for newsletters hovers under 10% on a main page block and 10% and higher on checkout process option. Don’t just email anyone that has made a sale this will PISS some people off. Giving the customer the option is always best this also ensures that the customer that has singed up wants to receive your email thus increasing your conversions. (this does not mean send out a newsletter every week trying to drain your customers of their wallet lol) You send out a newsletter it better be worthy or people will leave.

11.) Do your keyword research. Do you know what people are searching for that would like your products(s) or service? What other things do they search for, what terms do they use? What are there other interests?

12.) You may not like SEO but you are selling on the net, you want that SE traffic the more traffic the higher % of sales. Let me tell you now, Joomla is a hunk of crap for SEO tuning It’s all I’ve been doing the past two weeks and it’s a complete pain in my ***.

Don’t want to tune for SEO that limits your revenue options. This leaves you with an option of PPC advertising and that’s a whole different ball game. Best know your margins and be prepared to continually tune for that. ( though a 3% conversion would not be bad if your margins and keyword costs are right) in paid advertising it’s all about the numbers.

13.) Know your competition — Learn from them, what are they doing that you aren’t? What can you do better? Use google and yahoo tools to trackback your competition and find out where they advertise, what keywords they use what other options do they offer to their customers?. Check their link backs.

14.) Do you have your products in google base? You should, it’s free and base just started putting products in top of the serps. (they also will list your products in normal serps occasionally) You will get more sales using base.

I notice your In Ireland, are you only selling locally or are you selling international? If you’re going local you want to tune for local (you can tell google to just show your link local). You could use PPC and other advertising venues to advertise locally and cut down on costs.

There are literally 100’s things to look at and techniques to increase conversions. In the end it comes down to many hours of research and then coming up with a plan that is right for you. A plan with specific goals is really the way to go and it keeps you on track. Just a few things off top of my head but like I said there are many, many, more things to look at when trying to make sales. The work never ends just gets easier.

1 user says Thank You to nefar for this useful post

1. scotty

[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#288339

Wow Nefar that’s a great post. Some really good advice in there and plenty to get working on. Some great advice throughout this thread. I think I’ll edit the Thread Title if I can.

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