Post-pandemic online shopping surge fuels conversion rate optimisation

After an analysis of over 220,000 e-commerce sites and 1 billion data points, six key areas were identified that sellers can influence to improve conversion rates—traffic source, basket building, checkout experience, payments, customisation, and performance, according to the study carried out by Shopify and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Organic channels have a clear advantage over paid channels in overall conversion rate, particularly for smaller sellers. Carts with more than five to 10 items tend to yield higher conversion, potentially increasing by as much as 63 per cent when a customer puts more than 10 items in the cart.

Customers expect a quick checkout process, and enabling autofill for known or predictable information can improve conversion rates. Streamlining the path to checkout can increase the number of checkouts started by up to 18 per cent.

Accelerated payment methods such as Meta Pay, Amazon Pay, PayPal, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay can significantly increase lower funnel conversion rates in North America. Offering these methods could increase conversion rates by up to 50 per cent. Also, a buy now, pay later option can boost traffic and sales for stores with higher revenues and average order values.

Websites with front-end customisation, such as simplified user experience, tend to achieve higher conversion rates. Loyalty incentives are particularly effective, potentially boosting conversion rates by 4-6 per cent for stores with average order values below $200.

Speed is crucial; the conversion rate increases significantly if customers can complete the full checkout process in less than 90 seconds. However, if it takes longer, conversion rates may decrease by around 47 per cent.

Choosing a platform to support the shopping experience can help businesses concentrate on their product, brand, and marketing, with conversion rates varying by up to 36 per cent between different off-the-shelf e-commerce platforms.

Improving overall and lower funnel conversion rates could significantly increase a seller’s profit margins. A lower funnel conversion rate improvement of just one percentage point could be worth about $6 million per year for a store with annual revenue of about $100 million.

“Conversion is at the heart of commerce, and is the centre of everything we do at Shopify,” said Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify. “It was important for us to conduct a rigorous study on how sellers can optimise their conversion rates through key factors like the platform they use and the integrations and customisations they make. The study reveals what we have always built for and known to be true—drivers like an optimised checkout experience, the use of accelerated payment methods, and selection of relevant customisations have a dramatic impact on conversion.

“E-commerce has grown in both volume and importance in recent years, becoming an integral part of consumers’ shopping habits,” said Stephen Robnett, BCG partner and managing director and leader of BCG's e-commerce practice. “All e-commerce businesses can benefit from adapting strategies such as driving loyalty, investing in personalisation of the customer experience, and investing in an innovative and well-engineered e-commerce platform. Small changes to the shopping experience can have a huge impact on a seller’s business and turn browsers into buyers online.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)