E-commerce conversion optimization: 3 ways to improve your conversion rate with personalization

If you have already been in the e-commerce business for quite a while, or if you are new here but reading this article, you will find personalization a great improvement opportunity.

E-commerce conversion optimization: 3 ways to improve your conversion rate with personalization

Conversion rates don’t just happen. If you have already been in the e-commerce business for quite a while, or if you are new here but reading this article, you will agree to this sentence.

Probably you worked hard to set up a website, you made it look pretty and then you started bringing traffic to it. But it looks like that’s not enough for your business’ success, as visitors fail to follow through with the sale. Your users seem to add products to their carts, but then, nothing happens.

If you are in this situation, you need to start investing in earning those lost sales and unleash that unattained revenue by optimizing your conversions.

Each step that your customers make through their journey needs to be crafted to ensure the best shopping experience. This creates the most favorable environment for your customers, in which they will be more likely to make the actual purchase.

One of the most common drop-off points in purchasing journey is the shopping cart.

SALECYCLE ABANDONMENT RATE REPORT

SaleCycle was reporting for the Q1 of 2018 an average of 75.6% abandonment rate. Extending this rate to the whole year and considering 2017’s sales, we can estimate a total of $7 trillion in abandoned shopping carts in 2017.

The good news is that you can recover a part of that revenue that you’re now losing.

Personalization should be part of your strategy to increase conversion rates.

To increase your rates, you must know the reasons behind those abandoned shopping cart conversion rates. With this information in mind, you should do whatever it takes to offer a personal and custom experience to your clients.

To do so, we have decided to present three of the most effective ways to improve your conversion rates:

1. Use personalized product recommendations

Preventing is better than reacting. Customers often pick up products that don’t solve real problems that they have. If that is true, it is more than likely for those customers to stop before making the purchase. In this case, your product and your profits end up in the limbo of the shopping cart.

To make matters worse, studies have shown that the chance for these possible buyers to go back to purchasing or even searching on your platform again are small. Your customers have already lost time to look for the wrong product in the first place. They will not lose even more time on your digital platform.

The solution comes in the shape of a series of personalized product recommendations powered by AI. By means of AI (artificial intelligence), the system can analyze the information available about your customers and suggest only relevant products that address your customers’ needs.

With every interaction, the engine learns about customers’ preferences, habits, tastes, behavior, and wishes. This enables your online store to present those items that are more likely to resonate and be purchased.

Example of usage: You are managing an e-commerce cosmetic products website. If using a custom AI solution, you can display products and special offers for specific categories. Also, you can suggest those specific brands your customers are thrilled with.

2. Use FOMO and create urgency to complete the sale

In 2013 the word “FOMO” was officially added to the Oxford Dictionary. The acronym stands for “Fear Of Missing Out” which essentially represents loss aversion.

If your customers think that they’ll run out of time and won’t get the deal, they will more likely complete the purchase sooner rather than later.

Then it’s all a matter of A/B testing. By means of testing and personalization, you can understand what kind of message appeals to each of your customers. Some may respond better to limited offers (deals that expire soon). Others may be fonder of discounts, special offers or bundles.

All this data can be found out by means of testing and the AI can do that for you in a shorter time than any team would.

Example of usage: Let’s assume that a customer has added a product to the cart but has been distracted. The order was not completed. So, when the possible customer revisits the website, the AI can display a personalized message with a countdown until the reduced price is available for the item already added to the cart.

3. Personalize communication for more conversions

Not being ready to buy is one of the top 5 reasons why consumers are abandoning shopping carts. A lot of times customers prefer to compare the product to other merchants before making the decision.

Also, there are situations where customers abandoned the cart because they got sidetracked for the moment or had to put their phone away. Abandoning the shopping cart might not reflect the decision not to buy.

Keep in mind that people love personalized things and customization is a hot topic in almost all industries. So, a great way to trigger the purchase would be to display a personalized communication that reminds the customer about the products they left in the shopping cart. Create a promo offer for them. Or send them something nice, do something that you think your customers will be fond of.

The personalized message can display by means of:

  • on-site messages

  • personalized emails

  • push notifications

Another great way is using a chatbot, a personal assistant and even some great non-stop support. Tackle the issues your users confront, offer personalized solutions, and close the deal like a pro.

Example of usage: One of your clients wants to know more about the shipping costs and the delivery time. An AI can offer that information via an e-mail or a chatbot. Then, you can send a personalized message to close the deal.

From the three tips displayed above, how many do you use?

If you are still struggling to properly communicate with your customers, AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be the answer.

AI can be the solution to increase the abandoned shopping cart conversion rates. Accesa is the company to implement this intelligent digital solution to your platform. Accesa’s specialists can help you implement personalization across the company, while also putting together and delivering a personalization strategy that will help you meet your strategic goals.