How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment?

By | Date posted: | Last updated: May 31, 2021

The other day in front of the checkout in the supermarket: three customers have their goods on the belt, the cashier quickly scans the prices, so far everything seems good – but what is it? There are seven more shopping trolleys, full of cart with the most beautiful products, but all alone and apparently no customer far and wide who belongs to them. The only fake in this scene is the location of the action: What happens here rarely takes place in the supermarket, but has remained unchanged for years in web shops around the world.

Abandoned Shopping Cart – Customer flight at a high level!

In any case, more than two out of three customers on average break off the order process prematurely. In other words, they selected products, moved them to the virtual shopping cart – and were no longer seen from then on. Somewhere between entering personal data and confirming the payment, they are fed up and close the online store page. Only with luck – and intelligent programming – will you come back at some point and find your shopping cart again. The losses in conversion, i.e. the conversion of visitors into customers, are enormous.

Top reasons why the checkout fails!

The check-out process in the ecommerce store is a very important factor because very few people are big fans of forms. And the payment process itself is hardly ever felt to be pleasurable. If there is also the slightest complication, it is only a fraction of a second until the order is cancelled.

Most of the reasons for a failed check-out are easy to understand for anyone who has already ordered in an ecommerce store – if the check-out process was user-unfriendly. With best-practice order pages that shine with every imaginable convenience, intuitive buttons and fields and minimal effort for the customer.

Thoughtlessness or misguided investment decisions that reduce shopping cart abandonment. Because it is easy to imagine the annoyance of a customer in advance if the high additional costs for shipping or the like only appear in the order overview for a supposedly cost-effective product. And even if the customer only preferred payment method does not work after entering three pages of data for the order, yes, then it is understandable that user is leaving the ecommerce store with a slam.

The checkout process in the online store is the high school of successful customer experience – this is where customer experiences take place that determine conversion rates and sales more directly than anywhere else. Many measures are relatively easy to identify and implement with good will and the trained eye of the experienced salesperson; here and there it’s about technology and a little effort in service, but it’s not rocket-science and every step is worth it.

10 tips for simplifying online store checkout process!

To give you peace of mind: you are never abandoned shopping carts, if you even have that many! – responsible. Quite a few users are simply undecided at the moment and may use the shopping cart like a wish list; or you want to compare even more and have simply found a more suitable product elsewhere. However, much you can optimize your check-out process, you have no control over it. So, let’s look at the points where you can effectively start.

  • Individual causes for abandoned shopping carts:

    General statistics are only a first clue. You can only optimize efficiently if you know at which point your customers can exit their check-out early. Your options for doing this result from the analysis tools of your shopping cart statistics. The ecommerce store basics, for example, offers a compact introduction to metrics and formulas. The targeted keyword on the Internet for the store that may differ depending on the online store technology is conversion tracking.

  • Transparent shipping costs – Trouble shooter #1:

    Free shipping has become normal to a considerable extent – at least to the extent that customers generally expect to be advised of shipping and packaging costs when selecting a product. In any case, this should not only happen at the end of the ordering process! If you have to calculate shipping costs at least below a certain order value, the most elegant and most motivating tactic for additional purchases. The shipping price should also be specified in the shopping cart and, if necessary, supplemented with a note such as: “For free shipping only with a value of… continue to order”.

  • Generous Payment Options – Trouble shooter #2:

    Okay, every credit card company cost; PayPal cost; Your own billing department cost too. But you can work out for yourself how many customers who prefer or only want to pay with XYZ will amortize the respective fees for you. Apart from that, it just makes a good impression if you have a wide choice in this point in your online store – including partial payment or full payment on account, of course with corresponding failover.

  • Be hospitable – Registration only on request:

    Always think from the customer’s perspective. The customer now want product; the customer not going to marry you! So, allow unrestricted guest access without registration – especially if registration does not offer highly attractive advantages. But of course, you can if necessary – without disturbing the ordering process! – point out such advantages. As short and convincing as possible!

  • Order details short and painless:

    The fact that you only ask your customers for the data that is necessary of course under data protection law. If there are reasons to ask for more than name and address: Write directly in the appropriate input field or link “Why we ask you about it”. When designing your website, make sure that there is no possibility of misunderstanding how to fill out an input field. And Automatic error messages (in red) should appear immediately after the entry and directly next to the information and clearly state how to do it correctly.

  • Clear checkout process:

    Shopping cart, personal data, payment and shipping details, order confirmation, final OK – what must be, but don’t make a maze of it. You need robust online store that, for example, allows the customer to jump from the credit card number to the delivery address with the back button of the browser without being thrown out of the system or without input being lost. A status bar is also useful, which not only shows where the customer is right now (and that will hopefully be finished soon), but also let’s navigate the ordering process.

  • The whole order is short and painless:

    All efforts to make it easy for your online store visitors are. Loading times of over 3 seconds are generally considered to be risky for an increase in the bounce rate, even if there is some hope of a little more patience with someone who has already invested time in data entry. Don’t strain them.

  • And all of this also for mobile orders:

    Most of purchases from online store are increasingly being made via smartphone. This means that all optimizations of the check-out process must also be as user-friendly as possible on mobile devices. Take into account that the tendency to cancel an order process for someone who is on the move with a cell phone increases significantly faster than at the desktop in the office.

  • Safety first – Data security is a sore point:

    Consumers are repeatedly unsettled by news of data theft. Remember that entering credit card details, for example, is a great sign of trust. On the one hand, you should therefore clearly communicate why and how you are processing personal data. And the least you should guarantee to earn the trust is an SSL certified online store or ecommerce website.

  • No disruptions:

    No matter how great the temptation, don’t hit your prospective customer with pop-ups, advertising banners, not even a cross-selling offer in the sidebar. Yes, the customer is already in the home stretch of customer journey, so one of the hopes for your sales, but just don’t do it. Let the customer complete the order undisturbed.

After the order is before the order!

There are many approaches to not only keep customers happy after placing an order, but also to motivate them to make follow-up purchases. But first of all, the most important thing is that the customer knows when their goods are coming. Do everything to offer user-friendly shipment tracking. Reliability and security of delivery are to a certain extent more important than pure speed.

Retargeting by email? Some advice pages deal extensively with asking a customer who has aborted the order process after entering e-mail address via this contact channel to still complete the order.

The question of the admissibility of such mailings is controversial, but very clear: data such as the e-mail address may only be used with the verifiable consent of the person concerned, and only for the purpose for which it is declared were. The fact that the online store visitor has consented to such sending is not given, if only because you have not received a confirmation. In addition, the fact that the visitor cancelled the order creates doubts as to whether visitor agrees to be contacted directly.

Conclusion: Test your checkout process from the customer’s point of view!

Ease of use at checkout doesn’t have to be like rocket science. And you can hire a web design expert to identify the roughest stumbling blocks in the checkout process. You can also simply get some customer feedback first and let anyone who is not particularly internet-savvy go through your ordering processes – and be careful where these “normal” testers fail or have to try things out.

One thing is certain: Each of the points mentioned will immediately help to improve your check-out process and thus your entire business.

If you are looking for an ecommerce website development, shopping cart development, online store development and web application development, Please explore our Ecommerce Solutions! We also provide ecommerce website maintenance services, online store maintenance services and web application security audit. For more information, please visit our Ecommerce Maintenance Services!

If you have any questions or would like to know more about how Skynet Technologies can help your business to reach one step ahead, Reach out us through below form & We'll get back to you soon!

Ecommerce Usability Best Practices – The Complete Guide!

By | Date posted: | Last updated: April 20, 2021
Ecommerce Usability

Usability is an integral part of holistic SEO. Influence factors such as:

  • Bounce rate
  • Time on the page
  • Conversion rate

and many of these metrics influence the SEO of your website. For all sites, optimising usability is important, but even more so for ecommerce sites. Check out the guide on how user experience and SEO can boost your Website Conversion Rate.

User testing is one way to optimize your ecommerce site, but a lot can be done simply by looking at best practices, comparing them to your site, and making improvements. This article help to ecommerce websites walks you through the testing process and goes over everything you need to give your visitors the best possible experience.

Ecommerce Usability Best Practices

Focus on your target audience

The first step in ecommerce usability, even before setting up the graphics, is to understand the needs of your target audience. You need to investigate the search intent. Are your potential customers looking for the best deal or are they interested in reading a dozen reviews before they buy? Are there any cultural differences that you need to take into consideration? These things determine the configuration and layout of your store’s home page. Do you need to highlight items on sale? Are you targeting a particular niche? If so, it will need to be clarified from the start.

If one of the pillars of your mission is to provide the best possible price, the sales banner should probably be the most prominent feature on your home page. But if you sell high-quality products that people are willing to pay a little more for, feelings and emotions should be your focus. You can use larger images and focus on the main features and benefits of the product.

Usability of the ecommerce website homepage

Have you ever looked closely at the home page of your ecommerce site?

Chances are you’ve picked a theme that your designer introduced you to and implemented with the options available. While most of these themes are well designed and set with the user in mind, they may not be the best for your particular target audience.

Call to action on the ecommerce store home page

Your homepage’s job is to guide the visitor to your products. Your ecommerce store home page shouldn’t necessarily be set with SEO in mind, but should instead focus on the user. This also means that you will need to create a killer call to action on that home page.

Not having a good CTA (call to action) is one of the most common SEO mistakes.

Here are some helpful tips for setting up your call to action:

  • Make sure the design stands out. Use a different button color or shape.
  • Make sure it looks like a button. No ghost buttons!
  • Write live text, so your button doesn’t just have to say “Submit” but rather a variation of “buy our stuff.”
  • Use lots of white space around it or reduce clutter.
  • Using a Hero image is a popular strategy and it is for good reason: it creates an atmosphere.
  • Do not use sliders.

Once you’ve welcomed the visitor to your website, you can guide them where you want them to shop: product pages. Before tackling this part, let’s see how to optimize internal search and category/destination pages.

Advanced Search

Advanced search is the most important navigation option for your ecommerce store and you should optimize it as much as possible. You will notice that major brands and ecommerce stores focus a lot on their advance research. The explanation is simple: You can buy it if you can find the product you’re looking for!

In addition to optimizing the advance search option, you need to make sure your search results pages are targeted and offer a great overview of the results. You need to show the price and even an “Add to Cart” button next to the product name and image, and a comparison option might come in handy.

Filter options

After the search query, online clothing stores will allow you to filter by size, gender, color, age, brand, etc. Filtering options like these or sorting by price or availability will help your visitors to find the product they want, as quickly as possible.

Conclusion

Ecommerce Usability is a Job in Its own. Work hard to optimize the usability of your ecommerce site. You will find that a better user experience will take your ecommerce store’s SEO and conversion to the next level.

If you are looking for marketing opportunities for your existing ecommerce store or want to create a new ecommerce store or require any type of ecommerce solutions, Please explore our ecommerce solutions! We also provide ecommerce website maintenance services, online store maintenance services and more. For more information, Please visit our ecommerce maintenance services!

If you have any questions or would like to know more about how Skynet Technologies can help your business to reach one step ahead, Reach out us through below form & We'll get back to you soon!

How to Build Trust & Reliability in Ecommerce Store Marketing?

By | Date posted: | Last updated: June 8, 2021
Ecommerce Store Marketing

The offer is huge, as is the selection. It seems that all doors are open on the Internet. But how can online retailers position themselves in such a way that they are successful? There is a lot that could be philosophized about marketing and creating awareness, but two factors are primarily important on the Internet: Trust and Reliability. Every ecommerce owner also decides gut feeling. If user finds complaints about the ecommerce, the user will go to the competition. But how can ecommerce operators and service providers establish a relationship of trust with unknown customers online and appear serious?

How to build trust in ecommerce store?

Everyone who offers a service online or opens a store should write a mnemonic on every wall in capital letters: Bad experiences spread faster and have the greatest reach online.
Trust can only be created from this point of view. No content marketing can eradicate bad experiences. Before getting reviews, content marketing and positioning your own business, the following points should be worked out:

Shipping time

Stores mostly advertise with a certain shipping time. Companies must evaluate these realistically. There is no point in invoking 24-hour delivery if some of the products have to be purchased first.

Quality

If a company manufactures the products offered itself, it can probably fall back on certificates or seals. However, if the goods are to be resold, the quality certification should be requested from the manufacturer.

Security

With all products, it must be ensured that the guidelines are observed. This also includes the markings and other safety features.

Those who can ensure this can begin to build customer trust by ensuring a smooth shopping experience. The path actually leads initially via content marketing, because only through this does the store or the range of services become known:

Advertisement

There is no such thing as one advertisement. Search engine advertising offers the chance to be immediately visible for the right keywords wherever customers are looking. Initially, advertising the store name only makes sense if a well-known company is behind it. As long as nobody knows the offer, nobody will search for the store name – and if they do, the address will be entered directly.

Reviews

They are very important on the internet. Still, they can be a double-edged sword in ecommerce store marketing. If the store is quite fresh, a large number of reviews can quickly appear fake. In general, store owners should be careful and at least not buy reviews in large numbers. It makes more sense to be certified via Trusted Stores or other quality platforms and to be included in their inventory. In addition, it is important to shine with influencers and experts.

Target group advertising

Content marketing also includes advertising where the target group is. In the beginning, Facebook should always be part of the package, but the target group of the social network has shifted massively. The advertising channels must therefore fit the target group.

Positioning

Content marketing only works if the store is clearly positioned. Of course, this is difficult sometimes. Not every store offers products from just one area, but everyone should know the target group and address them accordingly.

However, all of these steps are behind one main task: The store or website must be attractively designed with easy navigation, optimized and appear reliable and trustworthy.

What should be avoided?

As store owners or online service providers, most of them want to generate customers, but also to keep them. One of them is pretty simple. Generating a customer is not rocket science, but retaining this customer is. But this is exactly where trustworthy and reputable stores differ from those for whom paying for the first order is important. Walk-in customers are immensely important for every retailer, but it is also the regular customers who ensure survival. But how can you prevent the first ordered from jumping off after the first order?

Service

Everyone in ecommerce probably knows it. There’s no stupid question that isn’t even asked. Nevertheless, the service employees must always remain friendly and helpful. It doesn’t matter if a customer asks how tall the cabinet is if the dimensions are in bold on the product page. The question is answered. If customers feel understood and have the feeling that they have been helped, they will keep the store in good memory.

Honesty

There is no dealer who does not make mistakes. It can always happen that a customer’s order goes down. But if you go there and contact the customer on your own initiative, apologize for the mishap and prioritize the order, you will admit an error without asking, but you will also prove to be trusting. If goods are resold and it is evident that there are delivery difficulties, they should be communicated before the delivery difficulty occurs. This must not be done on Facebook alone, but must always be communicated in the store itself.

Applicable information

Retailers want to promote their products and are convinced of them. They just can’t make promises on the product pages that they can’t keep. Many customers also appreciate it when they are informed about the processing steps. One email confirming the receipt of the order, another one confirming the processing. If the goods are dispatched, another email will follow, if possible, with the tracking number.

Conclusion – See yourself as a customer!

In ecommerce, it sometimes helps not to keep an eye on “the buyer”, but rather on yourself as the customer. What scares you off, what went down well with you? The team should also answer these questions. If you do this, you will quickly see a line. Nevertheless, the company’s service is very important because it is the cornerstone between inquiries, orders and complaints. The latter will always exist, but those who deal with complaints correctly can turn this customer into a real regular customer.

If you are looking for marketing opportunities for your existing ecommerce store or want to create a new ecommerce store or require any type of ecommerce solutions, Please explore our ecommerce solutions! We also provide ecommerce website maintenance services, online store maintenance services and more. For more information, Please visit our website maintenance services!

If you have any questions or would like to know more about how Skynet Technologies can help your business to reach one step ahead, Reach out us through below form & We'll get back to you soon!

Benefits of Digitization in B2B and B2C Ecommerce Marketing!

By | Date posted: | Last updated: April 14, 2021
b2b b2c ecommerce marketing

Increase your reach in a B2B and B2C growing market!

According to study, brick-and-mortar retail will be able to increase its sales compared to the previous year. New customers can hardly be reached. Elaborate advertising measures fizzle out due to the low reach.

To compensate for this, more and more companies are pushing multichannel strategies and entering new markets with growth potential. There is no end in sight to the strong growth in the next few years. In addition, there is the procurement of information for customers who use the Internet to find out about the product and lower prices. New devices such as wearables are likely to increase this demand.

The future of ecommerce is digital

A dedicated ecommerce platform provides the basis for a secure future today. It is part of ecommerce branding strategies and the starting point for digital brand communication. The customer can establish a personal bond and experience the brand and its products in a personalized way, regardless of pre-structured marketplaces.

New technologies that are already emerging today will also be digitally present. Voice control has already fully arrived in our everyday lives. Soon, the digital sale of products will also be more and more voice-controlled – using a wide variety of devices. Only those who are digitally positioned today can conquer the new markets of tomorrow.

Step by step to the digital brand experience

In order to make one’s own offline store or brand digitally tangible, all information that is already available in the store today is compiled and electronically recorded. Of course, advice also plays a major role here, because it must also be digitized via the Internet.

If the core data is available, more information is gradually recorded and the digital product experience often exceeds the physical experience in the store. Comprehensive data sheets, sample images from different perspectives, 3D virtualizations or product videos are provided and a comprehensive shopping experience is offered.

More precise advice than in the ecommerce store will come with time. Purchase history and visitor behaviour can be used to display personalized product recommendations to the customer. This can also play a big role in sorting the products so that the most relevant products can always be found directly. A/B tests are a tried and tested means of testing banners and ads depending on the target group and increasing the conversion rate.

We make digitization easy in B2B and B2C marketing

We advise customers from the start so that retail can be digitized quickly and in a structured manner. Through targeted questions, we create a rough overview and work out in parallel with the customer which topics have not yet been considered. Our experience in proposed solutions and approaches help customers to make decisions quickly and accurately and to work out a concept with us for a digital experience as a figurehead.

Future-oriented solutions are important to us. Therefore, when it comes to digitization, we make sure that we use the latest technologies and deploy them as flexibly as possible. This means that individual components communicate with each other via an API interface and can therefore be exchanged at any time.

Comprehensive automatic tests ensure that all critical functions are checked and still work even after an exchange or adjustments. So that manual errors do not lead to problems, all deployment steps are automated in a pipeline. Connections to other systems, such as merchandise management or accounting, ensure a smooth process for orders, inventory and customer communication.

Field service and sales cost money for your B2B business

The B2B business depends on personal contact with the customer through sales and field service. Regardless of whether on site or by phone: Closings are usually preceded by intensive preliminary discussions to clarify needs. The subsequent ordering process is complex. Often several offers have to be written and information has to be submitted later – that means high administrative effort with a lot of paperwork.

B2B and B2C Business today is done digitally

It is more effective to digitally map the ordering process. The already existing ecommerce store can only be used to a limited extent. In B2B Ecommerce trade, other criteria often lead to purchase decisions that increase sales than in the end customer business (B2C). The information provided must also be adapted and tailored. But once that is achieved, orders work at the push of a button. Price development, order history – all information is permanently available to the customer. The prices and conditions are stored accordingly for the customer.

Customer loyalty through relevance and simplicity

If the B2B customer can order faster and easier than with the competition, the customer will end up with you sooner or later. The first step is to display the product range. Automatic sorting according to relevance is more productive for the customer. If customer quickly finds the products looking for, then the customer makes purchasing decisions immediately. And if the order is still easy, no longer any reason to buy products elsewhere. The customer doesn’t save on price, but on time.

Impulse purchases are also increasing. The shopping carts get bigger and the average order value increases sustainably. That is why more and more companies are not only digitizing their end customer business (B2C), but also trading with other companies (B2B).

Optimize product data for your ecommerce store

The first step is the product data. These should be stored centrally in a system for managing product information (PIM) and supplemented with as much relevant trade information as possible. Not only are the descriptions adapted to B2B, but packaging units are also maintained.

Digitize manual processes

At the same time, the sales processes in the company are analysed and a concept for digitizing manual processes is developed. Different sales channels can also be digitized differently. The customer focus is important. Because only well-thought-out sales processes lead to usage and thus to an increase in sales. External advice is usually essential here, as otherwise projects will be approached incorrectly in advance. A later correction is expensive and time-consuming.

Integrate price lists and conditions

Price lists and conditions are also very important in commercial trade (B2B). They should be integrated as transparently as possible in the digital sales process. A direct connection to the inventory management system is usually necessary here, as this includes and can provide all customer prices that have been awarded over the years.

A direct communication platform in ecommerce store

Once all customer data, products, orders, processes and information are digitized, the digital platform can serve as a communication centre for business customers and end customers. Sales and field staff can use this to write offers, obtain information and place orders for customers. Directly on site without any subsequent paperwork. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can also be made available to employees for sales promotion and improved service.

External advice is critical to success

As with any larger project, individual planning is essential for success. Operational blindness is the biggest hurdle and can only be prevented with external advice. We will therefore sit down with you to map the current business processes and use our experience to help you quickly and efficiently plan the next steps towards digitization. We check where digitized processes can bring the fastest and long-term cost-benefit success.

First the basis, then the freestyle

The implementation of digital business processes is easy if a well-thought-out concept forms the basis. We proceed according to the Minimal Viable Product (MVP) concept. Only those features are implemented that are really relevant and necessary. The basic features are mapped in permanently short iterations. This allows flexible control by the customer and still leads to quick results. An adjustment to changing circumstances can be made at short notice at any time.

Measure success of your ecommerce store

The iterations are regularly checked and analysed to control the basic strategy. If an adjustment of the strategy is necessary, e.g. due to changes in the market, it is possible to react quickly. If new requirements are visible, these can be planned and also taken into account in the iterations.

Security through a strong partner

So that you can concentrate on your business, you need a partner you can trust. Who not only advises, but also supports with experience and innovative ideas. Who not only sets the goal at the beginning, but drives your project forward with energy and passion. With maximum ambition, Skynet Technologies team lays the foundation for a secure future of your company.

If you are looking for marketing opportunities for your existing ecommerce store or want to create a new ecommerce store or require any type of ecommerce solutions, Please explore our ecommerce solutions! We also provide ecommerce website maintenance services, online store maintenance services and more. For more information, Please visit our website maintenance services!

If you have any questions or would like to know more about how Skynet Technologies can help your business to reach one step ahead, Reach out us through below form & We'll get back to you soon!