10 tips to increase conversions on your ecommerce · pdf fileof athlone it and nui galway. ......

10 Tips to Increase Conversions on Your eCommerce Store

TABLEOF

CONTENTS

AUTHOR:Ollie Walsh

10 Tips to Increase Conversions on Your eCommerce Store – PiP Payments 2016

Contents

• About the Author

• Introduction

• Chapter 1 - Payments

• Chapter 2 – Online Security

• Chapter 3 – Site Functionality

• Chapter 4 – Call to Action

• Chapter 5 – Returns Policy

• Chapter 6 - Promotions

• Chapter 7 – Free Shipping

• Chapter 8 – Ease of Checkout

• Chapter 9 - Reviews

• Chapter 10 – Quality Content

• Conclusions

• References

• About PiP Payments


About the author

Ollie Walsh M.B.S. is a graduate of Athlone IT and NUI Galway. He established his first business in 1994 when he was 21 and has been an entrepreneur since then.

He is the founder of market research and strategic planning consultancy Ingenuityhq.com, founder of new product development company InventionServices.eu, and is co-founder and CEO of rising FinTech PiPPayments.com

Ollie has worked with companies around the world providing insight into market research, marketing and business strategy, and has won awards from diverse associations such as the Marketing Institute of Ireland, IntertradeIreland and the Irish Hardware Association.

Ollie Walsh – M.B.S., FRSA

Ollie lectured marketing and business for three years in Athlone IT, and frequently gives talks to business groups and students in Ireland and UK.

In 2015 Ollie became a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) in London.


I had my first website in 1995. It was for a comic shop I owned at the time in Galway in the west of Ireland. Called ‘Needful Things’, it was one of the first websites in Ireland to try to sell online.

‘Try’ is the key word here. Nineteen ninety-five was very early days for the web in general, and was only one year after the first true online financial transaction.

It was the time of ‘dial up’ where you couldn’t use your phone and connect to the internet at the same time, it took maybe an hour to open a picture and you couldn’t just pick a URL you wanted – the URL did have your name, but was like a string of code.

Getting one additional product added to the site needed someone who could code and scanners were pretty rare, so getting an image wasn’t easy either. We did make a few sales, but people had to post us cheques or bank drafts.

‘Needful Things…’

This eBook looks a ten areas that you need to consider when setting up and trying to grow an online business. It is a mix of my own experience, best practices and current research. I hope you find it helpful.

Feel free to contact me at [email protected] you have any questions or if I can help you out.

Ollie Walsh

Introduction

Still, it was fun.

Fast forward 21 years and the world and the internet are very different places.

Building sites and launching an online business, or selling products for your ‘bricks and mortar’ is now very straight forward to start. It is not straight forward to grow and actually make a viable business or revenue stream from the web.


mailto:[email protected]

Chapter 1 - Payments


Payments

Those who do have a credit/debit card often don’t want to use them online for security or privacy reasons. And of course, a lot of cards that are in the market have no money behind them i.e. credit cards at their limit or debit cards on empty bank accounts.

Owners of websites often think once they accept credit cards, they have all they need to accept online payments.

Until recently, this was done via PayPal for smaller sites, as integrating with banks was a nightmare and it took months, (Thankfully, Stripe has made this process much easier). But a lot of consumers don’t understand that they can pay with their credit cards through PayPal without needing a PayPal account.

If they don’t want to sign up for yet another account, with more user names and passwords, they simply keep looking elsewhere for what they want to buy.

Simple types of confusion such as this can destroy a sites conversion rate (the ratio of how many visitors to the site actually buy something), but most site owners will be surprised to hear that consumers want choice in how they make payments. Not everyone has a credit card. Not everyone has a debit card.

Those without access to payment facilities is high, even in countries with developed banking systems.


In the US almost 10 million households have no bank account1.

In the UK, 2 million adults do not have a bank account2.

However, if you are targeting developing nations for online sales, the figures are turned on their head, with 2 billion people unbanked globally3.

So, who are the unbanked?

According to the World Bank the unbanked are adults who do not have their own bank accounts.

Along with the underbanked, they may rely on alternative financial services for their financial needs, where these are available.

1 https://research.fdic.gov/2 http://www.financialinclusioncommission.org.uk/facts3 http://www.cgap.org/about/faq/who-are-2-billion-

unbanked-adults-globally

Payments


Remember, if your market includes people with low incomes (so potentially unbanked) payment methods such as Google Wallet or Apple Pay will not help convert sales as they, along with all wallets require bank account or credit card, as does PayPal.

There is more to payment methods than the divide between those with and without a bank account.

There is choice.

People want a choice on how they pay with their decisions depending on demographics, geography and perceived security of the website they are buying from.

A US/Canada 2015 study on peoples’ preferred method of payment online found the following results4:

No surprise that VISA and MasterCard dominate the market, with PayPal coming in third.

However, 8% of people saying they prefer to pay in cash is a surprise to most businesses, and 1% wanting to send a cheque is even more surprising.

“Inclusion is not about deciding things for people, it is about giving people a choice”

C. B Bhave

Payments


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Though a low percentage, it is a potentially huge market segment if you are offering to take cash or cheques and your competitors aren’t.

Digging deeper into this research, younger shoppers use PayPal, older shoppers use AmEx, Discovery and cheques.

So the payment options you offer are dependent on who you are selling to.

There are also geographic specific payment types that you need to know if you are targeting that market.

In The Netherlands, iDeal accounts for 54% of online sales, but it is not available in any other market5.

In Kenya, M-Pesa is a mobile payment method with 43% of GDP being transacted through the platform! Again, it has little presence outside of Kenya6.

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Payments


The opposite of what encourages shoppers to complete a purchase, is what puts them off completing a purchase after they have decided to check out.

As well as 58% of people saying ‘concerns about payment security’ ends the process, 23%

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Offering more payment options on your website leads to more sales.

Payments

‘of people specified that security features’ such as Verified by Visa and Mastercard Secure Code put them off.

Overall, research and experience shows the obvious: More ways to pay leads to more sales.


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Chapter 2 – Online Security


Online Security

Specific to cart abandonment, payment security is a key in consumers’ mind when making the decision to commit to making a purchase, with 17% abandoning if the site doesn’t look secure. (see graph 1)

Online security is one of the key elements in converting a browser to a customer on your website.

The perception of security held by consumers is that businesses don’t do enough to keep their payment information secure, as shown in this US research:

It’s reasonable to assume these opinions cross borders from the US to international markets.

As shown from the graph, it’s not just online and it’s not one demographic segment that is concerned about their payment information.

The phenomenon of cyber-crime is as international as the internet, with US and EU citizens being targeted, but China is second only to US in cyber targeting.

So consumers are right to be concerned.


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It is up to internet retailers to make their site as secure as possible for consumers, and then to convince the consumer that the site is safe.

When the internet was new, online security was about how to safely make a payment.

Internet Shopping Network and NetMarket established the first secure transfer of money

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From there it is estimated that in 2017, businesses will spend $93B on internet security13.

How did we get to this phenomenal spend on internet security?

Online Security

online in the early 90s, and Pizza Hut are accredited with receiving the first ever online purchase in 1994.


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PIN numbers have been around since the 30s which, now with SSL certs, passwords, tokens, SMS validation and most recently biometrics, form an increasingly complex and therefore expensive, security landscape.

This, of course makes life (transacting at least) more difficult for the consumer.

In Ireland, a Deloitte report published in March (2016) showed that 90% of consumers are concerned about the security of payment information while using public WiFi 14.

Just to be clear – you should never enter sensitive information over a public connection. It is not safe.

There is very little reason, if any to post personal information, like your home address or date of birth online.

Yes, it’s great that everyone can send you a birthdaymessage on Facebook, but your date of birth is one of the ID questions for phone banking.

Security isn’t just about online attacks, it’s also about finding information online that can be used offline.

As well as payment security for consumers, the security of business information is under ongoing threat.

Recent research in the UK by Circle Research which polled IT security staff found astounding results - 78% of respondents said that they have been attacked, with two-thirds (64%) of organizations experiencing a security incident in 2015.

Online security is about more than payments. It’s about identity and privacy

In the US, research found that women were much more careful with their personal information online (via social media) with 31% of men and 18% of women saying they post openly.

Online Security


Nearly half (42%) told researchers that they had experienced more than one incident in the year with 13% said that they had been victim to more than 10 separate security incidents over the year.

That is an unbelievable level of attack.

The attacks can be broken down into:

• Phishing (57% of companies),• Trojans (32%), • Patch exploitation (26%) and

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks (21%).

This is a serious fear for consumers as it is not only the case that their payment information might be stolen while they are online, but that their identity information could be stolen from companies that they have trusted with their information.

As consumers see hacks being revealed by global brand names, their fears grow.

The UK government estimates that for an SME the cost of a successful attack is up to £310,000 and for a large firm averages £1.46m16.

The costs of keeping secure

online for consumers or for businesses are

high, but not as high as not being

secure.

Online Security


Twenty-three percent of businesses say that they “may have lost customer data” 15.

Chapter 3 – Site Functionality


So, as well as having a generally attractive site, Site Functionality is about making it as easy as possible for your customer to find what they want on your site and pay for it.

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Anything that makes it difficult for the customer is going to reduce your conversion rate.

Often when a site is being built is the Merchant will ask for

Site Functionality

‘Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works’ Steve Jobs

"functionality" and expect a site that has lots of bells and whistles. All well and good, but this may only distract customers from the end goal of the site.

When considering site functionality, check these 10 Commandments from Designmantic.


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Instead of focusing on what a site can do, ask: "What is the purpose of this site?“

Keeping this question in the minds of both the developer and the site owner will help make a more refined site that satisfies both form and function.

Once this focus has been achieved you can use the following tips to help your site's functionality to increase conversions:

1. Fastest Path To Success

If your goal is to make a sale then your No.1 goal of the design process should be making the path from site entry to checkout as quick and painless as possible

2. No requirement to register

For ASOS, removing this requirement increased conversion by 50%!18 On average, 58% of customers drop out if they have to register.19

3. Provide Clear Information

There is nothing people hate more than searching for something on a site and not being able to find it.

This can be remedied by:

• Clear categories • Thinking like your customers

and not yourself (i.e. Where would they expect to find XYZ)

• Good search functionality • One page checkout• ‘Also bought’ function to

recommend products

4. Treat Your Site Like a Giant Call to Action

With a CTA you are always considering what you want your users to do next and the same should be the case for every page of a website. Whether a visitor comes to the homepage, blog, contact page etc. there should always with a clear "next step" present that you would like that visitor to take.

Site Functionality


Chapter 4 – Call to Action


Calls To Action or CTAs, as they are more commonly called, are an often overlooked but crucial part of any website and/or online marketing campaign.

For anyone in the dark about what a CTA is, it's all in the name. A "call" to "action", is something that inspires a desired action to take place.

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Call to Action

Think of Firefox’s home page

Very clean, very little content and a button in the middle of the page in a contrasting colour.

It’s very clear what the user needs to do, and its free.

The examples on the following pages show features that you can easily introduce into your own website to increase conversions.


Feedly.com

Look at the Feedly Home Page below and note the ‘Get Started’ button.

You can’t miss it and it’s a perfect example of a CTA.

1. It's bright green colour stands in stark contrast to the grey toned background and, of course, Green says ‘Go’.

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Call to Action

2. The short description above the button clearly communicates the idea and usefulness of the Feedly tool.

3. The words 'Get Started' on the button are a simple and straightforward way of telling the visitor what will happen next.

3.


Hubspot.com

Here's another great example below from inbound specialists Hubspot.

1. The Home Page is uncluttered and uses images and short taglines to get the message across.

2. 2. CTA buttons are prominent with clear next step phrasing e.g. ‘Learn More’ worded

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Call to Action

3. A ‘Free Trial’ button is clearly defined by colour and position on the page

4. In addition to CTAs for more information and a free trial, there is a download available which links to a page to collect additional information such as the email address of the person requesting the download.


Call to Action

CTAs are clear in their wording and are usually designed to stand out from their surroundings wherever they are.

Where they are placed can have a big impact on how effective they are, so have a goal in mind on each page of your site for where it should be.

Following these CTA tips can vastly increase the efficiency of your site at converting leads and can also help users have a more enjoyable time on your site as they easily navigate to the desired end result.

So Why Do CTAs Work?

Well....CTAs can be directly compared to road signs - in that they both direct people to where they need to go.

Essentially, when a potential customer finds your website/content/advertisement you need to give them directions to where you want them to go next.

This ensures your goals are met more efficiently and directly.

For example, if your goal was to increase your newsletter database, then your call to action should resemble that of the Hubspot example above. It should also be prominent on every page of your website.

To sum up:

CTAs are a way of getting people to do something you need them to do.

They allow your goals to be achieved more efficiently and effectively.


Chapter 5 – Returns Policy


Product returns are part and parcel of any online business.

The truth is, an online sale isn’t a sale until the shopper decides to keep the product they have bought.

So, having a returns policy that simplifies the process of returning goods for the customer (and the merchant) is a critical element for any successful online retailer.

There’s no reliable research into returns by sector for UK eCommerce, but across all eCommerce sectors the median returns

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Returns Policy

rate varies from 3-8% -depending on which survey you read.

Certain sectors have much higher return rates than others, with clothing and apparel having rates as high as 30% and even 50% recorded at Zalando20.

Amazon sees return rates generally ranging from 5-15%, but it varies widely depending on the category.


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Returns Policy

an opportunity to improve your customers experience and, in turn, to make them a valued repeat customer.

A recent study by comScore found that returns policies and procedures are key factors in influencing the consumer’s decision to complete a purchase.

The study showed that 66% of consumers viewed a website’s returns policy before they bought the goods and that just 58% of consumers were satisfied with the ease of making returns or exchanges.

And if customers are not satisfied with any aspect of a website’s customer service, the likelihood is that they will go elsewhere for better service rather than return for a below expectation service.

There’s also a seasonal element to returns, with peak shopping times like Black Friday resulting in peak returns times.

Knowing what causes returns can help to manage and reduce returns levels and, in turn, costs.

Generally, products are returned because:

• they are faulty or defective• the customer ordered the

wrong item or the wrong size (or the merchant delivered the wrong item/size)

• the product was not as described

• the customer just doesn’t want it

The last reason is often the result of an impulse buy and, whilst it’s important to have a smooth checkout process to help conversion, be aware that impulse buying does raise return levels.

Returns shouldn’t be seen as a threat to your business, but as


So what do customers want from their returns experience?

According to a reputable US e-zine there are four Must Do’s when it comes to handling returns22:

1. Provide Clarity. A positive returns experience starts with clear communication. It’s the only way customers will know what to expect.

2. Make it Convenient. People shop online because it’s convenient. Convenience should apply to a returns process as well as a sales process. Simply adding return labels can make the returns process a whole lot more convenient for your customer.

3. Make it Affordable. Forty-nine percent of shoppers list shipping costs as the most exasperating part of returning an online purchase. To keep customers happy, eliminate or minimize the cost of return shipping

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Returns Policy

4. Be Flexible. Offer a flexible window of time for returns. Thirty days is standard, 60 days is generous and 90 days just might make a company the next great retailer.

This infographic provides a very useful summary of how to give customers what they want when it comes to returns.23


And this infographic from Invesp Conversion Rate Optimization Company contains some really useful insights.24

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Returns Policy

Aside from the opportunity to offer excellent customer service returns, policy and procedures are also subject to legal requirements.

The law regarding consumers’ rights in the EU under the EU Consumer Rights Directive established statutory rights for the consumer regarding distance selling.

In summary, the period under which consumers can withdraw from a sales contract is extended from 7 to 14 calendar days. This means that consumers can return the goods for whatever reason if they change their minds.

Extra protection is provided for lack of information: When a seller hasn’t clearly informed the customer about the withdrawal right, the return period will be extended to a year.


The right of withdrawal is also extended to online auctions, such as eBay – though goods bought in auctions can only be returned when bought from a professional seller.

The withdrawal period starts from the moment the consumer receives the goods. The rules will apply to internet, phone and mail order sales, as well as to sales outside shops.

There are specific provisions for digital content to note:

• Retailers mustn’t supply digital content within the 14-day cancellation period, unless the consumer has given their express consent

• The consumer must also acknowledge that once the download starts they will lose their right to cancel.

• If a consumer doesn’t give their consent, they have to wait until the cancellation period has ended before they can download the digital content.

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Returns Policy

For both physical goods and digital content, consumers have the right to a repair or replacement, a price reduction or a refund for digital content which does not conform to the terms of the contract for its supply.

However, unlike with physical goods, a consumer has no equivalent rights to reject digital content. This applies even if the content has not been properly repaired or replaced (although in those circumstances there may be grounds for a price reduction or refund).

This makes sense as giving consumers a rejection period from receipt of the content would enable consumers to watch, use or play the content during that time meaning that content was effectively provided for free.


So, how do you create a returns policy that will help to increase your conversion rate?

eCommerce and SEO specialists Rob Green and Katey Ferenzi offer some great advice on compiling your returns policy summarised here25:

1. Don’t hide your policy. List all conditions and be up front about them. And promote your return policy everywhere you can: on your home page, on your shopping cart and checkout pages and even in your newsletters and promotions.

2. Use plain English. Try not to use aggressive phrases like “you must” and “you are required” or, one of the worst, “we are not responsible for.”

3. Outline what customers can expect from you. Offer the options for store credit or for cash refund or exchange. Explain the returns procedures clearly.

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Returns Policy

4. Educate your staff. Make sure all employees are up to date with your return policy and procedures so they can assist customers quickly and effectively. Find any problems and fix them -always ask the customer why they’re returning an item. Keep a list of reasons and if you spot any trends then try to stop the problem in its tracks.

5. Be prepared to absorb the cost of your mistakes. If you messed up, be honest and make it right. If you shipped the wrong item, or packaged it poorly, you should be willing to make it right no matter what the official policy is.

So, approach your returns policy and procedures as an opportunity not a threat, and you’ll be well on track to offering great customer service and increasing conversion.


Chapter 6 – Promotions


Promotions, such as special offers, sales & discounts, are all great ways to increase eCommerce sales. In fact it's usually an essential part of the marketing process.

However, it's also essential to understand what kind of an offer you use and how your customers, will react to them.

A good promotion used correctly can increase sales AND increase loyalty to your brand.

Here are a few examples of promotions that have proven effective at increasing eCommerce sales:

1. Marking Down Prices

By far the most common promotion type it's simply taking the price of an item down by a percentage for a limited time. Why this is good is that it can entice people who were once hesitant to buy to try the product, and also gains more awareness depending on how good the offer is.

When pricing down, and when setting prices in general, a good

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Promotions

rule to follow is to have 9 at the end of the number. Studies have shown that items priced at, for example £3.99, were perceived to be much lower than if were priced at an even £4.00.26

It is worth noting that caution should be taken when deciding to mark down your prices.

Whilst it will almost certainly help increase site conversions it can also result in:

• A lower perceived value of your products

• Annoying customers who may have recently purchased your product at full price

• Creating a customer base who only buy during a lower price period


2. Bundling

Grouping your store offerings together (or ‘Bundling’) at a price lower than individual items prices combined is a great way to increase sales.

This offers a better combined price whilst also keeping the perceived value intact as consumers believe they are getting more out of their money.

A great example of this is games consoles. A lot of the time when a new console enters the market they can be quite expensive. So to alleviate this problem manufacturers or retailers will bundle the consoles with extra controllers and games.

They also offer different variations so consumers can choose what is right for them.

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Promotions

This can further increase the satisfaction a consumer has with their purchase as they believe they've made the smart decision.

The more commodity based products like food retailers and manufacturers will offer 2 for 1 deals or even bundle similar products together like tea & biscuits or chocolate and ice cream.

Bundling items together like this helps to entice sales and thus increase conversions. It will also create more satisfied customers who believe they've gotten more for their money.


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3. Offer Something For Free

If at all possible working something free into some part of your offering can be of great benefit.

This can help take away some of the risk a potential customer may have making a purchase decision. It was also shown that it's much easier to motivate consumers into a purchase where a part is free28.

For instance, whilst your products could be at full price you could offer "free shipping worldwide" on all orders or orders of a certain value. Also consider the Buy One, Get One Free offers, which perform better than 50% off offers (which gives exactly the same result) simply because the word free is used.

You could also offer a free item that your customers may find of value. For example, breweries like Jameson and Guinness will often offer free branded glasses with the purchase of their products.

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Promotions

Food manufacturers can often be found offering free recipe downloads with their products.

Find the perfect offering for your own products and use the power of promotions in your online sales strategy.


Chapter 7 – Free Shipping


We've seen in the previous section how offering something for free has a huge impact on a buyer’s decision to make a purchase.

The following key statistics garnered from secondary research show the benefits of offering free shipping on your website.

Overall, shipping costs are one of the top factors determining whether or not people follow through with an online purchase. You need to establish however whether 'free delivery' will be a potentially profitable business decision before offering it. Perhaps a trial period can be used to determine this.

Here are some research findings results:

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Free Shipping

• A study by 'Rejoiner.com' on reasons customers abandoned carts on website found that 'Cost of delivery too high' was the second largest reason (36%).

• A North American Technographics Retail Online Benchmark Recontact Survey revealed that 44% of online shoppers abandoned their online purchases in the shopping cart because shipping and handling costs were just too high.

• • A survey entitled “Can shipping costs affect online sales?” discovered 93% of shoppers would buy more products online as a result of free shipping and that 67% had purchased items in a brick and mortar store rather than online in order to avoid shipping costs.


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• 'Usability Sciences' conducted a study on shipping costs and found “shipping options weren’t acceptable” as the second most reason for cart abandonment.

• 'Red Door' found that adding a free shipping threshold to NuFACE online shop increased orders by 90%

• 'ComScore' found that introducing a Free Shipping Day increased sales by 16%

• A study by 'the e-tailing group' revealed that unconditional free shipping is the primary criteria for making a purchase (73% listed it as ‘critical’).

• In a study by 'Compete' 93% of respondents indicated that free shipping on orders would encourage them to purchase more products. On the other side of that, high shipping costs were rated as the number one reason why consumers were not satisfied with their online shopping experience.

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Free Shipping

So as can be seen from the above statistics, the benefits of offering free shipping are clear and conversely, adding a delivery cost is a primary reason for cart abandonment and dwindling conversion rates.

Customers like being offered things for “free” and advertising “FREE SHIPPING” on a checkout interface is sure to grab attention.

It is important however to weigh up the costs to the business of offering free shipping and whether- given the target customer at hand-it is an ultimately profitable venture.

Ultimately it is a business decision only you can make but the incentives are clear to see.


Chapter 8 – Ease of Checkout


Going back again to site functionality, making the checkout process on your site as easy and painless as possible can be a key to successfully increasing a site's conversion rate, and here's how you do it.

1. Don’t require customer sign-up to shop

You want your customers to select a product and get through the checkout process as quick as possible, without giving them a chance to change their mind! The less stumbling blocks in their way the better.

Frequently websites require a customer to sign up to their website before making a purchase, either before they reach the checkout or during it. While this helps grab critical customer information it is an inconvenience to shoppers. Instead you can alternatively request critical information such as name and email address as part of the checkout

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Ease of Checkout

process and this will grab the customer data you most need, without making them sign up. Customers are often wary of being bombarded by news and promotional mail too by signing up to the site so may well forego the purchase and shop elsewhere upon seeing a “sign-up” request.

2. Inform customers if the item is unavailable

If the item the customer has selected is not in stock, inform them as early as possible in the purchase process. Going through several steps just to discover the particular item is unavailable will frustrate the customer Ideally, stock levels should always be displayed on the search results page for the product.


3. Allow customers to easily modify their order

If the customer is having second thoughts or wants to modify their purchase, allow them to do so as conveniently and pain-free as possible.

3. Provide users with live-chat help support

Buying a product online can be daunting for first time shoppers and uncomfortable for customers who are worried about security and parting with card details over a website. Shoppers want to be sure before they go through with a purchase. A live-chat facility on the checkout can be used as a means of assurance and support and will be appreciated by unsure shoppers. It also first-hand guides customers through the purchase process which is the overall objective!

4. Provide a checkout-step indicator

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Ease of Checkout

This lets customers know how far through the purchase process they are.

5. Keep the checkout process and layout simple

This should go without saying but as well as wanting the customer to have as convenient a shopping experience as possible, it ensures there is less risk of irate customers complaining retrospectively about clicking a wrong button, for example.

6. Provide a Number of Payment Methods

Such as PiP Payments! The more payments you have the more inclusive you'll be to a wider target audience and the less reason your potential customers will have to abandon their carts.


7. Finally...

Be sure to inform the users about delivery times and clearly outline to the customer what happens next. Once the purchase is finalised send out a confirmation email.

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Ease of Checkout


Chapter 9– Reviews


Reviews provide a proven and valuable tool for helping to increase website conversions.

A phenomenon known amongst psychologists as ‘Social Proof’ underpins the effect of reviews on buyer behaviour.

To quote Wikipedia:

‘Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behaviour for a given situation.’

It’s long been known that the best, or most influential form of advertising is recommendation by word-of-mouth, and this is still the case.

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Reviews

More than 8-in-10 global respondents (83%) say they completely or somewhat trust the recommendations of friends and family.

The use of reviews posted on websites and through social media, however, allows marketers to expand beyond the limited reach of word-of-mouth among a closed group of people.

Sixty-six percent of people say that they trust consumer opinions posted online, with sixty-nine percent of those people always or sometimes taking action on the basis of those opinions.


The Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report offers some fascinating insights into the power of advertising and the effect of consumer reviews30.

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Reviews


So, the online review is clearly a powerful and influential tool in increasing online conversion. In fact, and conversion rate optimization (CRO) specialists Invesp have compiled a great infographic to illustrate the importance of online customer reviews.

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Reviews

As well as improving conversions and improving customer experience reviews can bring considerable SEO benefits.

Search engines like content that is regularly updated, and user reviews are a great way to attract more unique content.

Many eCommerce sites use standard manufacturer descriptions and product specifications.

User-generated content can differentiate a product page in the search results not only making pages more useful to customers, but also increasing the chance of higher SERP ranking.

So, how should you best use and present customer reviews?


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1. Encourage customers to leave reviews

Your customers may be absolutely delighted with the spanner they bought from your website, or the holiday they booked, or the meal they ate at your restaurant but, chances are, giving you a review isn’t at the top of their to-do list.

So you’ve got to try to motivate customers to leave reviews. (Conversely, if they aren’t happy with the spanner/holiday/meal you sold them you can bet they are much more motivated to leave a review.)

It may sound obvious but if you don’t ask you don’t get.

So…

Step 1 is to ask customers to review your products or services. You can do this on your site or you can send out a friendly email request asking how you’ve done.

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Reviews

Step 2 is not really a step more of a functional requirement – make it really, really easy for customers to leave reviews.

Step 3 is to reward your customers for leaving reviews. Discounts, coupons, prize draw entry…small incentives can have a big impact on the likelihood of customers taking the time to review.

2. Simplicity & Impact

While comments left by satisfied customers are effective, the 5-star rating is one of the simplest and most familiar types of review, and is particularly effective as it has an immediate impact.

However, it has been shown that the number of conversions drops off at exactly five stars.


This seems counter intuitive, but it’s probably because shoppers don’t believe that all five star reviews are authentic.

A survey completed by Northwestern University’s Spiegel Digital & Database Research Centre entitled “From Reviews to Revenue How Star Ratings and Review Content Influence Purchase” found that32:

“Purchase likelihood peaks when the average star rating of a product is between 4.2 and 4.5 stars and starts to drop as the star rating approaches a perfect 5. A shopper is more likely to purchase a product with an average star rating between 4.2 and 4.5 than one with a 5-star rating.”

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Below four stars orders begin to decline and products with 3-star ratings get less than one tenth of the orders of those with 4.

3. Use Social Platforms

You probably engage social media as part of your marketing strategy already – if you don’t, why not?

Social media is all about sharing ideas and opinions so it’s tailor made for reviews.

According to the Adobe Digital Index 2015 Holiday Shopping Survey customers more people are turning to social media to research product reviews33

In the UK the percentage of people who report ever


consulting social media to help them make holiday purchase decisions increased among the 18-34 age group from 29% in 2014 to 38% 2015.

The number one reason for using social media for holiday shopping was to get new gift ideas (56% ofrespondents cite this),with an enormousincrease in those saying they will use it to find out what products are ‘the best’ (48% vs. 16% last year).

4. Keep on top of it all and engage

Of course you’re going to keep up to speed with customer reviews on your website and your social media but remember that reviews can also appear elsewhere in places where you aren’t actively promoting review or customer comment.

So, make sure you know where your business is appearing across the web

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through tools like Google Alerts, Social Mention and Mention

And make sure you that you do engage, promptly and professionally.

Finally, the thorny issue of bad or negative reviews.

Here’s the good news: bad reviews can actually be good news.

While all reviews are valuable, and a mix of positive and negative reviews helps to improve consumer trust in the opinions they read. If all your site had was 5-star raving reviews, it would appear to be too good to be true and you know what they say about something that appears to be too good to be true…

Indeed, research from online review site Reevoo suggests that the presence of bad reviews actually improves


conversions by 67% 34.

Reevoo found that people that seek out and read bad reviews convert better, as the very fact that they are paying such close attention means they are more likely to be in purchase mode. 68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores, while 30% suspect censorship or faked reviews when they don’t see any negative opinions on the page.

Tolerance of bad reviews varies depending on age groups and the type of products on offer.

Generally, younger age groups are less deterred by bad reviews than older age groups, and subjective products – books, games, movies – will divide opinion whereas bad reviews of, say, electrical products will be more likely to deter potential buyers.

So, embrace the bad.

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Here’s some good advice -again from Invesp - on how to deal with negative reviews35:

• Respond Promptly

• Be real and admit your mistakes

• Correct inaccuracies

• Highlight your strengths

• Write like a person, not a corporation

• Take it offline

• Provide restitution if it’s warranted

• Ask loyal customers to share their experiences

• Be consistent

• Understand How Rating and Review Sites Work


Chapter 10 – Quality Content


Drawing more visitors to your website is the first step in increasing your conversion rate, however it is ultimately a minor step in the overall process.

You need to attract the right visitors and then you need to convert this traffic to customers.

Producing targeted content on web pages and blog posts is the best way to ensure your website attracts the prospects you want. Visitors know immediately that they’ve come to the right place.

1. Set Up Conversion Goals

First, you need to set out conversion goals. This way you can tangibly measure over a given period of time how you are performing relative to your goals. If you are performing below the standard, you have set then you need to review the goals.

You need to put yourself into your customer’s shoes to objectively analyse your content.

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Does it have what they are looking for? Does it interest them? Will it encourage them to return?

2. Establish Content

After asking and hopefully answering these questions, you need to then revise your content.

For every blog post and web-page you design you need to analyse that particular offering in relation to the prospects you are hoping to attract.

You may design one blog to be aimed at a particular sector, and another for a different sector, so tailoring each individual post and web-page is necessary.

Don't be afraid to continually go back to


step one and make changes to your content.

At first there will be an element of trial and error involved but soon you will get a handle of what your particular market are looking for.

3. Use Images & Videos

Good website content will mostly contain visual elements. People want to see the product they are looking to purchase before buying.

Videos and images should always be high in quality, containing alternate views. If possible a 'context' should be provided, so in the case of a tangible product show first-hand how a customer typically uses it. It helps to use the 'human' element in photos and videos-customers like to see other like-minded people using the item.

A study by 'ConversionXL'also found that using product images in a site

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search window boosts conversions. About 8% of buyers use search on their site, and about 25% of that group click among the new image-based search results in the automated drop-down list instead of completing the entry of a search term and clicking the search button. This results in a 15% lift in the overall site search conversion rate.

4. Use your Content to Move your Customer Along the Purchase Process

Each offering should have a 'call-to-action' which helps engage customers and move them along the purchase 'funnel'.

These ‘calls-to-action’ should be set up to extract valuable customer information.


You can then closely monitor your prospect over time to see do they engage with other posts, and after a while you will discover that they may continually visit your site and view your content.

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Conclusions…

That’s a lot of information to take in!

Some of it is fairly basic and some of it is a bit more involved, but none of it is rocket science.

Advice and recommendations need to be considered in terms of your target market, what you are selling and what your overall business strategy is. However, I think there are points here that can be applied to any online business.Of course, the internet keeps moving. It’s not that long ago that Social Media didn’t exist. Or Smart Phones. What will be next and how will it affect your business?

The main learning you should take from reading this eBook is that you need to keep up to date. Selling online is a constantly moving target, but there are essentials that you need to keep in place too.


1. https://research.fdic.gov/2. http://www.financialinclusioncommission.org.uk/facts3. http://www.cgap.org/about/faq/who-are-2-billion-unbanked-adults-globally4. http://connexity.com/blog/2016/01/what-payment-options-do-online-shoppers-prefer/5. https://www.about-payments.com/knowledge-base/market/netherlands6. http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrunde/2015/08/12/m-pesa-and-the-rise-of-the-global-

mobile-money-market/#772c1afd23f57. https://econsultancy.com/blog/11182-basket-abandonment-case-studies-and-tips-to-help-

improve-your-conversion-rates/8. https://econsultancy.com/blog/11182-basket-abandonment-case-studies-and-tips-to-help-

improve-your-conversion-rates/9. http://www.thepaypers.com/expert-opinion/why-should-online-merchants-adopt-alternative-

payment-methods-/76295810. http://connexity.com/blog/2015/02/bizrate-data-security-study-2/11. http://www.statista.com/statistics/232285/reasons-for-online-shopping-cart-abandonment/12. https://www.eccouncil.org/13. http:www.information-age.com/technology/security/123459855/history-online-payment-security14. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ie/Documents/ConsumerBusiness/IE_CB_Cons

umerTrackerSurvey_0316_FINAL.pdf15. http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-security-incidents-accelerate/16. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-urges-business-to-take-action-as-cost-of-

cyber-security-breaches-doubles17. http://www.designmantic.com/blog/infographics/the-10-commandments-of-ui-design/18. https://econsultancy.com/blog/64385-how-to-attract-registrations-without-creating-a-barrier-to-

checkout19. http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/remove-friction-during-checkout-process20. http://www.whiteboardmag.com/the-best-kept-secret-in-e-commerce-is-out-heres-zalandos-

official-return-rate/21. http://www.statista.com/statistics/326986/online-apparel-retail-return-rate-in-the-uk/22. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/23492123. http://www.endicia.com/landing-pages/return-to-sender-infographic24. Ecommerce product return Statistics and Trends" "http://www.invespcro.com/blog/images/blog-

images/product-return-statistics.png25. https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/26. http://blog.motivemetrics.com/3-Ways-to-Optimize-Product-Pricing-with-Psychology27. http://www.slideshare.net/SKIMgroup/the-most-effective-price-promotion28. http://blog.motivemetrics.com/3-Ways-to-Optimize-Product-Pricing-with-Psychology29. http://www.stamps.com/whitepapers/gaining-edge-ecommerce-free-shipping.pdf30. http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsenglobal/apac/docs/reports/2015/nielsen-global-

trust-in-advertising-report-september-2015.pdf31. http://www.invespcro.com/blog/the-importance-of-online-customer-reviews-infographic/32. http://www.slideshare.net/Ikusmer/from-reviews-to-revenue-how-star-ratings-and-review-

content-influence-purchase30. http://www.cmo.com/content/dam/CMO_Other/ADI/ADI_2015_Holiday_Shopping_Predictions/AD

I_2015_Holiday_Predictions_Report.pdf34. https://www.reevoo.com/35. http://www.invespcro.com/blog/the-importance-of-online-customer-reviews-infographic/


References

About PiP Payments

PiP Payments is a truly alternative payments platform.

We enable websites to accept cash for online orders via the Post Office and retail collection agents.

Put simply, when a customer is on your website, when they get to the payments page they select ‘PiP’ and that generates a bar code and sends it to their phone. That bar code can then be used in any (UK) Post Office to make the payment.

As outlined in the payments chapter, offering alternative payments options for your customers will help increase your conversion rate. The conversion rate on a website is the key metric to success.

If you would like to know more about PiP Payments, email [email protected]
