Why my shop have no sales? Main issues and simple solutions.
Your shop is high in Google search ranking, you support it with AdWords campaigns, you have a lot of traffic, but not many sales. Why is this happening? It is quite likely that in the course of shopping the shopping cart abandonment occurs. There may be many reasons for this, thankfully some of them can be easily diagnosed and fixed.
I want to buy, but don’t want to register!
One of the most annoying things in the course of the purchasing process is the need for registration. Yes, the shopkeeper should depend on the user to set up an individual account in the shop because it gives a number of possibilities, but you can not force it. People simply want to make a purchase and seeing a slogan “you need to create an account” often discourage them.
Solution: If you are not using the opportunities provided by the support of user accounts (track the status of orders, discounts etc.) simply resign from this option. If you’re using it – give customers a choice. “Don’t register” option display just next to “sign up”, do not hide it.
Why do you need this information?
What is your reaction when you are given a form with multiplt fields asking for your personal details? It turns out that your customers think the same way and even if they will start filling out the form, they may get discouraged during the process.
Solution: The order form should be as short as possible. Your customers don’t have time or the desire to give a lot of private details.
Why are you charging so much?
The lack of clear information about the cost of postage may cause confusion or lead custmers mad. If the information about the cost of postage appears at a late stage of ordering it can cause a rejection.
Solution: Inform about the shipping costs as soon as possible. The optimal solution is to create a subpage about shipping, delivering and the timescales of despatching and delivering and repeat this information right away during the purchasing process. In some cases, depending on the shipping price, you can also brag about it on a product page.
Deliver it to my door!
Your customers love comfort, but define it in different ways. Some people prefer to receive their shopping by post because they will be able to collect it anytime they want if they miss the postman. Others prefer courier who will deliver the item to their home. There is also a group of customers wo would prefer to pick the item up from you. Sometimes they are willing to change the shop for one which will give them the opportunity to choose a convenient option.
Solution: Be flexible, give the customers as many delivery options as possible. It is a bit more work for you but it will benefit you.
I will just have a look at different colours….
The availability of the product in different variants is a huge asset to a store, no matter whether it is a colour, material or a size. Worse, if in the middle of purchasing a client decides to switch from one version to another, or wants to change the quantity and needs to return from the cart to the category. There is a risk that in the meantime the client will change his mind and did not complete the purchase.
Solution: Allow to change the colour, material or quantity in the shopping cart while completing the purchase.
Do I really need it?
Sometimes at the very last minute customers starts having dubts about the product, returns policy or the warranty. This usually happens when the products are described too briefly and there are no additional informations available on your site.
Solution: Describe the products thoroughly and provide a lot of photos. A good idea is also to allow customers to ask questions and publish answers to the most important ones. This will improve the credibility of the store and by the way extra content will also have a good influence on SEO. Do not hide returns policy – the concerns about how to carry out the complaint could also result in the suspension of the shopping process.
I did not ordered that!
Some shops automatically add additional products to the cart. Well, how would you feel if in a supermarket right next to the cashier someone added more goods to your cart?
Solution: Additional products should be offered on the product page and never added to the cart without clients knowledge. It destroyes the trust and will cause bad reviews.
I will jst make myself a cuppa….
Interruption of purchases may also be due to purely technical issues. Scripts malfunction, bad conversion, lack of offered discounts etc… The list goes on and on, but the effect is one – the customer will eventualy get tired of it and after few attempts will leave your shop.
Solution: Do a few test purchases and see if all works, check at the same time if discount coupons are counted properly. Do not forget to check if your shops mobile version works too (in particular, whether the buttons are not too small and if the texts are readable). Test again after each script update.