Sam Rutley, Managing Director at PushON outlines ‘five easy ways’ in which merchants can improve their eCommerce offering and boost conversions.
It’s no secret that, while bricks-and-mortar retail is on the decline, eCommerce has been steadily growing in popularity. In fact, between December 2008 and December 2018, ONS figures state that internet sales increased from 5.8% to 20% of total retail sales in the UK.
However, despite this clear shift in shopper habits over the past decade, many B2B retailers have neglected their online presence, instead choosing to continue focusing their efforts on sales made in-store, via catalogues and through sales reps.
While these tried and tested channels may generate adequate sales, research has shown that 93% of B2B consumers now prefer to shop online. This would suggest there is a growing appetite among customers for the speed and convenience that eCommerce offers that B2B retailers should be capitalising on.
Tellingly, the majority of those companies that have implemented B2B eCommerce believe that their customer expectations have changed due to the influence of B2C practices. Consumers now want the same smooth purchasing experience whether they are shopping for their business or in their personal time.
Some of the larger builders’ merchants have been leading the way in this arena, with Jewson’s fully transactional Jewson Tools site, for example, shortlisted for a prestigious eCommerce Award alongside household consumer retail names such as John Lewis and ASOS.
There’s no reason other builders’ merchants, large or small, shouldn’t be following in Jewson’s footsteps by offering a superior customer experience online as well as in-store. So, what can be done if a website is struggling to drive traffic or convert sales? Here are five easy ways builders merchants can improve their eCommerce offering and satisfy customers:
1: Website navigation
Good website navigation is crucial. When users are able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, they are not only more likely to buy something, but also to return to the site to make future purchases. One simple and effective test of a website’s usability is to ask a friend or family member who is unfamiliar with the site to look for a certain product. If they are unable to find a product intuitively, the chances are a potential customer won’t either, so this will help to highlight any areas for improvement.
Additionally, search engines use a website’s navigation to discover and index new pages, so ensuring the site navigation is user-friendly has the added bonus of helping to improve its SEO performance as well as the customer experience.
2: Site speed
Page load speed is increasingly becoming a priority for users, particularly with the rise of mobile commerce. In fact, research by Google in 2018 revealed that 53% of visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes longer than three seconds to load.
Even if visitors don’t immediately abandon a site that’s slow and frustrating to use, it can have a significant effect on future sales. Customer engagement technology firm, Kissmetrics, found that 79% of customers who are “dissatisfied” with a website’s performance are less likely to buy from that site again.
Slow load times can also cost a business before someone even reaches its site. This is because Google includes page speed in its ranking algorithm, meaning that websites that don’t load quickly will appear lower in search results, so it’s extremely important to make site speed a priority when making any changes or updates to a site.
3: Checkout process
One of the main issues encountered by many eCommerce stores is the conversion rate at the checkout stage. It’s thought that, on average, around 70% of customers abandon their shopping cart during the checkout process, which, according to research by Barclaycard, could potentially be resulting in more than £18 billion of lost sales each year.
A common cause of shopping cart abandonment is an overly long and complicated checkout process. Reducing the number of form fields required for checkout and payment, and removing any fields that aren’t absolutely necessary for customers to complete their purchases should help to boost conversions.
It also helps to set realistic expectations and reduce frustrations by showing customers the progress of their checkout with a progress indicator. This should make it clear to users which stage of the checkout they’re at, and how many steps are left.
4: Trust
For smaller, lesser-known businesses, one of the biggest eCommerce challenges is how to build customer trust in their website. If a user has any doubts over the authenticity or reliability of a site, then there is a strong chance they will choose to shop with a competitor that they are already more familiar with instead.
‘Social proof’ plays a big role in creating trust, as customers feel more at ease if they know that their peers have had a positive experience purchasing products from a particular eCommerce store. Social proof can include social media followers, product reviews, and news articles that mention the company. These are all forms of validation that legitimise a business in the eyes of consumers.
5: Security
One major concern for the online consumer is security. Are they putting themselves at risk by entering their credit card details on a website, or do they feel like they are? One way to alleviate these concerns is to display the security badges provided by online merchants so that they are visible throughout the checkout process.
These badges tell website visitors that a reputable third-party has verified that the business is genuine and the website is not leaking data to hackers and cybercriminals. Research has repeatedly proven that security badges have a significant effect on consumer behaviour, with one study finding that they increased the perceived trustworthiness of a brand in 75% of people.
These are just a few of the simple ways that builders’ merchants, no matter their size, can improve their eCommerce offering. Taking steps like these keeps customers happy and helps to boost conversion rates, and, with the popularity of eCommerce showing no signs of slowing down, merchants can’t afford to get left behind.
PushON is an award-winning e-commerce agency based in Manchester. For more information, visit www.pushon.co.uk.
