16 actionable tips to optimize your eCommerce conversion rate (with examples)
So you want to optimize your store's conversion rate? Fantastic. Start with this list of ideas.
Our team at Head West has spent months pouring over the latest conversion rate optimization research and studying the best DTC brands in the world to find out what makes their websites convert.
1) The top ribbon should have a clear CTA, sitewide offer, and be clickable
2) The website should have a favorites or wishlist feature (especially stores with large catalog of SKUs)
3) The email modal (popup) should display after 15 seconds (not immediately) and have a compelling visual and offer
4) Mobile CTAs should be full width
5) Your navigation should make it easy to find three categories: what's new, what's bestselling, and what's on sale (e.g., bundles)
6) Pre-populate the search bar with common example searches w/ light grey font (e.g., "men's shoes, socks, hiking boots")
7) Zero results search page should show that there weren’t any results for the search but offer CTAs to continue shopping (e.g., "Shop bestsellers")
8) Add a product quiz to match products to customers
9) The home page highlights key value props (e.g., "Always free shipping and returns", "Lifetime warranty", "One pair donated for every pair purchased")
10) The home page should contain social proof like customer reviews of the company or specific products
11) If applicable, the homepage should feature Doctors / experts who endorse the product
12) On the product listing page (PLP) add scarcity triggers on products that are limited in stock (e.g., "Almost Gone")
13) The product page (PDP) should have sticky add to cart CTA in navigation (desktop) or at bottom of page (mobile) so customer can always easily add to cart
14) Add an image to the image gallery on the PDP that contains an infographic style image that highlights product's key value props
15) On the PDP the main CTA should be the most easily identifiable element on the page, its color should stand out, and it should be full width on mobile
16) The cart page should have a progress bar that shows the customer how far away they are from the threshold for free shipping (or discount / gift with purchase)
Like this list?
Check out our entire eCommerce conversion rate optimization checklist here
FAQs
What is conversion rate optimization (CRO)?
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of systematically improving the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service. The goal of CRO is to increase conversions, which are the actions that are valuable to your business.
CRO involves understanding your customer journey, identifying friction points or bottlenecks, developing hypotheses about improvements, testing those changes, analyzing the results, and iterating based on what is learned. Common techniques include A/B testing of page elements like headlines, calls-to-action, and page layouts. CRO requires an experimentation mindset and leveraging tools like analytics and split testing to uncover opportunities. The overall aim is to remove friction and make taking high-value actions as easy as possible for visitors. An effective CRO strategy can significantly lift key conversion metrics like signups, leads, and sales.
What is a good eCommerce conversion rate?
The average eCommerce conversion rate varies, but according to industry leaders and research, a good average eCommerce conversion rate in 2023 is around 2.5% to 3%.
However, it's important to note that this figure can vary depending on factors such as industry, country, device, and traffic source.
How do you calculate conversion rate?
Here are the steps to calculate conversion rate:
Identify the conversion action you want to measure. This could be a sale, signup, download, or any other desired action.
Determine the number of conversions. Use your analytics platform to see how many times the conversion action was completed over a specified time frame. For example, you might count how many sales occurred over the last month.
Identify the number of visitors. Again using analytics, determine the total number of visitors to your site or landing page over the same time frame.
Divide the conversions by the total visitors. For example, if you had 1,000 conversions and 10,000 visitors, the calculation would be:
1,000 (conversions) / 10,000 (visitors) = 0.10
Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage. From the example above, 0.10 x 100 = 10% conversion rate.
So in this case, the conversion rate is 10%, meaning 10% of visitors completed the desired conversion action. The higher the conversion rate, the more effective your site or campaign is at generating conversions.
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