On the heels of a massive e-commerce performance on Black Friday—a traditional in-store shopping holiday—it’s time for retail PR and marketing to home in on the e-consumer with more focus on shopping habits and patterns for strategic insights.
New research from ratings and reviews firm Clutch reveals some interesting insights about this shopper’s quick path to purchase, and the most effective strategies for reaching them in a timely manner.
Over half (60 percent) of online shoppers complete purchases after only one day, with nearly half (44 percent) spending between $1 and $25—and with limited time to persuade online shoppers, e-commerce businesses should focus on four key website features:
- Detailed product descriptions
- Images
- Reviews, and
- A seamless checkout experience.
Grab their short attention spans with images
To provide a user-friendly shopping experience, e-commerce businesses can add detailed product descriptions and pictures. In fact, online shoppers said detailed product descriptions (29 percent) and pictures (27 percent) influence their online purchases. E-commerce businesses should keep product descriptions short and focused, using bullet points when possible to help potential customers find the information they need.
Leo Castro, vice president of marketing at BigCommerce, emphasized the importance of optimizing e-commerce websites for mobile. Businesses that do not allow customers to browse and complete purchases on mobile could risk losing sales. “So much e-commerce now is started on mobile devices, if not all the way through to the checkout,” said Castro, in a news release.
Make the checkout process fast and smooth
Nearly one-third (31 percent) of online shoppers use a shipping cost calculator or save their credit card information (29 percent) for faster and more transparent checkout. With online shoppers using digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, and PayPal to speed through checkout, e-commerce businesses should also be prepared to accept payment beyond traditional credit cards.
As vice president of user experience and research firm Nielsen Norman Group, Hoa Loranger conducts research and training on best practices in interface design. User experience, not the latest technology, should determine how e-commerce businesses approach website updates, according to Loranger.
“Find the easiest way [to complete a purchase] from a user’s perspective,” said Loranger, in the release. “If it’s too finicky or requires customers to learn something new, you might risk alienating people.”
Before investing in a new website design, e-commerce businesses should make sure their website provides a smooth experience for customers.
BigCommerce and other leading e-commerce website builders are already optimized for mobile devices and are updated regularly to keep pace with various operating systems as they evolve.
The full report included 1,000 consumers who made an online purchase in the past week.
