E-commerce: Three Web Conversion Tips

The fastest way to higher profits from multichannel customers is not by increasing average order value, but by increasing conversion. This was the primary message delivered by Mark Giresi, executive vice president of retail operations for multi-branded apparel and accessories merchant Limited Brands, and Pat Conroy, vice chairman and national managing principal for consumer business practice at Deloitte & Touche during a session during last week’s National Retail Federation Conference in New York. Giresi pointed out that higher conversion should be a merchant’s focus since the average order value of a shopper that doesn’t purchase is $0.

Speakers discussed several online consumer behavioral statistics and possible responses to increase conversion.

* Turn browsers into buyers. “Thirty-eight percent of online shoppers who left a Web site without purchasing did so because they were just browsing,” Conroy said, citing a recent Deloitte survey. While it can be difficult to change this behavior, offering incentives for first-time Web buyers might convert a few more browsers to buyers.

And given that 63 percent of brick-and-mortar customers say they’ve done research online before buying in store, according to Deloitte’s research. It might also be beneficial to point out the benefits of shopping online to these consumers as they’re browsing.

* Make purchasing decision easier. Conroy points out that 12 percent of online shoppers don’t purchase simply because they can’t decide what to buy. To incentivize these nervous shoppers, highlight best-selling products and promote product reviews.

* Ease navigational woes with better site search. Twenty-one percent of brick-and-mortar shoppers leave a store without purchasing because they couldn’t find what they were looking for, Conroy noted. Online merchants already do a better job at helping customers find the right products, evidenced by the 8 percent who cited the same reason for leaving a Web site without purchasing in Deloitte’s survey. Still, improvements to on-site search can help this group of customers find what they’re looking for.