How to get more sales with your e-commerce site

E-commerce has been around since the early 90s under many different names, but one thing is clear: people want something that is easy to use, navigate, and checkout. When the idea of shopping online was first introduced, most people online were un-familiar with the Internet and retailers could pretty much design an e-commerce site in any way they wanted (as long as the user could figure out how to checkout). Nowadays, most people have a certain level of expectation when they arrive at your site.

The following are 7 tips that will help you get better conversion rates by making it easier for your visitors use your e-commerce site:

1) use breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs help a customer figure out how deep they are within your site structure and make it easy to get back to where they were. They also can help improve related search-engine keywords.

2) Local search

Not only will this make it easier for your customers to find your products, but if all of these queries are logged, you can get ideas for future products or services.

3) Don’t require registration before checking out

Many customers don’t feel comfortable registering for an account (because they have so many or they just don’t want to give you their email address because of privacy concerns). It is better to give them the option to sign-up with an account than to require it (you also might want to explain to them the benefits of signing up with an account such as receiving important product updates, discounts, and being able to manage their account info).

4) make sure your “add to cart” button is easily readable

If the checkout buttons are not visible to your users or they do not stand out in some way from the rest of the page, you will have a difficult time getting them to purchase your products. The smallest changes in color or font have been proven to increase conversions and sales.

5) Show the price of the item, taxes, shipping, and any discounts clearly before the user has to pay

Customers want to see how much they are spending and what their total is up to after each item is added to a cart. People looking for a deal or are on a budget will be comparing your prices to your competitors.

6) call your site a shopping cart

Calling your shopping cart anything else will confuse potential customers.

7) make it easy to remove cart items

Make this easier by having a remove button. Don’t make the mistake of only providing a way to decrease the quantity.