Worldwide the average amount of people who convert on your site after visiting it is just 3%. For the retail industry in the UK, this statistic is even lower, with a measly 1.6% of people converting.
The reason this is so low is that a lot of online consumers have developed this browsing habit, where they are already looking at a site without the intention of buying. This is especially prevalent in the custom clothing industry. However, this does not have to be the case and there are many tactics you can deploy to turn visitors into buyers on your clothing website.
Product Videos
You may be thinking ‘I haven’t got the budget for a video!’. However, it pales in insignificance to the results you will gain from it. Besides, it’s now stated that 80% of internet users now own a smartphone and that can be good enough to create product videos. We recently wrote an article for Out Of The Sandbox on how to create your own video.
In a real world example, the online shoe and clothing company Zappos were able to increase product page sales between 6-30% by adding product videos to each of their pages.
Asos are another company that do a fantastic job of this, by displaying a ‘Watch Video’ button directly underneath the main product image.
Wish Lists
That lowly figure of 1.6% that we mentioned earlier is normally blamed on unexpected shipping costs. However, this is only partly true as the chart below shows that equally people just aren’t ready to purchase at times. This confirms the point earlier about people’s browsing habits.
Therefore creating wish lists for customers, is a good way of getting them to purchase the product at a more convenient time.
The above example from DSW is also a great way of creating a social campaign around your lists. You can enter a prize draw to win a pair of shoes simply by sharing your wish list on social media.
Another great way of using wish lists is to email them if the following events occur:
- If the price has dropped on the item
- If the stock is low – creates urgency
- If new reviews have been left on the item
Returns
Returns are inevitable with clothing sites, so they need to be as efficient and smooth as possible for the consumer. There may not even be a fault with the product, but as you know design or fit may be a reason for the return.
What people may not realise is how important visible returns policies on sites are in regards to increase conversion rates. 82% of consumers said they would go ahead with a purchase, if the company’s returns policy was visible on the product page. Furthermore 89% of consumers said they would return to a site that gave them a positive experience with their returns.
Create Urgency
Using words or phrases such as ‘Only X Left’ and ‘Will sell out soon’ can do wonders for converting those ‘on the fence’ buyers. A recent study by B2C showed that 71% of consumers said it was vital that inventory information was visible.
Multichannel selling is essential now for retailers as they look to expand their footprint on platforms such as Amazon, eBay and Etsy as well as their own site. Therefore inventory management software from Veeqo is vital in order to manage your stock across all your channels and to display the figure, to increase sales.
Marcus Taylor who works for Venture Beat said he saw an increase in sales of 332% for one of his courses after adding a ‘time left to download’ countdown, while also displaying the number of bundles bought.
Free Shipping
A staggering 88% of consumers would be willing to shop with you if the option of free delivery was offered. The amount of the time the delivery takes is less important as 83% of shoppers are happy to wait an extra two days just to have free delivery.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to offer it straight off the bat, but offering it after a user spends a certain amount is the best way to go about it. Weirdly, a free shipping offer that could save someone £7-8 is much more appealing than a £10 off voucher.
Live Chat
The reason people may not be spending money with you is that they feel their question might not be answered quickly enough.
In a recent survey 60% of Millennials (which are people born between 1980-2000) said that their preferred choice of communication was live chat. There are plenty of options available with Olark being the market leaders.
This is vital when you consider the fact that there are 80 million Millennial shoppers who spend over £400 million dollars every year.
Social Login
Three in every four people who attend your website take issue with the fact that they have to register for it, this is according to a study by Janrain. Further to that 54% of consumers would never come back to your site.
Therefore allowing users to log in with any of their social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter or Google+ is a great way of speeding up the process. On ecommerce platforms such as Shopify this can be easily integrated with plugins like Social Login.
Product Reviews
95% of people who come to your website are looking to consult reviews before they purchase. The example below from Pura Vida is a fantastic example of instilling confidence in buyers and getting them to convert.
Many retailers may bemoan the fact that getting customers to leave reviews can be very difficult. However with YotPo, customers can leave reviews for their purchased goods without leaving the email and being redirected. This vastly improves the participation rate then.
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This is a Guest Post courtesy of our friends from Veeqo! Go and take a look at their blog if you don’t know it yet! It’s worth it!
