By Sommer Burbank
In order to run a successful e-commerce business, you need to create a fulfilling shopping experience for your potential customers from start to finish. A good e-commerce site not only attracts visitors with alluring and strategic design; it also converts those visitors into customers and, ideally, keeps them coming back for more.
Even with the best-tasting booze, most effective advertising, most frictionless checkout process and ample website traffic, there is no deal to seal without a product page optimized to drive conversions. Here are 9 proven strategies for designing a product page that influences conversions.
Use high-quality product images & videos
Business owners often put off investing in professional product photography and videography due to the financial investment. While it can be a costly venture, choosing the right photographer to capture the essence of your brand is worth the money in the long run. Your bottle images on your product page are the most crucial visual element to help customers understand what to expect & differentiate you from your competitors, and they cannot perform with low-quality/resolution.
Whether you are hiring a photographer to shoot product photos or you are taking them on your own (smartphones these days, i.e. the iPhone, have great customizable features for taking photos), be willing to invest the time, and eventually money, into a crafting a high-quality product photo gallery.
Include customer product reviews & social proof
Highlighting social proof is a highly useful tactic when it comes to converting prospective customers, as recommendations and referrals from people we know, trust or associate with can oftentimes be more valuable to a consumer than what a brand has to say about themselves. Positive feedback from other consumers may invoke more curiosity about your product and encourage site visitors to complete their purchase.
Use reviews and social media proof to establish credibility, increase trust among your site visitors, and show potential customers how much your product means to others.
Emphasize your value proposition
Among the many important pieces of information to include on your product page, it is fundamental to explain why a visitor should buy from you, and what makes you different from your competitors. Showcase your product's uniqueness with engaging, informative copy that ties in product differentiators and any benefits that customers will experience as a result of buying and enjoying your alcohol.
While your product description is mostly meant to describe what your product and brand offers to consumers, i.e. price, size, tasting notes, keep in mind that you should also use this space to speak to your target audience and highlight the aspects of your product that you know they'll care most about. Think: how can I help my prospective customers imagine themselves enjoying my products?
Prioritize mobile users
When it comes to shopping online, mobile phones are often the preferred device; therefore, optimizing your product page for conversions means optimizing your site's shopping experience for mobile users. Avoid missing out on this valuable group of potential customers by ensuring your products can be viewed smoothly and conveniently on all mobile devices, helping your customers buy from anywhere, at any time.
Offer free shipping when possible
Due to companies like Amazon, online shoppers have expectations of free shipping, 2-day shipping or both. With this expectation, shipping fees deter consumers from completing their purchases entirely.
Because shipping is not cheap, offering free shipping for every purchase is often not possible for most brands with lower margins. Rather than eating the cost of shipping for the purchase of one bottle, you can increase your product price to cover the shipping cost or increase the purchase minimum for free shipping.
Whether your shipping cost is free, a flat rate or fixed based on bottles purchased, be 100% transparent about any additional fees by clearly displaying shipping charges on your product pages.
Simplify your page
It's easy for the overall product page design to become cluttered with words and imagery. Keep navigation as simple for your site visitors as possible by ensuring your product page only includes the most relevant and essential information and high resolution photos. Removing all of the unnecessary elements from your product page to help potential customers focus on the products, and allow them to reach your product as fast as possible.
Friction points cause confusion, mental fatigue or frustration and result in your visitors bouncing from your product page almost instantly. Identify points for improvement to avoid causing potential customers distress, such as page load times and design, checkout experience and navigation: ensure that your page loads as fast as possible, is simple & easy to follow and has the option to search for products (if applicable).
Highlight featured & best-selling products
Displaying additional products on your product pages can be highly useful in case your visitors want to see other product offerings or know what other customers are buying. By showcasing best-sellers, you can give shoppers who may be unsure the opportunity to discover other products that would fit their needs.
Clearly display product promotions & discounts
Limited-time percent discounts and shipping offers are great incentives for customers to purchase your products, especially if it's their first time shopping with your brand.
Highlight all promotion and coupon code expiration deadlines in order to amplify a sense of urgency. Create a sense of scarcity by highlighting products as though they might not be available for purchase at a later time. With both approaches, the goal is to get your customers to think that they are missing out on a great opportunity if they don't invest in your product. Once customers do buy, you can also help them feel like they are part of an exclusive community with post-purchase email updates and more.
Upsell & cross-sell relevant products
Based on what upgrades or additional items you feel may be beneficial for your customers, recommend relevant products or similar products to your shoppers when they visit your product page. Upselling or cross-selling can encourage your site visitors to make more purchases—maximizing order revenue and average order value—as well as aid their shopping experience in the event that they are unsure of what they are looking for.
Conclusion
While there are many points in a customer's shopping experience that are important for influencing consideration and conversions, your e-commerce product page is ultimately where your site visitors decide if your product is worth their attention and hard-earned money. Optimizing your product page using the above strategies and more will help your business meet the needs of its consumers and inspire them to purchase your products.
