When it comes to making a success of your e-commerce business, it’s always crucial to consider the psychological factors that will influence your visitors and turn them from casual browsers into actual paying customers. With a few simple psychological tricks, you can greatly boost your chances of converting visitors into customers.
One of the main things to remember is that essentially, people want to put in minimal effort when making an online purchase. In basic psychology, it’s often said that the majority of people will naturally choose the path of least resistance or effort. Anything that makes the process harder or more complicated will put people off and have a negative impact on your online sales. It’s important to streamline the whole purchasing process as much as possible, making it fast and easy for people to buy from you.
There are various factors which can make an online pu
rchase seem more “difficult”; issues such as long and complex payment forms, complicated shipping options and difficult navigation will put people off. Make sure your items are easy to find and that your payment form is clear and simple, with easy options such as PayPal to give buyers greater flexibility.
Another surprising factor that can prevent people from buying is having too much choice. If they are confronted with hundreds of different options when they visit your site, many people will simply feel overwhelmed and unable to make a decision, which will lead to them leaving your site without buying. You may wish to consider narrowing down your options to fewer high-quality choices, presenting them in the best possible way and writing detailed, positive product descriptions to highlight their best attributes.
You may be offering fewer choices, but it’s likely that they’ll look far more appealing to prospective buyers.
Besides simplicity, one of the most important factors is loading speed. We all know the frustration of waiting for a site to load, and in most cases when it’s taking too long we will simply leave the site and take our business elsewhere. Research has indicated that 57% of online consumers will leave a site after only three seconds of loading time, and 80% of those will never return. This demonstrates just how vital it is that your site loads swiftly, so make sure this vital criteria is fulfilled.
Site design is another crucial aspect of any e-commerce site. Your webstore is no different to any physical shop premises; you need to make it look as appealing and stylish as possible to showcase your product in its best light. E-commerce involves a certain amount of trust between the buyer and the website, and site visitors are not likely to trust a site which looks unprofessional or untidy. Customers also expect high quality, clear images of the product so they can see exactly what they’re buying before they decide to hand their money over.
In conclusion, the psychology of online shoppers demonstrates that the “principle of least effort” definitely applies, and streamlined, stylish simplicity is the way to go to achieve success in e-commerce. It’s crucial that businesses remain in touch with their websites and understand the experience users are having when they purchase an item. If you haven’t already done so, go through the motions of searching for and buying a product yourself – this is an easy way to see which parts of the buying process may be providing obstacles and preventing people from completing their purchase. By using resources such as Google Analytics, you can identify the points at which people are leaving your site, which will highlight potential problem areas.