Which Website Cues Make People Want To Buy From Your Online Store?
With so many online stores, making yours into a platform that converts people can be notoriously challenging and is not something that happens automatically.
In this post we look at some of the most popular website cues that will encourage people to buy from you.
What’s nice about these ideas is that they aren’t overtly salesy (or at least prospective customers are unlikely to recognize them as such). And because of this, they are often more effective. You’re not trying to push your customers into doing anything against their will, but at the same time, you’re encouraging them to buy from you and keep your business afloat.
So, what cues do Shopify developers recommend adding to your site?
Live Chat Support
The first and perhaps easiest is to add a live chat support box to your webpages (something Shopify website creators can do in minutes for you). On the face of it, these allow customers to interact with you, ask questions, and get updates.
However, if you drill deeper, they are actually cues. Having a live chat facility on your website tells customers that you’re willing to talk to them at any time and provide them with support whenever they need it. Just the simple presence of this tool often means that they trust you more and are more willing to buy your goods (even if they don’t need to speak to you).
These days, live chat is quite sophisticated, and many systems use natural language processing bots. Customers can talk to them however they want and get a reply within seconds that answers their query.
Strong Story
Another website cue that helps is a strong story. Sharing your mission or ethical practice is a good way to convince buyers that you’re on the right side.
No, it’s not quite the same as marketing, but it still works. If customers really believe in you and what you do, they are far more likely to want to make a purchase from you.
These stories don’t have to be grandiose, either. Just the little things can make a tremendous difference.
Fast And Secure Checkout Process
Don’t underestimate the value of a fast and secure checkout process to encourage people to buy from your Shopify store, either. Offering multiple payment options and a slick experience slashes cart abandonment rates substantially.
Fast checkouts aren’t immediately obvious to new arrivals on your site. But if everything feels punchy and slick once they get to the conversion stage, they are far more likely to want to buy from you.
Clear Pricing
Another basic cue is clear pricing. Prospective customers want to see clearly how much they can expect to pay if they shop with you.
Clear pricing is relatively easy to achieve online: most website services offer these features. However, some online brands still don’t include them, and that can be a problem for many.
Don’t be one of those companies that try to keep their pricing information private. Many customers don’t trust this approach and wish brands took a different tack, being more upfront.
Easy Navigation
You can also woo your customers with easy website navigation. If they feel they can make their way around without having to guess or missing anything, that’s a great feature that can really help.
You want to build great navigation into the website’s framework from the outset. It should have a menu that’s easy to use and navigate and doesn’t require a PhD to go from one point to the next.
Layouts of products should also be easy to determine. Filters and other search features can help customers find what they want faster, preventing them from clicking back off your site and looking for better service elsewhere.
Trust Signals
Perhaps most importantly, you should imbue your website with trust signals. These encourage shoppers to buy from you, even if it is the first time they’ve been on your site.
Trust signals work because they weasel their way into your customers’ unconscious. Once they see that you’re posting reviews showing how good you are, that can change the dynamics considerably.
Social proof is perhaps your most powerful tool, so if you can add testimonials with links, that can help tremendously. Displaying real customer reviews on third-party sites is an excellent way to gain traction and build trust with customers you’ve never interacted with before.
If you can build a team of brand ambassadors, that’s even better. These influencers go out of their way to tout your brand and explain why you’re so good.
Persuasive Product Descriptions
At the same time, it also helps to add persuasive product descriptions. These provide leads with compelling reasons to buy your products and part with their hard-earned cash.
If you can use benefit-driven language in your product descriptions, that’s even better. Prospective customers love finding out how you can help them and what makes your products different from anyone else’s, say Amazon’s.
If you can add things like dimensions and usage tips, that can help even more. This sort of activity could go on for years, with more content leading to higher sales and a positive ROI.
High-Quality Product Images
High-quality product images are another cue that makes people want to buy from your online store. Getting these right can also have a profound effect on how much you sell.
Unfortunately, most photos on e-commerce websites aren’t high quality, often looking grainy as if they’ve been taken with a mobile phone. But you can correct this by going to commercial photographers who specialize in this sort of thing. They can make products look fantastic while remaining true to life, popping off the screen no matter what you sell.
Ultimately, high-quality photos make customers feel more confident when buying from you. It makes them feel like you’ve really put in some effort and that there’s a professional team behind what you do (whatever that happens to be).
So there you have it: some of the cues you can use to encourage people to buy from your online store.