Chloe CameronFor most business owners, it’s safe to assume that you never want to stop your customers from placing their orders. It’s frustrating for both the consumer and business owner when a consumer has found a product that they want, but the order goes unfulfilled for a variety of different reasons. While you want to generate as much profit as possible, there are factors that could affect how successful sales are. A few factors include:
- No indication on coupons/promo codes that are expired
- Unintelligent forms (Autofill makes everyone’s life easier!)
- Forcing a customer to sign up for an account in order to place an order (unless you are a B2B company)
Of course, these are just a few examples of little things that could be bothersome for customers. The last thing you want is for customers to get turned off and wind up not placing an order after checking out your business. So what are some major things that stop your customers from placing orders?
Pricing
One of the biggest reasons that a customer may refrain from purchasing a product is pricing. Let’s be real here, things are expensive these days, and consumers always look out for the cheapest deal they can get. When shopping for products, consumers will compare prices between different businesses, and the majority will go for the cheaper deal. Make sure your products and services are reasonably priced. Markets are only becoming more competitive, and you can’t expect to make sales when your products are overpriced or not sold at a reasonable price. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to undersell drastically, but pricing your products at an average price or even a little bit cheaper doesn’t hurt. Don’t hike up your prices or else your customers will take their business elsewhere.
Navigation
If your website or storefront is complex and difficult to use, this can be overwhelming and a turn off for consumers. As shopping can already be stressful enough, the job for sellers is to ease the shopping experience by making their business as coordinated as possible. Ensure that your storefront is user-friendly; if your storefront is too messy or hard to navigate, this becomes frustrating for users and drives them away. In order to create an enjoyable shopping experience for consumers, make your storefront clean and easy-to-use. Users shouldn’t find themselves in a position where they feel confused when browsing.
Visuals
Presentation is key. Aside from pricing, consumers put great emphasis on quality. If you’re promoting products, make sure that the visuals you use are also high-quality to represent the product. That means no tacky photos taken with your cell phone, and no cheap graphics either!
Product Details
For those selling printed apparel, sizing is something to keep in mind. The last thing a customer wants is to find out the product they ordered isn’t true to size. Make sure that you include a sizing chart for apparel products so that buyers can have a reference, and ensure that accurate measurements are stated! Consumers won’t feel confident in purchasing if your sizing is confusing or inaccurate. SinaLite provides a sizing chart for customers viewing apparel products, so that shoppers can know which size fits their measurements.
Inventory/Stock
A lack of inventory for products can lose the interest of customers. If you have products that are popular and frequently bought, prepare yourself to have more stock in ready when you find yourself running low. Consumers hate waiting and will end up looking elsewhere for a similar product if they can’t get it from you.
Shipping
As consumers already have to purchase products at a certain price topped off with taxes, they don’t want to have to pay even more for shipping. It’s not uncommon for a customer to back out of the checkout page when they see high shipping rates. Be clear on shipping rates so that consumers don’t get surprised when they check out their shopping cart. If possible, offer a deal for free shipping (eg. many businesses offer free shipping when customers order a minimum amount).
Checkout Issues
It can be frustrating for customers to run into issues while checking out their products, as they’ve already invested the time to browse and pick out their items. If you offer promo codes or gift cards to be applied to the purchase, be sure that it works, or you may find customers abandoning their cart during checkout.
Reviews
Almost every business has made business from their reviews; it’s what helps establish a company’s reputability. A business with low reviews isn’t going to leave a good impression for new customers. On the other hand, a business with nothing but five stars may find themselves being questioned by leads on whether or not the company is genuine or putting up fake reviews for business. You may not have complete control of your reviews, but do your best to ensure that your business is up-to-standard and that your customer service handles customer support properly to ensure the best business possible.
Exchange/Return Policy
Be transparent about your policies. Customers always want to feel safe when doing business, and when things go wrong, they want to be reassured that there can be a solution to it. In any given situation if a customer is unsatisfied with their order, chances are they’ll want to exchange or return the product. Make your exchange/return policy clear and easy to find for customers. This bit of information is often used as a safety net for consumers, especially those who are first-time buyers for a business.
These details are barriers that can prevent your customers from having an enjoyable shopping experience, and it costs you the loss of sales. In the digital world, it’s best to make everything user-friendly where ease-of-access is provided for all types of consumers. With just a few simple quick fixes, your conversion and sales rate can increase drastically with just the right marketing tools. Check out all the different print products you can offer your clients at SinaLite.com.
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