Tried and Tested Tips to Optimise Your eCommerce Product Pages for Higher Conversions

There were 1.8 billion global digital buyers in 2018 (Statista) and the number is expected to rise to over 2.14 billion in 2021.

Although ecommerce sales are clearly on the rise, I know that many stores still struggle to boost their conversion rates despite of website visitors pouring in. If you've been in this game quite some time now, you know that traffic that doesn't convert is useless traffic.

While there could be various reasons as to why this happens, too often do I see ecommerce owners making a simple mistake of optimising their landing pages only.

Don't get me wrong, making a good first impression on your visitors is a crucial first step to converting them, but what about your Product Pages? First impression matters; there's no doubt about that. However, it doesn't persuade consumers to buy - they're here for the product, not to contemplate your homepage!

Creating high-converting product pages will take a tonne of A/B testing, of course, but I've compiled a list of powerful tips that can get you started. Let's dive into it!

1. Recommendations / best sellers

Lots of companies do this now: you get to the product page and you have a pre-selected 'Most popular' just like Homedepot does:

But this shouldn't just be a small upgrade on the lower package. It shouldn't just offer another user for example - it needs to add a whole new benefit that wasn't available before. Netflix does this by offering extra screens, but also upgraded viewing. You start with 1 screen and SD, upgrade to 2 screens and HD, then 4 screens, HD + ULTRA. Even an individual has a reason to take the middle package over the basic. 

2. Show off options instead of hiding them 

Each dropdown menu you use requires effort to click and read through. The more options you have, the more effort it requires - you get the idea.

But if you only have a small number of options just show them on the page and allow the customer to simply click the one they want. It also reduces any possible issues on mobile where dropdowns can be difficult to use.

3. Product suggestions

Be careful here. A lot of companies provide a list of 'other people bought X, Y, Z' but if you show this off too soon, you'll add doubt to the customer. They clicked that product because it caught their eye, but if everyone else bought another product... shouldn’t they buy that one instead?

The longer someone stays on the page, the more they read which can indicate uncertainty and that’s when you want to start offering suggestions. Make it a step in the journey, not an alternative option.

Something that Amazon does really well is displaying product suggestions once someone adds to basket and offering one-click add:

 4. Price anchoring

Price anchoring is proven to improve conversion. Set an expectation, and then beat it with your offering. Show the average market price or RRP of a product, and then show the price you're selling it at. It immediately gives the impression the customer is getting a steal. 

Check out this product listing from CheapHumidors:

5. Offer assurances and guarantees 

30-day moneyback guarantees and the use of notable web security logos all improve conversion. However, some tests have shown that terms such as 'No risk' or 'we never spam you' actually have negative impacts as they highlight the negative terms.

It’s all about framing and making sure you emphasise the benefits, not the possible negatives. 

6. Free shipping 

Free shipping has a huge impact on sales, especially where shipping costs are high, or unclear. However, this can also be used to improve the average order value of your carts. Let’s say your average order value is $100, offer free shipping at $120 and provide a few 'you might like this as well' items. Customers will add another $20-30 to their basket just to avoid paying $5 for shipping. 

Take a look at how Marks & Spencer does it:

7. Make comparisons easy

People just love to compare products to make sure they really are getting their money's worth and if you want to make more sales, you need to enable them to do it well on your site.

Users need to be able to interact with the comparison tool in an efficient and intuitive way that'll allow them to get exactly what they want.

Keurig, for example, auto-populates a three-product comparison chart on each page of its coffee makers. Shoppers can select other brewers to compare using simple pull-down menus.

7. Product imagery 

Display multiple images, 360-degree view if possible and even video. Stats show that the more images you have, particularly of high quality, the higher your conversion rates.

Don't forget the power of context, either. Many items can be even more persuasive if you throw a few accessories into the mix.

8. Shipping times

People want to know how long they'll have to wait for their latest purchase so show off your shipping times and be very clear especially for international shipping. In the UK we're very used to shipping times of 1-3 days, so if you know it'll take 10 days, be upfront about it to avoid disappointing customers. 

9. Refunds & Returns 

Don't hide your refunds & returns policy right at the bottom of your site. We've all seen the horror stories of people ordering dresses which are shipped from China and look nothing like the advertisement. But even products sold by the biggest, trustworthy brands sometimes just aren't right for you. Reassuring people that if they don't like the item they can return it is a sure-fire way to increase conversions, and customer satisfaction.

10. Product descriptions

A recent study led by Shotfarm showed that “detailed descriptions” ranked first in the top 3 factors that influence a customer’s decision to buy, higher than “reviews” (in 2nd position) and “price” (in 3rd position).

It's not just about providing factual information, either. Combine these facts with interesting copy that evokes emotions and gets people to imagine themselves actually using it. Aim to emphasize the benefits not just the features of your products, just like Innocent did below:

11. Sizing tables 

It's so frustrating to shop for clothing and being overwhelmed by a dozen different sizing conventions, and then finding out that the same size in different shops, is actually different. Try to find a way to relate to the customer more by showing off images of real people wearing the clothing. 

Zalando does it well where not only does its size description inform visitors what size the model is wearing but also provides a model's height:

12. Save for later option

Not always do people visit your ecommerce store with the immediate purchase intent - a lot of the time people are just browsing, or if they've come through particular forms of advertising (e.g. Facebook) they may not have the time to place an order right away. For those reasons, enable people to save their basket for later so that when they do come back they can just quickly proceed to checkout.

An added bonus to this is that you're collecting their email address by asking them to register to save.

Conclusion

Driving traffic to your ecommerce site takes a lot of time and effort so don't let it all go to waste by not optimising the one thing that essentially makes you money - your Product Pages.

And while implementing the tips mentioned above will certainly help increase your conversion rates, don't forget about the most important (and most profitable) element of running an ecommerce store: delivering s seamless customer experience.

This should be your one and only priority.

What's your strategy for boosting product page conversion rates? Share your most effective tips below.