10 Things to Get Right in E-commerce From Homepage to Confirmation
Conversion Optimisation

10 Things to Get Right in E-commerce From Homepage to Confirmation

25th October 2013

Next up in our blogging reports from Conversion Conference 2013 is a session titled “10 things to get right in ecommerce from homepage to confirmation” from Paul Rouke who is the founder and Director of PRWD.

Understanding user behaviour across different demographics and areas is very important so that you can get insights from them.

1. Sitewide

This is about the proposition of the brand or the retailer, why should the visitor stick around? Paul shows an example from North Face where they tested brand messaging across the website in the navigation. Example he shows is for free standard delivery on all orders and including special offers. Another example is Skinny Ties who added a small banner message to the top of the page across the whole site.

a92b0d0fb7095ab11ff34fdac832a4cbASOS add their key proposition right below the price of the product, in this example, they show customers that they do free delivery and returns which is a key part of their offering. They also reenforce it through the buying process.

Schuh are an example too, they show their value propositions across the site for free delivery and discounts.

Key point is that value propositions should be site wide and device wide.

2. Homepage

Paul talks about carousel banners which can work well. North Face have one banner that draws people in and covers almost all visitors to the website.

Key point here is to simplify your homepage to provide visitors with intuitive, relevant jump off points.

3. Primary navigation

Paul gives Amazon as an example here who do things a bit differently in navigating from the left. Amazon are very good at categorising things and they have developed the menu so that hovering over certain parts of the menu doesn’t make it disappear. The US North Face website have a nice structured navigation and they also highlight new arrivals and best sellers within the standard categories. They also include visual promotions within the menu,

Schuh have a mega menu that does a similar thing, including sales categories and special offers alongside the categories.

Paul points out that mega menus are now almost expected and when done right, can work very well for user experience and aren’t scary.

Key point here is to take time to ensure your navigation is setup correctly.

4. Filtering

AO.com are called out as a good example of allowing users to filter by product attributes very well. They cater for different audiences and their motivations within the filtering menus.

5. The persuasive layer

AirBNB are a good example of providing a great end-to-end experience and recognise the importance of copy and imagery that can persuade customers. Moo.com are another example of a brand doing things right here.

6. Product listing page

Little touches here can help the user, such as when hovering over an image you see clothing on a model instead of just the product itself. ASOS allow you to hover over the product and save the product for later or hide the brand. Paul highlights the copy used as “save for later” rather than “wishlists” etc.

AO.com are used as an example again for providing lots of great information on a product page. AirBNB have three different ways of viewing a property and default to visual view. Booking.com allow you to remove a hotel from your listings and you won’t see it again in your experience.

7. Product page

Paul recommends taking a look at the US North Face product pages, in particular the review sections. They have clear titles, reviews and calls to actions.

Give users a reason to act when they’re on a product page.

8. Shopping basket

ASOS have a really good shopping cart experience. Try to avoid giving users a reason to go looking for a voucher code so they don’t get distracted.

9. Checkout

AO.com have a one-page checkout that really simplifies delivery.  Brands tend to lead with billing address on payment forms, but AO.com focus on the user details rather than the card details. They also have a huge call to action button.

10. Order confirmation

Add as much clarity as you can to the order confirmation page. Make it about the user, show the delivery date really clearly. Order confirmation pages are often neglected, instead, you can use them to encourage repeat purchases.

Main takeaways

1. There is still lots to learn from retailers

2. Split testing and just doing it is the best route forward

3. Irrespective of the type of retailer, there is scope to take advantage and test improvements to improve CRO.

If you want to see the full Slidedeck from Paul, you can download them on Slideshare – make sure you take a look as there was a bunch of information that Paul skipped through very quickly!

Written By
Paddy Moogan is co-founder of Aira, a digital marketing and web development agency based in the UK. He is also the author of “The Link Building Book”.
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