The other day, I was speaking to my friend Andrew who seemed a little off. I asked him about his troubles, and he instantly began narrating his problem.
Andrew runs a WooCommerce store (a great choice), and he’s already ensured that his WooCommerce website loads quickly, the images and landing pages are optimized, and he’s also aced the SEO game making his website rank on search results.
With all of this and some marketing magic, he’s able to drive a good amount of traffic but is not happy with the sales figures. He wants to work on increasing the conversions on his WooCommerce store.
Anyone who is looking to increase their conversions and optimize their site can use a multitude of conversion optimization tricks shared here
Now, Andrew knows I’ve been working in this field for a while. Even though marketing can help drive traffic but to increase sales, the store still needs to be optimized for conversions.
Being the good friend that I am, I shared a few conversion optimization techniques that he (and you) should be using on his (and your) WooCommerce store.
The ultimate conversion optimization tricks:
1. Product Pricing to boost customer loyalty
The first technique that I suggested was to use different product pricing for different sets of customers.
There’ll be different sets of people who’ll be buying from your store. Some of them would be buying a particular item (white linen t-shirt) in bulk like the wholesalers, and on the other hand, someone like me will only buy one of those white linen t-shirts.
The trick here is to offer different pricing for the same product to both categories of customers. Doing this will help in boosting customer loyalty and will also make them feel special, thereby laying the foundation for a long term business relationship.
Even a company like Amazon uses this trick and offers different product pricing for its Amazon business customers and its normal customers.
With this dynamic pricing, you can definitely increase conversions on your WooCommerce store.
2. Product recommendations to eliminate product discovery
Andrew offered all kinds of bags in his store with so many choices, and he was very proud of it.
Now, to be honest, people don’t have that kind of time to scroll through millions of choices you have in store for them. Even if they do, it eventually leads to confusion, increased efforts, and delay in buying.
In order to reduce their effort of product discovery, you should have a ‘Product Recommendation’ or ‘You may like’ section that displays products most relevant to your individual customer’s needs based on their purchase history or browsing history.
This kind of personalization will help in eliminating their long searches and will also enhance user experience and increase instant conversion.
For. e.g., Amazon’s kindle gives you book recommendations based on the previous genre of book that you just finished.
3. Wishlists to increase conversions and sales
Usually, when I’m online shopping, I select ten or more products but end up buying only 3 of them!
This is very common, and that’s the reason I asked Andrew to incorporate a ‘Wishlist’ on his store so that people like me, who may not intend to buy the products at that point of time but can at least save those products in their wishlist with an intention to buy it in the future.
Wishlist is one of the most effective ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment plus, it helps in reminding customers of the products they liked.
In fact, a company called ModCloth, involved in women’s clothing, notifies its customers whenever the prices of the products in their wishlist drops.
Similarly, you, too, can use this feature creatively to convert your potential customers and drive sales significantly.
4. The waiting list to notify stock alerts
Too often, we take our customers for granted and then lose out on the opportunity of converting a potential customer.
Imagine you’re offering a ‘3d t-shirt’ that sells like a hot cake and goes out of stock within hours. While this might make you happy, are you thinking about the customers who wanted but couldn’t buy it?
That’s right. It’s exactly where the problem lies.
A good businessman will utilize this opportunity to collect email IDs of people who wished to buy the product, create a waiting list and then notify all those potential customers through email as soon as the product is back in stock.
Implementing this technique will give you an opportunity to bridge the gap between you and your buyer by making them aware of the care and the efforts you’re putting in to ensure they don’t lose out on their favorite product.
Companies like Myntra and Zara use this technique to convert their potential customers.
5. Inquiry forms to capture genuine leads
As an online store owner, you have to find a way to talk to your customers.
In a physical store, it’s much easier for your customers to explain their exact requirements like size, color, etc. regarding a product or service. However, it becomes difficult for them to do the same while shopping online.
That’s exactly where you can change the game!
Your customers, while shopping online, will definitely have questions regarding your products, and you have to give them an opportunity to ask these questions regarding pricing, features, attributes, etc. by incorporating Inquiry forms on your WooCommerce store.
Andrew seemed quite astonished when I told him how Inquiry forms would help in capturing genuine leads that will ultimately lead to conversions.
Amazon and several other eCommerce companies use this technique to convert their potential customers.
6. Product grouping for custom kits/bundles
Remember purchasing Valentine’s day gift set – Teddy bear, flowers, chocolates, and a card?
Andrew was now blushing. Well, the point being, all of the gifts complemented each other and were offered together as a bundle, which definitely shortened Andrew’s buying process.
It doesn’t matter what business you’re involved in, offering products in bundles creates a psychological impact in which customers believe that they’ll save more if they buy a bundled product rather than buying it individually.
Plus, you can get more creative by allowing your customers to dynamically create their own custom kits or assortment bundles, and you can also dynamically price the products added in the bundles.
This technique will surely push your potential customers to make a purchase.
7. Subscription boxes to increase recurring sales
Today, I don’t mind paying monthly fees for my Amazon Prime membership because I want my products to be delivered within a day without paying any shipping charges.
This is the beauty of a subscription-based model; it ensures that there’s recurring revenue every month and helps you to convert those potential customers into permanent members as you make their shopping experience more convenient.
The priority, importance, and the extra benefits you provide them will increase your customer base in the long run, and plus, this subscription-based model also acts as a great source of revenue.
8. Quotation systems to negotiate sales
If you’re a wholesaler, distributor, or manufacturer, then this is a technique for you to use and convert your sales.
Let’s say you’re selling spare parts for cars, and you notice that a lot of people are landing on your website, but the sales are not strong enough.
A trick here should be to provide a ‘Request a Quotation’ option to your customers so that they can request a price for the quantity they want, and you can negotiate the price with them until you reach an agreement.
Moreover, you can also hide the price option and have only the quotation option, which will help you to negotiate different pricing with every customer, which enhances their buying experience, helps in converting your potential customers and building long term business relationships.
9. Entice buyers with Bulk or Cart discounts
People like discounts, and it’s something that pushes them to make that purchase even if they don’t intend to.
I asked Andrew to employ different discounting techniques like Cart discounts to offer personalized discounts on items added to the cart or offer higher discounts on higher cart value, which would entice buyers to make that purchase.
Even roping in customers by offering different pricing slabs on bulk purchases is a good trick to convert potential customers and increase sales.
10. Sell more with Product Combinational discounts
This is a very simple technique to convert your potential customers.
Offering combinational discounts on products that go together can help in selling more products and increase your sales significantly.
It induces buyers to make a purchase and get more at a lower price.
For e.g., McDonald’s offers discounts on the meals that comprise a burger, fries, and a soft drink rather than offering discounts on individual items.
11. Personalized shop page to generate belongingness.
I told Andrew that if he really wanted to stand out, then he’d have to go that extra mile by offering personalized shop pages to his specific set of customers.
Even you should have a personalized shop page for your preferred customers with unique product/service catalogs and personalized discounts.
This will create a sense of belongingness in your customers, encouraging them to purchase the product at a glance, thereby helping you to sell more.
Netflix does this beautifully by recommending shows/movies, thereby reducing your search process.
12. Stock scheduling and hide out of stock products to boost conversion
As we get busy with the management of our store, we often overlook simple strategies that have the potential to convert customers and increase sales.
You can use a strategy to capture leads by scheduling your products available based on seasonal trends, and you can turn your visitors into buyers by efficiently managing the prices and stocks of those products.
Similarly, you can also hide the products when they go out of stock, as this will reduce the level of frustration among your buyers.
MI phones use this strategy to convert potential buyers and increase sales.
13. Countdown timer to induce fear of missing out
By now, Andrew was so excited that he couldn’t wait to implement these techniques. However, I still had two more tricks for him.
Again, a simple strategy of adding a ticking countdown timer for some duration (days, hours, minutes) to a limited edition product or the latest product can significantly help in converting your potential customers and increase your revenue. Doing this triggers a psychological phenomenon that induces a fear of missing out among the buyers encouraging them to make the purchase.
Apple uses this technique before launching the new iPhone.
14. Invoke urgency with Product or category availability or unavailability
This is the last technique I suggested Andrew implement.
In this technique, you occasionally schedule the availability or unavailability of your product or the product category for a limited duration.
You can choose to make it available or unavailable for a few hours or a few days, depending upon your choice.
By doing this, you will be able to create a sense of urgency in your customers, which will help in turning your visitors into customers and will also help in increasing sales.
Lots of eCommerce stores use this strategy to boost sales and increase conversions.
In the end
Andrew was super excited and implemented a lot of these tricks on his WooCommerce store, which increased his conversion rate by 23.4%. He now calls me his best friend
You, too, can use these conversion optimization techniques on WooCommerce smartly to provide enhanced and convenient customer experience, ultimately leading your potential customers to make that purchase.
While you’re at it, I strongly recommend checking out some of the plugins to increase conversions rate to stay ahead of your competition, boost sales, generate customer loyalty and build long term business relationships with minimum efforts and no hassle at all.