Most budding online retailers struggle to define their customers' unique needs. As a result, they end up burning a lot of money on paid ads without seeing any return on their ad spend.The reason why these online retailers keep missing many potential customers is quite simple; they haven’t yet implemented the Ecommerce conversion funnel in their marketing strategy. This funnel has helped many businesses convert cold leads to repeat buyers and triple their profits.If the Ecommerce conversion funnel does not ring a bell to you, then you’re probably one of those online retailers who make the same rookie mistake—selling to everyone without intent.In this blog article, we explain how the Ecommerce conversion funnel works and why it’s important to pivot your marketing strategy in every stage of the funnel to convert a prospect into actual sales.
What is an Ecommerce Conversion Funnel?
An Ecommerce conversion funnel is a conceptual framework used by marketers to describe the customers’ journey from being a web visitor to a repeat buyer. Multiple stages make up this journey, and an effective Ecommerce conversion funnel is complemented by sales and marketing activities that help customers move from one stage to the next.
Every business owner has a unique conversion funnel that varies based on their sales model and how customers use their website. Ecommerce brands that sell low-cost products, for instance, tend to have shorter conversion funnels. Since pricing is less of a barrier when selling a product, leads are more likely to be converted into buying customers.
What is the importance of a conversion funnel for Ecommerce businesses?
Your customer's journey will be different because every business is distinctive from another. That said, it's critical to develop a unique communication approach based on where your customers are in the purchasing process. To help you understand what motivates a potential lead to research and buy your product, you need an Ecommerce conversion funnel.Apart from understanding buying behaviors, an Ecommerce conversion funnel also provides greater measurability. The funnel can show you which stages prospects are leaving so you can measure and adjust your marketing strategies. For example, if a prospect leaves before they reach the second stage of your funnel, you may need to fine-tune your brand awareness campaign.In addition, Ecommerce conversion funnels can assist you in boosting your store conversion rates. The funnel can filter out all your generated leads, leaving you with the ones ready to buy from you. By having qualified leads, it’s easier to convert them into buying customers and eventually nurture them to become brand advocates.To sum up, an Ecommerce conversion funnel streamlines your marketing and sales strategies. It aids in concentrating your attention on the necessary actions to draw in leads and turn them into sales.
What are the five stages of the Ecommerce conversion funnel?
Each prospect moves through the funnel in a different way. But the stages in the conversion funnel are all the same regardless of the type of Ecommerce business. Below is one of the most common Ecommerce funnel examples marketers use in the Ecommerce landscape.The conversion funnel above may seem complicated, but it’s not rocket science. Let's picture an imaginary prospect named Susie to help you understand how this funnel works. Suppose you’re selling skincare products, and your goal is to attract Susie and move her down the conversion funnel.Susie is not just an ordinary prospect. She’s looking for the best skincare product to treat her acne and oily skin. However, she’s unsure of whether to buy online due to several fake products reported recently. The challenge is how you will address her objection and position your brand as the best solution in the oversaturated market of skincare products.To help Susie resolve her pain points, let’s dive deep into the five stages of the Ecommerce conversion funnel.
Awareness
The top level of the marketing funnel is awareness. This is the stage where you draw the likes of Susie into various content types that explain who you are and what you can do to resolve their problems.For Ecommerce, the objective of the awareness stage is to bring qualified leads to your product pages. That means you have to focus on educational content that can convert problem-aware prospects into solution-aware ones. In this stage, you help prospects gather information and make them aware that your product is one of the potential solutions to their problems.There’s no single way prospects will move to the next stage of your funnel, so it’s important to have a list of content that works with your target audience. Here are some of the best awareness stage content that can help you attract potential customers:
- Blog articles. An SEO-focused blog article that satisfies searchers’ queries can help you attract quality leads to your website. To move a prospect further down the funnel, link your product pages in your blog articles.
- Videos. There are different types of marketing videos you can use for the awareness stage. Whether it’s how-to videos or testimonials, focus on how your product solves problems and engages in storytelling. Don’t forget to include the link to your product pages in the description or nudge viewers to visit your website and learn more about your product.
- Lead magnets. These are free valuable content that marketers give away to prospects in exchange for their contact information, like email addresses. It often comes in checklists, ebooks, guides, and whitepapers. Not only is it helpful in building your email lists, but it also provides an in-depth explanation of your product.
- Social media content. Most of your prospects are scrolling through their social media. If you want to capture their attention, you must focus on eye-catching content that is both engaging and valuable. You can use paid advertising or hashtag strategies to get your content in front of the right audience.
- Email sequence. It refers to a series of emails automatically sent to your subscribers on your email list. Email sequences are great for the awareness stage because it is easier to include a CTA into the content your subscribers agree to receive. You can also put links to a newsletter, for example, and redirect prospects to your product pages.
Consideration
Now that Susie has landed on your product page, she has reached the consideration stage. At this point, she’s evaluating and learning more about your products. She’s reading your product descriptions and checking your display photos. What you have to accomplish here is to make your product page enticing so she will add your items to her shopping cart.It’s important to note that at this stage, your prospects are sizing you up over your competitors. If what you promised on the awareness stage does not live up to what they see on your product page, you may lose a huge chunk of your qualified leads.You need a highly-optimized product page to move your qualified leads to the next stage. Here are some of the best ways to optimize your product page for better conversion:
- Adopt responsive and intuitive navigation. Make sure prospects can navigate your product pages easily. They are more likely to leave the funnel before converting if they encounter page issues such as website glitches, a slow-loading page, or broken elements. Follow the best Ecommerce design tips here to learn more.
- Categorize your products correctly. If your products are miscategorized, prospects may leave your website without finding what they need. Manually categorizing every item in your catalog can be challenging, especially since search engines break everything into many categories. Consider outsourcing product information management to make your product categorization easier.
- Display eye-catching product photos. According to statistics, 75% of online shoppers use product photos to help them decide whether to make a purchase. That said, you must prioritize displaying quality photos to help prospects accurately visualize your product. You may hire a product photo editor to improve your customer shopping experience.
- Optimize your product copy for SEO. Having compelling product descriptions is not enough. It would be more helpful if you also make it keyword-rich so it will rank higher on search engine results pages. If writing for search engines is not your strongest suit, consider bringing a product description writer to your Ecommerce team.
Intent
Assume that Susie was pretty convinced with what she has read and seen on your product pages. The product description provided all the details of the skin care product she’s looking for, and the images look trustworthy from a legit distributor. By the looks of it, she has now reached the intent stage and is ready to add an item to her shopping cart.However, there are prospects who have clicked the ‘Add to Cart’ button yet did not proceed with checking out. This is due to a poor checkout experience that results in a loss of a potential customer. Some examples of poor checkout experience include not providing prospects with their preferred payment method.To move Susie to the most crucial stage of the Ecommerce conversion funnel, you should start creating a seamless checkout experience for her. Here’s what you can do to reduce friction in her checkout process:
- Offer multiple payment options. Prospects can purchase your product in more ways if they have additional payment methods. They will be less inclined to proceed to checkout if their preferred payment method isn't supported by your Ecommerce website.
- Implement one-page checkouts. Payment information, billing, delivery addresses, and shipping options are all included in a one-page checkout. This makes the checkout process quicker by lowering the number of pages and clicks required to complete the payment.
- Provide guest checkouts. A prospect can make a purchase without creating an account with the store via guest checkout. The lack of requirement for prospects to create accounts speeds up the purchasing process, which increases the conversion rate.
- Design for mobile-friendliness. When designing your checkout process layout, ensure your Call-To-Action (CTA) is responsive on desktop and mobile devices. Also, provide larger spaces in text boxes to reduce errors and customer frustration.
Purchase
Your prospects may have successfully added an item to their cart but may abandon it for a while. Susie, for example, is still considering other cheaper products and thus leaving your product on her cart until she makes up her mind. As you can see, Susie has finally arrived at the purchase stage. It is the point where you convince your potential customer to buy now before you lose them.When an item sits so long on a shopping cart, it may lead to higher cart abandonment rates. Not only are you losing a lot of sales, but an increased number of abandoned carts might consume a lot of server bandwidth and cause your website to load slowly. Therefore, you need to act on it immediately before it wrecks your overall sales revenue.So what should you do to help prospects complete their purchases and ensure a higher chance of customer acquisition? Here are some of the proven strategies that make prospects hit that buy button:
- Offer exclusive discounts. Your prospects will not miss out on an opportunity to purchase something at a lower price. That means offering them “buy X, get Y” discounts can help you convert them into sales. Make sure to set a cap on the number of times a discount code can be used so it won't affect your profit margins.
- Provide free shipping. Offering free shipping gives you a significant advantage over your competitors. Free shipping can increase your average order value in addition to reducing cart abandonment rates. Customers are more inclined to add anything additional if they have to spend a specific amount to be eligible for free shipping.
- Display return and refund policy. A transparent return and refund policy reassure customers that the products they are purchasing are assured to be what they are described to be. If customers can't find your return and refund policy, they may leave out of concern that it will be difficult for them to return an item if they need to.
- Send abandoned cart emails. Emails referred to as abandoned cart emails are delivered to customers who abandoned their carts before checking out. By giving them extra encouragement to purchase the item they were interested in, it can lower the amount of incomplete orders your business receives and ultimately increase your sales.
Loyalty
The Ecommerce conversion funnel does not end at securing a successful sale. After Susie bought a product from your store, you’re looking forward to having repeat purchases from her. You want her to develop a brand affinity towards your business and advocate your product to her friends and family.The loyalty stage may reveal if there’s a market demand for your product and if there are people willing to pay for it. When customers don’t come back after their first purchase, it feels like all your efforts from the awareness stage go down the drain. That said, you should focus on customer retention strategies to make the best out of your converted prospects.Not all your customers will keep returning over time. That’s why you need to put in a lot of work to deepen their relationship with your brand and deter them from going to your competitors. Here are some of the best customer retention strategies guaranteed to build a steady and loyal customer base:
- Create a customer loyalty program. One of the most effective strategies for boosting sales and fostering customer loyalty is using loyalty points programs. Customers can use the points they accrue from buying on your site and use them to get a discount on their next purchase.
- Send re-engagement emails. You can send re-engagement emails to customers who haven't purchased from you in a while. Remind them of the benefits of doing business with you and what they’re missing out on your latest offers. When writing such emails, remember to always personalize them based on their previous purchases.
- Implement referral programs. Referral programs can increase customer retention and assist in bringing in new prospects by using the suggestions of existing customers. You can give your returning customers incentives for every successful referral and give rewards to their friends who make their first purchase.
- Engage with customers on social media. Encourage your customers to follow you on different social media platforms. Social media makes it easier for Ecommerce brands to keep their customers updated on their latest promos and product launches. It’s also easy to engage with customers directly and respond to their queries instantly.
What is a good funnel conversion rate?
According to Ecommerce conversion funnel benchmarks, a good funnel conversion rate should be around 2.5-3%. To support this claim, research from Invespcro revealed that highly-optimized Ecommerce websites have an average funnel conversion rate of 2.86%.If you're wondering how to calculate your actual Ecommerce funnel conversion rate, you can use this simple conversion rate formula:Ecommerce conversion rate = Number of Store Transactions/Number of Website Visits x 100For example, let’s say your Ecommerce site is getting 1,000 visitors in a month, and from that number, 25 resulted in sales. To compute your conversion rate, divide 25 by 1,000 and then multiply the result by 100. Based on the calculation, your conversion rate is 2.5%.
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