News
Speed = Conversions: Key Tactics to Optimize Your Shopping Cart
December 17, 2014
We all know the value of a speedy website for engaging readers with historically low attention spans. But, as you might suspect, it’s not just about engagement; it’s also about conversions. Yes, you need to get them to your site quickly, but you need to keep them there too—or you could be missing out on big dollars.
Consider This: Aberdeen research says that an additional one second in application load time decreases page views by 11% and purchases by 7% which for an eCommerce-based company wine.com, for example, translates into lost revenue in the tens of thousands of dollars per day.
Yikes.
All the more reason to make sure your platform and infrastructure is solid—with a streamlined shopping cart and strong security. What’s that look like for publishers?
Modern Distribution Management provides us with a fantastic case study. By streamlining their shopping cart, they reduced cart abandonment and in combination with other tactics to increase revenue per reader, they also increased time on site by 80%, along with a 175% increase in subscription revenue.
What key tactics will make your shopping cart much sturdier?
- Allow buyers to check out as a guest or register and log in.
- Provide smooth autofill, to shorten typing time and effort for buyers.
- Make the process as secure as possible and be obvious about it!
- Prioritize intuitive navigation by providing easy visual cues and a map for checking out.
- Include other relevant calls to action without cluttering the design.
- Use one shopping cart for all transactions.
- Keep your eCommerce on site, so buyers stick around and shop some more.
- Track buyer behavior in order to make future purchase recommendations relevant and in context, as well as identify any potential friction points in the buying process.
- Integrate your shopping cart with your fulfillment providers and credit card processor.
- Be mobile responsive to accommodate the growing facet of readers who shop via multiple mobile devices.
When you apply these tactics, you might find your readers filling their carts more than ever.