Checkout Click Off
Discussion
I have been offered an electronics website that is already trading for a small amount of cash up front and a commission paid to the owner per sale for ever more which I am ok with however we have run the stats and we get (for January)
1302 people added things to basket
382 proceeded to payment page
119 actually bought via the site (many more called to order and we will simply change the phone number to ours)
This is a much worse % than I am used to but as we are semi specialist and this site sells mainstream kit can I ask is this level of click away typical of general electronics ?
1302 people added things to basket
382 proceeded to payment page
119 actually bought via the site (many more called to order and we will simply change the phone number to ours)
This is a much worse % than I am used to but as we are semi specialist and this site sells mainstream kit can I ask is this level of click away typical of general electronics ?
I've often got as far as checkout and then baled for some reason - maybe the p&p was concealed until the end and I deemed it too high, or the site was too slow, or there was some option I wanted but couldn't find. Having to 'register' and assign yet another username and password for a site you only plan to use once is a major turn off for me. Have all the facts/info up front and keep it simple IMHO.
Simpo Two said:
I've often got as far as checkout and then baled for some reason - maybe the p&p was concealed until the end and I deemed it too high, or the site was too slow, or there was some option I wanted but couldn't find. Having to 'register' and assign yet another username and password for a site you only plan to use once is a major turn off for me.
Post is free over £60 but it doesn't say anywhere its £3.49 under that so may be a factor however its still not expensive.They may thinking 'Amazon is post-free over £10, so I'll go there instead'.
Remember, we live in a world where people will spend six hours trying to reclaim 25p and any postage over 99p is a 'rip-off'...!
NB Another instant baleout for me is that Mastercard extra-secure page (Verisign?)that some sites have. Because it won't let me use my favourite passwords I have to think of a new one, and I can never, ever, ever, remember it. So every time I have to make up a new one, and wait for the e-mail, and yada... bye.
Remember, we live in a world where people will spend six hours trying to reclaim 25p and any postage over 99p is a 'rip-off'...!
NB Another instant baleout for me is that Mastercard extra-secure page (Verisign?)that some sites have. Because it won't let me use my favourite passwords I have to think of a new one, and I can never, ever, ever, remember it. So every time I have to make up a new one, and wait for the e-mail, and yada... bye.
Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 9th February 16:14
What is the check out system like? Are you forcing users to fill out endless forms? As said previously you should put your shipping costs up front as even though they are fairly low, people are in the 'Free shipping over £10' mindset from sites like Amazon. Also, is the site showing as secure with the little green padlock? Could put people off.
That conversion rate isn't that bad in all honesty, and with a little work could probably be improved considerably.
Edit: you also said that it's a main stream electronics site, a lot of people like to add to cart and and even get to check out when browsing, I suppose to price things up with shipping I would imagine to get total costs. You're going to get a lot of casual shoppers with a website selling a broad range of electronics, as opposed to your current site which would attract people with more of an intent for buying if it's a bit more niche.
That conversion rate isn't that bad in all honesty, and with a little work could probably be improved considerably.
Edit: you also said that it's a main stream electronics site, a lot of people like to add to cart and and even get to check out when browsing, I suppose to price things up with shipping I would imagine to get total costs. You're going to get a lot of casual shoppers with a website selling a broad range of electronics, as opposed to your current site which would attract people with more of an intent for buying if it's a bit more niche.
Edited by Dejay1788 on Monday 9th February 16:52
The conversion rate from payment page to purchase is concerning - sites I have worked on have typically had 60%+ (in different market sectors however). I'd suggest you look at the following:
How are you capturing the data - would it be counted as 2 visits to the payment page if a customer orders something for £55, realises that if they spend £60 they get free P+P and adds something else? Could changing this give more accurate stats?
Are all card types supported (test them all with real cards if you can). We once had a problem with mastercards not being processed but others were fine. It's possible that one card type does not work.
Is it easy to enter card details - card numbers are 16 digits in 4 blocks of 4. Ensure that you don't force customers to enter spaces or refuse a card number if they do. We got a 2% increase by removing this restriction.
Cards have an expiry date as a month/year. Does your page allow all month/years to be entered (and not stop at 2017 or something like that when customers may have a card that expires in 2018).
Can you break down the stats per browser? - is there anything on the payment page that works in one browser but not another.
Have you eliminated search engine traffic from the stats?
Is there anything that is confusing to use (e.g. a requirement to enter a job title even if the customer is a private individual).
Do customers say anything if they phone up and order - I would imagine most of them do this because they can't order on line rather than because they want to speak to someone.
How are you capturing the data - would it be counted as 2 visits to the payment page if a customer orders something for £55, realises that if they spend £60 they get free P+P and adds something else? Could changing this give more accurate stats?
Are all card types supported (test them all with real cards if you can). We once had a problem with mastercards not being processed but others were fine. It's possible that one card type does not work.
Is it easy to enter card details - card numbers are 16 digits in 4 blocks of 4. Ensure that you don't force customers to enter spaces or refuse a card number if they do. We got a 2% increase by removing this restriction.
Cards have an expiry date as a month/year. Does your page allow all month/years to be entered (and not stop at 2017 or something like that when customers may have a card that expires in 2018).
Can you break down the stats per browser? - is there anything on the payment page that works in one browser but not another.
Have you eliminated search engine traffic from the stats?
Is there anything that is confusing to use (e.g. a requirement to enter a job title even if the customer is a private individual).
Do customers say anything if they phone up and order - I would imagine most of them do this because they can't order on line rather than because they want to speak to someone.
purplepolarbear said:
The conversion rate from payment page to purchase is concerning -
Its not my site as I said I only have limited data access and so far I need to believe what I am told - the stuff is all readily available in Amazon and I guess people find what they want on the site, add it to the basket and then check amazon.
As Dejay has said it is very likely the endless forms that might need to be filled out.
In this day and age where ebay and amazon are setting up purchase from view to completion within a few click with minimal imput, the idea of adding anything extra but your address elsewhere is very off putting.
I know myself have many a time bailed at checkout even if it was a good deal just because I couldnt be bothered.
On the postive side from your perspective the good thing is people go to the site but something is throwing them off their after so simple improvements could make a big difference to make them complete a purchase.
Usual suspects:
1) Nicer site
2) Better pictures/description
3) Simplified checkout
In this day and age where ebay and amazon are setting up purchase from view to completion within a few click with minimal imput, the idea of adding anything extra but your address elsewhere is very off putting.
I know myself have many a time bailed at checkout even if it was a good deal just because I couldnt be bothered.
On the postive side from your perspective the good thing is people go to the site but something is throwing them off their after so simple improvements could make a big difference to make them complete a purchase.
Usual suspects:
1) Nicer site
2) Better pictures/description
3) Simplified checkout
I've seen some pretty bad checkout systems achieve reasonable conversion rates. I suspect there has been an error either in how the stats have been collated/interpreted or there is a physical issue with the checkout (as another poster says, not processing payments for a certain card type, not working on a certain browser, etc).
First thoughts:
Are common payment options missing? I find PayPal very useful and Mastercard an utter PITA (in fact I just bailed on 2 ticket to the Tower of London due to the ridiculous MC security
Have they filled in their emails by that point? If the site already saves them you could contact them and ask them why they bailed
Your postage isn't much but it could be for low value items
Are common payment options missing? I find PayPal very useful and Mastercard an utter PITA (in fact I just bailed on 2 ticket to the Tower of London due to the ridiculous MC security
Have they filled in their emails by that point? If the site already saves them you could contact them and ask them why they bailed
Your postage isn't much but it could be for low value items
jammy_basturd said:
I've seen some pretty bad checkout systems achieve reasonable conversion rates. I suspect there has been an error either in how the stats have been collated/interpreted or there is a physical issue with the checkout (as another poster says, not processing payments for a certain card type, not working on a certain browser, etc).
I have asked for a third party to run the figures and stats to see if they tie in Mr Overheads said:
If you pm people on this thread with the website, I'm sure we can give you feedback on the checkout process from a non-techy user perspective
As its not my site and the "owner" is a bit "paranoid" that I am trying to have him over I am playing it straight as I can - I have taken on board that this figure varies wildly depending on product ie food / clothes / electronics Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff