Guest blog: 6 high-converting Shopify tactics

As a multi-channel seller, you’ll know the difficulties of converting customers on Shopify. You’ll also know the importance. With low fees, greater control, and direct customers, Shopify is one of the best channels to convert customers on. This week, we’re helping you to overcome the difficulties with six high-converting Shopify tactics.

Why you need tactics to convert on Shopify

In the early days of eCommerce, the mere fact that shoppers could buy products from the comfort of their own home was impressive enough. But, as online sales grew, and the number of online retailers grew with them, simply having your own eCommerce store was no longer a selling feature.

Instead, price became the new differentiator, with e-retailers enticing conversions by keeping their prices low and below their competitors’. But soon enough, customers began associating low prices with poor quality, substandard customer service, and slow shipping speeds – taking Shopify store owners back to square one.

So, what is the new holy grail of conversion tactics for Shopify sellers?

6 high-converting Shopify tactics

Rather than one differentiator, Shopify sellers should be looking at multiple ways to make the customer experience easy, trustworthy, and enjoyable. We’ve narrowed down six tactics that can help you achieve this to improve conversions and reduce cart abandonment. Let’s take a look.

1. Psychology

Consumer psychology is incredibly effective at driving sales, and it’s what makes many of the following tactics successful. When making decisions, the human brain is influenced by a number of psychological triggers. These triggers determine whether a shopper buys an item, shops elsewhere, or abandons their purchase completely.

Some examples of successful psychological triggers to implement on your Shopify store include:

? Value – increasing the perceived value of an item by including a free gift, offering a discount, or providing free shipping.

? Loss aversion – creating the “fear of missing out” by time-limiting discount codes, highlighting low stock items, or including a 2-day delivery countdown timer.

? Risk aversion – reducing the risk of buying directly from you by offering social proof, product warranties, or credit should a delivery fail to arrive on time.

? Choice – avoiding choice paralysis by presenting fewer options or recommending specific products or product options.

(A fast shipping countdown timer on TushBaby’s website)

2. Product videos

Professional product photography has long been pitched as a way to entice customers, improve SEO, and set expectations. And, while that is still true, product videos are a great conversion-boosting addition to your product pages.

Videos can offer much more than a photograph, including the product in action, a demonstration of the size, and even customers using your product in real-life. This enhanced interaction with the product reduces the perceived risk that a customer has about buying from a new seller and, with the right videography, can arouse different emotions to drive a sale.

3. Customers in action

Product reviews are responsible for a significant volume of consumer spending every year, making them an essential addition to your Shopify store. But, by changing the way you share your customer testimonials, you can help to overcome the increasing concerns about fake reviews while increasing the likelihood of a customer buying your products.

Using social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, you can share “customer in action” reviews. These include photographs, videos, and comments about customers using and raving about your products. Not only is this free advertising, but the visual evidence of someone enjoying your products provides potential customers with honest social proof that can result in a sale before they’ve even made it to the checkout page.

For an example of “customer in action” reviews, check out this case study on how TushBaby built an eCommerce following that drove Shopify sales.

4. In-stock items

There are a number of Shopify integrations that can add an email field to your out of stock product pages, to use when the item comes back in stock. While this aims to prevent a customer from buying elsewhere, a far more effective conversion method is not running out of stock in the first place.

Multi-channel inventory management software helps you to manage your stock levels across sales channel(s). It does this by automatically updating stock levels upon sale, alerting you when you need to reorder, and providing you with the necessary data to decide how much to reorder. This allows you to prevent selling out and avoid overselling.

5. Fast and free delivery

As a multi-channel seller, you’ll know just how effective fast shipping and fast shipping programs are on online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay. Your Shopify store doesn’t need to miss out.

With Shopify 2-day delivery now achievable for online retailers of all sizes, you can tempt customers with free delivery while offering shipping speeds that match those of Amazon and eBay.

Tip: Use a fulfillment calculator to find out how much outsourcing fulfillment will cost.

6. Multi-channel scaling

And speaking of multi-channel selling, the more successful you are on other sales channel(s), the more future conversions you can drive to your Shopify store. While some customers prefer buying from online marketplaces, once you’ve developed that initial relationship, you can use certain tactics to persuade customers to purchase from you directly.

These tactics include:

? Offering the same customer experience as online marketplaces by using fast shipping tags, live chat, and customer accounts.

? Incentivising customers through the use of discounts, reward programs, or referral perks.

? Delivering to more places using a multi-channel fulfillment partner with numerous warehouse locations.

(Chassis uses fast shipping tags to highlight the benefits of buying directly through their website)

Converting customers on Shopify doesn’t have to be difficult – you just need to think differently. Low prices, free shipping, and beautiful branding are common throughout the industry. Product videos, customers in action, next-day deliveries, and always-in-stock items aren’t – use these to stand out, entice customers, reduce cart abandonment, and increase your conversions.

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About the author

This is a guest post from Michael Krakaris. Michael is one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and the co-founder of Deliverr. Deliverr provides fast and affordable fulfillment for your Shopify, Walmart, Amazon, and eBay stores, helping to boost sales through programs like 2-day delivery for Shopify, Walmart 2-day delivery, Seller Fulfilled Prime, and eBay Fast n’ Free.

Deliverr’s FBA-like multi-channel fulfillment comes with clear pricing, easy on-boarding and a hassle free experience so you can focus on growing your eCommerce business.