So you put all the time in to produce the product, you built the online store, you created the online store… and crickets. Now what?

In a world where every big business has e-commerce down pat, it’s important that we optimize our online store to convert visitors into buyers.

Here’s some of my top tips to designing an online store that converts:

Inviting Photography

By adding clear and well thought-out product photographs you’ll take away the guess work for potential customers. It helps them feel comfortable and confident in exactly what they’re purchasing from you. Now you don’t need professional photos, there are many things you can do to improve your own DIY product photos.

Set Up Abandoned Cart Recovery

Depending on your e-commerce platform, you may need to upgrade to a more expensive plan but when I look at the analytics for my own business, the increased sales directly linked to abandoned cart recovery more than covered the bump in monthly fees. Not sure what abandon cart recovery is? When a shopper puts items in their cart, begins checking out and then for whatever reason stops the transaction prior to purchase, this option will send them a friendly reminder that their shopping cart is still waiting for them over in your store.

Accept Various Payment Methods

Be sure to give customers multiple ways to pay. Not everyone has a credit card so with my online store I accept both credit cards and PayPal and you’d be surprised how many people take advantage of PayPal as their preferred payment method.

Make Check Out As Painless As Possible

Sure there’s going to be information you need to collect during check out but try to avoid too much unnecessary steps in the process because often times that’s why shoppers fall off and don’t end up completing their transaction. Take a moment to go through all the steps from beginning to end of your own check out and see if there are any areas that feel like over kill.

Remove Confusion With An FAQ’s Page

Do you offer pick up and delivery? Do you sell at a farmers market too? Make sure to offer a FAQ’s page that clearly answers any questions folks might have about your farm and how they can get their hands on your products. Sure they could contact you, but some people just won’t bother so having this information clearly stated on your site is necessary. Just because it makes sense to you doesn’t mean it’ll make sense for someone else.

So if you’re struggling to make sales in your online store but when you look at your analytics you can see that folks are visiting your site, it’s time to take a look at what’s causing the drop off before purchase. Small tweaks can make a big impact!