Micro conversions are the path and actions a visitor takes before purchasing a product. Each micro conversion completed brings visitors one step closer to the desired action.
The sales funnel of an online store consists of micro steps that a user must take before making a purchase. Adding a product to the cart on the product page is one of the key micro steps that brings the user closer to completing a macro conversion.
Therefore, it is not worth focusing all your efforts solely on increasing sales (macro conversions). The conversion rate suffers when an online store fails to stimulate micro-actions by customers and maintain sales momentum. Start by optimizing micro-conversions, such as improving the design of the product card.
Here are some key recommendations to help you design your product cards to increase the likelihood of adding items to the cart.
- Use high-quality images and video reviews of the product
One of the best ways to build trust and improve KPIs on product pages is to feature large, clear product photos and interactive videos. If possible, it is worth adding a 3D product review to give the user the feeling of buying a product in an offline store.
Many new online stores with limited budgets neglect this aspect. However, despite the costs, high-quality videos and photos of products from different angles are the best way to convince visitors to click the “Buy” button.
- Add social proof
You can spend your entire advertising budget on ads on Google, Facebook, and other platforms, but they will never be as powerful as recommendations from real users.
- Nearly 95% of buyers read online reviews before making a purchase.
- Products with 5+ reviews were purchased 270% more often than products without reviews.
- 72% of customers do not take any action until they read reviews.
- 84% of people trust reviews they read online as much as personal recommendations.
Placing reviews and testimonials from real customers on the product page helps build trust and gives potential buyers the emotional information they need from other real buyers to make a decision.
- Think through the hierarchy of elements in the product card
Thanks to such brand giants as Apple, Nike, Beats, and many others, consumers have come to appreciate and even expect minimalist design when shopping online.
A counterexample of a product card. This product page has so many distracting elements that the call-to-action button is not obvious or visible to the user, which may be the reason for the low percentage of users moving from the product card to the shopping cart.
To avoid common mistakes in the design of online store product cards:
- Include only the most relevant and important information about the product.
- Use space rationally so that blocks of information are clearly readable;
- Clearly prioritize target actions. Place a single contrasting CTA (call to action) button and make it accessible when scrolling the page.
- Increase website loading speed
A Google study showed that 90% of mobile users leave a website that takes more than three seconds to load. According to the report, most websites take between 8 and 11 seconds to load, meaning they are losing potential customers.
Pay attention to the loading speed of the product card when transitioning from the search results page and the speed of displaying the product added to the cart.
To make the product page and the website as a whole load faster:
- Reduce the number of HTTP requests that occur on your site.
- Compress website files and images.
- Fix broken links.
- Use Google PageSpeed Insights to check your website speed, then identify and fix any additional causes of slow loading.
- Make conversions from mobile devices a priority
According to Statista, 72.9% of the entire e-commerce market is expected to be generated through m-commerce in 2021. Therefore, if you want to increase your conversion rate, you must first optimize your product cards for mobile devices.
If the page takes a long time to load or is not displayed correctly on a mobile device, the user will simply leave. Make sure that products can not only be viewed but also purchased from mobile devices.
So, when designing, it is worth following the mobile-first principle and mobile app patterns, i.e., interaction with the site should be similar to interaction with a mobile app.
- Use cross-sale and upsell tools
The design of online store product cards using cross-sale and upsell tools is most effective. Add a section called “Customers who bought this also bought” or “Products from the same series,” “Other users are buying,” and so on.
- Use nudge marketing techniques
A limited number of items in stock or the fact that a product is in high demand can encourage users to buy. Add messages such as “Over 100 people have bought this product this week,” “Only N items left in stock,” “N people are currently viewing this product,” etc.
