Conversion rate needs improvement

[jack95]

Hi All

We launched our Shopify store in late June this year (www.gilesnorman.com). And although we are very happy with our choice to go with Shopify. Our conversion rate is lower than with our previous site with Woo-Commerce. We are currently at 1.01% and our previous site was 1.75%. Would love to know if anyone some time to check out our site with a fresh pair of eyes and see if they notice something I am missing. 

Thank you and take care

[LuckyDanny]

Hey there, @jack95!  

Congrats on your Shopify store! It looks like your launch and growth has gone fairly well, though you’re right - there’s definitely room to grow. Let’s see what we can do.

Homepage

• Announcement bar: Could you make this stand out a little more? Even if it’s a font change; it blends in too much right now. Though it’s linked, it’s not linked correctly.
• Possible glitch: If I change the currency, it refreshes the page and eliminates your newsletter subscription pop-up. It’s not the end of the world, but you should know about it.
• Hero video: I like the use of video, but I would start it at the shot of him taking the image and stay on the scenery more than the build up. Also, though you want to drive traffic to the full film, that shouldn’t be your CTA. The CTA should lead to your product collection. I would make sure to add a link to the video elsewhere on the site as well; right now it’s buried. 
• Collections: As a photography store, there is a huge missed opportunity here. Does it look good to have the image for collections show on the hover-over? Sure, but you’re trying to sell those images. You’re missing the opportunity if people don’t hover over it. On mobile, I have to tap on it. I would update that so that the images always show. 
• Use heatmaps to see where people click and how far they scroll. This will help you evaluate your homepage by what your visitors are doing. If they are not scrolling as far down as they should, what information do they miss? Where do they click instead?
• Newsletter subscription: Personally, I found this confusing. Inviting visitors to “become a friend of the gallery” made me think that was like a donation request. In our area, you can become a “friend of the museum” if you donate, which may be why that’s on the top of my mind. That may just be me though, or it may be a broader issue. It’s something to watch. I appreciate that you 1) give it value and 2) call it something other than newsletter though.
• Reviews: You’re missing testimonials/reviews! While some stores can feature product-specific reviews, your store would benefit from brand-specific reviews/testimonials instead. Get those up there! 

Footer

• Do NOT link to the Townhouse Bookings; this was the first time it was mentioned, and it assumes a lot about your visitors. If you want to link to it as a sister service, fine. But it should lead to the Townhouse website, not to the bookings page.
• Contact us form: Simplify your form. I like that you have contact information accessible, but the form needs to be cut. I would remove the phone number at the very least; it’s a field with a high abandonment rate.
• Shipping & Returns: You’ve done a great job with this page, especially in estimating shipping costs. Just make sure to link your email address. 
• FAQs: Link your email address. 

Main Navigation

• I like the simplicity of your navigation, but it’s almost too simple.
• Make sure you add a Home link.
• I would expand the Shop to show collections as well. Make it easier for people to get into your products.
• Use heatmaps to see where people are clicking and watch session recordings, which act like a DVR for your website, to see how people are navigating across your store.

Interiors page

• Do more people purchase your prints or use your Interiors concept? If few people are using this page, I would consider rethinking this page or at least making it easier to follow.
• In the current state, the process of getting an image code and sending a photograph is clunky. At the very least, you need to simplify the introduction message and link to your email address.
• If you are going to keep this option, make it easier for them to upload an email and find the image code. The only way I’ve found to get the image code is to open the image in a new tab or copy the image address. Again, it’s clunky and confusing. There’s too much room for error. 

Collection pages

For reference, I’m on Street Photography and then London.

• The cities list blends into the background way too much from the Street Photography page. It’s impossible to see what other options you have. 
• Filters would be very helpful here. Some of your work is more architectural while others feature people and animals. You have so many options, and you don’t want to lose someone’s business because they aren’t willing to scroll through it all. Filters would be very beneficial! 
• The price is missing! While it makes it look better aesthetically, it makes it different for visitors to want to look further. If they have a budget of $100, they wouldn’t know if your products are within their budget or not and likely would leave before finding out. Even stating a price of “Starting at…” is better than not giving it at all.

Product pages

For reference, I’m on the Big Ben product page.

• This is incredible photography! 
• You mention shipping below, but you need to reiterate higher on the page as well. Right now you have free shipping, so make it stand out!
• Your Size Guide is great...but broken.
• You have so many great descriptions across your site, and the description for the photographs themselves are kind of a let-down. You may want to build up a stronger description.
• Information: Be mindful of mentioning the glass and wood frame. If someone purchases it as unframed and then sees information about the glass and frame, it may be confusing. You would hope not, but I’ve learned to never assume. 

Your store has a lot of great things about it, starting with a strong product set. You’ve done a lot to make your store shine, and it shows. Using visitor behavior will let you understand what your visitors are experiencing and doing to help you make changes that result in happier customers and more conversions. Lucky Orange has heatmaps, session recordings and more with a free trial (no credit card needed) and plans that start at US $10/month.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

Cheers - Danny

[AllFetch]

Hi @jack95, 

Have seen your store and hope I can help you with your problems. 

Here is my view:

- Maybe you can try to make your logo stands out more. 

- Maybe it's your idea to move the section to the right :v Is this true? 

Besides that, you can add Quickview buttons to allow your customers to see more product details faster. It will increase your sales I suppose. 

- I've seen your Instagram and it looks amazing. So many beautiful photos in my opinion. 

You can create an Instagram gallery to show the Instagram content on your site. 

Check out this app: Shoppable Instagram Gallery. It's free and very user-friendly. 

- You can try to add Buy now buttons on your product pages because it will increase your sales. 

- I see your description section is too short. You can move the information section to the description. I think it's more suitable. 

- Maybe you can create a different discount event beside this registration email part. 

- Add a CTA action down there. 

Here is my view and hope this helps!

Happy selling, 

[Growave]

Hi @jack95 !

Your store looks very professional and interesting!

Try adding SEO related high search keywords in your title and product description so that it will be very easy to market your products and display them at the top in google search.

If your website doesn’t have a blog already, make creating one a priority. But if you have a blog, it gives people a reason to keep coming back. Blogs also help improve your SEO because you’re constantly adding new content to your page.

90% of people read reviews before purchasing an item. I personally do not read the description too much, I go straight on to the reviews section because that is social proof. In my opinion that is essential for every site. I highly recommend (almost insist) and adding that feature on your site. You can use Growave for that, it offers automated emails within the Reviews feature as well.

Social media has become a huge thing nowadays. I highly recommend taking advantage of that and adding Instagram galleries on your homepage. It will help drive traffic from your site on to your account and vice versa.

Use a referral program that will encourage your existing customers to share your products with their friends by giving discounts if the latter have purchased something from your store. With referral programs it is important to carefully set up so that you are not giving huge discounts and not getting anything back. [I recommend using one by Growave., because it is safe and it is integrated with 6 other marketing features (Reviews, Wishlist, Rewards, Social Login, Instagram, Discounts, Referral, VIP tiers) for better performance. 

Hopefully, I managed to help you. If so, please let me know by liking this post.

[jack95]

Thank you so much for your response Danny.

So much depth and now I have clear areas to focus on to improve our site. However I have one question.

What do you mean by 

• Collections: As a photography store, there is a huge missed opportunity here. Does it look good to have the image for collections show on the hover-over? Sure, but you’re trying to sell those images. You’re missing the opportunity if people don’t hover over it. On mobile, I have to tap on it. I would update that so that the images always show. 

Are you referring to showing a framed image instead of the image hanging up in a sitting room?

Really appreciate your feedback. This is only the start of our E-Commerce journey. So we still have some ways to go in terms of understanding user behaviour. Once we have all details fixed, price/reviews etc. I will look at your bloodyorange to continue our growth.

Thanks again and hope you have a great day!

Jack

[jack95]

Great feedback, thank you!

[jack95]

Great feedback, thank you!

[SaleHelpr]

Hello  jack95,

This is SaleHelpr. Conversion happens when someone completes a pre-determined and desired action on your website, like signing up for a newsletter, sharing a blog post to social media, or buying a product. 

You can follow these activities. Hope it will help you.

[vikfromlevar]

Hi Jack! 

Really like your stores design and your own photography aesthetic. Many of the previous posters have made great suggestions towards getting your conversion rate up. 

However, I do want to add - If you already have a relatively sizable amount of traffic hitting your product pages, another unique approach would be to try Augmented Reality. Many retailers we work with sell artwork on their Shopify web stores as well. With our plugin potential customers can take your photographs and frames and place them right on their wall before buying - creating a more informed buying decision while letting customers "try-on" your work for size. 

Try it for yourself on one of our photographer clients stores, just click view in AR! You can learn more and book a demo with us here, otherwise feel free to reach our directly. 

-Vik