Why does the checkout page wield so much power? Well, it’s the ultimate test of your online store’s charm, efficiency, and trustworthiness. Get it right, and your bottom line will thank you. Get it wrong and you hit a sour note in an otherwise perfect performance.

Chapters:

1. What is the checkout process in e-commerce?
2. How to improve your e-commerce checkout process
3. A step-by-step guide to implementing checkout process optimization
4. Don’t stop at the checkout process

What is the checkout process in e-commerce?

The checkout process in e-commerce is the journey a shopper follows when buying items from an online store. The flow begins when the shopper adds one or more items to their shopping cart and ends when they receive confirmation their purchase has been completed.

The checkout is the point where the customer adds their payment details and purchases the product(s). Your whole checkout process needs to be as clear and frictionless is possible to provide the best shopping experience possible that encourages shoppers to complete their purchases.

How to improve your e-commerce checkout process

You have questions, we have the answers. These are our top tips to give your customers a checkout experience they’ll love so much, they’ll soon be back for more.

1. Optimize for mobile

In the US alone, 76% of consumers shop using mobile devices. The percentage is even higher (91%) for the 18 to 49 demographic. Ignoring this fact (and failing to optimize your checkout process accordingly) is like showing up to a marathon in flip-flops — you’re just not prepared for the race. And you’ll probably get a scraped knee. Or two.

First off, size matters. Make all clickable elements thumb-friendly, because nothing tests patience like trying to hit a tiny button on a touch screen. 

Speed is also of the essence. A slow-loading checkout is a no-go, so optimize images and leverage mobile-specific features like digital wallets to keep things moving at a brisk pace. 

Another neat trick is including the option to scan a credit card using the phone’s camera. This feature not only adds a layer of modern convenience but also significantly speeds up the payment process.

2. Implement trust signals and social proof

In e-commerce, trust is the currency, and your checkout process is where shoppers invest it. If you want to reassure them that it’s safe to take that final step, you need to signal trust — whether it’s through user-generated content (UGC), badges, or both.

Displaying UGC is literally having your customers vouch for you at the checkout line. According to our Shopper Experience Index, 78% of shoppers rely on this content to feel more confident in their purchases. Whether it’s a photo of a happy customer or a glowing review, incorporating these elements around your checkout can significantly boost buyer confidence.

Badges instantly signal to your customers that your site is secure and their information is protected. Examples of these trust signals include SSL certificates, which encrypt data, and payment badges like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal.

Familiar logos offer a sense of security and familiarity amidst the vastness (and general insanity) of the internet.

Pro tip: Bazaarvoice helps you collect, syndicate, and display user reviews and other UGC across your online store and your retail partners’ websites.

3. Don’t make account creation a deal-breaker

Not everyone is ready to commit to a full-on relationship with your site on the first date (sorry to be the bearers of bad news, but they probably have other dates lined up). Creating an account might be a minor inconvenience for some people, but for others, it can be a deal-breaker.

Aim for convenience by offering paths that cater to all types of visitors. Options like signing in with social media or continuing as a guest can transform the checkout experience from a high-pressure sales pitch to a casual “come as you are” moment. 

Social media sign-ins leverage existing profiles, so the process feels less like a commitment and more like seeing a familiar face in a crowd of strangers. On the other hand, allowing customers to continue as guests is the e-commerce version of “no strings attached, let’s just enjoy the moment.” It’s an invitation to explore without the need for pesky formal introductions. 

Pro tip: You can use third-party services like Auth0 to provide social sign-in options. If you’re using WordPress, Shopify, or any of the popular CMS, CCMS, or e-commerce systems, you can browse their app stores or directories for integrations.

4. Clearly communicate fees and shipping

Finding the perfect product is exhilarating, but you know what’s not so great? Getting hit with unexpected fees and shipping costs at checkout. Turns out, this is the number one reason for abandoned shopping carts. Surprise!, said no one.

Lay all of your cards on the table from the get-go. Whether it’s a detailed breakdown of costs or a shipping calculator that adjusts in real-time, giving your customers a clear view of what they’re paying for (and why) builds trust and sets expectations right away.

But why stop at just being transparent? Go the extra mile by offering shipping options that cater to different needs and budgets. From standard to express shipping, providing choices allows customers to weigh their options based on how quickly they need their items and how much they’re willing to pay for speed.

5. Offer multiple payment options

How often have you been slightly annoyed by those places that only take cash? It’s a pain to make your way to the closest ATM. That’s how customers feel when their preferred payment method isn’t available. In this case, there’s no magic money box to go to. They’ll likely just leave. 

No matter where your customers come from or how they prefer to spend their digital dollars, accommodate them. Each payment method comes with its own security assurances, appealing to the varying levels of trust and familiarity within your customer base. 

From credit cards and PayPal to Apple Pay, Google Wallet, cryptocurrency, and buy now, pay later solutions, the more options you provide, the wider the door you open to potential sales.

6. Display a progress indicator

A progress bar is a simple addition, but one that turns the checkout process into a clearly marked journey, complete with milestones and an end in sight. More than reducing anxiety and/or impatience, it taps into the sweet feeling of completing tasks. Each step forward is a small victory that encourages people to keep going until they reach the finish line.

Implementing a progress bar is also an opportunity to refine and streamline your checkout process. By breaking down the journey into distinct steps, you can identify and eliminate any unnecessary complications. 

Each segment of the progress bar should represent a clear, concise, and necessary action. This speeds up the transaction and minimizes the chances of customers getting lost or overwhelmed along the way.

Pro tip: Providers like FastSrping and FunnelKit make it easy to build a progress bar, and the Shopify app store offers integrations with apps like CheckIt for the same purpose.

7. Allow one-click purchases

We love fast-forwarding through ads, so why not fast-forward through shopping? For customers who’ve already bought from you and built a steady, trusting relationship, one-click purchases are a boon. No need to re-enter information — they can just slide on by and see ya next time.

When customers know that making a repeat purchase is as easy as a single click, they’re more likely to come back. It’s a simple equation: less hassle = more sales. This feature also positions your brand as tech-savvy and customer-centric, attributes that can strengthen customer loyalty and set you apart in a crowded marketplace. 

Pro tip: You can find third-party providers like Stripe to help you set up one-click purchases seamlessly.

8. Make support options available

Stuff happens. Maybe it’s a promo code that won’t apply or a shipping question that’s got shoppers stumped. Either way, making sure they have someone or somewhere to turn to with their issues can be the difference between a sale and an abandoned cart.

Support can come in many forms, from live chat to an on-page FAQ or a Customer Success Manager’s contact details. What matters is that you show that you’re there to help, not just sell. It’s an extra level of care and attention that can turn a one-time buyer into your #1 fan. 

9. Reduce the number of mandatory form fields

Less truly is more. Do you honestly know anyone who’s ever said “oh goody, can’t wait to fill out this 25-page form”? No? That’s because they don’t exist (yes, we checked. Trust us). Keep this in mind when you’re designing your checkout flow.

Focus on the essential information — the customer’s name, billing address, shipping address, and contact information. That’s enough, you don’t need their whole life story. More than that, and you risk them giving up on the whole process.

Remember that optimizing e-commerce checkout is about removing obstacles and making the buying process as inviting as a freshly baked pie on a windowsill. 

10. Simplify discount application

Making customers jump through hoops to apply coupon codes will quickly sour an otherwise sweet deal. You likely gave them away to begin with, so make the option to apply them clear and accessible, without cluttering the checkout process experience. 

When customers easily see how much they’re saving, it reinforces the value of their purchase, making them more likely to hit that final “buy” button. Plus, a straightforward process can enhance the overall shopping experience. It shows that you’ve thought about every detail of the customer journey — even the part where they save some bucks.

11. Offer last-minute deals

Speaking of discounts, why not offer them during the checkout process? It’s a sneaky way to increase average order value while giving customers something in return (like sales items or free shipping). 

You’re basically capitalizing on the momentum of the buying decision. At this point, shoppers are already committed to making a purchase and a last-minute offer can be the nudge that makes them feel like they’re getting even more bang for their buck.

Not to mention, last-minute deals are an excellent opportunity to clear out inventory or promote specific products. By strategically choosing which deals to offer, you can boost sales while managing your stock more effectively. Win-win.

12. Confirm the purchase

Congratulations, you’ve got yourself a purchase! Quick tip here: don’t leave customers hanging. The moment after a purchase is your chance to leave a lasting impression. With a thoughtfully designed thank you page, you can transform a transactional moment into the beginning of an ongoing, beautiful, profitable relationship.

Brief your customers on what comes next with clear instructions about shipping timelines, customer service contact information, and how to track their orders. Your thank you page can also be a platform for deepening customer engagement.

Here, you can provide suggestions for related products, invitations to join your loyalty program, or even a simple request for feedback. 

A step-by-step guide to implementing checkout process optimization

You have the latest and greatest tips. Now, it’s time to actually optimize the checkout flow. And as with most things in life and business, it’s somewhat of a process — but not a complex one.

Step 1: Evaluate your current checkout process

Start by walking a mile in your customers’ shoes and run through the checkout process yourself. Take note of any friction points, such as unnecessary form fields, confusing navigation, or lack of payment options. These are your first clues on what needs optimizing. Or have someone in a different department try it out for you.

Next, dive into the data. Analytics can reveal where potential customers drop off and which steps might be causing hesitation. Look for patterns and trends that point to specific areas for improvement. 

Don’t forget to gather feedback directly from the source — your customers. Surveys, feedback forms, or direct conversations can provide invaluable insights into their experiences and perceptions. 

Step 2: Set clear objectives

Turn your insights into actionable goals. First, prioritize the issues you’ve identified based on their impact on the customer experience and your conversion rates. Is it the insane number of form fields that are slowing customers down? Or perhaps the lack of a guest checkout option causing them to abandon ship? 

Each issue should correspond to a specific objective, such as “reduce checkout time by 30%” or “decrease cart abandonment rate by 15%.”  

Your objectives should align with both customer needs and your broader business goals. Whether it’s increasing average order value or boosting repeat purchases, each goal should contribute to the overarching vision of your e-commerce success.

Step 3: Implement the changes

This is where strategy meets action. Begin by tackling the low-hanging fruit — those changes that are relatively easy to implement but can have an immediate impact on the customer experience. It might include simplifying form fields, ensuring your site is mobile-responsive, or adding visible trust signals and security badges. 

Next, address more complex issues that may require a bit more time and resources (e.g. integrating new payment options, developing a one-click purchase feature, or redesigning the entire e-commerce checkout page for better usability).

While these changes might take longer to roll out, their potential to significantly boost conversions and customer satisfaction over time makes them well worth the effort. 

Step 4: Monitor and refine

The checkout optimization journey doesn’t end, it simply evolves. You want to fix what’s broken, but more than that, you want to continuously improve the checkout process.

Monitor the impact of the changes you’ve implemented. Use analytics tools to track key metrics such as cart abandonment rates, conversion rates, and average order value. Keep gathering customer feedback through surveys, user testing, and direct communication for qualitative insights that complement your quantitative data. 

Some changes may yield immediate positive results, while others might need further tweaking to achieve their full potential. Keep adjusting until you hit the sweet spot. Flexibility and willingness to learn from successes and setbacks are key to long-term improvement. 

Don’t stop at the checkout process

Your checkout page is super important, but so is the rest of your e-commerce site. After all, a smooth checkout process on a website that’s otherwise difficult to navigate or slow to load doesn’t quite make sense. You want to provide a user-friendly experience from the moment customers land in your store to the moment they complete their purchase.

For more insights and practical tips on how to enhance your performance across the board, check out these 15 ways to improve your e-commerce website performance.

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The e-commerce manager’s guide to user-generated content

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Research tells us that over half of consumers would be less loyal to a business if the e-commerce experience isn’t as enjoyable as in-person and 55% of customers claim they’d stop purchasing from a brand altogether after several bad experiences. Another 8% would end their relationship after just one bad experience.

An exceptional e-commerce experience is no longer just a surprise-and-delight bonus for customers. They’ve come to expect it. And their standards are higher than ever! Especially now that more people are shopping online and new technology keeps evolving. So for brands to remain competitive and attract and retain customers, they must emphasize the overall experience as much as they do the transaction.

Learn the criteria for an outstanding e-commerce experience and how top brands deliver it for their customers so you can emulate their success.

Chapters:

1. Benefits of a strong e-commerce experience
2. The traits of a superior e-commerce shopping experience
3. 6 brands acing the e-commerce experience
4. Measure the success of your e-commerce experience

Benefits of a strong e-commerce experience

The individual components of a successful e-commerce strategy all have their own benefits — together they create an overall winning customer experience. When you design your e-commerce strategy to exceed your customers’ expectations, they’ll show their appreciation. Customer experience is an important purchasing decision factor for 73% of consumers.

Just like going to the movies, people are willing to spend money for a better e-commerce experience. According to McKinsey, a positive customer experience results in a 10-15% increase in sales-conversion rates. In particular, 43% of consumers would pay more for greater convenience.

Customers are willing to volunteer their own data in exchange for a better experience. That data, including their email address, birthday, gender, location, preferences, and other information, fuels the very personalization that improves the experience. 

The traits of a superior e-commerce shopping experience

The key to creating an amazing e-commerce experience is supplying what your customers want and need. Focus on what will be most convenient, appealing, engaging, and user-friendly for them to guide your action plan.

Accessibility

Making your website accessible is fundamental to a high-quality e-commerce experience. Having an accessible website means that anyone can easily understand and navigate it, regardless of skill level, age, or physical capability. 

While this seems like common sense, a staggering 94% of the highest grossing e-commerce sites don’t meet accessibility requirements. Considering this reality, if your site is fully accessible, you’ll be an outlier among your competitors.

You also won’t risk losing customers and sales because of a poor or difficult website experience — inclusive marketing should be the bare minimum. So ensure your e-commerce site is accessible for your customers by following these standards:

• Optimize images with alt text and descriptions for visually impaired users
• Label hyperlinked images for visually impaired users
• Use adequate color contrasting on linked text for colorblind users
• Form fields should be sufficiently marked up with descriptive labels and prompts
• Videos should have captions for deaf and hearing-impaired users
• Your website should be operable using just keyboard navigation and be mobile optimized

Product recommendations

A wide range of potential customers visit online stores. Some people know exactly what they’re looking for, while others prefer to browse. Product recommendations are one of the most important social proof tools to help shoppers make decisions. They also drive discovery, as shoppers can find similar products or see products they might not have found otherwise. 

There’s a variety of ways to leverage your data when recommending products that can increase your sales. For instance, you can showcase items that are frequently purchased together or even highlight items that other people with similar product views rated highly.

Personalization

Personalization is another critical part of the customer experience. Personalized marketing is the practice of using customer data to deliver relevant offers and recommendations based on customer preferences and activity.

Personalization enhances and improves the customer experience because it delivers what shoppers are looking for: convenience, product discovery, or content that appeals to their curiosities and interests. It’s a growing priority for consumers, and has a significant business impact for e-commerce companies. 

Twilio Segment’s State of Personalization report found that almost half of the 3,000+ consumers surveyed would likely become repeat customers after a personalized shopping experience. Conversely, 62% of consumers claimed that they’d stop being loyal to a business after an un-personalized experience. Out of the business leaders surveyed, 80% say that customers spend an average of 34% more when their e-commerce experience is personalized. 

Augmented reality (AR) is growing as an immersive personalization trend — 74% of consumers are excited that brands are enhancing shopping experiences with AR. AR is a type of technology used in marketing that allows shoppers to virtually try on and experience products.

Snapchat and TikTok filters are examples of popular AR features from the past several years. Major beauty, apparel, and home decor brands leverage AR to let customers interact with and visualize products before making purchases.

Customer support

E-commerce sales, including mobile purchases, are increasing at a higher rate than brick-and-mortar sales for U.S. consumers. More consumers are drawn to online shopping each year because of the convenience and ability to browse, discover, and compare brands and products easily.

This shift towards online shopping also comes with high expectations for online customer support. Customers want their questions answered and problems solved on the same platform where they shop. 

Successful customer support empowers customers to solve problems themselves without escalation, and when issues require intervention, it entails fast and effective service. The result is happy customers and better performance for brands. Customer support that mitigates problems leads to increased customer acquisition and loyalty. 

“Value enhancement” customer support increases repurchase likelihood by 82%, wallet share by 86%, and sharing positive experiences by word of mouth by 97%. This approach focuses on predicting customer behavior to tailor interactions and allocating experienced customer reps for high-priority issues.

Effective online support methods include: 

• Robust FAQ pages
• Product pages with questions and answers features
• Live chat options
• Contact pages with customer support phone numbers and email addresses. 

Omnichannel marketing

These days, shoppers use a variety of digital touchpoints to search and purchase products. Building an omnichannel strategy enables you to reach all of your customers on each platform where they’re active. That means expanding your presence beyond your e-commerce site to social media channels, text messages, emails, and mobile apps, depending on your customer demographics. 

An important part of omnichannel marketing is meeting customers at every stage of the buyer journey. For e-commerce brands, that often means:

• On social media at the discovery stage
• On product pages at the consideration stage
• In emails at the loyalty stage

Practicing an omnichannel strategy is also a valuable tool for gathering and evaluating customer data. By collecting data on every touchpoint, you can build a more detailed and accurate profile for each of your customers. This ensures that you serve them pertinent messaging at the right time. For example, if a customer leaves a poor review on a product, they shouldn’t be seeing Facebook ads about that product. Likewise, if they already purchased a particular product, they shouldn’t see ads for that product.

The final step to completing a high-performing omnichannel strategy is linking your various channels for a seamless customer experience. If someone sees an ad on Instagram and starts a purchase on their phone, they should be able to finish it on their laptop at a later time if they choose. 

By taking an omnichannel approach, you’ll have more opportunities to capture customers and sales. Plus, you’ll provide a cohesive customer experience across the multiple channels they use to browse and shop. An omnichannel presence gives customers greater access to your brand and keeps it top of mind. 

Social commerce

Social commerce is an extension of e-commerce but on social media channels. People are already on social media all the time, so it makes sense for them to be able to do their shopping there, too. It eliminates friction along the buyer journey. 

Consumers have fully embraced social media as a marketplace. According to DataPortal’s Digital Statshot Report, 75% of global internet users use social media to research brands and products. And just in the U.S., social buyers are projected to grow to 114.3 million by 2025, an 18% increase from 2021. 

Gen Z is the biggest audience for social commerce, with 57% discovering new products on social channels in recent months. Almost half prefer Instagram Stories as a source of inspiration, followed by 41% who look to short-form videos on Instagram Reels and TikTok. Facebook and YouTube are more popular with older audiences. Twitter is anyone’s guess with Elon Musk in charge.

To provide the best experience for your customers on social media, tailor your content to match the most popular types on those channels. For consumers, the most memorable content from brands includes funny content, relatable content, and product tutorials and demos. Consumers also want the brands they follow to earn their trust by raising awareness and speaking up about important social issues. Brand building is equally as important as selling when it comes to the social commerce experience.

Gamification

Many e-commerce brands use gamification, like interactive quiz and surveys, to provide an engaging experience for their shoppers, and to also learn more about their customers. Shopper information obtained this way can be used to customize shopping experiences to better meet their needs and preferences.

Make sure to add a skip button or quick exit to allow your visitors the option of omitting questions they don’t want to respond to, and avoid launching a survey the moment a visitor arrives on your site. 

Enhanced segmentation

Every customer uniquely engages with your e-commerce store. Segmentation allows you to ensure that shoppers accomplish their objectives on your site, regardless of how they interact with it!

For example, you could highlight special promotions for winter gear to visitors living in areas that are cold. Variables could include location, age, income, if they’re a new or repeat customer, and lots more. By doing this, you can maximize the aforementioned personalization and set up your e-commerce site to provide the best customer experience.

Displaying UGC

Consumers are driven by peer-to-peer decisions more than any other marketing tool — When shopping on a brand or retailer’s website, 40% of shoppers won’t purchase if there isn’t UGC on the product page.

Including user-generated content (UGC) such as reviews, photos or social media posts will give your site a new dimension. Visitors can see how your products in real life by sharing images, videos, and customer reviews.

Offering a continual e-commerce shopping experience

By enabling customers to pick up where their virtual shopping baskets where they left off, you can easily reduce shopping cart abandonment. With this strategy, you can instantly notify guests of previously chosen products and preferences based on their web browsing history.

Although it’s a more intricate tactic, it can produce excellent results, and make shoppers feel valued.

6 brands that ace the e-commerce experience

There’s a lot to consider when crafting an A-list e-commerce experience. It requires smoothly integrating all the ingredients of a successful shopping spree for customers at every turn, on every channel. One good thing about a saturated market is there’s plenty of brands doing a stellar job to draw inspiration from. 

These examples show how different brands in various industries make online shopping seamless, educational, and fun at different points along the customer journey. Take notes to level up your own production value.

Plenty optimizes product pages with ratings and reviews

The volume and recency of product reviews are two of the biggest factors that influence purchase decisions. That’s why Plenty prioritizes their customer review strategy to optimize their e-commerce site for ready-to-purchase customers. Leveraging this powerful form of user-generated content UGC showcases their own customers’ feedback, providing social proof for other shoppers.

Plenty encourages reviews with a CTA for visitors to leave a review for a chance to win £100 every month. Their review collection efforts result in hundreds and thousands of reviews per product. They put those reviews to good use, analyzing the insights found in them to develop new products and marketing content.

For example, when pet adoptions surged in the U.K., so did reviews about how Plenty products help with pet clean-up. As a result, Plenty developed helpful blog and social media content for pet parents.

Samsonite inspires shoppers with customer photos

The luxury luggage brand Samsonite strengthened their omnichannel experience by funneling their social media content to their e-commerce site. Using Bazaarvoice Galleries, Samsonite displays visual UGC of customers and influencers with their products throughout their site. The images are linked with the featured products so customers can purchase directly from the gallery.

Using a social media hashtag campaign, Samsonite was able to generate 27,000 pieces of UGC to promote their products on social media and their product pages. This strategy resulted in a significantly higher dwell time on pages with galleries and a 245% increase in conversion rate. This boost in visual content supports consistent branding across channels and entices shoppers with relatable marketing.

Bemz personalizes social commerce

The Bemz business model relies on personalization, and so does its e-commerce experience for customers. Bemz makes customized, made-to-order covers for IKEA furniture. With so many product options, the brand realized it needed UGC to give shoppers an accurate representation of how their products look in real life settings.

Bemz leans on social media to collect and promote both branded and UGC media. They make their social content shoppable by enabling social commerce. By turning their social feed into a digital storefront, they increased their click-through rates on social channels by 41%.

Kohl’s innovates with augmented reality

Speaking of amazing movie experiences, remember that scene in Clueless when Cher picks out her outfit every morning with a computer program? That movie was really ahead of its time, because that’s exactly what Kohl’s AR feature does, except on Snapchat.

Kohl’s Virtual Closet gives shoppers the opportunity to mix and match different outfits from select Kohl’s products. This takes the concept of cross selling to a whole new level. With Snapchat’s selfie feature, users can also virtually try on products in the virtual closet. When shoppers find items they want to purchase, they can do so right on the app without ever leaving. 

This campaign combines augmented reality with social commerce for the ultimate e-commerce experience.

Snug brings the in-person experience online with live shopping

Snug thinks outside the delivery box regarding their e-commerce customer service. The sofa company solves the common customer dilemma of making a big furniture purchase online with their live shopping service. Their entire Live Shop program is a study in customer-centric e-commerce excellence. 

Snug’s Live Shop invites shoppers to book an appointment with a showroom consultant to get a better look at their sofas and ask any questions they have in real-time. As they outline on the Live Shop page of their e-commerce site, this feature fits into every stage of the customer journey:

1. Because you’ve just started looking
2. When you’ve seen a few different sofas
3. When you’re almost ready to buy

The landing page itself is a great customer service tool, complete with its own FAQ section, customer reviews specifically about the Live Shopping experience, and overall Snug reviews about their glowing customer service. 

Fresh stimulates visitors with an immersive experience

Over the past 30 years since its inception, Fresh has become a global natural beauty brand with an e-commerce experience to match the detail and care that goes into their products. One of the challenges with having a mostly online business for beauty brands is the inability for customers to try different products. There is no way to smell fragrances or feel textures. 

Instead, Fresh designs their website with interactive content and visuals for an intricate digital experience. The home page greets you with a fun and enticing “spin to win” mystery offer game. When you’ve won your prize, you can then explore product categories, curated gift sets, their sustainability practices, details on their ingredients, and much more.

Their product pages are just as rich and robust, giving a deep dive into individual product ingredients and clinical test results. Their collection of customer reviews features photo-first displays so you can see products on real people in addition to reading about them.

Measure the success of your customer e-commerce experience

After you’ve laid the foundation for a sparkling e-commerce experience, you need to track its performance. Determine if it resonates with customers and produces results by analyzing key performance indicators. There’s many different metrics you can look at to reach these conclusions, but here’s some important ones you can start with:

• Customer retention rate: The percentage of customers who make repeat purchases from your e-commerce shop. This is a great indicator of the quality of your e-commerce strategy, because if it satisfies customers, they’ll keep coming back
• Conversion rates: The percentage of website visits that result in a desired conversion, such as product clicks and orders. If your website is accessible and conveys the value of your products, your conversion rate will prove it 
• Average order value: The average purchase amount per order on your e-commerce and social commerce channels. When customers spend more money, that’s a good sign that they connect with your products, brand, and overall e-commerce presence
• Customer sentiment: Your customers’ feelings and opinions about your brand. You can measure customer sentiment by analyzing the insights from customer reviews and customer satisfaction surveys. This information provides you with specific feedback on your brand’s e-commerce experience

To get started, learn how retail giant Walmart has evolved its e-commerce experience, as explained by Alyssa Thomas, Director of Product, Content as Commerce, at Walmart.com, in our on-demand masterclass.

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Masterclass: How Walmart is evolving its e-commerce experience

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Since 1914, AI has helped power commercial airplanes’ autopilot functionality. Today, spam filters, mobile check deposits, and facial-recognition technology all use AI to make consumers’ lives easier.

And in e-commerce, AI is used to improve website search functionality and make better recommendations based on recent browsing activity. The technology also helps power retargeting ads and chatbots.

Now, leading brands and retailers are tapping this technology to improve the shopping experience for customers in innovative new ways. Thanks to the growth of AI in e-commerce, shopping from home, in the park, or literally anywhere you have an internet connection, just got a whole lot more exciting.

Chapters:

1. Awesome ways AI is impacting e-commerce
2. AI in e-commerce examples
3. How to optimize your AI in e-commerce strategy

Awesome ways AI is impacting e-commerce

We’ve been watching the AI trend closely over the past year. Here are some of the most exciting AI in e-commerce use cases to date.

Though it would be fun to list all of the capabilities, approaches, and uses AI provides for e-commerce businesses, we’d be here for a while. Rather than forcing you to take a few personal days to get through it all, we thought we’d narrow it down to our favorite ways AI is changing the world of e-commerce.

1. Endless personalization

Oh, personalization. The hot topic that’ss taken consumer demands to another metaverse while forcing retailers to ask themselves, “Do I really know my customers as well as they want me to?”

Personalized shopper journeys are more of an expectation than an add-on these days. Luckily, AI algorithms can analyze colossal amounts of data, providing valuable insights into things like customer behavior, preferences, and trends. This information helps e-commerce businesses make data-driven decisions, optimize marketing strategies, and customize their offerings to each shopper’s needs. 

The result? A bucket load of customer satisfaction, increased engagement, and higher revenue. Personalization has also been proven to strengthen brand loyalty — 70% of consumers say that how well a company understands their individual needs impacts their loyalty. Give them what they want (personalized, relevant experiences), and watch their support grow.   

Personalized product recommendations 

You can’t talk about e-commerce personalization without mentioning its compatriot, AI-generated product recommendations. These subtle suggestions can create quite the shopper stir when delivered at the right time and in the right way.

First, AI algorithms analyze customer data, like browsing behavior and purchase history to identify shopping patterns. Then, that information is used to recommend products that might interest the shopper. And boom: more sales.

Intuitive cross-selling + upselling

Remember that important customer data we previously mentioned? AI systems can use it to identify relevant cross-selling and upselling opportunities. Even better, AI has a large capacity to learn and adapt, which means that over time you’ll be able to maximize your supplementary sales, propelling and improving your customer lifetime value.

2. It enhances the customer experience

One of the most meaningful ways AI is evolving e-commerce is by providing marvelously-engaging customer shopping experiences. From the very first search to the final post-purchase adieu, AI enables your digital store to function in a way that makes each shopper feel like it was created just for them.

Smarter site search

While it might seem somewhat unassuming, an e-commerce site’s ‘search’ can tell a huge story. And when powered by machine learning technology, its narrative includes advanced algorithms that are enhancing product discovery for online shoppers.

AI uses advanced natural language processing (NLP), making a user’s shopping experience faster, easier, and more intuitive. By understanding consumer language and combining keyword search and vector search into a single query, results are more accurate, and relevant. This means shoppers have a higher chance of finding exactly what they’re looking for, through two key ways:

1. Voice search. This well-known speech recognition technology allows shoppers to search phrases quickly without using a mobile device’s keyboard. Thanks to emerging AI, voice commerce has seen some impressive upgrades. For starters, speech analysis and contextual reasoning have led to more accurate voice recognition. It also saves customers time by reducing the effort (and chance for errors) of manual typing — handy for lengthy product names like, “Organic Queen Size Memory Foam Lavender Scented Pillow”
2. Visual search. Sometimes, a shopper wants to find a product but doesn’t know its name, type, or the category it falls under. Usually, it’s right about here that their search journey ends. But with visual search, potential customers can look for products using images and nothing else. If an online visitor doesn’t know the details of an item they’re interested in, all they need to do is use a picture to find what they’re searching for. Not only does this increase product exposure, but it elevates the customer experience by alleviating the friction between curiosity and acquisition

Interactive augmented and virtual reality

Both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) enhance the e-commerce experience by providing immersive and responsive features that minimize the gap between online and physical (phygital) shopping.

Maybe it’s because AR integrates simulated elements with the real world, enabling shoppers to engage with products in their own surroundings. Or maybe it’s because AR can seamlessly work with existing devices, so shoppers can experience a product from their iPhone or tablet. Either way, the global AR market is expected to reach $300 billion this year.

Shoppers can try on virtual products, see how items will look and fit in their space, and participate in interactive demonstrations. Another cool AI-driven feature: online retailers can incorporate tailored recommendations and offers for an additional layer of personalization. 

Chatbots and virtual assistants 

One of the most significant ways AI is transforming e-commerce is through improved customer service. Most e-commerce businesses don’t have time to compose a personalized response to every incoming inquiry. This is where artificial intelligence can really serve a purpose.

Chatbots enable online retailers to provide 24/7 support to their customers. And because they never take breaks or get heated, chatbots can provide a level of service humans can’t match up to. Did we mention they don’t get paid either? 

Chatbots use NLP to understand customer queries. This allows them to provide immediate and accurate responses, help shoppers make smart purchasing decisions, and assist with order tracking and returns. These virtual assistants have already been a lifesaver for many digital stores and consumers.

Streamlined checkout process

Did you know that the average cart abandonment rate is around 70%? The good news is that AI can help to decrease the number of lost customers during the checkout process. 

AI algorithms optimize the checkout flow by assessing customer behavior and preferences to determine if any recommendations or messaging is needed for that final purchasing persuasion. 

Machine learning can also save shoppers time by inputting customer information, and offering advanced support by providing effortless payment processing. Together, this creates a more streamlined shopping experience that can minimize cart abandonment and maximize conversion rates.

3. It improves business operations

There’s a lot that goes on beyond what a shopper sees on their device’s screen. AI makes managing the back-end of e-commerce easier by providing tools that boost efficiency, save on costs, and help online retailers know exactly who to market to.

Increasing productivity

The use of AI in e-commerce empowers businesses to automate several procedures that are usually performed manually. By utilizing this innovative technology, online retailers can diminish their time spent on repetitive and arduous tasks, such as packaging items, restocking shelves, and troubleshooting issues.

The best part? The more AI software is introduced, the more its capabilities improve, resulting in a revolving loop of productivity.

It’s important to note that automation doesn’t mean extinguishing all redundancies or replacing people with technology. Rather, AI and machine learning streamline repetitive tasks, limiting the chance of operational errors. This frees your team from monotonous jobs, allowing them to channel their efforts toward more complex and creative responsibilities that have a greater impact on your bottom line.

Predictive analytics tools

AI-driven, predictive analytics tools can examine enormous volumes of customer data to forecast market trends, potential risks, and future opportunities. These insights enable you to make informed decisions and customize your sales and marketing strategies to better align with shopper preferences. 

Predictive analytics tools also play a crucial role in helping e-commerce businesses with supply chain management – but more on that in a minute. 

Customer segmentation

Thanks to AI technology, hyper-segmenting audiences based on data like browsing history, life stages, and even major hurdles, has become easier than ever. This information helps online retailers gain knowledge about everything from a customer’s preferences and behaviors, to their sentiments about products and services.

As a result, e-commerce businesses can tailor marketing campaigns and sales offers toward select shoppers. Plus it allows online merchants to get incredibly specific about targeting, messaging, and timing, which increases the chance of a better return on investment (ROI).

4. Superior supply chain management 

AI is modernizing the e-commerce industry by providing greater automation in supply chain management. Predictive analytics can help optimize stock levels, streamline delivery routes, and forecast potential disruptions. Here’s a quick breakdown for you.

Demand forecasting

Many online retailers rely on artificial intelligence for sales predictions to make demand forecasts more precise. Instead of using historical data, AI software makes sales and demand predictions using real-time data like weather, demographics, and online reviews, to name just a few. This allows you to adjust inventory levels and enhance operational adeptness.

Inventory management 

Good inventory management focuses on monitoring stock levels to ensure the right supply is always available to meet customer demand.

AI helps e-commerce stores maintain adequate inventory levels by utilizing data such as sales trends from previous years, projected changes in product demands, and impending supply-related issues that could affect stock availability.

And unlike pesky humans, AI robots can be used 24/7 to dispatch items immediately following an order, fetch inventory, or stockpile merchandise.

Optimized pricing strategies

AI-powered dynamic pricing lets e-commerce businesses adjust their pricing based on supply and demand.

Using data analytics and more machine learning methods, AI algorithms evaluate market trends, customer behavior, and competitor pricing to determine the best price for any product. 

Dynamic pricing algorithms can then adjust prices in real-time to enable digital retailers to boost revenue and maintain a competitive edge.

AI in e-commerce brand examples

AI is already well underway and brands are taking note. Here’s some of our favourite brand examples of AI in e-commerce.

Playing makeup at home

One of the best arguments for using AI in e-commerce is trying on items — virtually. NARS Cosmetics’ virtual try-on uses a shopper’s camera to instantly detect the contours of the face. As shoppers click on shades of lipstick, bronzer, and eyeshadow, the makeup is superimposed on their lips, cheeks, and eyes.

Occasionally a set of bright red lips appear in the middle of the screen, but the experience is surprisingly smooth and accurate. The technology also automatically evens out shoppers’ skin tone, making the makeup extra flattering.

Home sweet (virtual) home

Target’s See It in Your Space tool uses AR to allow shoppers to literally see how furniture and decorations will look in their home. Shoppers can either upload a photo of a room or use the Target app to access their device’s camera. Then, they select furniture to overlay on the image.

The tool helps them see if items will fit in the space, coordinate with other items, and decide which finish or color works best. 

Taking ‘see it for yourself’ to another level

Eyewear brand Warby Parker was an early adopter of AR. Its app allows shoppers to see how each frame will fit their face.

The brand’s Virtual Try-On feature also won a Webby Award. Shoppers can click through different styles and colors to see which best complements their face shape. Once they’ve picked their favorites, Warby Parkers allows shoppers to select 5 frames to try on at home for free.  

H&M’s personal stylist

H&M use an AI chatbot as their own personal shopping assistant. The bot learns each shopper’s style preferences through a series of questions, then presents options to the shopper to choose from.

Based on continual feedback from the shopper, the chatbot continues to offer up new suggestions, advice, and products for them to purchase.

3D luxury

Consumers looking for a new designer handbag or wallet can now view 3D images of their favorite Burberry products online. The items are scaled to size and then superimposed on the shopper’s camera screen.

Consumers can then see what a purse looks like on their shoulder or countertop and see how it complements their favorite outfits.

How to optimize your AI in e-commerce strategy

AI is clearly here to stay. Whether it’s transforming e-commerce by delivering endless personalization, enhancing the overall customer experience, or improving company operations, the AI revolution is changing the way we do business. But don’t forget: AI is here to enhance, not replace.

Ready to unlock the power of AI for e-commerce? Bazaarvoice Insights and Reports tools seamlessly integrate AI to boost efficiency and optimize your marketing strategy. Whether for boosting sales, improving products, or competitor analysis, our tools have you covered. 

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Masterclass: How to use AI strategically and responsibly

Watch here

Okay, okay, maybe we’re being a bit hyperbolic. Nothing’s as bad as trying to find a half-decent potato while your least favorite Christmas song blares over the store sound system. However, we do know customers love the convenience offered by online shopping. Nearly 70% of consumers factor site speed into their willingness to purchase from an online retailer. And a majority of online shoppers expect a page load time of 3 seconds or less.

If you haven’t given your website a performance checkup lately, it’s well past time. Here’s how to evaluate your current performance, plus some steps anyone can take to optimize an e-commerce site for a speedy shopping experience. 

Chapters:

1. Why website performance matters
2. The 7 main website performance metrics
3. How to measure your website performance
4. How to improve your e-commerce website performance
5. Website performance is all about the need for speed

Why website performance matters

Does it really matter if you don’t hit that 3-second load mark? Yes, it does. Failing to prioritize website loading speed decreases the quality of your user experience, and that’s bad in multiple ways.

First and most obvious, higher load times mean an increased bounce rate. Even users who stick around through the first few slow page loads may give up on your site before making a purchase.

Lower initial conversion rates are likely to be matched by lower loyalty overall. Customers who remember their suboptimal shopping experience are less likely to return for another try — and they won’t want to follow links that direct them to your site. 

Bad website performance also affects your Google SERP rankings. Because the search engine’s algorithm prioritizes user experience, pages with a slow loading speed are pushed down in the search results. Smaller outlets competing for attention might lose out to their faster competitors. 

The 7 main website performance metrics

Page load time isn’t a standalone website performance metric. It’s an overarching assessment that rolls together multiple metrics. Four of these metrics are Google’s Core Web Vitals:

• Largest Contentful Paint measures the loading speed of the largest page element users can see “above the fold” — that is, without scrolling down
• Interaction to Next Paint measures a page’s responsiveness to interactions, such as clicking an “add to cart” button or typing information into a form
• First Input Delay measures the time gap between when a user interacts with your website (say, clicking that “add to cart” button) and when their browser starts to process that request
• Cumulative Layout Shift measures how often page content moves while a page is loading

Google considers these aspects most important because they have the biggest effect on user experience. However, there’s four other metrics that also capture important parts of the user experience: 

• Time to First Byte measures the speed at which your DNS provider starts delivering your website content after receiving the request
• Total Blocking Time measures how long it takes for a web page to load enough that a user can interact with it (as browsers that are in the middle of loading pages cannot process interactions)
• First Contentful Paint measures how long it takes for the first of your website content to render

If you want to dive deep into any of these metrics, Google’s web.dev site explains more about why each one matters and how to measure them. Or, you can just keep reading as we discuss measuring your site’s performance. 

How to measure your website performance

Measuring your site’s performance is easy with Google’s free PageSpeed Insights. This tool assesses your site on the metrics listed above and ranks it as good, needs improvement, or poor. You’ll also get notes on your site’s performance, accessibility, use of best practices, and SEO. 

There’s an option to view how your site performs on mobile vs. desktop devices and tips to help you optimize your site. You get a lot of help for the low price of living in Google’s web ecosystem, and let’s face it — that’s already happening. 

When you’re looking at your report, you may notice Total Blocking Time is excluded from the “Core Web Vitals Assessment” box. Scroll down to the Performance box, then look at the Metrics table to see your results.

PageSpeed Insights makes it easy to understand why your site earned the rankings it did with color-coded graphics and personalized tips. Go ahead and run a test now — all it takes is a few seconds — so you can get a baseline of your site’s performance and see where you have room for improvement. 

How to improve your e-commerce website performance

If you’re still here, we’ll assume your Core Web Vitals Assessment showed you have some work to do. There’s no shame in that. Even Google’s web.dev site doesn’t pass the assessment! Here’s our best tips to help you improve the performance of your e-commerce website and the tools you need to make it happen. 

1. Cut down on HTTP requests

HTTP requests exist at the core of loading web pages. You don’t need to know the technical specifics here — only that a browser must make these requests to load CSS files, scripts, images, and other content on your page. Each request requires the browser to send a message to your web host, which then has to respond with the appropriate content.

The more HTTP requests you have, the longer it will take to complete them all. Imagine if you went to a restaurant and first asked for water and then, when your waiter returned, ordered a soda. When they brought the soda, you asked for an appetizer. And finally, after the appetizer arrived, you had decided on your entrees. It would take a long time for you to get and finish your meal, no matter how fast your server worked.

Give your (web) server a break by cutting out unnecessary HTTP requests. If you don’t need a script or CSS file, don’t reference it in your page’s header. You can also try to cut down on multimedia content to increase your page load speed. 

2. Use HTTP/2

Not all HTTP requests are made equal. HTTP/2, a standard that debuted in 2015, comes with capabilities that help your web pages load faster. For one, it allows developers to prioritize which elements load first, so you can tell browsers to request light resources before larger scripts. It can also serve multiple resources at once. To return to our restaurant metaphor, HTTP/2 allows you to give your whole order at once so the waiter can get your food to you more quickly.

KeyCDN has a free HTTP/2 test to determine whether your site supports the HTTP/2 protocol. Or, if you want a closer look, open your browser’s developer tools, navigate to the network tab, and look for the “Protocol” column. (You may have to right-click the list of columns and add Protocol.) 

HTTP/2 support is determined by your web host, so they’re the resource to turn to if you need to enable the protocol. The process is different for each provider. 

3. Eliminate unnecessary redirects

Many companies employ redirects to bypass link rot during website overhauls. However, each time you redirect a user to a new page, you’re forcing them to sit through another page load. Especially redirects that lead to another redirect — no thanks! By the time the user reaches the actual URL, they’ll already be ready to close out of your page.

Redirects have a habit of piling up over time. That means you need to audit them periodically; it’s especially important to do so after any redesign or re-architecting of your website.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider can help you check your entire site for redirects and even detect redirect chains and loops for you. You could also use the Ahrefs SEO Toolbar to check page-by-page, but we wouldn’t recommend this. Unless you have an obligation you really want to get out of.

4. Limit external scripts

Most developers use third-party scripts to add functionality they don’t have the resources to code in-house. Incorporating external scripts is always risky in terms of page speed, though. You don’t have control over the code, so you can’t do anything if the script is slow to load.

Slow-loading scripts make pages take longer to load and can cause problems like content jumping (measured by the Cumulative Layout Shift metric). 

Check each page to make sure no unnecessary scripts are loading. For instance, you may have a reviews feature enabled on your site as a whole, but you don’t need that script included on pages made for browsing. You may also ask yourself whether you really need that modal to collect customers’ emails or if it’s turning off more buyers than it’s bringing in.

More bells and whistles aren’t always better. A simple website with a good user experience can muscle out an overdesigned store.

5. Enable lazy (asynchronous) loading

When a browser renders a website, its default is to process each request in order, only moving on to the next command after finishing its current task. Large scripts slow up the entire process, as a browser must load the entire file before it can move on to rendering the rest of the content.

Avoid this delay by directing the browser to load your scripts asynchronously — that is, while continuing to render the webpage. Simply add the async attribute to your script tags (your code will look something like this: <script src=”my_script.js” async></script>).

Some experts recommend adding your <script> tags near the bottom of your body content as older browsers may not be able to read the async attribute, but there’s no need to do this. You’d be hard-pressed to find a browser in the wild that couldn’t handle the async tag. 

6. Use mobile-first designs

Website performance optimization needs to include mobile-first thinking. Smartphones are now the source of nearly four in five e-commerce website visits and two in three e-commerce purchases. Unfortunately, the mobile web is still a drag. Most sites have much longer load times on mobile devices. With over 50% of mobile visitors ready to jump ship if a site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, e-commerce retailers are likely losing out on a lot of business. 

Almost every website published these days is responsive, but designers who code for desktop and then later optimize for mobile may be going in the wrong order. Using mobile phone emulators to design for small screens puts the needs of this growing audience front and center. 

Plus, it’s easy — Google Chrome’s Dev Tools allow you to enter “device mode” to view what your site will look like on smaller screens. 

Designing for mobile phones also requires you to make the most of limited screen real estate, which may mean you opt for fewer decorative elements that can slow down a page. You’ll also want to simplify navigation and interactions rather than going for flashy or unique experiences that require external scripts and plugins. 

If you’re working with an existing site, you probably can’t implement this practice right now. Just keep it in mind for your next redesign. 

7. Compress text-based files with gzip

HTML and CSS files may not seem too onerous to load, but when you’re counting in milliseconds, every byte matters. Compression reduces the size of text-based files so they can make the trip from your server to a customer’s browser more quickly. Gzip is the most common compression framework, but Brotli and Deflate also work well to speed up your website. 

This is another feature that’s set up on the hosting side. Most hosts enable it by default, but it’s good to check yours using a free HTTP Compression test. If you find out your content isn’t compressed, it’s time to reach out to your hosting provider. 

8. Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files

Compression frameworks like Gzip aren’t the only byte-savers. You can also minify your text files by removing anything that’s not a key part of the code — things like comments, formatting, or lengthy variable names. Many of these elements are helpful for human developers, but web browsers don’t need them to display your web page directly. 

There’s no need to go through and delete comments and extra spaces and tabs by yourself. Minifier.org offers a free tool that can handle CSS and JavaScript. Google’s web.dev recommends this free HTML minifier. 

If you’re looking for tools that can mass-minify, Google’s PageSpeed Module works with Apache or Nginx web servers and automatically minifies your files. However, installing tools like it or CSSNano may require you to call IT.

9. Optimize images and videos

Multimedia files often decrease website performance simply because they’re so large. E-commerce merchants, who rely heavily on images and videos, must be diligent about optimizing these files to reduce the burden on visitors’ internet connections. 

The easy part of optimizing images is resizing them. No file should exceed 20 megabytes (MB) — but really, only your hero images should be that big. Shopify recommends merchants keep images around 500 kilobytes (KB) if possible, though they allow that some sites need files up to 2 MB in size. You’ll likely have to compress your images to meet these goals. Thankfully, there’s plenty of free image compression tools out there you can use.

Once you’ve cut file sizes down, make sure you’re using responsive design principles to keep things speedy for users loading your site from smaller devices. MDN Web Docs, run by Mozilla, has a nice responsive images tutorial you can follow if you’re new to the subject. 

10. Take advantage of browser caching

Web browsers can store files locally on users’ machines, which speeds up loading times for repeat visitors. Instead of contacting your server for every file, browsers can pull cached assets from the machine’s local memory.

Caching is an excellent solution for most e-commerce merchants, as your assets remain fairly static. If you do a major site overhaul or replace product pictures, you’ll want to make sure browsers have instructions to re-download the new content and replace cached assets. However, this is a rare enough occurrence for most online retailers that setting up caching is the way to go.

Your web host is, once again, the party in charge of your caching settings. You’ll want to find its documentation and follow the instructions to enable local caches and set expiry dates (which instruct browsers how often they should refresh cached assets from your site). 

11. Use a content delivery network (CDN)

Browser caches only help audiences who have come to your website before. Content delivery networks, or CDNs, stash assets as close as possible to each visitor to cut down on load times. 

CDNs don’t rely on local machines to store assets. They simply distribute your assets to a network of servers in various locations. That means instead of having one server in Virginia that answers all requests, you may have a server in Virginia, one in California, one in Illinois, and so on. Companies that serve international audiences can work with international CDNs, so they have servers in multiple countries, regions, and continents. 

Whenever a browser sends a request to load your website, that request routes to the server that’s geographically closer to the user. It may not sound like a huge time-saver, but since page load speeds are measured on a very small scale, CDNs make a noticeable difference. 

12. Regularly audit your plugins

Plugins, add-ons, and extensions are a huge time-saver for most web developers. But, like external scripts, bloated plugins can drag your page speed down. Improve your website performance by revisiting your plugin library to see whether there are any hangers-on that you no longer use. 

Sometimes, you need all your plugins, but your pages are still loading way too slowly. In that case, it’s time to figure out the culprit. Copy your site into a staging environment, disable all your plugins, and test your site load speed. Then, enable plugins one at a time to determine whether a single plugin is tanking your performance metrics. (Make sure you enable, test, and then disable each plugin so you’re not accidentally measuring cumulative effects.)

Thankfully, with so many plugins out there, you’ll likely be able to find a replacement for any sluggish tools. 

One other option is to look for plugins that have been optimized for speed. For instance, our Ratings & Reviews display technology was designed to keep your website running quickly, and our developers shared the steps they took to fulfill that promise. Find tools built in this vein — ones that use best practices like minifying and reducing script files, caching, and lazy loading — to make your audits a breeze. 

13. Remove unnecessary pop-ups

Yes, we’ll say it. Pop-ups are super unpopular. They lead to a bad experience, especially on mobile devices. Even if you think your pop-ups are tastefully done and helpful, internet users are faced with a barrage of modals, overlays, and chat widgets all day long. Everyone has pop-up fatigue, and if you contribute, you’re eroding your consumers’ trust. 

Most pop-ups call outside scripts and reference assets like images and fonts, all of which a browser has to load. Modals that appear conditionally have to gather audience data before triggering, which also takes time. And if your Total Blocking Time is high, users may not be able to close out of these elements as the rest of your site renders. This delay would influence users’ perception of your site speed even if there was no actual slowdown. 

The slowdown is real, though, as is the nearly universal dislike for these tools. Removing them from your site is a win-win. 

14. Choose the fastest services

When a customer clicks a link or types in a URL, they’re telling their browser to query a DNS service to take them to their target site. That DNS service routes the browser to your site’s IP address. Then, their browser starts reading your HTML files and requesting assets from your server or CDN so it can render the website you’ve designed. 

That’s a lot of services coming together to make your site appear. If any one of them is slow, your page speed will be negatively affected. That’s why the cheapest option isn’t necessarily the best option for your technical infrastructure. 

For instance, many base website hosting plans are shared. This means other websites use the same server you do, so a spike of traffic from one of them might slow down your load times. VPS hosting (for growing sites) or dedicated website servers (for those who can afford them) will return better results.

You also want to make sure your domain registrar, which handles DNS hosting, is a high performer. DNSPerf keeps an ongoing log of DNS performance so you can see for yourself how various providers stack up.

Of course, speed doesn’t only matter at the top levels. We talked about finding lightweight and streamlined plugins. You’ll also want to think about services like your security software and other backend tools. Though customers don’t interact with them directly, they can still impact your e-commerce website’s performance. 

15. Monitor website operations

Checking your website performance every once in a while to see if there’s big problems is a smart idea. Constantly monitoring your site so you’re aware the second a problem pops up is even smarter. 

You can invest in tools that collect data on your users’ experience to show how your site performs in the real world. Since many shoppers will be visiting you from setups unlike your own, real user monitoring provides a fresh perspective. 

Other tools pretend to be human visitors, using a series of scripts to navigate your website and test its performance. Synthetic monitoring setups like these are more useful for teams looking to gather data from controlled tests. If you’re in the midst of optimizing your site, synthetic monitoring will help you spot changes that actually make a difference. These systems can also run scheduled tests with the goal of catching major problems before your customers run into them. 

There’s plenty of tools that perform both of these jobs (and more):

• Site24x7 performs synthetic and real user monitoring for you
• LogRocket monitors users and identifies errors and site interactions users typically struggle with
• New Relic is an end-to-end synthetic monitoring system that integrates with just about every infrastructure there is 

Whichever tool you use, make sure you configure the alerts to tell you when something goes wrong. The quicker you can fix the problem, the fewer customers you’ll disappoint. 

Website performance is all about the need for speed

As internet and mobile connections become faster and even more ubiquitous, consumer standards will continue to rise. Providing a fast, convenient experience is a baseline expectation. Companies who can figure out how to excel on mobile and get those loading speeds down to a second or less will have a chance to capture more market share.

The customer experience you provide is directly connected to your conversion and retention rates, and your website’s performance is directly related to that customer experience. Website optimization isn’t a project that can wait for a rainy day. It’s an essential part of bringing customers to your site and making more sales.

Improving your site’s speed isn’t the only way to reach more customers. Check out these ways to increase organic traffic to keep your momentum on the SERP.

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Masterclass: 3 powerful tactics to increase product page conversion rates

Watch here

Since first taking off a few years ago, the use of video in e-commerce is no longer just an option — it’s a necessity. 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands in 2024, and over 60% of shoppers are more likely to buy a product if its product page has customer videos, according to research by Bazaarvoice. 

Chapters:

1. What is video commerce?
2. The value of video commerce for brands and retailers
3. How to use video in e-commerce
4. Video commerce: Best practices for brands
5. Drive more sales with video commerce

What is video commerce?

Video commerce is the use of video content to promote your product and services to create better shopping experiences for consumers that drives purchases.

If you’re scrolling through, say, your favorite e-commerce store, which type of content is more likely to snag your attention? Walls of text, static images, or engaging videos that show the products in action? Likely the latter. That’s the power of video commerce. It’s a dynamic way of advertising and selling products that’s transforming the e-commerce landscape by helping consumers feel more confident in their purchases.

Video commerce might’ve started as just a trend (you can blame TikTok for that), but it quickly evolved into much more than that. It’s a strategy that blends entertainment with instant purchasing options and makes the shopping experience more engaging, informative, and fun.

The value of video commerce for brands and retailers

E-commerce brands are in a constant battle to find the next shiny strategy that will capture consumer attention and, ultimately, increase profits. Video commerce is precisely that, as it provides a creative outlet for brands to not only showcase their products but also weave compelling narratives that resonate with consumers.

Enhanced customer engagement

You can’t just put your products in front of an audience and hope for the best. Marketing is everywhere. If standing out and getting audiences to engage with your brand is the goal, you need to invest in immersive and interactive experiences that captivate and retain their attention. 

This is where videos shine. They have the unique ability to tell stories, evoke emotions, and create a sense of closeness with a brand. And stories are what connects us. They’re the difference between someone buying a product versus an experience, something purely material versus a narrative they can relate to on a personal level. 

Thanks to YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels, the shareability of videos has gone through the roof, which can mean very good things for your brand reach. When users share video content on social media platforms, it not only extends a brand’s visibility but also adds a layer of credibility through peer recommendations. Overall, this organic spread of content contributes to a broader and more engaged audience.

Building trust with audiences

Trust is at the heart of any successful brand-customer relationship, and video commerce offers an authentic means to help you build it. Through videos, you can present your products in a transparent and genuine way, allowing customers to see the real value and application of what they’re buying. 

This authenticity is amplified tenfold when brands incorporate user-generated content (UGC), such as customer testimonials or product reviews, into their video content strategy. Getting Beyoncé to promote your brand is great, but it’s seeing real people use and endorse your products that promotes trust and credibility (and it’s also a lot cheaper.) 

Featuring employees or behind-the-scenes footage in videos also helps humanize your brand, making it more relatable and trustworthy to the audience. Beyond building confidence in the product, this approach also creates a sense of loyalty and connection between your brand and your customer base. Faceless corporations are out, the human element is very much in.

Improved product understanding and visualization

It doesn’t matter how glossy your products look. If a consumer can’t glean their value in a real-life setting, they’ll likely give up on the purchase. Video content addresses this issue by providing detailed demonstrations and showcasing products in action. Marketers have caught on to the value of video in this scenario, with 96% agreeing that videos have helped increase user understanding of their products or services.

Images are still important, but videos can effectively highlight the features, functionalities, and real-life applications of a product, giving your customers a comprehensive understanding of what they’re buying.  This type of dynamic visual content can truly bring products to life, offering a virtual “try-before-you-buy” experience that is particularly valuable in an online shopping environment.

How to use video in e-commerce

Video helps you better promote products, build brand trust, and reach new customers through relatable, viral posts on social media. And there’s no shortage of options — from snappy short clips to impactful and lengthier ads, as well as GIFs and livestreams. Customers also crave unboxing videos, tutorials, testimonials, interviews, and more. 

Here are the most effective ways to use video in your e-commerce strategy. 

Optimize your product pages with video content 

Because more and more shoppers are making purchasing decisions online instead of in-store, brands need to help consumers feel confident before they buy. Video does just that, because it shows: 

One way you can instill confidence is by enhancing your product pages with videos. You can produce unboxing videos that allow your customers to experience your product before they buy it, or you can go down the ‘how-to’ route with videos that help customers understand how to use your products. 

Customers also love user-generated videos, like testimonials or previous shoppers showcasing how they use a product. In fact, Bazaarvoice research shows that both men and women look at user-generated videos to see the product in action. 

Address frequently asked questions with video responses 

Give your brand a voice and show off your authenticity by answering frequently asked questions (FAQs) in a video format. Video gives you the chance to really bring questions to life and provides nuanced and contextual answers that don’t translate as effectively into text. You can also create accompanying graphics and visuals to better explain more technical answers, because who doesn’t love a nice pie chart? 

If you’re looking for a prime example of this, check out eyeglass company Warby Parker’s YouTube channel. They have an entire playlist dedicated to FAQs that answer commonly asked questions. 

Some videos are animated, while some feature employees explaining products, but all of them exude Warby Parker’s personality. 

Customers can also ask questions in the comments and receive a response. 

Share shoppable video content on Instagram 

Social media is the pinnacle of video and e-commerce, and Instagram is leading the way. Instagram’s video capabilities have evolved so much since the app first introduced the feature in 2013 that you could argue it’s now a video-sharing app (blame TikTok…again.) 

Instagram has made it even easier to shop on their platform, by allowing brands to link to products in videos. All customers have to do is click on the link to the product they want to buy, and they can either save it for later or go to the product page to make a purchase. 

Apparel brands like Meshki have used the feature to create video content that shows people wearing their clothes, with links that go directly to the products worn. For example, they produce videos that feature regular people donning their newest or most popular items. Customers can see products in action before deciding whether or not to buy, and if it’s an immediate yes, the link to the product page is right there in the video. It’s social commerce at its finest.

Share engaging short-form clips on TikTok 

With over a billion users worldwide, TikTok is the hottest new social media app rife with future customers for your brand to engage with. The app encourages creativity with a wide range of filters, video effects, and the ability to add music to your clips. Easily expand your audience by joining video TikTok trends and challenges, and watch your videos go viral. 

In October 2020, TikTok partnered with Shopify to introduce shoppable video ads on the app. Now business accounts can create in-feed ads included within the TikTok algorithm, making it the pinnacle of video in e-commerce. 

But shoppable videos aren’t the only way you can engage with your audience on TikTok. From behind-the-scenes videos to product demos and brand collaborations, the app is a powerhouse for all things video content and a top-tier distribution channel for all your rich UGC.

Hop on the livestreaming trend 

Originally popularized in China, livestream video in e-commerce began to trend around the world during the pandemic, when consumers craved human connection. And now, livestream shopping is changing the industry. 

Walmart created the first ever “shoppable” livestream, called the “Holiday Shop-A-Long Spectacular,” where a live digital audience got to watch ten TikTok creators showcase their favorite Walmart fashion items. 

Verishop saw the immense potential of live commerce and launched a new app called Shop Party, to meet this demand. On the app, users can hang out, explore products and shoppable content together, and purchase products. You can get in on the livestream action, too, by hosting a Shop Party for group shopping and educational lessons. 

Supercharge your product launches with video

When there’s a new kid on the block, you want it to make a splash. Teasing and announcing new products with video content is like a mini-blockbuster moment for your brand. You likely won’t become the next #Barbenheimer, but you have the chance to highlight the features and benefits of your new product with a flair that grabs attention and holds it. 

@prettywell.co

New product launch

♬ original sound – bestspedup

You can create a range of content, from teasers that pique interest and build anticipation to in-depth demonstrations that dive into the product’s features and benefits. These videos can be shared across different platforms — from your website and social media channels to email newsletters — for maximum visibility and engagement.

Incorporate video in email marketing campaigns

Who doesn’t love a brand email with great big walls of text? Right? Right? Wrong. Inboxes are often flooded with text-heavy emails, so this is yet another area where video can be a much-appreciated breath of fresh air. A well-placed video can summarize your message succinctly, so it’s easier for your audience to understand and engage with your content. 

Videos in emails can play a big part in boosting key metrics like click-through rates and engagement. People are naturally drawn to visual content, and a compelling video can encourage them to spend more time with your email and, by extension, with your brand. 

Whether it’s a product demonstration, a behind-the-scenes look, or a heartfelt message from your CEO, videos can convey emotion and information in a way that text alone cannot. You can use it to add excitement to new product announcements, offer valuable how-tos, share customer testimonials, or even give a sneak peek into upcoming events. The possibilities are endless, and the result is a more engaged and responsive audience.

Implement video into customer service and support

What’s the difference between reading through a complex troubleshooting guide and watching a simple, step-by-step video that walks you through the process? For starters, you wouldn’t be bored to tears and tempted to give up altogether. But the latter also makes the solution more accessible and adds a personal touch that can be reassuring to customers. 

Plus, video support can be incredibly versatile. Live video chats, for example, offer real-time assistance, making customers feel heard and valued. Pre-recorded instructional videos, on the other hand, provide a resource that customers can access at their convenience, reducing the need for repeated support for common issues. 

Whatever the format, implementing video in customer service demonstrates your brand’s commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction. It shows that you’re willing to go the extra mile to ensure a positive customer experience.

Video commerce: Best practices for brands

Are you tempted to immediately start recording your surroundings? Understandable, we made a good case. But before you channel your inner auteur, take a minute to consider the following best practices and ensure your video commerce strategy yields the best possible results.

Focus on high-quality video production

It’s the 21st century, and no one wants to put up with grainy videos on their feeds — especially if they’re being sold something. Unless it’s a mermaid or UFO sighting, your video content should always reflect the quality of your brand and match or surpass the standards of your competitors.

The most important elements are clear footage, good lighting, and solid editing. Sound quality also matters — clear audio without background noise is essential, especially in videos that include speaking parts or demonstrations. Investing in good-quality microphones and sound editing can really enhance the overall quality of your video. 

You can’t always get top-quality when the videos are coming from outside parties such as influencers and other content creators. But working with a UGC provider like Bazaarvoice goes a long way here. We help you partner with the right creators and ensure that the content meets your brand’s standards before making its way to your marketing channels.

Keep content authentic and relatable with UGC

We already touched on it, but it bears repeating. UGC, which includes videos created by your customers, resonates deeply with audiences because it showcases real-life experiences with your products or services. 

UGC acts as social proof. When users see other people enjoying your products, it reinforces the idea that they’re making a good choice. This peer validation is incredibly powerful at a time when consumers are bombarded with marketing messages from all sides. It cuts through the noise and provides a clear, honest perspective — a far cry from a polished, professional advertisement.

Incorporating UGC into your video commerce strategy also fosters a sense of community around your brand. It shows that you value your customers’ voices and experiences, further enhancing the connection between your brand and your audience. This community-building aspect can transform one-time buyers into brand advocates, extending your reach organically (read: free.)

Optimize videos for search engines

If you want your video content to reach the masses, you can’t ignore search engines. Just like with typical search engine optimization (SEO), video SEO involves a set of practices designed to make your content more attractive to Google & co. 

The first step is to use relevant and keyword-rich titles and descriptions. This doesn’t mean stuffing keywords in haphazardly, but rather incorporating them in a way that accurately describes the content of your video. The title and description should give potential viewers a clear idea of what to expect, while also aligning with the terms they might use in their searches. 

Thumbnails also play an important role here. A compelling thumbnail can dramatically increase the click-through rate of your video. It should be visually appealing and relevant to the content, as it serves as the first impression for potential viewers. 

Transcripts and captions are not only beneficial for accessibility but also for SEO. They provide additional text that search engines can crawl, making your video more likely to show up in searches. 

Lastly, hosting your video on a platform that is recognized and trusted by search engines can impact its visibility. Platforms like YouTube, which is owned by Google, are often prioritized in search results, making them a good choice for hosting your video content.

Ensure mobile-friendly video formats

We are quickly approaching a time when people might as well have their smartphones glued to their foreheads. While the situation isn’t that dire (yet), audiences do prefer to watch videos on their small devices — according to Statista, 70% of the digital video content audience in the US was reported to watch videos on their smartphones. So if your videos aren’t optimized for mobile, you’re already at a disadvantage. 

Optimizing for mobile means considering aspects like video format, size, and loading times. Videos should be in a format that’s widely supported across various mobile devices and operating systems. Formats like MP4 are generally a safe bet, offering good compatibility and quality. 

Another key aspect is the size and resolution of the video. While high-definition videos are great for larger screens, they might not be necessary for mobile viewing and can lead to longer loading times. Optimizing video resolution and compression for mobile devices ensures that your content loads quickly and plays smoothly, even on slower data connections. 

With the rise of mobile usage, vertical videos have gained popularity, especially on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Creating content that can be easily viewed without rotating the device can enhance the user experience significantly. 

And don’t forget to consider the design and placement of any text or graphics in your videos. On smaller screens, these elements need to be clearly visible and legible. Overcrowding the screen with too much text or too many graphics can make the content hard to follow on a mobile device and give your audience a migraine.

Drive more sales with video commerce

Regardless of what platform your brand is focusing on, using video in e-commerce is simply unavoidable. Lest we forget, it literally killed the radio star. Learn how to make shoppable video work for you and your brand to fit into the modern landscape of e-commerce. Learn more about how to collect and wield this visual content here.

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How to boost conversion with visual and social content

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Here’s a thought experiment: In the past five years, how much has the landscape of e-commerce changed? With mass remote working, the widespread adoption of TikTok, and the increase in mobile shopping, the answer is a lot. So it’s only natural that the e-commerce funnel, once a reliable roadmap for customer journeys, has undergone a considerable (and interesting) shift.  

Understanding and adapting to the new “state of the funnel” will allow you to create an interconnected, engaging journey that reflects the modern shopper’s behavior and rewards your bottom line.

Chapters:

1. The e-commerce funnel as we knew it
2. The collapse of the e-commerce funnel
3. Breaking down silos with the correct content mix
4. How to optimize the modern e-commerce funnel with UGC
5. How Iconic London adapted to the collapse of the e-commerce funnel
6. Embrace the new reality of e-commerce

The e-commerce funnel as we knew it

Picture a straight line that connects point A to point B. Now imagine that every person’s shopping journey follows that exact same shape — a neat, linear path from need to purchase. This is the essence of the traditional e-commerce funnel. It assumes that every shopper’s journey is predictable and follows a clear-cut path from consideration to purchase. 

This is a neat model, yes. But if you try to make sense of it in light of the current landscape, the cracks begin to show — because the traditional e-commerce funnel doesn’t account for the dynamism and unpredictability of modern shopping behaviors. It’s a boxed-in approach, where the focus is primarily on guiding the consumer through a set sequence of stages. 

This funnel operates under the belief that the consumer’s journey is a one-way street, leading straight to the checkout page. What the model fails to consider are the varied and often non-linear paths that consumers take in the digital age. It doesn’t leave room for the spontaneous, exploratory, and serendipitous nature of online shopping. It overlooks the fact that a consumer might jump stages, turn back a stage, or even convert immediately through in-feed check out, or one-click purchases, for example. 

It’s comforting to believe that consumers will follow exactly the path you lay out. And it usually makes the lives of e-commerce brands easier. But alas, social media and other platforms have transformed how consumers discover, research, and engage with brands. 

In a digital era where a consumer’s journey is anything but uniform, the traditional e-commerce funnel is increasingly out of touch with the realities of the online shopping experience. We might even go as far as to say that the funnel has collapsed.

The collapse of the e-commerce funnel

This collapse isn’t as devastating as it sounds. But rather, it’s a natural progression of things. The rise of social commerce, mobile shopping, and e-commerce platforms has revolutionized the buyer’s journey, evolving (or devolving) the e-commerce funnel in the process. 

The journey can start and end at any point, it’s characterized by speed, diversity, and a multitude of channels and touchpoints, making each person’s experience unique and dynamic. Someone might research a product in-store but buy it online, or use a retailer’s mobile app to compare prices while shopping in-store. A customer can move from discovery on social media to purchase without leaving the app or spending time in the consideration stage.

In this new era, search engines are the primary gateway to product pages, but other avenues like site searches, mobile apps, and social media searches are rapidly gaining traction. The traditional funnel, with its focus on a linear path that culminates in a purchase, doesn’t encapsulate the complexity and fluidity of these modern behaviors. 

Also, the term “funnel” overlooks the fact that, for many consumers, the purchase is not the end but the beginning of an ongoing relationship with a brand. This change is evident in the way consumers interact with brands beyond the point of sale. Edelman’s 2023 Trust Barometer revealed that 79% of consumers engage with brands in ways that go beyond using their products, and about 78% find attributes that attract them and foster loyalty to a brand after they purchase. 

In short, today’s buying behaviors are too dynamic for a linear mindset. For those who have been paying attention, the collapse of the e-commerce funnel isn’t a surprise — it’s an inevitability.

Social media, a new full-funnel experience

One of the main drivers of the traditional funnel collapse is social media. Channels like Instagram and TikTok have emerged as new search engines and storefronts, and almost single-handedly reshaped the e-commerce experience. 

According to our 2023 Shopper Experience Index, over half of shoppers (58%) often stumble upon new products or services through social media, surpassing traditional channels in discovery. This shift isn’t just about accidental discovery — 50% of consumers actively research products on social platforms, and 42% acknowledge the significant impact of social media on their purchasing decisions.

Social media’s influence extends beyond the initial stages of the funnel. It also plays a role in promoting brand loyalty, with 46% of shoppers regularly following their favorite brands on these platforms. This engagement translates into tangible transactions — nearly a quarter (23%) of consumers have made between one and five purchases directly through social media platforms  in the past year.

Unsurprisingly, the impact of social media on the e-commerce journey is very pronounced among younger demographics. 70% of people aged 18 to 24 are more likely to discover products through social media than any other means.

As it stands, social media isn’t just an extension of your marketing strategy, but an essential component of the modern e-commerce funnel. It’s a space where discovery, research, purchase, and loyalty come together to offer a seamless, uninterrupted, and integrated shopping experience. As consumer behaviors continue to evolve, the role of social media in the e-commerce funnel will only grow, making it an indispensable tool for you to connect with your audience in a meaningful and impactful way.

Breaking down silos with the correct content mix

Typically, teams that run top-of-the-funnel (awareness) and bottom-of-the-funnel (conversion) activities are different and tend to work in silos. But in the face of a collapsed funnel, brands can streamline costs and enhance the shopping experience with content that breaks down these barriers and integrates into each phase, from the awareness stage to consideration, conversion, and post-purchase loyalty.

When it comes to your content supply chain, a balanced mix of branded-, creator-, and user-generated content is essential to address full funnel needs. But 67% of brands and retailers plan to increase their spend on UGC in the coming year to meet rising consumer demands.

User-generated content (UGC) presents an economic means of driving high quality, high converting content for any phase of the buying journey. UGC is content produced by your customers (a.k.a. real people who use your products) and can take many forms, from written reviews to video testimonials, photos, and more.

There’s a real hunger for this type of content on the consumer side, as it makes customers more confident in their buying decisions — our Shopper Experience Index revealed that 55% of shoppers are unlikely to buy a product without UGC, and 62% are more likely to buy a product if they can view customer photos and videos.

Whether it’s an Instagram ad, an organic TikTok post, a homepage gallery, or a product page, UGC is the type of content that fits at every stage of the e-commerce funnel, and in every channel the modern consumer uses throughout their journey. 

How to optimize the modern e-commerce funnel with UGC

There’s a lot to love about UGC, but one of its biggest selling points is versatility. Customer reviews, photos, and videos can be seamlessly woven into different stages of the e-commerce funnel to create a more engaging, trustworthy, and cohesive shopping experience — regardless of what the journey looks like for each individual consumer.

In the discovery phase, UGC is the magnet that attracts potential customers through relatable and authentic content. During consideration, it provides social proof, reassuring customers about their potential choices. At the point of purchase, UGC can tip the scales in favor of conversion. And in the post-purchase phase, it encourages brand loyalty and advocacy, turning your customers into long-term brand ambassadors. 

Discovery: Building brand awareness

In the discovery phase, where the primary goal is to get eyes on your brand, UGC helps you spin a unique narrative that draws potential customers into your world. Thanks to its authentic nature, UGC gets through to audiences in a way that traditional content marketing can’t.

It provides a glimpse into the real-life experiences of existing customers, making your brand more approachable and trustworthy. These are the top ways you can leverage UGC at this point in the e-commerce game:

Social media showcases: Social media platforms are a fantastic source of high-quality visual UGC and one of the primary points of distribution for it (remember, consumers might very well begin and end their journey without even leaving a social media platform.) Pepper in discovery-focused UGC like customer photos, videos, and stories in your feeds that provide an overview of your products, highlight benefits, or introduce the ethos of your brand to newcomers. For example, a sports apparel brand might create a hashtag campaign encouraging customers to post their outfit photos and caption them with one healthy habit they try to adopt every day. That’s a ton of rich UGC the brand can then reshare to its own accounts.

Incorporate UGC in digital ads: 40% of shoppers say UGC makes them more likely to buy a product from an ad, so use that to your advantage. Incorporate UGC in digital advertising campaigns, whether it’s Google Shopping, TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram ads, to add a layer of authenticity and relatability to your marketing. 

Interactive UGC galleries: Create interactive UGC galleries and display them on your homepage and landing pages, where website visitors can see how others are using the products. If you’re a home decor brand, you can have a gallery where customers upload pictures of their home interiors featuring your products, offering inspiration and real-life use cases to brand-new visitors. 

Feature customer stories on your e-commerce site: Our 2022 Shopper Experience Index revealed that 74% of shoppers want to see consumer content on brands’ websites. Galleries are one way to do this, but you can go the extra mile and create a dedicated section on the website for customer stories or testimonials. This can be a powerful way to introduce new visitors to your brand through the lens of existing customers. For instance, a travel gear brand could feature stories from customers who have taken their products on adventures, complete with photos and quotes, on a special “Our Community” webpage. 

Include UGC in welcome emails: Incorporate UGC in your emails to introduce new subscribers to the brand community. An example scenario of this strategy could be a fitness brand including customer success stories and workout photos in their welcome email, showcasing the impact of their products and programs.

Consideration: Engaging potential customers

UGC can further engage people who just found out about your brand. While some customers might skip this phase, others take time to evaluate their options, compare products, and decide if what you offer meets their needs and addresses their pain points. 

Here’s how UGC can be used for funnel optimization in this context: 

Showcasing real-life product use: Use UGC to show how real customers are using and benefiting from your products. This approach addresses any concerns or questions potential customers might have. For instance, a skincare brand can share before-and-after photos and testimonials from customers who have seen real results, providing tangible proof of product effectiveness. 

@rhode @naomigenes ♬ original sound – Speed Audios

Hosting Q&A sessions with existing customers: Facilitate Q&A sessions or discussions between potential and existing customers. You can do this through social media platforms or on your product pages. 

Incorporating UGC in product demos: Blend UGC with professional product demonstrations. This combination gives potential new customers a well-rounded view of the product in action — like a fitness equipment brand creating video content that combines professional demonstrations with clips of real people using the equipment at home. 

Highlighting customer reviews and ratings: 88% of shoppers consult ratings and reviews before making a purchase. Make good use of every review you have at your disposal by displaying them prominently on your website, making you a real contender in the minds of potential customers who are weighing their options.

Writing UGC-driven blog posts: Supercharge your SEO blog content with UGC. This includes customer success stories, tips, and how-to guides based on real user experiences. For example, an outdoor gear brand could publish a blog series featuring stories from customers about their adventures using the brand’s gear, providing both inspiration and practical insights. 

Including UGC in email marketing: Add UGC to your email marketing campaigns and newsletters. This strategy can help personalize the user experience, make the content more relatable, and keep your brand top of mind during the consideration stage (like a gourmet food brand sending emails featuring customer-created recipes using their products, along with reviews and photos from these home chefs.)

Conversion: Encouraging purchase decisions

At the conversion stage, the focus shifts to turning consideration into action. This is where user-generated content becomes your ally in making potential customers become paying customers.

UGC, with its authentic and relatable nature, can play a significant role in alleviating last-minute jitters and reinforcing the decision to buy. Here’s how you can use UGC to encourage purchase decisions: 

Product page optimization: Incorporate customer photos or videos directly on product pages to provide potential buyers with a real-life view of the product in use. If you’re an apparel brand, you might include a gallery of customer photos on each product page of your online store, showing how different people style their clothing. 

Include UGC in abandoned cart emails: Use UGC in cart abandonment emails to remind customers of what they’re missing. Personal stories or images can reignite the interest that leads them to add items to their shopping cart (such as a home decor brand sending emails featuring photos of beautifully decorated rooms by customers using the items left in the cart, adding a personal touch to the reminder.)

Add customer testimonials to the checkout process: Display customer testimonials or reviews during the checkout process to reinforce the buyer’s decision and reduce cart abandonment rates.

Loyalty: Driving repeat business

You’re building trust with your customers — good job! But this is only the beginning of what can be a very beneficial symbiotic relationship. Now the goal is customer retention, turning a one-time buyer into a repeat customer, a brand advocate who not only comes back for more but also sings your praises to the world. 

User-generated content provides a platform for customers to share their experiences and influence others to follow suit:

Create a community around UGC: Build an online community where customers can share their experiences, tips, and ideas related to your products. If you’re a home decor brand, you can create an online forum or a social media group where customers share home styling photos and tips using your products. 

Reward UGC contributions: Implement a rewards system for customers who create UGC and incentivize them to keep feeding your marketing channels. This could be in the form of discounts, a loyalty program, or early access to new products. 

Leverage UGC for product development: Use UGC as a source of customer feedback for product development. Engage with loyal customers to understand their needs and preferences for future products and ensure they never leave your side. 

How Iconic London adapted to the collapse of the e-commerce funnel

Iconic London, a digital-first beauty brand, is a masterclass in adapting to the new e-commerce landscape. Recognizing the shift in consumer shopping habits and the importance of a seamless digital experience, Iconic London partnered with Bazaarvoice to tap into user-generated content and bridge the gap between social media engagement and e-commerce growth. 

The brand’s strategy was simple: Integrate UGC across digital channels to foster relationships with customers and drive conversions. Iconic London launched Like2Buy on Instagram and implemented Bazaarvoice Galleries on their product pages and homepage, creating a continuous shopping experience that resonated with their social media-savvy audience. 

By sharing UGC on their e-commerce store, Iconic London strengthened the trust and connection with their customers. The product page galleries, featuring customer tags and content, not only celebrated their community but also provided an authentic representation of their products in use. 

Iconic London’s adoption of Like2Buy on Instagram linked their social content to product pages. This strategy helped the brand win on two fronts. First, it compensated for revenue decline due to changes in the digital landscape. Second, it reinforced the brand’s commitment to a social-first approach, catering to customers who prefer shopping on social. 

We know that our customers like shopping in a social environment. It’s the way the industry is going, but especially Iconic. So having Like2Buy allows us to maintain that social shopping experience a bit longer. It allows it to overflow into the website, onto the product page, and the homepage

Lizzie Newell, Head of Marketing, Social, and Campaigns at Iconic London

Over 12 months, Iconic London saw a 126% lift in conversion rates and an 11% increase in average order value. While the metrics alone were a victory, their approach also highlights the importance of authenticity, continuity, and customer engagement in driving e-commerce success today.  

Embrace the new reality of e-commerce

To thrive in this new era, you have to adapt and embrace strategies that resonate with current consumer behaviors. Mastering the changing e-commerce funnel means balancing your marketing context mix with a healthy balance of brand and user-generated content.

And more importantly, getting that content in front of shoppers everywhere they are. Not just your PDPs but on social channels, paid media, video content, email campaigns, and in-store.

Learn more about how consumers are driving this shifting funnel and how brands and retailers are adapting in our Shopper Experience Index — a report of 7,000 global consumers and 465 brands and retailers that highlights the concerns of shoppers in the face of market shifts.

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Masterclass: Thriving amidst funnel chaos: How to show up with the right content in the right place

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People want a seamless experience when they shop, one that’s tailored to their preferences, needs, and behavior. And if brands meet these expectations, they’ll be rewarded with loyalty and revenue, even in times of rising inflation and economic uncertainty.

According to Salesforce, 65% of consumers say they will stay loyal to companies if they offer more personalized experiences. And in a recent Twilio Segment report, 80% of business leaders revealed consumers spend more (38% on average) when their experience is personalized.

Yet, many brands still struggle to deliver on this front. Salesforce research also discovered that consumers’ top frustrations range from disconnected experiences (40%) to being offered products that aren’t relevant to them (33%).

So how can you effectively answer the call for a personalized customer journey that rewards both you and your customer base? How can you deliver the right message, in the right place, at the right time? With contextualization.

Chapters:

1. What is contextualization?
2. The role of digital body language
3. Privacy concerns and first-party data
4. Contextualization strategies in action
5. Personalize the entire customer journey with a contextualization solution

What is contextualization?

Contextualization is the practice of seamlessly integrating e-commerce shopping opportunities into a shoppers daily life, regardless of what channel they’re on or where in the buying process. With contextualization, your shoppers are able to find and purchase products within the context in which they discover them, be it on an app, social platform, email, or wherever they are. In practice, this could be a voice command to an Amazon Echo or a “buy now” link on Instagram or a product page.

This hyper-personalized process delivers your customers (and potential customers) an elevated shopping experience which inspires more purchases.

But while personalization relies on information from customers that you’ve previously collected, contextualization anticipates shopper behavior and reacts based on this prediction. It’s like a digital version of reading a friend or family member’s body language.

The role of digital body language

Think about the last conversation you had with a friend over coffee. Chances are, words were just one part of how you communicated and understood each other. The unspoken element of body language also played a pivotal role. A tilt of the head, a furrowed brow, or a relaxed stance — these non-verbal cues often tell us more than words alone. 

Even if we’re not aware of doing so, we instinctively read, interpret, and react to these cues, adjusting our approach, tone, and even our words. This silent feedback guides us in how to build rapport, when to push forward, and when to step back. 

In e-commerce, you don’t have physical movements or facial expressions to guide you. Instead, you have digital body language, a virtual counterpart that is equally telling. Throughout the customer journey, every action a visitor takes — from the pages they linger on, to the products they zoom in on, to the reviews they read — is a form of digital body language. These contextual signals are rich with insights, mirroring the silent cues we rely on in personal interactions. 

Just as a smile or a frown in a physical store gives away a customer’s feelings, digital actions convey similar messages. A quick series of clicks might indicate excitement or urgency, while prolonged inactivity might suggest confusion or disinterest. Interpreting digital body language is what allows brands to understand and anticipate the needs and preferences of their customers, and create a more personalized, intuitive, and satisfying shopping journey.

How to analyze and respond to digital body language

Shoppers are leaving behind a valuable trail of digital breadcrumbs, but you need to decipher them and respond accordingly. This is best accomplished with machine learning software — tools that capture a vast array of user data, identifying patterns in behavior that might otherwise go unnoticed. 

For example, a customer’s hesitation at checkout, indicated by slower mouse movements, can be instantly recognized. The tech can then respond instantly by displaying a reassuring message about product quality, rich reviews, or a limited-time discount offer. 

One significant advantage of machine learning is its ability to analyze behavior without the need for user logins. Whether a shopper is a first-time visitor or a returning customer, you can glean valuable insights from their interactions on your site. But 97 – 98% of a website’s traffic is anonymous, which means that personalization based only on previous consumer data can fail to create contextual experiences for almost all of a site’s visitors.

And unlike traditional analytics, which require time for data processing and interpretation, machine learning operates in real-time. This immediacy is vital in the context of digital shopping, where a delay of minutes can mean the difference between a completed sale and an abandoned cart. 

Privacy concerns and first-party data

By now, you’ve realized that digital body language is essentially customer data, and acting on it (a.k.a. personalizing the shopping experience) inevitably involves collecting that data. With the collapse of third-party cookies set to become final by the end of 2024, how do you go about it in a way that’s safe and compliant? That’s where first-party data comes in.

First-party data is information collected directly from your customers through interactions with your brand –– be it clicks through to website, transactions, or product searches. Unlike third-party data, this information is owned only by your brand and is provided directly by your customers, meaning you don’t have to rely on data aggregators or third-party domains. And since it’s information you get directly from the source, it’s also more reliable than third-party data.

The key concept when talking about first-party data is consent. This means that to be compliant, you need explicit permission from customers to collect information about how they interact with you. You’ve likely seen this at work before, with websites asking you for permission to store first-party cookies on your browser while also giving you the option to opt in or out of data collection.

To ensure website visitors opt in, be transparent and make it clear that it’s a win-win situation. Tell them what data you’re collecting and why. 67% of shoppers are comfortable giving out their behavioral data to allow brands to enhance their experiences, so explain that by accepting, their information will be used precisely for that purpose. 

Contextualization strategies in action

You have your customers’ permission to freely collect their data. Now, it’s time to make the magic happen and use the information to personalize each interaction to their hearts’ content.

Displaying relevant product recommendations

What if you could waltz into a store where every product on display had been handpicked for you? The colors match your taste, the sizes are just right, and every item seems to call out to your unique preferences. You’d likely linger for a while and spend a lot more money than if you were faced with a pile of generic items you had to sift through until something stood out. The same logic can be applied to an e-commerce scenario.

By leveraging data like browsing history, purchase patterns, and search queries, you can curate personalized product suggestions that resonate with each shopper. For instance, if a customer frequently views outdoor gear, showing them the latest camping equipment or hiking apparel would enhance their shopping experience.

Types of product recommendations you can display based on customer data include: 

• Similar Items: Suggest products similar to what the customer is currently viewing, like showing different styles of running shoes to a shopper browsing a specific sneaker. 

• Previously viewed items: Remind customers of items they’ve looked at in the past, which can be particularly effective in nudging them towards a purchase. 

• Cross-selling: Suggest items that complement the customer’s current selection, like recommending a phone case to a customer buying a smartphone. 

• Upsell recommendations: Offer premium or upgraded versions of the products the customer is interested in. 

• Location-based recommendations: Tailoring suggestions based on the customer’s location can significantly enhance relevance. For example, suggesting lightweight clothing to customers in warmer climates or snow gear to those in colder regions. 

Online marketplace Vinted suggests products based on the shopper’s previously bought items.

Personalizing website elements

Websites are dynamic and rich with elements that can be tailored with dynamically updating content that resonates with each shopper. From the moment a customer lands on your page, you can make it so the layout, the content, and the offers are aligned with their interests and behaviors.

One effective approach is to recognize and cater to returning customers. This can be as simple as displaying discounts and highlighting the popularity of items they viewed but didn’t purchase during their last visit. A feature like this not only saves time for the shopper but also demonstrates that your brand values their interest and time. 

Other key website areas can dynamically adapt to the visitor’s preferences and behaviors. This includes: 

• Homepage banners: Tailor these to showcase products or offers relevant to the visitor’s past interactions. If they’re a first-time visitor, highlight your best-selling or featured products to give them a taste of what your brand offers

• Product pages: Adjust product descriptions and images based on what the visitor has shown interest in previously

• Product categories: Customize the display order of categories or highlight specific ones based on the user’s browsing history or the popularity of products within that category 

• Checkout or shopping cart page: Personalize these pages with last-minute additions based on the items in the cart or make the shopper feel great about their choices by highlighting how much money they’re saving

Amazon encourages customers to pick where they left off and prominently displays the most relevant product categories based on previous website behavior.

Enabling dynamic pricing

Dynamic pricing involves adjusting prices based on factors like demand, competitor pricing, and inventory levels. For example, during high-demand periods, such as holiday seasons, prices may increase slightly. In the context of personalization, dynamic pricing means leveraging a customer’s purchase history and engagement levels to adapt pricing in real time.

Past purchase data provides insights into your customers’ preferences and spending habits. For instance, if a customer frequently purchases high-end products, they might be more receptive to premium offerings at slightly higher price points.

Conversely, customers who typically look for deals or budget items could be more price-sensitive, and offering them competitively priced products could increase the likelihood of repeat purchases.

Customer engagement is another critical factor in dynamic pricing. Customers who regularly interact with your site — whether through frequent visits, newsletter sign-ups, or consistent browsing — show a higher level of interest in your products. This engagement can be a signal to offer personalized discounts or deals, encouraging them to move from browsing to purchasing.

It’s important to remain transparent so you can maintain trust and prevent potential dissatisfaction. Customers should be aware that prices may vary based on several factors, including demand, seasonality, and their shopping behavior. 

Adopting triggered messaging

Triggered messages are automated responses to specific actions taken by customers while they peruse your website. Although usually pre-set by e-commerce teams rather than using diigtla body language, they’ll still improve the shopping experience.

Whether someone adds an item to their cart, spends time on a particular product page, or even shows signs of leaving the website, each action can trigger a tailored message that encourages them to move forward in their journey.

Triggered messages can look like:

• Welcome messages: Sent immediately after a new subscription or account creation, these set the tone for the customer relationship (and often include discounts for first-time visitors) 

• Abandoned cart reminders: Target customers who have added items to their cart but haven’t completed the purchase, gently nudging them to return. These usually pop up when the customer is about to leave the website, but can also appear when someone comes back

• Post-purchase follow-ups: Messages that thank the customer, provide shipping information, or suggest related products once they complete a purchase

• Special discounts: If a customer is lingering on a product page, a pop up can display a discount code, bundle deal, or a similar strategy that encourages purchase

• Time-sensitive/low-stock messages: These alerts inform customers about limited-time offers or notify them when an item they’ve shown interest in is running low in stock, or if it looks like the visitor is about to leave the page 

When it comes to triggered messages, timing matters. They should be sent when the customer’s interaction is still fresh so that the message is relevant and has a greater impact. 

Fashion brand Cider uses triggered messages to offer special discounts when first-time visitors access specific product pages.

Personalize the entire customer journey with a contextualization solution

Bazaarvoice’s AI-driven contextualization technology sets the stage for a new level of enhanced online shopping experiences and customer engagement. The solution offers unprecedented insights into shopper behavior, allowing you to deliver precisely timed, relevant content that resonates with each customer’s unique journey. 

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In such a competitive landscape, driving shoppers to your e-commerce site is no small feat. So retailers and brands need to step up their game if they want to improve their e-commerce conversion rates. 

The average conversion rate for e-commerce sites across all sectors ranges from about 2% to 4%, even though these websites usually get millions of visitors a day. Improving e-commerce conversion rates is crucial in terms of profitability, of course, but also for building a loyal shopper base. 

Here’s a closer look at what e-commerce conversion rates are, how to calculate your conversion rates, and 10 strategies for boosting them. 

Chapters:

1. What is e-commerce conversion rate?
2. How to calculate e-commerce conversion rate
3. How to increase your e-commerce conversion rates
4. Improve e-commerce conversion rates with Bazaarvoice

What is e-commerce conversion rate? 

E-commerce conversion rate refers to the percentage of users who take an action when visiting a website. In other words, it’s the ratio of transactions compared to website sessions. 

Making a purchase is one of the most desirable types of conversions for e-commerce sites. Conversion rates include other types of actions, too. 

Completing a lead-generation form, contacting customer service, subscribing to an email newsletter, downloading an asset, or engaging in another way are all types of conversion. Essentially, conversation rates tell you a lot about how shoppers behave once they visit your website. 

How to calculate e-commerce conversion rate

To calculate your e-commerce conversion rate, divide the number of visitors who make a purchase (or took another desired action) by the total number of visitors to the site. Then, multiply that number by 100. So the formula for calculating e-commerce conversion rates is as follows: 

(Total visitors who purchase / total website visitors) x 100 = e-commerce conversion rate 

For example, say a website has 500,000 unique visitors a month and 10,000 of those visitors make a purchase.

(10,000 / 500,000) x 100 = 2% conversion rate

E-commerce conversion rates vary by industry, and many brands keep this information top secret. According to an Unbounce report, e-commerce conversion rates averaged 5.2% in 2021, across all online shopping sectors.

Lower-cost items, like food and apparel, tend to have higher conversion rates, while more expensive products and services, such as travel, have lower rates. 

How to increase your e-commerce conversion rates 

Now to the good part. Now that you’ve calculated your e-commerce rate, you may realize it needs a little boost. Improving e-commerce conversion rates relies on creating high-quality shopping experiences that provide consumers with all the information they need to make an informed decision and easily complete a purchase. 

Here’s 10 strategies proven to improve your e-commerce conversion rates.  

1. Make your e-commerce site easy to navigate

A poor shopping experience, with a slow-loading product page or overly complicated checkout process, turns shoppers off. 52% of consumers admit to getting frustrated when e-commerce sites are too slow, according to a Retail Systems Research survey. More than 90% of these shoppers leave the website altogether and start shopping at a competitor’s website or Amazon. And, many never return. 

If your e-commerce site isn’t loading within about 3 seconds, work on speeding things up. A one-second delay in a website’s response can cause conversion rates to drop by 7%. Also, make web pages easy to navigate so consumers can find what they’re looking for quickly and with ease.  

Then, make it simple for a shopper to actually buy what they want. Reduce the number of fields a consumer needs to complete to check out and accept a variety of payment types. 87% of shoppers say they’ll abandon a shopping cart if a checkout process is too complicated, according to Meta for Business. 

2. Remove anything that could distract online shoppers

Making it easy to purchase from your e-commerce site also involves removing any distracting information, like extra links, pop-up boxes, or confusing navigation features. You only have a few seconds to grab consumers’ attention, so cluttered pages drive down conversion rates. 

Websites should be designed to guide consumers by including calls-to-action, such as “add to cart” or “checkout now.” Include lots of filters to help shoppers find exactly what they’re looking for. Too many options can be overwhelming. 

3. Conduct A/B testing to uncover weak spots

The only way to truly know how a consumer perceives your e-commerce site and what it’s like to use it is to test it out. Conducting an A/B test lets you compare different versions or elements of your website to see which performs best. 

Test out product headlines, colors, descriptions, page layouts, navigation, and calls-to-action to see what resonates most with your audience. A/B testing will identify what visitors are most likely to click on and which products they’re most likely to buy.

This process will help you uncover strong points and weak spots that are affecting your conversion rates. So, you’ll know what changes to make to your website to improve conversions. 

4. Optimize your site for mobile

People spend several hours a day on their smartphones, browsing their social media feeds and shopping online. About 80% of smartphone users say they’ve purchased something on their devices in the past six months. That number is only going to rise with the rapid rise of social commerce. Mobile commerce continues to rise and is expected to account for about 40% of all e-commerce sales, according to eMarketer. 

Optimizing your e-commerce site for mobile is more crucial than ever to reach these shoppers and make it easy for them to browse, add items to their carts, and complete the checkout. Not having a mobile-friendly website could also affect your search engine rankings, making it tough for consumers to find you in the first place. 

To increase mobile conversions, you should try to increase the page’s font size, compress images, and improve page speed. Failing to provide a top-notch shopping experience will not only decrease conversions but also drive consumers over to your competitors.

5. Increase user-generated content to help consumers purchase with confidence  

User-generated content (UGC) builds trust with consumers and inspires them to shop with confidence. Most shoppers consult with reviews before making a purchase, and 40% say they won’t buy something if the product page doesn’t feature UGC. That’s because shoppers want to hear about your products from their fellow shoppers, not from you. Winning over today’s shoppers means tapping into the voice of the customer through UGC.

UGC offers authenticity that shoppers appreciate. They can learn from real consumers about how a product performs in real-world situations, good and bad. Featuring this content on product pages drives sales. Shoppers that engage with UGC are more likely to convert. 

We’ve seen that the retailers and brands that use Ratings & Reviews tools can increase conversion rates by 3.6% and boost engagement by nearly 12%. The more reviews the better, too — for every 10 new reviews, sales increase by up to 5%. 

For example, Appliances Online, Australia’s largest online appliance retailer, has increased its review volume, gathering over 300,000 reviews. This has helped the brand improve e-commerce conversion rates 3x when shoppers engage with UGC. As Sven Lindell, CMO at Appliances Online, puts it, “Without a doubt, there’s a strong correlation between customers interacting with reviews and conversion rate.”

6. Feature visual UGC to boost authenticity 

Along their product discovery journey, shoppers seek out photos and videos from other consumers. Many view these images as more authentic and trustworthy since they show products in use by real people versus professionally shot photos. 

47% of shoppers look for visual UGC on product pages, and more than 30% check search engines and other websites that sell your products for the UGC, according to Bazaarvoice research. Asking shoppers to include photos and videos with their reviews or to tag your brand on social media are some ways to collect visual UGC. Displaying this content on your e-commerce site and your social media accounts not only creates an emotional connection but also drives sales. 

For example, premium cycling products brand Le Col experienced a 5x jump in conversions and a 12% average order value increase when shoppers engaged with its shoppable galleries.

7. Respond to consumer feedback 

Shoppers feel valued when they see you listening and responding to their needs. Answering their questions and responding to their reviews, both negative and positive, builds confidence and loyalty. Brands and retailers that respond to feedback can see improve e-commerce conversion rates by 98%. 

When consumers see a brand’s response to reviews, 47% say it increases the chances that they’ll purchase. Even negative reviews don’t deter shoppers from coming back, as long as a brand has responded. Many shoppers actually find negative reviews to be more informative, and reading them lends an air of authenticity to the shopping experience. Negative reviews help drive conversion rates more so than having no reviews at all. 

Bazaarvoice customer Webroot, an internet security software, has responded to 70% of its low-rated reviews. This has improved the shopping experiences for its customers but also humanized the brand for future customers. It has also helped the brand position itself as consumer-centric. 

8. Provide discounts and offers 

Who doesn’t love free shipping or 10% off a purchase? Offering these types of promotions attracts shoppers to your brand and entices them to purchase. Nearly 75% of consumers rank offers as a top factor in deciding where to shop and what to buy, according to RetailMeNot. 

Discounts and offers also improve the shopping experience. High shipping costs are one of the top reasons consumers abandon their online shopping carts. Shoppers also tend to spend more when they receive free shipping or a coupon. 

Creating personalized offers that make sense for your brand can drive up conversion rates and turn new shoppers into loyalists. To encourage purchases, send an offer when someone joins your email list or create tailored messages for your regular shoppers. 

9. Send follow-up emails 

Whether it’s connecting with a shopper after they’ve made a purchase, just saying hello, or reminding them that they have a cart full of goodies, sending follow-up emails creates connections and can ultimately boost e-commerce conversion rates. 

Many shoppers load up their carts and then decide not to follow through with the purchase for whatever reason. Ignoring this means you’re missing out on these sales. Send an abandoned cart email to these consumers reminding them to complete their purchase and even offering a discount if they do so. 

Personalized email messages can drive conversions even higher. Do this by grouping customer segments based on different criteria, such as past purchases, location, or products that they’ve clicked on but not purchased. Shoppers will appreciate this high level of customer service and will be inspired to consider a purchase. 

Sending a review request email where you invite shoppers to review something they’ve recently purchased is a great way to encourage UGC, and can increase review volume by 8x. The more reviews you attract, the more confident consumers will feel shopping with you. A PIE also helps you solicit feedback about products or customer service so that you can deliver an even better experience next time. 

10. Focus on customer service 

Happy shoppers are more likely to buy things from their favorite brands, repeat those purchases, and recommend those retailers and brands to their friends and family. Focusing on offering top-quality customer service will boost e-commerce conversion rates. 

A poor customer service experience has led 52% of consumers to switch brands, according to Meta for Business. And, many shoppers would pay more to shop with brands that offer convenience and amazing customer experiences. 

Take time to ask for feedback via ratings and reviews and customer satisfaction surveys. Review the responses and look for patterns or ways that you can improve your offerings. Respond to customer needs, too, whether it’s a social media post, email, question, or review. This shows that you care what they have to say and that you value their business.

Improve e-commerce conversion rates with Bazaarvoice

As online shopping continues to be the go-to for most consumers, driving shoppers to your e-commerce sites and enticing them to purchase is crucial for retailers and brands. By encouraging feedback and ensuring quality customer service and a seamless shopping experience, you’ll build trust and stand out each time a shopper is looking to buy something new. 

If you want to learn more about boosting your e-commerce conversion rates, the Bazaarvoice platform is built specifically with increasing conversion rates in mind — everywhere your shoppers are. Learn more about it here.

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The e-commerce manager’s guide to user-generated content

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For example, spending habits have completely changed in the last 12 months, with 77% of consumers now saying they’re reducing spend on any non-essential items (more on that later).

That’s why e-commerce and brand managers need to keep their ears to the ground and stay abreast of any changes.

And that’s exactly why Bazaarvoice recently hosted INSPIRE — a global, in-person roadshow looking into the latest commerce trends, using lessons from industry pioneers and insights into innovative approaches to using authentic shopper content.

Commerce trends for 2024

Based on our latest consumer research and insights from global marketing leaders, here’s the biggest commerce trends we learned to guide your brand through 2024 and beyond.

1. Voice of the customer is your best sales tool

It’s no longer a secret that today’s shoppers want to hear about your products from their fellow shoppers, not from your brand. Ratings and reviews, social posts, Q&As, and other forms of user-generated content are all the physical form of the voice of your customer — and it’s what shoppers want to see.

• 55% of shoppers say they’re unlikely to buy a product that doesn’t feature any type of customer opinion-sharing content (like UGC)
• 78% of shoppers feel more confident in their purchase when they view shopper content
• 74% of consumers trust shopper content more than branded content on product pages

That’s because this content is perceived as more authentic and trustworthy. Putting this modern form of word-of-mouth marketing in front of consumers across every touchpoint in the buying journey (online and offline) is what’s going to inspire purchases.

But three quarters of brands say they still spend the majority of their budget on branded content. The takeaway? Balance your marketing channel mix with a more even mix of shopper- and branded-content and watch your sales soar. 

Lifestyle brand Villeroy & Boch realized this and turned to the voice of the customer for their product pages. “User-generated content is one of the most trustworthy types of content a brand could show to their customers,” said Sabine Kaufmann, Head of e-commerce Operations Dining & Lifestyle.

It worked, too. The brand has since seen a 275% increase in conversion rate and a 29% increase in average order value.

2. Social is the new search

An exciting new commerce trend is one that is growing rapidly — social media is the new search engine. Shoppers, especially tech-savvy Gen Z, are increasingly turning to social media platforms for product discovery. Rather than typing “low rise jeans” into Google, they’re typing it into apps like Instagram and TikTok to see how products look on real customers in real life situations (there’s that voice of the customer again!)

According to our Shopper Experience Index, 58% of shoppers say they’ve discovered a product or service through social media (as opposed to 49% through search engines), but it’s not just for product discovery, either. Social shopping is now a full funnel experience.

The takeaway for your brand? You need to work on a social media SEO strategy to ensure you find your shoppers where they are.

3. The rise of value-seeking shoppers

Globally, 73% of consumers claim to have changed their spending habits. And before you get excited, they’re not spending more. Unsurprisingly given the cost of living crisis, there’s been a huge reduction in spending on practical and delayable items. 

Even those consumers who are still spending, 62% of them say they seek out value-for-money information from shopper content. And that’s where the good news comes in: almost three quarters of shoppers are willing to try a different brand from one they normally buy. 

Brand loyalty is being questioned as shoppers seek out more value which is a golden chance for you to win over a wave of new shoppers.

4. AI and machine learning is here to stay

It’s arguable that AI isn’t a commerce trend because there’s probably no bigger buzzword in the world currently than generative AI. It’s everywhere, and feels a bit like the wild west with AI seemingly popping up on every piece of marketing legislature. 

But if you cut through some of the noise, those brands doing AI right are the ones who are future-proofing their business. According to our research, almost three quarters of shoppers have avoided leaving a review on at least one occasion because they didn’t know what to say. But imagine if you had the tools to assist them in their content creation? How much UGC could you collect, and at scale?

67% of shoppers think it would be helpful if e-commerce sites provided AI-powered coaching to help them leave a review. Your shoppers are willing, they just need the AI tools to give them the kick they need.

Generative AI does more than assist shoppers with content creation. Tools like Instagram photo captions powered by Generative AI can write Instagram captions for you, giving you back 80% more time to focus on more important things, like building out your social strategy.

5. The creator economy continues to grow

There’s a big debate between influencers vs. creators (spoiler alert: they’re the same thing) but however you refer to them, one thing rings true. The market of creators is valued at $250 billion, which is hardly a sum to scoff at. And that number is predicted to rise to $480 billion by 2027.

Almost every large brand we heard from at INSPIRE — Adidas, Michael Kors, Bazaarvoice — spoke to the value of creator marketing, because of the trusted voice it brings to brands.

These influencers are reliable, authentic content creators with followings ranging from nano (<10,000) up to mega (over one million), with varying engagement rates and prices. But it goes even further. Now 53% of shoppers identify themselves as UGC creators. The main challenge for brands though is finding that creator who perfectly encapsulates their ideal audience.

A pain point that Bazaarvoice identified with our recent acquisition of the affable.ai platform, the leading AI-driven influencer marketing solution. Bazaarvoice affable.ai enables you to easily identify the perfect creator for your brand, then connect, manage, and measure your collaboration.

Shopper Experience Index: Find even more commerce trends

Many of the takeaways and statistics from INSPIRE were based on volume 17 of our Shopper Experience Index — a report of 7,000 consumer respondents in seven different markets, and 465 global brands and retailers, looking into consumer behavior and expectations.

For further insights and commerce trends to guide your brand strategy, you can find the full report here. 

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At the point of discovery, when online shoppers stumble upon a great find, they’re more likely to simply research the item, not purchase it. Shoppers primarily use shop tags on social media to learn about a product, according to Bazaarvoice research. Only 25% of consumers actually use those tags to make an immediate purchase.

This illustrates that there’s a disconnect between how people shop online and how brands force them to do so. While the internet has no shortage of products available for purchase, brick-and-mortar retail stores have a significant advantage over e-commerce: They’re designed for discovery shopping. However, your e-commerce brand can grow engagement and sales by implementing discovery shopping. Keep reading to learn how.

The e-commerce discovery problem

If you’ve ever visited a store just to browse and left with a cute sweater, a useful gadget, or bags of impulse items you just had to have, you’ve engaged in discovery shopping. This is the act of shopping for entertainment or without knowing what you’re looking for — and you’re certainly not alone. By some estimates, discovery shopping accounts for about half of the retail market.

But that’s not the case online. Why? Because the way most e-commerce stores are set up makes discovery shopping difficult for the following reasons.

E-commerce is designed for conversions — not discovery

Most e-commerce sites are made to be transactional. They may employ tools like product reviews to help validate your purchasing decisions, or they may offer up product recommendations to introduce you to other items. However, this is typically done in a restrictive fashion because e-commerce sites are designed primarily to convert. They’re set up to help you find exactly what you’re searching for and to get you to make a purchase as quickly as possible.

But when we shop in a retail environment, this isn’t the case. In stores, we wander through aisles, see thousands of products simply by looking around, and can interact with these items — touch them, read their tags, try them on — easily.

Shoppers often end up spending more time and money in brick-and-mortar stores rather than online ones due to the way they’re physically set up. This type of experience is challenging to create in e-commerce because of the limitations of UX and because there are simply so many items to represent digitally. Also, these sites are typically built from catalogs, which contain product information and detail photos — but not lifestyle content.

In other words, most e-commerce sites don’t provide consumers with the shopping experience they crave because the sites don’t invite shoppers to browse and discover the same way they do in stores.

This experience is easier to create on social, though, because of the engaging lifestyle content we find there. And e-commerce sites can bridge this gap and give consumers what they want by simply tagging lifestyle imagery with product metadata.

Social media can’t get the job done alone

Social media is leading the way in doing this, and it’s starting to change e-commerce as a result. Discovery on social is growing, with nearly 80% of shoppers saying they’ve discovered a new product on social media.

Instagram launched shoppable photos in 2016 which began to change the way brands thought about marketing and sales within the realm of social media, especially on mobile.

But simply making social shoppable isn’t the solution. Research shows that nearly 50% of consumers who purchase a product they discover on social media buy it online at a later date. However, nearly as many people buy an item in a retail store (13%) as people who buy it immediately (19%). This indicates that merely allowing people to purchase directly from social isn’t enough to prompt a purchasing decision.

Bazaarvoice takes this shopping experience a step further, though. Customers are able to easily explore items featured in photos and make purchases. It’s essentially an Instagram storefront that lets users scroll, shop, and be inspired. Plus, it engages consumers at the point when their interest in a product — and their excitement for it — is at its peak (this is huge).

When we scroll through photos and videos shared by brands, influencers, friends, and acquaintances, we may see something that catches our eye — a pair of shoes, a piece of jewelry, a kitchen gadget, you name it — and there’s that familiar spark of discovery we experience in a retail environment.

And product discovery on Instagram has had the most growth among social sites, with 48% of consumers finding products there, up from 18% in 2017. But other social sites have also experienced a growth in discovery among shoppers:

• Facebook has gone from 52% to 70%.
• Twitter has gone from 17% to 32%.
• Pinterest has gone from 22% to 29%.

This discovery element is key — and it’s possible because social is so focused on visuals versus traditional e-commerce sites, which are focused on fitting an entire product catalog online.

But while social media may inspire consumers, scrolling through lifestyle content on Instagram alone doesn’t create that discovery-shopping experience for the consumer. With the introduction of shoppable social content, it’s getting closer. You no longer have to interrupt the flow of photos to direct a customer to your account bio and ask them to click a link — but it’s still not quite there.

Luckily, there’s a better way to give shoppers the experience they want. It involves bringing social and commerce together.

Social commerce solves the discovery problem

Brands can provide customers with the discovery-shopping experience they crave — and they already have the tools to do it. It’s called social commerce.

Social commerce has become synonymous with “making Instagram shoppable,” according to Apu Gupta, VP of Social Content Revenue at Bazaarvoice. However, there’s much more to it than that. It involves providing consumers with the same discovery thrill they experience in retail stores. Here’s how.

Social commerce enables consumers to discover new products

Traditional e-commerce is optimized for people who know what they want: they enter a search term, and related results are returned.

However, on social, the purchasing journey begins not with a search, but with a scroll. Bazaarvoice capitalizes on this by using inspirational lifestyle and user-generated content (UGC) to introduce people to products they never knew existed.

“By offering UGC, customers have content to engage with, and it means that they can do as much research as they want about us, as a brand and about the products. We’re giving them more ways to engage with us and I think that’s the most exciting part for us,” said Eleanor Assa, CMO at Iconic London.

Social commerce helps sellers understand use cases

Seeing products in real-world environments helps online shoppers understand how to style, arrange, and use products, which can entice them to click “add to cart.”

Plus, this type of content provides confidence around purchasing because consumers can see how real people are already using the products in their daily lives.

“Bazaarvoice Social Commerce has been a great addition for us. We have many customers buying online, and being able to visualize our bed frames and peripheral ranges like sofa beds and furniture in real customers’ homes is really useful [for them],” explains Octavia Benham, Head of E-commerce at Dreams.

Social commerce establishes connections

Content that catches the consumer’s eye and invites them to sit back and browse provides a sense of connection between the consumer and the brand. It helps shoppers understand the community and lifestyle behind a retailer and fosters that relationship.

“Being able to show MAM’s designs, colors, and trends when people couldn’t actually go to the store was particularly powerful. For us, Social Commerce was just another great opportunity to showcase what MAM’s all about,” said Daniel Smith, National Account Manager at MAM.

And these relationships are important to companies’ bottom lines. In fact, 65% of brands’ business comes from existing customers.

How to get great content for social commerce

The key to inviting customers to spend time with your brand online and browse its products is, of course, great content. Here’s how you can use tools to inspire a sense of commerce discovery in consumers.

Create content that’s tailor-made for social

It’s simple to find, make, and share shoppable social content with Bazaarvoice. From your dashboard, you can identify influencers, access brand content from real users, and even automatically tag products for social sharing.

Essentially, you can create your social content in one place and make it a breeze for customers to shop directly from your Instagram bio.

Work with influencers to generate content

Influencers are incredibly valuable for increasing your brand’s reach and getting your products in front of consumers. While it’s relatively easy to identify macro influencers and celebrity influencers with mega followings, consider that they’re seen as less influential

According to a recent Bazaarvoice influencer communities study, only 12% and 6% of shoppers report they’re likely to be influenced to purchase a product from these influencers, respectively. And recent research tells us that consumers are increasingly leaning more into nano- and micro-influencers.

Nano-influencers can have as few as 2,500 followers, but not only is it more affordable to work with smaller influencers (with 69% of marketers saying they’re working with them) — they also have greater impact than celebrities when it comes to engaging consumers and inspiring them to make a purchase. In fact, 86% of shoppers buy based on nano- and micro-influencer recommendations.

Take advantage of UGC

Customers are proud of their brand associations and are already tagging brands in posts and using brand-associated hashtags. Why not take advantage of this?

“In the same way stores represent the fabric of a neighborhood, we wanted to create areas like our blog, like our social media presence, that create online communities where people could look for inspiration, where people could see real people buy,” says Parachute Home CMO Luke Droulez. “That this is meant [as] accessible luxury without saying those words.”

3 ways your can brand can implement shoppable social content

There’ are’s several ways brands can foster discovery in e-commerce, inspire consumers, and invite them to sit back and browse.

1. Add shoppable Galleries to your website

Adding a gallery of shoppable photos to your website not only allows consumers to seek inspiration and discover new products, but it also has measurable effects. We find that brands incorporating on-site Galleries see on average a 140% conversion rate lift, a 15% increase in average order value, and a 308% increase in time on site.

Take natural beauty brand The Body Shop, for example. To drive conversions, the retailer used Bazaarvoice to create its #TheBodyShop gallery on its product detail pages. By showcasing authentic photos and videos shared by their dedicated brand loyalists, customers were urged to post their experiences, bridging the gap between online browsing and the tangible in-store experience.

“Galleries was a big win for us. Bigger than anyone expected. We set out to fully utilize our social content to drive engagement and use it as a tool to educate customers through their purchasing decisions. We want customers to understand what our products are about, beyond ratings and reviews; we want them to see the actual products and their benefits through the experiences of real customers,” said Indar Chanicka, VP of E-Commerce at The Body Shop.

2. Create a truly shoppable Instagram

While Instagram’s visual focus makes it a great place to find products, it’s a lot like window shopping. Oftentimes, you can view a product, but you can’t learn more about it nor take further action.

But with Like2Buy, brands can transform their Instagram feed into an actual shoppable storefront. Customers can then click on products, learn more about them, read reviews, see photos of real customers wearing or using the product, and even make a purchase.

3. Implement UGC on all touch points

UGC is more influential than brand-created content for good reason — it showcases actual customers using products, it’s more authentic and establishes trust among consumers, and this makes it more engaging. In this current economic environment, one-third of shoppers rely more on UGC than branded content.

That’s why companies like Parachute have implemented UGC in all aspects of their marketing, including emails and retargeting ads.

By utilizing Bazaarvoice’s tools, these brands have been able to find high-quality UGC from customers who are already fans of their products. Brands can then easily implement this customer-created lifestyle content everywhere from social feeds to product pages.

Social content creates better browsing experiences

Consumers are increasingly turning to Google Images to begin their shopping-related searches. This shows us that consumers are after a more traditional shopping experience of browsing and discovery even when they’re online. They’re not stumbling upon great finds by reading search results or scrolling through category pages of e-commerce sites. They’re looking for visuals and they want to see social content that shows products being used and enjoyed in real ways by real people.

To provide consumers with this authentic shopping experience, brands need to create a retail experience that invites shoppers to browse. They need to inspire consumers to stop scrolling and take a second look.

And to do this, the online shopping experience needs to be just as visual and discoverable for people online as it is in brick-and-mortar stores — and social commerce is the secret sauce.

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A practical guide for social media professionals to drive engagement and commerce

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