The link sends you to a product page on an ecommerce website. You see the same binoculars but no mention of birds. It seems like a great device, but you wonder what makes them suited for bird watching.

Since you only visited the site to learn about the binoculars’ bird-watching advantages, you leave the page in frustration.

This misalignment between the marketing campaign and the destination page happens all the time. Shoppers often fail to find what they expect because a traditional product detail page is simply too general.

For these cases, we need landing pages. They’re similar to product detail pages, but they have a different purpose. They certainly don’t replace the product page. Both of these pages work together to create a high-converting digital experience.

Landing Page vs. Product Page

Landing pages and product detail pages are both important parts of your digital experience. This is true whether you run an ecommerce store, media platform, SaaS, or any digital product where you want visitors to take some kind of action.

However, these tools each serve different purposes, so they shouldn’t be used interchangeably. Knowing when to use each in the customer journey will make all the difference.

What is a Product Detail Page?

A product detail page (PDP) is the page of an ecommerce website where individual products are showcased in detail. The content of this page is designed to educate the customer on this specific product and provide all the information they need to make a purchase decision.

A well-optimized PDP is an important part of the marketing funnel. It builds trust, eliminates friction, and makes shoppers more comfortable about buying. It also improves the shopping experience and encourages repeat visits.

In our experience, the best PDPs include the following key elements:

• Clear and concise name of the product.
• A description of the product, highlighting its key features, benefits, and unique selling points.
• High-quality images from multiple angles.
• Videos demonstrating the product’s use or its features.
• The price of the product, including any discounts or special offers.
• Ratings and reviews from other customers.
• Technical specifications such as size, weight, color options, and materials.
• Information on product variants (e.g., different colors or sizes).
• Real-time stock status.
• Prominent buttons like “Add to Cart,” “Buy Now,” or “Add to Wishlist” to encourage conversions.
• Suggestions for similar or complementary products.

What is a Landing Page?

A landing page is a page designed to complement a marketing campaign. It’s where visitors land after interacting with off-site marketing techniques like ads, affiliate links, and social media posts.

A landing page is focused on driving customers further down the funnel and may not be geared toward one product. They provide education and information in the context of the marketing campaign.

For instance, if the campaign is directed at dog lovers, the landing page should speak directly to dog lovers, even if the product is applicable to different kinds of pets.

Oura Rings is a great example of a product landing page. It’s informational and targeted toward tech enthusiasts who also care about style. (They have traditional product detail pages as well.)

What is the Difference Between a Landing Page and a Product Detail Page?

The major difference between a product detail page (PDP) and a landing page is context.

Visitors usually arrive on a product detail page from a category page. There’s a heavy shopping mindset at play here. Visitors are specifically looking for products and comparing options. It doesn’t align with a specific campaign, so it doesn’t target a specific audience segment or problem.

A landing page, however, is “landed on” from an external site (or email). Since visitors will view the content through the lens of the marketing campaign that brought them to the page (usually reading from top to bottom), it should match the campaign in terms of target audience, tone, and offer.

This means you can customize the content of a landing page based on visitors’ reasons for arriving. You can lean in on whatever angle you used to get people to the page in the first place.

Landing Page vs. Product Page Comparison Chart

Do Landing Pages Convert Better Than Product Pages?

The trend we have seen across our clients is that sending traffic to a landing page is better for the user journey and, therefore, a strong tactic to increase conversions.

This is due to the alignment between the landing page and the marketing campaign. If a paid ad claims the product helps busy parents save time, and the landing page says the same, the visitor is reassured that the product meets the ad’s promise.

Conversely, product detail pages have lower conversions because there’s little connection between a paid ad and the page’s content. The visitor is left to figure it out for themselves.

“It’s all around context for the visitor,” says Jon McDonald, founder of The Good. “The visitor is not going to know everything about your product or your brand as well as you do. Sending them to the product detail page is making too many assumptions. [You’re assuming] that the consumer will figure everything out for themselves, and that’s just not true. So sending them to a dedicated landing page will increase your conversion rates.”

Can I Use a Product Page as a Landing Page?

Yes, but we wouldn’t recommend it. It’s best to have unique, dedicated landing pages for specific marketing efforts. This lets you align the landing page with the campaign’s goals and the customer’s journey.

Should I Drive Traffic to a PDP or a Landing Page?

Typically, you should drive traffic to a landing page. This lets you align the page with the audience who sees the off-site message. This connection improves the odds that the visitor will be educated and properly primed by the landing page content and purchase the product.

Even so, there are exceptions to every rule. You may choose to send traffic to a product-specific landing page or a product page based on what a shopper is searching for.

For instance, suppose a shopper searches for a “podcasting microphone.” In this case, the shopper needs education because they don’t know what they want to buy yet, so you should link them to a landing page that’s optimized for “podcasting microphones.”

But if the shopper searches for “Shure SM7dB Dynamic Microphone,” it’s a safe bet that they’re past the need for information and are ready to buy. You can send them right to the product page.

The same is true if someone searches for a model number. That person knows what they need, so it’s best to get out of their way by putting as few barriers between them and the sale as possible.

As you can see, it is all about creating a seamless customer journey and moving shoppers through your funnel. In most cases, that means sending paid traffic to a landing page.

How to Create and Optimize Landing Pages

Now that we’ve covered the benefits of driving paid traffic to landing pages let’s walk through some best practices to help you craft landing page designs that create a great user experience and push your visitors down the sales funnel. We’ll also show off some landing page examples.

Define Your Goals and Target Audience

Before you start building a landing page, it’s important to understand exactly who you’re creating the page for and what you want to achieve.

Keep in mind that a dedicated landing page doesn’t just sell products. It can capture leads through an ebook, webinar, or demo sign-up or thank visitors after they make a purchase or subscribe to your email list. Define what your page should accomplish before you build anything.

Note: For the sake of this article, we use a lot of product-focused landing page examples, but your goals may vary.

Then, consider your audience. This target audience might include your entire customer base or just a segment of it. This should be the same audience you use in the aligned off-site marketing campaign.

Refer to your internal data to familiarize yourself with the page’s audience. Make sure you understand the types of words and images that are most effective for those people.

Create a Benefit-Focused Headline

Without a doubt, a compelling headline is the most important element on your landing page. This bit of copy should focus on benefits, not features. You aren’t necessarily describing the product; you’re explaining how the visitor’s life will be better with it.

Again, refer to your repository of knowledge about your customer to find the perfect words to suit their unique situation for your landing page headline.

Creatorpreneur is an effective product landing page example here. Notice how it uses specific words in the headline and subheading that appeal to its audience, like “creative,” “scale up,” and “sustainable growth.”

Match Images and Copy to Your Audience

Unlike a product detail page, where you show stark images of your product, your landing page offers the freedom and space to get more creative.

This is the place to use images and video to form a human connection. Use big lifestyle photos, explainer videos, and full-width hero images. A relevant video can increase your conversions by 86%.

Most importantly, match your media to your copy. If your headline and supporting text refer to athletes, your pictures and videos should include them as well.

It’s no surprise that Apple’s MacBook Air landing page is top-notch. It’s full of large, powerful images and clear language that appeals to tech-loving creatives. An image doesn’t do this page justice, so make sure to visit to explore the interactive elements.

Keep the Important Information Above the Fold

Visitors are more likely to stay with your page if they see the most important information right away without having to scroll. We refer to this section using an old newspaper phrase: “above the fold.”

What goes above the fold? Your headline, value proposition, clear call-to-action (which could be a button or form), and usually some kind of media that helps the visitors connect with the content.

Peloton smartly keeps all of the important information right at the top. The call-to-action sends you to a product detail page (that’s also worth checking out).

Let Them Buy If They Want

The call-to-action on a landing page typically links to a product detail page, but some visitors may decide to buy while they are still on the landing page. For these people, it’s smart to give them a shortcut by offering an “add to cart” button somewhere on the page.

Generally, it’s best to keep this option out of the way, perhaps in a sticky bar at the top or bottom or a slide-out sidebar. Notice how the landing page for Cowboy e-bikes has a sticky section at the bottom so visitors always have a path toward conversion.

Of course, this is only relevant if the page’s goal is to sell something. If you have some other goal, a link to purchase might be a distraction.

Include Social Proof

People prefer to buy from brands they trust, which is why social proof is such an important part of marketing. Case studies, testimonials, ratings, reviews, and even an indicator of the number of times a page was shared on Facebook can make people feel better about your products.

But not all social proof is equal. Some are more powerful, depending on the product and the audience. For instance, an endorsement from a basketball player on basketball sneakers is always going to ring louder than an endorsement from, well, anyone else.

The Dyson Corrale is a great landing page example. Notice how it uses three kinds of social proof: a rating system, customer reviews, and user-generated content from social media.

Remove Navigation and Distractions

Typically, a landing page is not for browsing. The purpose is for the visitor to consume the content and then move forward in the predetermined direction via the call-to-action.

This means any other opportunities on the page to navigate somewhere else are simple distractions. It’s best to eliminate or minimize them.

This means no header, footer, sidebar, or navigation menu. You might decide to make your logo clickable on your homepage so visitors don’t get stuck, but otherwise, only the call-to-action should be clickable.

Use Straight-Forward Calls-to-Action

Your landing page should provide plenty of information for visitors, but ultimately its goal is to encourage them to take the next step. This means you need a call-to-action.

Your call-to-action will depend on the purpose of the page. Landing pages generally don’t sell products, but they can. In most cases, your landing page will send the visitor to a product detail page, capture their email address, encourage them to share, etc.

For the best conversion rates, use simple and clear language for your calls to action. Don’t try to make them clever or witty. Get right to the point. For instance, Medik8’s regime-builder uses a simple, clear, and impossible-to-miss call to action.

We also find it helpful to use the first person in your calls to action. It helps the visitor identify with the action better. Here are some examples:

• Download My Free Guide
• Grab My Webinar Seat
• Choose My Subscription Tier

Finally, make sure your call to action fulfills its promise. If you promise a guide on the next screen, it must be there. Otherwise, you’ll lose all credibility.

Optimize for Search Engines and Google Shopping

Good SEO helps people find your pages through search engines. This is an important way to bring people to your page organically without spending money on ads.

Even better, you should optimize your pages specifically for Google Shopping. This can enhance your visibility and attract more potential customers to your site. Combined with a robust product feed, Google is more likely to display your products in their search results.

Here are some strategies to ensure your landing page is optimized for Google Shopping:

• Include relevant keywords and key attributes (brand, product type, color, size) in your product titles and product descriptions.
• Use high-resolution images that meet Google’s specifications.
• Implement structured data markup to provide Google with detailed information about your products, including price, availability, and reviews.
• Ensure that the information on your landing page matches the information in your Google Shopping product feed.
• Design your landing page to be clean, attractive, and easy to navigate.
• Ensure your landing page is device-friendly and mobile-friendly.
• Optimize your page for quick loading.
• Use clear, descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords.
• Optimize meta titles and descriptions to improve click-through rates from search results.
• Ensure your product feed is regularly updated to reflect accurate information.
• Use tools like Google Merchant Center to identify and fix any errors in your product feed.

Test and Optimize Your Page

It’s important to optimize your landing page over time through iterative testing. Use A/B testing or rapid tests to determine which elements are working/not working and how your page can better reach its customers and goals.

Testing can also benefit more than a specific landing page, as you can apply what you learn to other pages on your site or your organization as a whole.

Consider Your User to Deliver the Right Digital Journey

When deciding whether to drive traffic to a landing page for a product detail page, it’s important to think about the user and their journey. Landing pages are the right choice when paired with marketing campaigns—such as paid ads—because they create a seamless experience for the user.

We typically recommend driving traffic to a landing page for a better, tailored customer journey. However, there are a few niche cases where it’s right to send traffic directly to a product detail page.

If you aren’t sure which is right for your unique situation, connect with us. We can help you optimize your visitor’s digital experience by building an optimization program that keeps you focused on what is proven to move the needle.

Learn more about our Digital Experience Optimization Program.

The post Driving Paid Traffic To A Landing Page vs. Product Page: What Is Better? appeared first on The Good.

About This Episode:

Sending everyone to a Product Detail Page (PDP) without context or information about the brand can be counterproductive in building trust. Landing pages, however, allow for more curated information and more consistent and relevant messaging during the customer journey. 

This is exactly what Jon and Ryan explore in this week’s Drive and Convert episode. They also cover how the lack of educational information on a PDP could make it difficult to convince customers to make a purchase. 

Listen to the full episode if you want to learn:

1. Why landing pages are crucial for building trust and educating customers 
2. Why alignment between ad messaging and landing pages is important
3. How landing pages should be optimized for Google Shopping traffic
4. How context and personalization can improve landing pages and PDPs
5. How to create and optimize landing pages

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback to share, hit us up on Twitter. We’re @jonmacdonald and @ryangarrow.

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Episode Transcript:

Announcer: [00:00:00] You are listening to Drive and Convert a podcast about helping online brands to build a better e-commerce growth engine with Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow.

Ryan: Welcome everyone. Today is a fun day because I was wrong and Jon was right and. That happens so infrequently. Actually, no. It happens more often than I’d like to admit, but

Jon: I just told you, hey, every squirrel finds a nut. I just happen to have gotten lucky. Yeah, and

Ryan: this is something I’ve believed for a while, Jon, at Logical Position, we run lots of shopping, in fact, more than anybody else.

So all of this shopping traffic off of Google and Microsoft goes to product pages almost across the board. And I’ve always been of the opinion. Before, you know today I was today years old, learning how wrong I was, that people go from shopping ads to product pages and they expect to see the product page, and it’s been fairly standardized across the major [00:01:00] platforms.

Product image in the middle, put description stuff on the right, buy button above the fold suggests products. Hopefully down there at the bottom you can obviously change things up on landing page, but people expect to do it. No reason to change that and let it go. Why would you invest in a landing page builder?

Because you’re just running your traffic to shopping pages. Who cares? You changed my mind. So the, the main question we’re answering today is why on earth if I’m running all this traffic to my product pages and it’s working. But I even need to invest in a landing page builder and send that shopping traffic somewhere other than the product page.

Mm-hmm. That’s already built. Yeah. So why do I need to do that, Jon? Tell me why I was

Jon: wrong. Yeah, and I’m not gonna get into the weeds about using a particular builder. This is whatever. I mean, really, let’s go higher level than that in terms of, I just want to prove. Why I am right about using landing pages instead of running ads to your product detail pages.

[00:02:00] And I think that’s what we should focus on. Mm-hmm. Because I don’t wanna make you feel too bad and keep going and keep digging that hole for you. But here’s the reality, right? It’s all around context for the visitor. That’s really what this comes down to. The visitor is not gonna know everything about your product or your brand as well as you do as being an employee of the brand, right?

Mm-hmm. So just sending them to that P d P, it’s just making so many assumptions. That the consumer will figure everything out for themselves, and that’s just not true. So due to that, sending them to a dedicated landing page is just often gonna really increase your conversion rates. Got it. And I

Ryan: assume you see a lot more data than I do around conversion rates of PDPs versus landing page software builders.

And I’m also assuming on this then that my shopping traffic that’s going to a product page, I’m interrupting that and I’m sending them to a product page under a landing page builder, essentially. That’s

Jon: fair. You can, and you [00:03:00] should be able to have an option to sell off that landing page, but that doesn’t always need to be the case.

Let’s talk about what’s going on here and I. You know, really when you’re driving traffic to a product page, you’re driving most likely that perspective traffic to a page that immediately focuses on selling. Mm-hmm. And I want to just say, you know, you should have an option to buy, or at least take that next step and convert.

Right? Again, conversion optimization is all about just getting somebody to the next step in the funnel. Doesn’t mean you’re closing the deal with the first step, second step, et cetera. Right? You need a funnel that’s right for your product and however complicated that product is, but, It’s like being on a sales call and someone says, Hey, you can just buy it right now.

Well, you’re unlikely to do that, right? Your sale’s gonna die right there. So why are you doing that with your potential customers? Most people are sending everybody to a P D P and expecting them just to buy. They just need to be ready to buy. Go ahead. You found that in Google shopping, that must mean you’ve [00:04:00] done all your research and you’re ready to buy.

Mm-hmm. That’s very unlikely. Right. Everybody loves to talk about building a brand, but are you really building a brand if you’re just sending people to your p d p? Very unlikely, right? If that’s the first touch. They don’t know, they have no context. They have no idea who you are, what pain you’re solving.

So instead with a landing page, you can really curate that information. I think that’s what’s gonna be key here, is controlling what somebody sees and helping them down that funnel in that journey. So the best part about landing pages is you can curate what somebody sees based on where they came from, and I think that’s what’s really important.

Hmm. So you’re running an ad set. That a, that has a particular message, you should have alignment of that message on the landing page. It is near impossible without a lot of personalization tools that get very expensive and unwieldy it. For most brands to run ad group message and have that message align on A P D P [00:05:00] and then replicate that across several ad groups and messages, it’s just unlikely to happen.

Right? Mm-hmm. So I think one of the things that people need to think about, and I hear this all the time, is like, well, yeah, I built a landing page. I’ve optimized a landing page. There is no limit on the number of landing pages that you can have. So I. Just do one for each message that you’re using in your ads and then have some alignment between those.

Ryan: So yous talking about too, in addition to product pages, like you might land on a category page that we’ve talked through multiple times, but you might build a landing page, Billy, that may make it easier to do some of those tiles. Because I’ve talked to a lot of people over the last couple weeks, even after our last podcast around category pages.

Mm-hmm. Building those tiles isn’t out of the box. Easy to do on Shopify, even BigCommerce, because they’re so stuck on what’s not a product in your feed. Therefore, it’s not gonna show on a category. Right. So even just using a landing page builder on your category landing pages, From [00:06:00] an ad standpoint would

Jon: be, yeah, to replicate that experience, right?

Mm-hmm. And, and be able to customize it how you want, and free product idea for anyone who wants to build it. The good would certainly be a customer, build a Shopify plugin that allows you to add quality

Ryan: tiles. It’s a big need. I haven’t been able to find it or hear about it, so if you’ve got it. Message us somehow.

Let us know

Jon: what it is. Yeah. We always end up doing it manually and building it into the theme, which is certainly an option, but yeah. Okay. So free product idea. There

Ryan: you go. Landing page builder, you would say, Hey, we want to be able to keep the themes, like for example, two of our kids got connected watches so they can text and call us when they’re not in the home.

And if I’m looking for that, and let’s say we went with a company called Gap, but let’s just say my initial search would’ve been like, Smartwatch for kid. Mm-hmm. And I’m gonna see it on shopping and be like, oh, it was half off yesterday, which is why my wife directed me to buy it yesterday. And hey, half off, I’ll take it.

But it was a non-brand search. I didn’t know what I was looking for yet. And so you would [00:07:00] land me on a product page from shopping and mm-hmm. I don’t know. Gab from another thing. So your first non-brand visit to your site. You might want to have something a little bit more about gab or the brand rather than just the product.

Now, if I’m only looking for a gab, watch, maybe you wanna send that more to a product, typical product page. Versus more

Jon: information. Again, that’s a message from a branded search. And if you know you’re capturing that term, you could send them directly to a product page ’cause they’re looking for your product, right?

If you run a search query for particular model number, something of that sort that you’re running an ad against, yeah, sure, send ’em to the P D P. But if I’m looking for kids connected watch. Okay. I’m doing research, I’m in research mode. Mm-hmm. And when you’re in research mode, the page and the resulting page for that click needs to be all around education.

Got it. And that’s the second step here is product pages often have no real educational components to ’em. Mm-hmm. Right? So unless that brand’s really well known, [00:08:00] your product page is just doing a really poor job of teaching people why your brand is different. And what problem you’re sending out to solve and why someone should even trust you in the first place.

And so really education is gonna be key here, and it’s hard to do all that job. You’re asking a lot of A P D P. Mm-hmm. To be the education. And this is why I said not all landing pages need to sell. Maybe the landing page does the education component and then takes you to the P D P to sell. Right. If most PDPs are just doing a horrible job explaining why they should get a share of your money in exchange for their product, I think you really need to focus on more than just details and specs, which is what A P D P is good at, right?

So A P D P can really tell you, here’s the size, here’s the material, here’s what it looks like on a model. Here’s, you know, all the potential use cases maybe. But taking that extra step will really help you sell at a premium price point if it’s a [00:09:00] commodity. Probably don’t need to have a landing page because it’s a commodity.

But if you wanna really set yourself apart, help explain why a product is worth that premium price or whatever you’re charging for it, a hundred percent. You need a different page to do

Ryan: that job. Okay? So if I’m sending traffic from shopping ads on Google, I have to have the price that I showed in the ad and the ability to add to cart that part of the P D P has to still live.

But do you think that if I’m designing a landing page off of Google Shopping traffic, That I probably have to scroll down a few thumb scrolls or scroll down on my screen to get to that product information and the education’s on. On the top, or am I almost splitting the screen and the education’s left product right.

Jon: Well, I think that you should have an easy way for people to purchase right away. I’m just saying don’t make that the only focus of the page. So if you wanna put that up front, Hey, ready to buy, click here and then that’s great. If you need to educate more, I would focus on the education and then yeah, [00:10:00] you could do a side panel or it’s really common.

Lately you’ve probably seen a lot of these landing pages where the add to cart and price, things like that are up in a bar along the top of the page that stays there. It’s like a sticky, almost like a sticky nav, but it’s really not. It’s more of a add to cart, a sticky add to cart. Ah, as you say on it just stays.

Yeah. So when you’re ready to buy, it’s there. Right. You could do it at the bottom of the page. At the top. You could have a sidebar, although that’s less common, especially because of mobile. So I think, you know, you have options, but the key here is you’re focusing. Not on converting the sale. You’re focusing on education.

Announcer: You’re listening to Driving Convert a podcast focused on e-commerce growth. Your hosts are Jon MacDonald, founder of the Good, a conversion rate optimization agency that works with e-commerce brands to help convert more of their visitors into buyers. And Ryan Garrow of Logical Position, the digital marketing agency offering Pay-Per-Click [00:11:00] Management search engine.

And website design services to brands of all sizes. If you find this podcast helpful, please help us out by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and sharing it with a friend or

Jon: colleague.

Announcer: Thank you.

Ryan: Got it. Okay. I like that idea. What bit? Okay. So I’m gonna go from traffic to a product page, I guess, and the air quotes that came up there.

For those of you that can’t see it, but I’m talking about the brand or the product in a way that lets people see differently than they would by just hitting that typical product page so that, you know, richer content. Mm-hmm. You know, maybe more unique visuals. Okay. I like that. Okay. Yeah, so. Even if you’re selling at a lower price point, there’s still a lot of value.

You can breed that you’re creating a value that’s above the price point, regardless of whether you’re selling premium or less expensive. You’re just making it easier to see, oh, I should click that buy ’cause I can see all this stuff. Exactly. Okay, great. Yep. Alright, so outside of that education, a piece from a, [00:12:00] instead of a product, you’re educating more, what else do I need to be aware of or think through besides, all right, education.

Provide more value. Then I can on a general product page.

Jon: Yeah. Well, I think the last major component really is that PDPs lack this ability to create a page that just aligns with the reason that the visitor is on the landing page in the first place. Right? So what is the angle that your product is selling under?

Again, this ties into what I’ve been saying over and over, which is you need alignment between the message of the ad and the page, right? But, You need to explain here, what’s the benefit for that visitor? What’s the pain or need you’re trying to solve with that product? Even if the need or the pain in some cases is just a want, right?

Maybe it’s just I desire to have this product, right? If that’s the case, you still need to have an angle for why they want it, that aligns with what their search was, right? So maybe [00:13:00] it’s, I want that because you know, all the famous influencers have it. So, I mean, Look at the Stanley Water Cup that everyone has, right?

Ryan: We just had a giveaway for our employees be of Stanley water cups. I’m like, oh my goodness. Like,

Jon: well, there you go. Right? And I bet they all loved it, and they were like, oh’s amazing. It’s

Ryan: probably the best we’ve ever had. Probably.

Jon: Yeah, there you go. What’s funny about that though, is every influencer on TikTok or Instagram has it, so every mom wants it, and that’s where it started that demographic.

Right? But if you tried to sell that to me, As if you were marketing to a mom, I’m not gonna buy it. Mm-hmm. Like I don’t want the mom cup. Right. So think about it in that way. I might buy it as a gift from my wife. Mm-hmm. If she didn’t already have some, but whatever. The whole point here is you can really tailor with landing pages, but if you just try to have your P D P do all of that work on the angle side of why.

Your product is better and who it’s for, et cetera. You’re really just [00:14:00] creating more issues because your P D P just can’t handle all of that. Mm-hmm. You really can’t.

Ryan: Yeah, because there’s gonna be searches, like the functionality of the Stanley Cup can’t deny, like it fits in the cup holder right there still holds 40 ounces.

I drink a lot of water and Good to hear. You’re being healthy. Yeah. I just, I, I’ll drink. I’ve been drinking a gallon of water for probably 10, 15 years, like no

Jon: problem. Wow. I drink a gallon of coffee. Does that count? There’s water

Ryan: and coffee. I actually have to, I monitor it. I’m like, okay, I’ve had my.

Generally three small espressos a day is what my limit on coffee is. And then it’s like I gotta have a gallon beyond that. But one of my struggles with, like right now I’m drinking out of a little soda stream bottle. We have a one of those nugget ice machines. Like, it’s what makes me feel fancy in my house.

Yeah. Like I have a Nugget ice machine. It’s really great getting ice in there is a pain in the ass. But I, I will steal my wife’s extra standard ’cause you know, she has like five and I, there’s always one there, so I’ll steal. Yeah. She’ll never know. Ice gets in there easy. And I’ll drink through this straw.

I’m like, great. This is a really cold, I like it. I’m feeling great. But then it’s like, it’s pink or it’s [00:15:00] like, ah. It’s just, so if I’m going there, the functionality, it does keep it very cold for the 10 days it takes me to drink 40 ounces of water. But you could message that like, I’m gonna search probably differently than my wife.

Like she’s gonna be looking for the influence or color that she saw. Like I just randomly happened to see that there’s some new blue. That is mm-hmm. Gonna sell out. And I’m like, I don’t

Jon: care. Randomly, right? Yeah. I’m like,

Ryan: yeah. I’m talking to my wife about her Stanley things and I’m seeing ads now. Weird.

They’re listening, but you’ll be like, Hey, I need a, you know, insulated. You know, mug or you know, mm-hmm. Maybe I’m gonna look for a black one, or I’m gonna look for something that would be more along the color scheme I’d like than the pink and the yellow that I have to choose from now in my wife’s collection.

You could message that. Or maybe there is a, a way that certain influencers are targeting men on social media. I follow Grill guy ’cause he is funny. Mm-hmm So if Grill guy was like, yeah I got a Stanley mug that we’re a collaboration with Grill Guy Stanley, if you do that, I just send me one. But it would be like, hey Grill guy mug.

That [00:16:00] would be messaged generally across to men. And you’d have a very different appearing landing page than you would for a woman.

Jon: Exactly. So it goes back to the first point. Right. Which is context. It all needs to be about context, and that’s why this is important where A P D P can’t answer every question as much as you may try, and it can’t have context for every single visitor.

So if you have a single demographic with a single pain point that you know your product solves, then sure send ’em to that P D P because you can talk directly to that one customer. Mm-hmm. And if you listen to any copywriting expert, take any course on copywriting, they’re always gonna say, write your copy for one single person.

And that’s what’s gonna perform best, right? So you’re really niching it down. You’re addressing that pain point. You’re using language they’re familiar with. All of that is gonna be helpful. But it’s so hard if you have a product that is going after multiple [00:17:00] demographics. You’re gonna have a really hard time having a great converting P D P on its own if that’s where you’re sending all your traffic to.

Now, if somebody’s on your site and they end up on your homepage or a category page or something like that, which helps with the branding and answering all of these questions we’ve talked about today, then yeah, your P D P can also be optimized to help facilitate the sale, right? But what we’re talking about here is the step up in the funnel.

And too many people are trying to cram the P d P up the funnel when it really is one of those last steps or the last step in the funnel. So

Ryan: that’s, yeah. I fully agree. Non-brand traffic of shopping is massive, and that’s where you get a lot of people doing research since the first touch. Mm-hmm. But in theory, with this process, you could probably shorten up the touch points between first touch on a non-brand shopping traffic.

Page to purchase because you’ve done a better job educating and showing value [00:18:00] and answering brand questions. So that would be what I’d wanna start testing and seeing and, and so on that, what’s the practical, easiest way to test this for, let’s say if you have a ton of money, it’s easy. You’re gonna go buy a really expensive page builder and go full bore, but how does a small Shopify brand test this practically on

Jon: their site?

Even with Shopify, you can set up a new page template that you just replicate, right? Yep. So set up a new page template that you’re gonna use as your landing page. And it doesn’t have to be a product, it doesn’t have to be in your navigation. Mm-hmm. Yes. It’s probably gonna show up in search engines, but that’s okay if someone lands there ’cause it has relevant content.

To what their search engine was, right? The other option, I mean, you know, without getting into too many of the tools, there are hundreds of landing page services out there that you can use that will allow you to use your own domain name and put it under like, uh, an additional directory, right? So [00:19:00] you could do your domain slash lp slash.

You know, for landing page, right. And the consumers aren’t gonna really see that LP in the U R L and think, oh yeah, this is a custom landing. Like they’re just gonna see how many times Are you even looking at the U R L to be honest, right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, Chrome even hides most of it these days.

So the reality is it’s much easier than people making out to be. And you don’t need to be a technical wizard to create a custom landing page. I mean, heck, you could go create a WordPress site and have those be landing pages, and then it redirects to the P D P. Mm-hmm. Now, is that trustworthy? Yeah, I’d say you’re gonna take a knock on that because the domain’s gonna change, et cetera.

But I guess my point here is stop limiting yourself by thinking you have to a. Have a developer and b, go buy a huge lining page tool, right? And spend all this money, commit to a year, contract, all that other stuff. Just start simple. Mm-hmm. Create a new page on your Shopify site with a generic page template.

Right. Can [00:20:00] have your navigation in it though, not recommend it. It can. You could start there, right? Or hire a developer. A Shopify developer to just build a new template that’s a landing page template. That’s pretty simple. It wouldn’t take ’em about a couple hours probably to hide your navigation and create a C T A or that bar we talked about at the top or bottom of the page.

That lets you choose what product shows there and has an add to cart. That’s a day’s work at most. So, you know, all of these things are very doable and I encourage people to think outside of that box that they’re in on this, where they have to shoehorn things in or really go out and have an expensive page builder.

You just don’t. Yeah,

Ryan: like simplify, like all you’re trying to do is figure out mm-hmm. If this at scale could make big enough improvements to justify a larger investment at the end of the day. Right. Right. Okay. So if you test one product on a landing page versus the P D P on some shopping traffic and your conversion rate doubles, whoa.

Now you have proof to [00:21:00] say, yes, if I scale this across the site, chances are I’m gonna see some results. And then just make iterative improvements on that. There you go. So I would even suggest. Testing like cre, duplicate the product. Mm-hmm. And say if you have the same product that could appeal to men or women for different searches, duplicate the product on a different id.

So you’re just testing one, like keep the old one. Don’t change that and just say, Hey, you have a second product in your feed that is gonna show in shopping for maybe different searches so you can change the description. Yep. Same product. You’d call it something maybe slightly different, but it wouldn’t be tremendously complicated on Shopify to probably execute that.

Yeah, love it. So, yeah. Great. Okay, so as a quick recap, step one, Jon, we’ve gotta come up with context, understand mm-hmm. Why this visitor is coming to this page. If you don’t understand that, you better figure that out quick. Well, almost making an assumption that you do understand why people are coming there.

There you go. And then you have to understand then the curation of the patient. You’re not just trying to sell, sell, sell. You have to set it up [00:22:00] so you’re like, Hey, let’s start building a brand first. Still maybe have the conversion up there, but it’s not just like, yeah, pick your options and go buy, because that’s not what people are generally coming when they’re mid upper funnel search terms.

So curation of the page, educate. The purpose of that page now is going to be education. And if you’re educating, well, generally you can shorten that conversion timeframe than you would’ve without that education piece. On the P D P, tell them what they’re getting. Build that value through education. Yep.

And then the angle that your product’s selling under, so you know, what’s that specific pain point that you’re solving for that viewer. So if you’re selling Stanley Cups to men, make sure it’s that angle is selling to men because you’re landing the men on this. Version of the Stanley Landing page. There you go.

Did I miss anything? Any last? Comments on what? Well, I guess the only question is have I convinced you otherwise? No.

Ryan: Nope. I am definitely going to be talking more about landing pages versus product pages. [00:23:00] The PDP is probably done, so my job here is done, probably not at all. It’s built up to be, and I’ve seen the light now, so I have a lot of conversations to go back and have.

Jon: I’m glad I could be of service. Hey, I’m glad that I didn’t learn this. Two, three years down the road after having another thousand conversations and say something uhoh dumb on stage where you’re coming up after me and tell me I’m wrong. That’s why you don’t have me speak anymore. Yeah, no, it’s too dangerous.

Jon. Thanks for the time and the education and, uh, helping me see my blind spots. Always value there. We’ll chat soon. Thank you.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to Drive and Convert with Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow. To keep up to date with new episodes. You can subscribe at driveandconvert.com.

The post Drive and Convert (Ep. 087): Should I drive traffic to a landing page or PDP? appeared first on The Good.

• Customization allows customers to make your product their own, and offering product customization is increasingly common among ecommerce retailers.  
• When done right, product customization can help you increase conversion rates and brand loyalty by delivering exactly what customers want. 
• There’s no one right way to approach ecommerce product customization, as every brand and every customer is different. There are strategies and examples that can help you find your own way. 

Imagine you’re browsing through several shops looking for a new backpack. You see some tempting options, but they’re similar to the ones your friends and coworkers already carry. Nothing seems special or calls out to you.

But one shop you enter has an array of choices—and they offer to embroider your name or initials on your new backpack. Suddenly you’re ready to make a purchase because you can make your new bag truly yours.

That’s the power of product customization.

In this Insight, we’ll cover everything you need to know about ecommerce and online product customization, including how you can use this powerful tool to increase conversion rates and drive customer loyalty. Let’s get started.

What is product customization?

Advances in digital and manufacturing technology now enable brands to offer customization to buyers at scale. A customer can order a custom item with a few clicks online, the brand can produce it on demand, and the item can be delivered in a few days.

Instead of buying a standard off-the-shelf item, like sneakers or a couch, online product customizers let buyers choose their own design, color, and add-ons to create exactly the piece they want with a few clicks.

Having only a few standard options isn’t enough to satisfy many customers now—they’re accustomed to making purchases their own. Ecommerce enables companies to build online product customizers so buyers have a range of choices and can personalize their products.

The benefit of customization is that it further strengthens the user experience for the customer by inviting them to become partners in the product creation process. The better the user experience, the better the opportunity for conversions and building customer loyalty.

Retailers with a digital footprint supporting customization already have a significant competitive edge. To remain competitive long term, customization needs to be on every retailer’s technology roadmap.

Product customization is a differentiator and it’s here to stay

Nike has been at the forefront of product customization for quite a while now. The brand constantly runs experiments with digital in their flagship stores and partner retailers, with a lean toward in-store or online product customization.

Nike is actively selling customized products both online and off and has been for years. While many brands aren’t ready for this level of manufacturing and staffing coordination, they need to see the writing on the wall. Product customization is here to stay, and companies in a wide variety of industries must determine how to offer enticing product customization options to stay competitive.

Customer experience in ecommerce is a crucial differentiator for brands. Allowing your buyers to build exactly what they want on your ecommerce website in minutes offers more than simply a transaction—it’s an opportunity to build and strengthen your relationship with them.

You are not just selling them a product; you’re enabling them to express their uniqueness to the world.

The way Gen Z has approached the iconic LL Bean Boat and Tote product, by adding tongue-in-cheek words or phrases instead of the classic monogram, is a great example.

Image credit @ironicboatandtote on Instagram

LL Bean allows them to update an icon with their own twist, building name recognition and loyalty with the next generation of buyers. And this experience has paid off in profits too, as LL Bean experienced their highest summer sales spike in a decade.

Customers will pay a premium for customized products

Customization is about more than just offering fun options—it can also increase your conversions. Allowing buyers to create their own unique versions of your products can even increase the amount they’re willing to spend.

In fact, research from Deloitte reveals that 1 in 5 customers who want personalized products are willing to pay a 20% premium for them, and more than half of consumers want personalization and customization options. If your company can offer product customization at scale, your customers will buy more often and possibly even spend more.

6 brands with unique online product customizers

Of course, customization will look different for every company depending on your industry and products. But these product customization examples can give you some inspiration for what successful execution might look like.

Medelita

Medelita offers tailored lab coats for scientists and doctors who want to look sharp while at work. And they offer chic customization options on their website as well, so their buyers can add their name, department, and logo to make the coat truly their own.

The best product customization websites, like this example, allow customers to see exactly what the customization will look like in real life once it’s delivered. Ensuring this view is accurate will make your customers happier once they receive their new custom product from your ecommerce site.

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn offers customization options on some of its most classic bedding and towels. These options help customers build spaces in their homes that are truly their own.

They offer many options for their monograms to ensure customers can find an option they love, including different arrangements, fonts, and thread colors. The ability to make home basics like sheets and towels elevated and special with customization is a compelling offer and likely drives customer satisfaction.

Starbucks

Starbucks is a hugely successful company that is also a leader in offering product customization options for customers. They can choose exactly how they would like their drinks, leading to those sometimes amusing very long orders (venti vanilla half-caf extra-hot skim latte, anyone?).

This kind of ordering is very easy with their great mobile app, but even before that came out they’ve been champions of the highly custom drink order. While most other coffee shops will simply ask you if you want that latte with whole or skim milk, they go far beyond and offer customers a special experience.

Chik-fil-A

Chik-fil-A’s popular Chicken Biscuit looks simple at first glance—a juicy piece of fried chicken on a biscuit. But when you head online to place your order, you’re offered a slew of customization options so you can create precisely the sandwich you’re craving.

With extensive choices for sauces, toppings, and add-ins like bacon, honey, and Colby Jack cheese, customers can build their own perfect sandwich with just a few clicks. And if that’s not enough, they even let you add special instructions in case you want to customize further.

Inkbox

Inkbox offers a wide variety of stick-on temporary tattoos for those who want to experiment with body art without the commitment of going under the needle. But in a truly innovative twist, they also allow customers to upload their own images and make them into a stick-on, with their choice of size and color as well.

This product configuration option allows customers to try out their own tattoo idea to see if they want to commit to it or to create customized tattoos for a special occasion or event. Allowing customers to create these kinds of hyper-personalized products helps Inkbox stand out from other temporary tattoo retailers and get more conversions.

Knoll

Knoll sells high-end, highly customizable furniture for homes and offices. They offer so many custom options, in fact, that their case study serves as an excellent guide to other companies in a similar position.

When they underwent a Comprehensive Conversion Audit with The Good for their online store, they found that having so many options (while necessary for their upmarket clientele) also made customers abandon their shopping carts when faced with too many choices right away.

Being thoughtful and strategic about how you present your customization options is just as critical as having them available—there is such a thing as too much choice.

But with a few smart moves like numbering the options, letting customers email their cart to a spouse or boss, and saving their cart so they could come back with ease to finish, their conversion rate skyrocketed.

Product customization and beyond: building a better digital experience

While a good first step, simply offering customized products online isn’t enough on its own to increase conversions in most cases. Here’s how you can take it one step further and create a 360 degree personalized experience.

Use data to personalize more than just products

The trend toward digital customization may start with products but it definitely does not stop there. Digital also connects the experience a customer has in-store or on-site to the continued brand relationship, by providing more interesting content and follow-up offers based on past purchasing behavior.

With all of the data that companies collect on buyers, it’s no surprise that customers expect a more personalized experience.

Offering them meaningful personalization with customization of products, targeted offers, and loyalty rewards gives customers a better experience. Customization isn’t enough to build a better customer experience on its own, so be sure to continue building that strong relationship with customers throughout the post-purchase experience.

Anticipate future needs

Product customization allows your customers to get exactly what they want, and it benefits your business as well. You can use data on what customers are choosing for customization options to anticipate their needs and preferences in the future as well.

For example, let’s say you notice that pastel shades are suddenly a super-popular choice in custom orders for shoes, particularly pink and blue together. You can use this information to create a new non-custom product in pastel pink and blue and see if they take off as a new trend.

Or you might observe that customers are abandoning their shopping carts while personalizing an item once they need to choose a strap length option for your bags. You can conduct a survey or focus group asking potential buyers what strap lengths they would prefer, and introduce a new option to see how it performs.

Running tests in retail makes it easy to find out which options are most helpful for which customers, and is a great way to gather actionable data that can help anticipate future needs.

Test and improve the customer experience

Ecommerce platforms that offer product customization—Shopify, for example—make setting up your own product customization function for your ecommerce store simple.

Increased ease and functionality means you can scale your customization options, even for smaller items. Your buyers get a better customer experience without requiring as much in-person customer service assistance, which is a win all around.

To ensure your customization options are optimized to increase your conversion rates, test your product customizer with real users. Get their candid feedback and make data-backed decisions on how to improve.

Transparency around pricing and shipping times is important too, as customization typically increases both. Make sure you include these details before, during, and after checkout. We have found that using benefits-focused language like “made for you” can help ease the pain of a longer wait time.

Planning and coordinating for product customization success

This level of sophistication in customization is the product of coordinated efforts of multiple departments and requires a good deal of planning to create something valuable to customers and the business.

Brands must keep up with what their customers want, and today’s buyers have come to expect more and more customization options, especially in the ecommerce space. Simply put, making it easy to create what they want will keep customers coming back.

Determining how you can provide these experiences at scale can increase both your conversion rates and customer loyalty rates—the foundation for a strong business.

The post Product Customization: How Ecommerce Businesses Can Get It Right appeared first on The Good.

“The best ecommerce website design makes it quick and easy for visitors to locate desired goods, make comparisons to confirm the choice, then navigate the checkout procedure and arrange delivery with minimum friction.”

Before you answer, envision yourself shopping at a local brick-and-mortar store.

Which do you appreciate more – a store with clear navigation, properly marked items, and a short line at the register… or stores you can get lost in, wandering through a labyrinth where you can spend hours without worrying about buying anything at all?

If your answer is, “It depends,” then you’ve discovered something critical about marketing. The best stores help on-purpose shoppers get what they want and keep moving, but provide browsers the luxury of exploration.

That can be a tough bill to fill in a physical store, but it’s absolutely possible in ecommerce. And the hub of it all is one particular page: Product Category. Get it right there, and you’re on your way to getting rave reviews from happy shoppers. Fail there, and you… well, you fail.

Let’s take a look at product category page best practices. Your ROI on taking the time to review and share this article with your team could make it the best-leveraged decision of the year.

There’s a tough way and an easy way to approach ecommerce optimization:

• The tough way: go at it as hard as you can and hope something sticks
• The easy way: understand the buyer’s journey and remove barriers to their conversion

Let’s talk about the easy way. It’s not only more enjoyable but a whole lot more effective.

Know the purpose of your product category page

Every page on your website has a purpose. Your job is to know what that purpose is and grease it as well as you can so the visitor will glide effortlessly through to the next step on the path leading from discovery to purchase.

Here are the two most important page types on your ecommerce website:

• Product Category
• Product Detail

The first allows the visitor to self-select the next step on the journey. The second provides enough information to either cement the sale or guide the prospect to a better-suited product.

Get those right and you will make sales. Confuse them, and you’ll confuse your visitors.

We’ve already gone over best practices for product detail pages. As we noted in that guide, the product detail page (PDP) is where “the prospect will determine whether to purchase your product or keep looking.” The PDP invites the prospect to go deeper. It provides in-depth information about the product it highlights, helping the consumer conduct their research.

Not so with the product category page (a point many ecommerce website designers fail to grasp). It stands at a critical juncture on the path to sales. It’s an intersection where the visitor must choose a direction… but it doesn’t provide detail. It says, “Choose and keep moving.”

The job of the category page is to make that choice painless and simple.

It’s here that shoppers on a mission can quickly take the next step towards becoming an owner and browsers can decide which section of the store they want to investigate next.

The Category Page must be both obvious and humble:

• Obvious, in that the choices it provides must stand out and be easily recognizable (this isn’t a page for obscurity)
• Humble, in that it must never draw attention to itself; rather, it must point clearly to the product categories it displays

Know every page’s purpose, and make sure the page is optimized to carry out that purpose. That maxim is a good candidate for being named the “First Rule of Website Design” (or, in this case, the “First Rule of Category Page Design”). 

Having a clear path through your store also helps improve your SEO efforts, since you can use relevant keywords at each step of the journey. If a customer is searching for “Ladies Sandals,” Google will serve your product category page for sandals where they can find the right product listing or discover other items in your collection. 

Build a customer-centric product category page

Your product category page is a traffic director, and it’s up to you to erect helpful road signs. 

So, the best-designed product category pages begin with road maps.

One question is central to the process: what does the visitor most need to know in order to continue along the sales journey?

For instance, let’s say your ecommerce website sells guitars. What would your visitors most need to know at a category level?

Remember, you don’t want to try to sell guitars on the product category page (though you should use every opportunity to build confidence in your ecommerce brand and products). You want to be helpful. You want to help the prospect take the next right step.

Here’s a short list of potentials for guitar categories:

• Electric guitars
• Acoustic guitars
• Student guitars
• Youth guitars
• Pro guitars
• Beginner guitars
• Guitar accessories
• Used guitars
• Sale guitars
• Taylor guitars
• Gibson guitars
• Ovation guitars
• Guitars under $500
• Guitars made in the USA

“Wait!” you say. “That many categories will confuse the visitor.” And you’re right. Most ecommerce stores will need to use special features (sort by brand, for instance) on the product category page.

Getting to the bare bones essentials requires a sound knowledge of your audience, the terms they use in search (keywords), and how they approach the task of finding products in your niche.

The last thing you want to do is enlist categories based on terminology you use instead of on terminology your potential customers use.

If your products aren’t findable in search, then your ecommerce store doesn’t exist. It’s absolutely essential that you know the words your customers use to describe your products and the way they categorize them in their minds.

Your ecommerce job isn’t to design a website that makes sense to your staff, your peers, or your industry; it’s to make sense to the people who purchase what you sell.

That could lead us into a discussion of keyword research and user testing. For now, though, we’ll not go that route. Our aim here is to focus on the elements you’ll want to include on the page, not talk about how to choose those categories. Don’t miss this critical point, though: effective product category pages begin with research and strategic planning.

Let’s first list the common elements just about all product category pages should contain. Then we’ll consider extras that may or may not apply to your business.

Essential elements of product category pages

Here are the two basic elements:

Product category name

Every case is unique, but you’ll typically want to use the product name your prospects use for the category or individual products, not a branded or esoteric name. That not only helps the customer understand your categories, it helps the search engines key in on them.

Example: The guitar online store may choose to go with Acoustic Guitars, Electric Guitars, Classical Guitars, and Guitar Accessories on their primary product category page. That would allow visitors to take a giant step towards honing in on the exact guitar needed. The next category selection would drill down to the specifics within each of those main categories. Using cute or branded terms like “Rock Star Guitars” or “Electric Vibe Axes” probably wouldn’t be a great choice.

Source

Category image

Make sure this is a generic image representing the entire category. Make it a hero image of the product by itself. The simpler and more obvious the better. The images should be consistent in size but should stand out as different from one another. Guide the eyes and the minds will follow.

Example: The guitar store wouldn’t use a Gibson or Ovation guitar photo. The image shouldn’t portray the unique features of any particular brand. Rather, it would go with a stock acoustic guitar, stock electric guitar, stock classical guitar, and perhaps an image showing a guitar case, strings, and capo as the accessories icon.

Take a look (see the screenshot below) at how the Gear 4 Music ecommerce site handles categories and subcategories.

That’s it.

Your product category pages start at the most logical first decision point your visitors will need to make: Name and Category.

From there, guide them via sub-categories to the next logical decision, and do that as many times as you need until prospects end up at the Product Detail Page for the item they have chosen.

The sequence doesn’t change, but the method of travel through the sequence can.

Let’s move on to list the features most likely to be helpful to shoppers as they move from the primary category, through the sub-categories, and on to the selected Product Detail Page.

Category price ranges

Depending on your products, it’s often helpful to list price ranges at the Category Page level. That helps qualify shoppers and can prevent disappointment.

It’s usually better to give shoppers the option of selecting the price range that best fits their budget than to lead them to a product way out of range. The sales department may argue the strategy, but we’ve found well-informed customers are usually the happiest customers.

Crate & Barrel’s sofa category page lists the starting price of its products. 

Category ratings

Ratings and reviews can be valuable additions at the product category level. Here’s where the sales department may indeed have valuable input. Shoppers will often bump up in price for higher quality… and quality is typically reflected in the reviews.

Featured items

Don’t confuse the shopper, but don’t be afraid to make suggestions either. Depending on placement, featured items can draw the eye and lead to a larger sale.

Note (see the screenshot below) how Amazon handles the positioning of their “Featured deals.” This example also highlights the strategic use of Ratings.

Filtering

We’ve seen conversion rates jump by 20 percent or more when product category page filtering is optimized. There’s no easy answer here, and no one-size-fits-all prototype to offer.

With our clients, here at The Good, we begin by assessing the site to look for roadblocks in the conversion sequence, then we work with the client to create an individual strategy, test the assumptions, and optimize for conversions leading to sales.

This is an area where you can stay simple and effective or get elaborate and effective… just be sure to maintain the “effective” part. Note Chewy’s filtering solution in the screenshot below:

Chewy opts for pop-out subcategories that appear when the visitor hovers the mouse pointer over the primary categories. It’s simple and effective.

6 Awesome ecommerce category page examples

1. Kohl’s

Kohl’s “Shoe” product category page has tabs to drill down further depending on whether the shopper is looking for men’s, women’s, or kid’s shoes, but it also provides shopping inspiration with guides and bestsellers to attract consumers who might not know exactly what they’re looking for. 

2. Jimmy Choo

Jimmy Choo’s Women’s Shoes product category page provides a launchpad for a personalized shopping experience. As well as popular collections, the page also highlights the brand’s current bestsellers. 

3. John Lewis

John Lewis makes it easy for shoppers to dig deeper into the type of furniture they’re looking for with a selection of subcategory pages linked from the primary category page. It also serves “lookbooks” that provide inspiration and popular styling choices. 

4. Away

Away’s product category page drops down from the main navigation menu to provide shoppers with a selection of options to keep them moving. The added product images create a more interactive user experience and allow customers to get really specific with the kind of bag they’re looking for. 

5. Nordstrom

Nordstrom’s product category pages act as a gateway to subcategories, giving shoppers the options they need to find their dream item. As well as a selection of subcategories, the page also lets customers filter their search depending on their size, favorite brand, and other key product differentiators. 

6. Lowes 

Lowes’ refrigerator category page displays the different types of fridges available as well as a banner for customer deals and an option to browse top-rated products. 

What successful product category pages have in common

So what is it about these product pages that stand out and create an enjoyable shopping experience? 

1. They put shoppers in control: these product category pages let customers take the helm of their journey by providing subcategory options that help shoppers continue toward the checkout 
2. They provide options: these pages don’t start listing off products, instead, they give shoppers the chance to filter based on their preferences and needs
3. They use high-quality imagery: these pages feature powerful visuals that compel shoppers to click and find out more 

The best product category pages put the customer first and create a landing page where shoppers can create their own journey. This might include subcategory options, the opportunity to filter the search, or inspiration in the form of lookbooks, guides, and bestseller features. 

One thing’s for certain: these brands have tested their product category pages to ensure they offer a delightful customer experience. If you want to follow suit, it’s crucial that you test, track, and tweak your product category pages until they’re performing at their best. 

How to conduct an ecommerce audit on your category page

Conducting an audit on your product category pages will help you identify what’s working and where improvements can be made. For example, if you’ve got a list of subcategories that no one is clicking on, you might be using the wrong keywords or highlighting subcategories that your audience has no interest in. 

For best results, conduct audits regularly and use your findings to tweak product category pages so that you generate more click-throughs and conversions and keep shoppers on-site for longer. 

Here are the key elements you can test to conduct an ecommerce audit on your product category pages.  

1. Information structure

The structure of the information will determine which steps shoppers take next. If your bestsellers are tucked away at the bottom of the product category page, there’s a low chance that customers will navigate there. 

To figure out what product information is most important to your audience, run user tests and heat mapping which will show which parts of the page customers spend the most time on and which links get the most clicks. 

2. Filter, sorting, and discoverability

Do customers use the filter option on your product category pages? A CRO audit will reveal whether shoppers are customizing the shopping experience to suit their needs or whether they struggle to find how to sort and filter products. A good product category page has the option to filter products by material, size, and other key attributes, but they also make it easy to sort products into subcategories so that shoppers can discover the best items for them. 

3. Language and copywriting 

The words you use matter – if your copy doesn’t connect with shoppers, they’re unlikely to click through onto subcategory pages and continue their shopping journey. A CRO audit highlights where shoppers are dropping off which could indicate a disconnect in communication. Then, you can use customer surveys and feedback to find out which search terms and words your audience is using to find relevant products.  

Keyword research is a huge part of optimizing your product category pages. As we mentioned at the start, you want to use language that your customers are using, not language that you and your team use. Run extensive keyword research to see what terms are popular and implement those on your product category pages for best results. 

4. Clearly visible decision-making criteria 

Product category pages are a launchpad for the rest of the shopping journey. Their entire purpose is to keep shoppers moving through the buying process and serve them the right information and product suggestions at the right time. 

This means there needs to be a clear next step: do you want them to choose a subcategory page? Do you want them to explore an inspiration guide for your latest collection?

An audit will identify what most shoppers do next so you can better understand their journey and the next steps. When you know this information, you can ensure you’re displaying the right information at exactly the right time which removes friction from the experience to increase conversions and sales. 

A product category page audit in action

When DTC furniture brand Fully came to The Good, it wanted to increase its conversion rate on its category pages and create a balance between providing helpful information and increasing visibility to the various product categories. 

We conducted a heat map analysis to understand why website visitors were dropping off from category pages and where there was the most friction. The results revealed high engagement rates on the product category filters, which showed that customers might not understand the different types of desks on offer. 

To tackle this, we redesigned and simplified the product filtering system so that shoppers could quickly find what they were looking for depending on functionality, material, and price.

This small and simple tweak led to an average 5.97% conversion rate lift. 

TL;DR:

If you want to learn more about product category pages but don’t have the time to dig into the guts of this piece, here’s a brief overview of everything you need to know.

Product category pages are a pivotal point in the shopping process. They act as a gateway between the homepage and product detail pages and help both intent-heavy shoppers and window shoppers to find what they’re looking for. 

There are 6 key parts of a product category page: 

1. Product category name
2. Category image
3. Category price ranges
4. Category ratings
5. Featured items
6. Filtering 

A/B testing your product category pages is crucial for increasing usability and creating a slick shopping experience. Conduct an audit to find out where the sticking points are before tweaking your pages based on real-life customer feedback and data. 

The post How to Design an Effective Ecommerce Product Category Page appeared first on The Good.

What is a Product Recommendation? 

A product recommendation is exactly what you think–a recommendation for a product. 

Have you ever made a selection at a local store, based on a product recommendation from the owner or a sales clerk? Has a product recommendation from a friend or family member ever been the deciding factor in your choice of which product to purchase?

Celebrity endorsements (paid or unpaid), advice given by a current user, “Best 10” lists on blogs – all of these mentions, and more, leverage the power of product recommendations. Looking for the best dried flower bouquet? Look no further than product recommendation lists on Google. 

As an ecommerce manager, though, you don’t have to wait for someone else to recommend a product to your customers. You can make product recommendations while the prospect is in the process of shopping on your website. Personalized product recommendations can work to improve the user experience as well as the conversion rate of your site.

In this article, we’ll reveal some of the most effective ways we’ve found to deliver product recommendations to your customers. The information we provide here will help you sell more products more often.

Guaranteed.

How Do Ecommerce Product Recommendation Engines Work?

An ecommerce product recommendation engine is a piece of technology that displays recommended products to shoppers throughout your store. It uses machine learning to get smarter and show increasingly relevant products to shoppers based on their interests and previous browsing behavior. 

While it’s possible to manually implement rudimentary “also-liked” recommendations on your ecommerce site, product recommendations best practices call for the deployment of a ‘product recommendations engine’.

There are three basic approaches used to configure the underlying algorithm:

1. The content-based filtering method analyzes customer data on the likes and dislikes of each user (cookies allow tracking over multiple visits), then makes recommendations based on the browsing history of that user. The idea behind content-based filtering is that if you enjoy a certain item, you’ll likely also enjoy a similar item. An example of a content-based filtering system would be if you were listening to Pandora and consistently ‘liked’ downtempo jazz music. The filtering system would take that information and begin recommending similar music to you based on the songs you preferred. 
2. The collaborative-filtering method incorporates data from users who have purchased similar products, then combines that information to make decisions about recommendations. The advantage to this filtering method is that it is capable of making complex recommendations on items such as music or movies without having to ‘understand’ what the item is. This method of filtering operates under the assumption that users will prefer recommendations that are based on purchases they made in the past. Here’s an example: If customer A likes a specific line of products that customer B also likes (assuming they have similar interests), then collaborate-filtering would assume that customer A would like other products that customer B purchased and vice versa. 
3. A hybrid method combines the content-based and collaborative-based methods to incorporate group decisions but focuses the output based on the attributes of a specific visitor. An example of a hybrid filtering system would be how Spotify curates its personalized ‘Discover Weekly’ playlists. If you’ve ever listened to a personalized Spotify playlist, it’s shocking how accurately they’re able to recommend songs based on what you like. The secret behind how they pull this off is through a complex hybrid filtering system that aggregates data on your listening habits as well as similar users’ listening habits, to create a playlist of unique songs that align with your personal taste. 

All three methods use machine-learning algorithms to fuel the process and provide personalized product recommendations. While the mathematical principles behind each are elaborate and complicated, the application to your online store doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

Source

Why Are Product Recommendations Important? 

Is the product recommendations process really worth the trouble? Isn’t the incorporation of machine learning a bit beyond the scope of all but the largest ecommerce websites?

Those are the types of questions we often hear. There are times when it seems the high-tech movement is going too far, and machine-learning algorithms are a prime example of that complaint.

Given the potential benefits, though, the argument often settles itself. When a tool proves itself sufficiently valuable, the question moves from “Why?” to “How?”.

• Research conducted by Barilliance in 2018 concluded that product recommendations accounted for up to 31 percent of ecommerce revenue. On average, customers saw 12 percent of their overall purchases coming from products that were recommended to them. 
• A Salesforce study of product recommendations concluded that visits where the shopper clicked a recommendation comprise just 7 percent of total site traffic, but make up 24 percent of orders and 26 percent of revenue. 
• The conversion rate for visitors clicking on product recommendations was found to be 5.5x higher than for visitors who didn’t click.

• As online shoppers become more used to personalization, they equate it with professionalism – meaning your site needs to bump up to keep up.
• An Accenture report says personalization increases the likelihood of a prospect purchasing from you by 75 percent.

Studies increasingly show the value of product recommendations and the critical role they play in personalization strategies. Recommendations not only lift conversion rates, but they also help deliver an improved user experience to keep visitors coming back and can boost the average order value. 

Once an ecommerce manager is convinced of the benefits of a product recommendation engine, the next step is to determine product recommendation best practices and configure the product recommendation algorithm accordingly.

21 Tips for Ecommerce Product Recommendations 

Your ecommerce site will lend itself to some of the following tips, but not to others. We’ll list the kinds of tactics we’ve seen our clients effectively implement. You choose the ones that seem most applicable to your own business. 

1. Display Products Based on Browsing History

Displaying a list of suggested products based on the visitor’s browsing history (“Recommended for you”) is an often-used and effective type of product recommendation – to add deeper impact, personalize with the shopper’s name. 

This beauty brand recommends products based on the shopper’s skin type and eye color. 

2. Use “Frequently Bought Together” Recommendations 

If a bundle of items is regularly bought together, there’s usually a good reason for it. Maybe shoppers tend to buy a pack of batteries alongside a new flash light, or perhaps they purchase plant milk to go with their coffee beans. Suggesting products that are often bought together not only gives customers value (because who wants to be left high and dry without batteries for their flash light?), but it increases the average order value (AOV) at the same time.

3. Use Product Recommendation Engines to Personalize Your Email Campaigns

Integrate product recommendations into your email marketing strategy by sending personalized emails to your customers with product recommendations based on their recent purchase history. Tarte uses products that a customer has shown interest in to serve up relevant recommendations for other product lines. 

4. Introduce Shoppers to New Items 

“Featured recommendations” and “Recently viewed” suggestions can introduce shoppers to items they wouldn’t have thought about searching for. This can be great inspiration for new customers who don’t necessarily know the kinds of products you stock or who are looking for a starting point. 

5. Save Potentially Lost Sales

Providing access to the shopper’s browsing history can help save sales that may have been lost had the customer not been able to relocate an item earlier viewed. The last thing you want is a customer to leave your site because they can’t find the awesome bamboo lunchbox they were originally interested in. 

TC Straps details the items a shopper has recently looked at so they don’t forget. 

6. Show Products “Related to Items You’ve Viewed” 

In particular, display this type of product recommendation on product pages to help encourage users to add additional items to their cart.

7. Provide Social Proof 

“Customers who bought [this item] also bought [that item]” recommendations provide social proof and peer-generated recommendations of relevant products the user may be interested in. 

Amazon is the king of this, showcasing products that similar customers also bought to spark additional purchases. 

8. Point to New Products 

Alert viewers of products that have been updated by generating “There is a newer version of this item” notices. 

9. Personalize Product Recommendations 

Personalize recommendations by showing items related to previous purchases (“Since you already own this, you may also want this”). As well as using information about past purchases, you can also personalize recommendations based on other items a customer has shown interest in and other attributes, like their hobbies, skin type, or hair color. 

10. Feature Best-Selling Items For Each Brand 

Show your most popular products from a range of brands for indirect social proof and as a way of adding confidence to the purchase. Recommending best-selling products on the homepage has shown to be a highly-effective tactic for hooking your user’s attention as soon as they reach your site. 

11. Generate Product Bundles

Group together items that are frequently purchased together and offer a special discount to customers who purchase all items in one transaction.

12. Show Bestsellers Across Different Categories

Introduce shoppers to new product lines in categories they may not have previously looked at by showcasing a range of bestsellers from across different categories. 

13. Make Sure Recommendations Are Relevant and Timely

Catch shoppers while they’re actively in buy mode by ensuring recommendations land at just the right time (i.e. don’t promote seasonal products at the wrong time of year!). 

14. Keep Popular Products Highlighted

Adjust your recommendations to keep popular products highlighted and to provide additional viewing opportunities for lower-selling items (20 percent of your items will provide 80 percent of your sales).

15. Showcase Your Highest Rated Items 

Try injecting some social proof into your product recommendations by displaying items that have the highest customer reviews. This brand recommends relevant products with high-star ratings at the “Add to Cart” stage.

16. Know Your Visitors

The more you can personalize product recommendations, the better. Segment audiences based on demographic information as well as psychographics, like their interests, lifestyle, and challenges. You can then base your recommendations on their most pressing pain points or needs. 

17. Cross-Sell Relevant Products Via Recommendations

Provide product recommendations when items added to the cart require accessories (fishing reels need fishing line, flashlights need batteries, shoes often require socks). This brand recommends coffee accessories to go with the items in the cart. 

18. Use Product Recommendations to Upsell

Use product recommendations for moving the buyer up to a more fully-featured version of the one currently being browsed (upselling). Here, customers can upgrade their order at the point of sale. 

19. Get Seasonal With Your Recommendations

Use product recommendations to remind the shopper about upcoming holidays or other special events.

20. Never Stop A/B Testing

 Your product recommendations engine isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it function; add it to your testing regimen for conversion optimization. The more you tweak and measure it, the better your results will be. 

21. Offer Product Pairings On the Cart Page

Before your customers move into the checkout process, you have one last opportunity to present them with product recommendations. If you opt to use this tactic, make sure the products you’re offering don’t distract users from completing the purchase. Cross-selling related items that complement the items already in their cart is the best approach here.

How to Display Product Recommendations Throughout the Sales Cycle 

Not all customers are in the same spot. Some have their wallet out ready to purchase, while others are still mulling over their options. As a result, they require different types of product recommendations depending on where they are in the sales funnel.

Someone who is ready and raring to buy will want highly-targeted recommendations while a shopper that’s not as far through the funnel might want to see a variety of suggestions to see what tickles their fancy. 

Here are some ways you can present product recommendations on each page to drive the most sales and create an enjoyable customer experience.  

Homepage: “Most Popular” and “Recently Viewed” 

Your homepage is one of the first pages visitors will land on. This is essentially a springboard for all different kinds of customers–both existing shoppers who have typed your URL directly into their search bar and brand new customers who have navigated to your site from a Google search or a social media ad. 

Implementing the “Most Popular” product recommendation strategy works best here because you can showcase your bestsellers to new shoppers and remind existing customers what sets you apart. You can get granular here, too, and create a dynamic homepage for returning customers so that the recommended products are those they have shown interest in before, like their recently viewed items or a product that’s relevant to their latest purchase. 

Category Pages: “Most Popular” 

Products can get lost in category pages, especially if you have a large inventory. Avoid shoppers missing out on your bestsellers by promoting your “Most Popular in Category” products on each relevant category page. This introduces existing shoppers to a fresh range of products in the category but also sparks inspiration for new shoppers who are just beginning to browse. 

Product Pages and Cart Pages: “Bought Together” and “Similar Products” 

If a shopper is on a product page or has added an item to their cart, chances are they’re interested in that product–or, at the very least, similar products. Use the “Bought Together” and “Similar Products” strategies here to upsell relevant items or cross-sell products that complement each other. 

Our Tip: Test Product Recommendations Across Your Site

We recommend testing out different product recommendation strategies on different pages to see which ones are the most engaging for your audience. You might find that sharing your bestsellers on the homepage doesn’t get you the results you want, and instead, you get more conversions by recommending recently viewed products or a personalized selection of items based on previous browsing behavior.

Product Recommendation Q&As: Everything You Need to Know 

Understanding how product recommendations fuel the sales cycle is important, but it also helps to know how you can make the most of them and where they can best be implemented. 

How Can Product Recommendations Be Improved? 

Product recommendation engines use machine learning to get smarter. If shoppers consistently click on a recommended product in a certain category or continue to buy a certain item, the AI will soon learn that those products are the most popular.

In addition, the engines can use previous data to serve personalized recommendations to each individual customer based on the product pages they’ve visited and spent the most time on, as well as their past purchases. 

How Do You Write a Product Recommendation?

You aren’t tasked with writing product recommendations–the AI technology does it for you. The only thing you need to worry about is writing the product titles and descriptions so they match your brand voice and resonate with your audience. 

What Are Personalized Product Recommendations? 

Personalized product recommendations use existing customer data to serve shoppers’ relevant suggestions. This data can include product pages a shopper has visited, items they’ve added to their cart, previous purchases, and any first-party information they’ve shared, such as their lifestyle, interests, and hobbies. 

How Effective Are Product Recommendations? 

The stats above show that product recommendations can be incredibly effective when implemented well. The key is to put the right kind of product recommendations at the right points in the sales cycle. For example, share your bestsellers on the homepage to attract both new and existing customers, but share personalized recommendations on the “Add to Cart” page or at checkout. 

The #1 Reason Why You Should Get Started with Product Recommendations

Strategic marketing plans vary from company to company. Tactics that fit one business often aren’t a wise move for another business. Implementing a product recommendation engine, however, is something every ecommerce manager should seriously consider. 

Here’s why: your competitors will soon enough. And the advantage gained from applying product recommendation examples like the ones given above is significant. 

If you’re looking for a simple and highly effective way to improve personalization for your ecommerce store, product recommendation engines may be an investment worth making. Beyond simply getting your customers to add more items to their cart, you’re providing them with a better overall shopping experience through customized recommendations for products that they otherwise might not have found on their own. 

Here at The Good, we’re committed to working with companies to improve user experiences. If you’re seeking actionable ways to improve the shopping experience of your site, get in touch.

The post 21 Ecommerce Product Recommendation Tips (That Increase Conversions) appeared first on The Good.

For ecommerce brands especially, high-quality visual content like product images can make or break their online presence and customer experience.

Across most online platforms, high-quality imagery has consistently proven to boost engagement, establish credibility, and most importantly, improve conversion rates. 

It doesn’t matter how smooth and frictionless your user experience design is, if you have poor-quality product images it’s bound to have a negative impact on your bottom-line.

In this article, we´ll cover: 

• Why product images are important
• The types of product images you should leverage
• 10 tactics for effectively improving your product images
• An intro on how to leverage product images in conversion optimization

Why are good product images so important?

When a customer isn’t in a brick and mortar store, they have to rely completely on the imagery and descriptions on your site to make their buying decision. This makes high-quality product images crucial to the success of your business. 

They give your shoppers a first impression

When a customer lands on your product page, you have just a few seconds to catch their attention. A MIT study found that the human brain is able to process images in just 13 milliseconds, giving your customers a first impression of the quality of your brand and your product with just a glance at your product image. 

The quality and usefulness of those photos creates an instant and lasting impression.

Customers want to see product images

High-quality photos show people exactly what they’re getting when they buy something online. They provide proof of texture, shape, colors, and more. They also help shoppers get a sense of the size of the product, as well as different ways they might use it. Customers want to see images, and they want to see a variety of them.

In studies done by Shopify, only 0.52 percent of consumers want to see a single product photo, 33.16 percent prefer to see multiple photos, and about 60 percent prefer images that will enable them to have a 360º view of the product. 

Meet the customers’ needs and provide a variety of helpful product photos so that they can make a more informed buying decision. 

Quality product images generate more sales and fewer returns

In a survey by Weebly, 75% of respondents said that product images were “very influential” in whether they made a purchase. In that same survey, 22% of respondents said they returned items because they looked different in person than in the photo. 

Humans are visual by nature. While things like product descriptions and technical specifications are important, images are what spark the initial interest in and desire for a product. 

Additionally, if a person receives a product and it’s not like the photo, they’re almost certainly going to return it. A return means an unhappy customer, lost revenue from a sale, and additional costs for restocking.  

Bad product images hinder conversions

You might think that any website imagery is better than none, but a bad image will only distract from the goal that both you and the customer share: to research the product and purchase.

Your images need to carry information and give the shopper clear differentiation between one product and another. Otherwise, they will be ignored or worse, the reason that a customer moves to a competitor site.

They boost SEO efforts

Adding an Alt tag and description to product images helps search engines understand exactly what each photo is. When someone searches for a type of product, like “brown trail running shoes”, Google looks at the Alt tag and description to determine whether to display your product image. The closer the match between your image and the search, the greater the odds of your image showing in the search results. 

By using high-quality product photos, you can increase the amount of organic search traffic you receive to your product pages.

6 types of product images

So, how can you make sure that your product images meet the needs of the customer and deliver an excellent experience that converts? 

By using a variety of product images!

Each type of image serves a different purpose and the most effective product pages use multiple image types to increase conversion rates. 

Here are a few you should consider for your site: 

1. Lifestyle images

Lifestyle images show your products in use and they help potential customers envision themselves using your product. This style of image can communicate lifestyle values that are important to customers. For example, a supplement brand might show people living a healthy lifestyle, with their supplements at hand. 

Bare Performance Nutrition makes use of this image style on their category pages: 

Use lifestyle product images to help potential customers imagine enjoying your product and to show that you embrace the same values they do. 

2. Usage inspiration images

Usage inspiration images are similar to lifestyle images, but with a greater focus on the many different ways a product can be used. For example, if you sell a cleaning product, you might show it being used to clean kitchen surfaces, a car dashboard, and a window. If you can show potential buyers multiple practical ways that your product can be used, they’re more likely to purchase it. 

This is an interesting usage example from WOLACO, a sports brand based in New York City. They show how their running shorts can be used to store practical items like a Subway card, in the perfectly sized pockets. It gives customers the impression that the shorts don’t only have to be worn in workouts, they can also be worn day to day on the Subway or around the city. 

3. Customer images

Customer images are, as the name implies, photos taken by customers while they use your product. These images are often posted to social media and can be used as social proof. When potential customers see actual buyers enjoying your products, it reassures them. Images taken in real life can feel more authentic than photos taken in a studio.

If you are going to use customer images on a product page, just be sure that you have permission first. 

Fabletics features customer images from social media and allows people to directly shop those featured posts on their website. The brand has developed a true culture around real users and influencer content that gives shoppers a more holistic idea of how the sportswear looks in action. 

4. Textural images

One of the challenges of ecommerce is that shoppers can’t touch your products. For some types of products, the tactile experience of holding an item is a key part of the shopping process. They can’t feel the softness of a t-shirt or the sturdiness of a leather boot.

Dr. Martens does a great job of this in their images and descriptions of “black smooth leather boots.”

Textural images are close up photos designed to give shoppers an idea of how the product feels and the quality of its assembly. This close up can be achieved either through allowing customers to zoom in on high-resolution images or by providing separate images altogether. 

If the way a product feels (or looks) is important to buyers, you need to include textural photos on the product page. 

5. Compatibility images

Compatibility images help shoppers determine whether your product is compatible with how they want to use it. For example, if you are buying a charging cable for your smartphone, you need to make sure it’s the right type of cable. An image of the tip of the cable along with an image of the type of charging port it fits reassures you that you are purchasing the right type of cable. 

Here’s an example from the Ailkin store on Amazon: 

If your products are going to be used in conjunction with something else, it’s important to use compatibility images so that customers know they are purchasing the correct item. 

6. Size proportion images

As the name suggests, size proportion images help shoppers see how big an item is relative to another object. 

For example, if you sell flashlights, you might show a hand holding a flashlight so that shoppers know its approximate size. If there is any chance buyers might mistakenly assume an item you’re selling is significantly larger or smaller than it actually is, you need to include proportion images on your product pages. 

You can see this in action for Hatori´s “super small mini flashlight.”

10 Tactics for Effectively Improving Your Product Images

Let’s be honest, it shouldn’t be very difficult to convince your team that high-quality images essential to a good user experience, but actually creating visual content that motivates visitors to buy is a different story. 

To establish a baseline for what good product images should look like, we compiled research and examples from clients of our own, as well as from leading ecommerce brands that inspire us. These field-proven tactics will hopefully help you determine your site’s position in relation to that baseline.

Here are the ten fundamentals that every ecommerce marketer or manager should know about creating high-quality product imagery: 

1. Provide all necessary viewing angles.

This seems like an obvious one, but it’s surprising how often we see high-traffic ecommerce sites that only provide their users with one or two product angles. To avoid confusion with the scale of a product, it’s always good practice to include a product image that indicates how large or small the product may be. Here’s a great example from a past client of ours, Baron Fig (see screenshot below). For the premium-priced products that they sell, it’s essential that they provide users with different angles of the product so they can envision themselves using it. 

Imagine you’re shopping at local department store for a specific product… what are you going to look for? At a minimum, show every important detail and aspect of your item. Leave anything out, and you’ll be losing sales. 

Guaranteed. 

2. Show the shopper a product image for each color or style you offer.

Don’t just tell them “also available in red, blue, and green,” give them a photo of the item in each color. There’s nothing worse than having a product with 3-4 color variations, but the product images are only showing one color. Backpacks.com is a great example of a company with thousands of SKUs in their inventory, but still take the time to carefully photograph each individual item. This allows users to see every angle of the product, from every color option available. It’s a simple value-add for your product detail page that will definitely have an impact on your customer’s decision to purchase. 

3. Give the shopper a way to zoom in on any part of the product.

Providing your shoppers with an image zoom feature is essential for any ecommerce website. Users will almost always mouse over a product image to see if they can get a more detailed view of it, and if you don’t offer that functionality, they’ll be left unsatisfied. 

This is where having high-resolution product images is especially important. You want your users to be able to zoom in on a product without compromising the quality of the image. For particulars, check the plugin specifications or the platform you’re hosting your ecommerce store on.

4. Observe the basics of branding and consistency.

Despite every product image on your site being different, it’s also important that you maintain a consistent style and design for each photo. Use the same background, modeling, lighting, and image placement strategy (for instance) throughout your ecommerce website. 

Consistency provides a comfortable, safe, professional feeling. Inconsistency can be distracting and unsettling. Unless distracting and unsettling are the qualities you want to brand, stay consistent. 

5. Hire a professional product photographer or agency.

Make sure the individual or company you find is skilled at product photography and understands the goals you have for the brand visuals. Quality always matters over quantity, so don’t settle for a low-resolution photo of your product that you took in-house. 

Hiring a professional product photographer or company is low-hanging fruit for any ecommerce business. It won’t break your budget, and it’s guaranteed to yield positive results. 

6. Leverage social media content for product images.

Many ecommerce brands relying heavily on their social media presence to generate excitement about new products and establish credibility with their target audience. If you regularly have customers (or paid brand ambassadors) posting photos of your products on social media, you may be able to repurpose that content on your product details page. Brands like Glossier use content from their customers to showcase how a product looks and feels (see screenshot below). 

7. Keep an eye on image file size and resulting website performance.

Make sure your architecture and tactics support your image strategy. There’s a constant dance between page load time and image load that must be recognized, monitored, and maintained. 

Your photographer isn’t likely to be the best source of site performance information. Rather, you’ll want your website developers and SEO manager to work with the photographer to make sure resolution and size requirements are satisfied. If your site bogs down because your image sizes are too large, you’ll lose traffic. That’s a guarantee. 

In terms of file type, JPG is the most common digital image file format online. It is widely supported by all ecommerce platforms (Shopify, Woo Commerce, Big Commerce, etc) and offers a small file size with a broad color range.

8. Observe the basics of image SEO.

The better the meta description you supply for search engines like Google, the more search engine optimization bang you’ll get. Missing this small, but critical point can cause you to miss out on sales. 

The data is also important for visually impaired shoppers. They may not be able to see your images clearly, so they depend on your metadata to tell them what those images are and what they look like. Beyond alt text and title text, you’ll also want to consider your strategy for using captions with your photos.

9. Consider using 360° viewing options, or a high-resolution product video.

If you want to go above and beyond the baseline for good product images, give your customers a complete virtual view of the product through 360° product photography. If you don’t feel comfortable handling this technology on your own, there are a multitude of companies that specialize in 360° product photography, so if you have it in the budget it’s worth considering. 

Product videos or GIFs are another option to consider if you want to increase the conversion rate of your product pages. Video drives a 157 percent increase in organic traffic from SERPs, and is guaranteed to improve conversions for your site. If you have the resources available to make this happen, it’ll more than pay off for you in the long term. In addition to showing a variety of high-quality product photos, Comfort-T uses a high-resolution product video that even gives you the option to pause it. It’s a simple upgrade to the product page that offers a great deal of value to the user.

10. Our final best practice tip for ecommerce product images is one that often goes overlooked, sometimes resulting in significant cost and anguish.

No matter where you get your photographs and illustrations, make sure you have a clear and absolute right to use them.

We’ve spoken with clients who think taking a screenshot means you have ownership of an image. We’ve also advised to clients who believe “royalty free” means unfettered rights to an image. Companies of all sizes have found themselves in trouble because of image rights issues, so it’s extremely important that you make sure your company is licensed to legally use the images it has. 

Conversion Rate Optimization With Product Photos

In addition to the above strategies, consider implementing Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) strategies to improve the user experience and increase the amount of conversions. Don’t assume that the way you currently use photos on product pages is the best way to do it. Rather, use strategic A/B testing to find the most effective way to use photos to increase your conversion rates. 

Some simple tests you can run include:

• Showing your product being used in different situations
• Product photos with people versus without people
• Including customer photos on product pages
• Photo galleries versus carousels
• Zoomable photos versus additional close up photos
• Using different photo sizes on product pages
• Including related products in photos and then including links to those product pages

Get The Most Value From Your Product Images

Every page on your ecommerce website should have a single purpose. And every component on that page should help establish that purpose. The images on a product page will necessarily be different than the images on a category page. Remember, you are helping the shopper move along the sales path. Each view and each click is another step along that path.

Online shoppers will depend on the information you provide – both your words and your images – to help them decide whether or not to place the order.

If you’re an ecommerce business owner looking to optimize your website, get your 5-Factors Scorecard and discuss the results with an expert so we can help you identify specific areas that could benefit from optimization. 

The post A Guide To Ecommerce Product Images (+ 10 Tactics To Improve Yours) appeared first on The Good.

We also use video to help us make buying decisions. 

Now, more than ever, ecommerce video matters. If you want to reach more customers, drive more sales, and keep pace with your competitors, you absolutely need to leverage video. 

In this guide we’re going to cover:

• Why ecommerce video is so important
• The different types of videos you should be using
• How to effectively create and promote videos 

Why is video important to ecommerce? 

Video is critical for your ecommerce marketing strategy for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it allows potential customers to better understand products. 

Unlike brick-and-mortar retail, customers can’t physically touch ecommerce products before purchasing. But video can meet this need by showing the product in action and giving customers more context for what it looks, feels, and acts like day to day. 

Let’s take a look at some of the facts: 

• Ecommerce videos are a key part of the sales process. 73% of U.S. adults say that they are more likely to purchase after watching a video that explains the product or service.
• Ecommerce video marketing is also important because it gives customers assurance that your product is right for them. Nearly 80% of consumers feel that product videos increase their confidence when purchasing products online. 
• Video content helps build trust between you and your audience, particularly if you are selling to a younger demographic. When researching products and making buying decisions, 87% of Gen Z prefers videos or ads that show someone talking about or demonstrating a product.
• If you don’t use videos for your ecommerce business, there’s a good chance that you’ll fall behind your competition, since more than half of marketers use at least some form of product-related videos. 

The bottom line is that using videos is essential for the success of your ecommerce store. 

Videos increase conversion rates, boost sales, and increase trust levels.

6 Types of ecommerce video you should be using

Every brand approaches video differently, but these are a few of our recommended media efforts for boosting conversions.

1. Product demonstrations

Perhaps the most obvious way to use ecommerce video is with product demonstrations.

There’s a reason that infomercials have been used for years to drive sales of products like Oxiclean and Ginsu knives. Seeing a product in action is much more compelling than simply reading a series of bullet points about what the product can do.

Product demonstration videos allow you to highlight specific product benefits and show potential customers tangible ways that products will improve their lives. 

MUDWTR uses simple product demonstration videos throughout their homepage to show how to make their drink, what the beverage looks like, and how easy it is start your day off with it.

2. Product spotlight videos

Product spotlights allow customers to get an up-close look at products they are considering buying. They help customers imagine how something will feel and what materials it is made from. 

Think of how Apple uses ecommerce product spotlight videos to highlight the sleek design of their latest computers. They rotate it so that you can see the clean edges, technology, and the crystal clear displays. 

Customers may not be able to physically touch the products you sell in your ecommerce store, but well-done product spotlight videos can compensate and improve this aspect of the customer experience.

3. Lifestyle videos

Lifestyle videos show real people using your products in their daily lives. They help customers envision how they might use the products and give them a sense of how the items may serve their day-to-day needs.

If you sell waterproof hiking boots, you can show a hiker trudging through deep puddles and then show his dry socks as he’s taking off his boots. If you sell fitness equipment, you can show people of all types and sizes using your equipment in various ways. 

Make your lifestyle videos relatable to your target audience, and get them excited for all the ways your product will enhance their life.

Here’s a video from Peloton that combines a product demonstration with lifestyle content woven throughout.

4. Testimonials

Testimonial videos are one of the most effective ways to increase sales and overcome objections. But above all, they build trust.

They’re usually formatted as a short video that captures an individual’s experience with the product or service, their opinion on it, and why they recommend others buy it too. 

Testimonials ease customers’ fears because they have social proof that your products really work and people benefit from them. A person might not believe everything you say about your products, but they will likely believe a verified reviewer.

This example from Code Academy shows how a great testimonial can demonstrate the value of a product or service through the eyes of a customer.

5. Tutorials

Tutorials are an effective way to show your target audience how to use your products to achieve a specific outcome.

For customers who are deep in the research stage of the buying journey, product tutorials can provide the assurance that they’ll be able to accomplish what they want with your products.

Tutorials can also reduce product returns by decreasing confusion or frustration customers might experience while trying to use your products. 

Crossnet does a great job of this on their product page, showing video and written instructions for how to play their sport. 

6. Video ads

A number of ecommerce brands have achieved enormous success using promotional videos that are full of personality.

For example, Dollar Shave Club became a household name almost overnight with their “Our Blades Are F***ing Great” advertisement. 

If you have the budget, think about creating a video ad in your brand voice that not only sells products, but builds brand love.

How to create and promote impactful videos

The good news is that ecommerce videos have gotten exponentially easier to create over the last decade. With smartphone cameras now able to shoot in 4k at 60 frames per second and easy-to-use cloud-based video editing software, quality ecommerce videos can be produced relatively inexpensively.

That being said, you still need to be strategic about how you create and promote videos that make an impact. Here are some things to guide you in the creation and promotion processes:

1. Consider the entire customer journey

When deciding which types of videos to create, it’s tempting to go right to the product page, which is usually near the end of the buying process. And while product videos are certainly essential, don’t neglect the other stages of the customer journey and conversion funnel.

For example, ecommerce video is an excellent way to capture someone’s attention in the Awareness stage and move them into the Interest stage. When a person is in the Research stage, consider using educational content, like explainer videos and tutorials. At each stage of the journey, customize your video efforts to meet the need of shoppers.

2. Use video for retargeting and lead generation

Two of the best ways to use your videos are retargeting and lead generation, which really go hand in hand. 

If someone shows interest in a video, perhaps by watching more than the typical viewer, you can retarget them with a relevant landing page. Or you could retarget them with a second video that is designed to further qualify leads before ultimately directing them toward an opt-in page.

3. Match the right video to the right platform

Not every video is necessarily right for every platform. Most TikTok videos are 60 seconds or less. Longer videos, like tutorials, are much more effective when they’re shared on platforms like YouTube or Facebook. 

This reality should also inform which platforms you target for each stage of the buying journey. As a general rule (though not hard and fast), brand awareness videos are going to be shorter, and thus more appropriate for short form social platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The further down the funnel you get, the longer your videos can be since prospects are increasingly willing to spend more time engaging with your content. 

4. Use videos in multiple places on your website

Product pages aren’t the only place to effectively use videos on your website. Create a centralized hub for all your product tutorials. Answer questions with videos on the category page. Show off your latest videos in your blog posts. By embedding your videos across your website, they’ll get more engagement and build a better customer experience.

Beyond your website, you can repurpose video assets into pieces of content for ads, live events, sponsorships and more.

5 Winning ecommerce video examples

So, what does a winning ecommerce video look like? Let’s see!

Native Union

In this video, Native Union tells a wonderful story of convenience for modern technology customers. Why does this video work so well? Because the product concept and utility are novel, but they are difficult to describe with words alone.

Training Mask 3.0

This video is a perfect example of showing a product in action. Not only does it highlight the primary feature of the mask (the ability to increase training intensity), it also shows a variety of athletes using it in unique locations. The end result is a compelling video that appeals to those athletes who want to train at peak intensity. 

Kelty

This video is a hybrid between a product demo, tutorial, and advertisement. It shows the product in action, explains all the different ways to use it, and highlights key features, such as the amount of weight it can hold. 

Sierra Designs

This video is perfect for someone who is in the research stage of purchasing a single-person tent. The designer explains the thinking that went into the tent design, as well as answers multiple questions that potential buyers might have. And because he is also a backpacker himself, he can speak with authority on the subject. 

Onzie

Onzie has traditionally made fitness apparel for women. When they decided to branch into men’s apparel as well, they used this video, which features lifestyle shots of the products, along with a booming soundtrack. It effectively conveys the message of their new clothing line.

Use ecommerce video to increase conversions

To increase conversions and build a better customer experience, you need to utilize ecommerce video.

If you don’t have any videos currently on your site, start with your product pages. This is the lowest hanging fruit, and product videos could be the exact nudge shoppers need to make their purchasing decision.

Once you have videos on your key product pages, slowly branch out, creating videos for each stage of the buyer’s journey. Use A/B testing to determine where on your site and which types of videos perform the best, and then adjust your content creation efforts based on the results. 

You’ve got this!

The post How To Use Ecommerce Video To Drive More Sales appeared first on The Good.

Instead of sitting back and waiting for brands to come to them, they’ll conduct their own research to find the best item. Who wants to wait around when there’s a whole world at our fingertips? 

Despite the active role consumers play in their shopping fate, there are still a set of steps they go through when buying a product:

• Awareness: when a consumer is just becoming aware they need a product to solve a specific problem
• Consideration: when a consumer knows what product they need to buy and is weighing up their options 
• Decision: the moment a customer chooses a brand and a product to invest in 

The final stages of the sales cycle pit similar products against each other as shoppers try to identify the right fit – which one fits their budget? Does it come with all the features they need? Does it look how they want it to? 

Creating a product comparison page that highlights the differences between similar products helps consumers quickly figure out the best product for them. This speeds up the sales process and guides them to checkout quicker – it’s a win-win situation for everyone. 

What is product comparison in ecommerce? 

Have you ever tried to buy something like a microwave, a vacuum, or a new phone and struggled to differentiate between the options available? Maybe one microwave has 800W power but another has far more heating options. Being able to compare each option side-by-side gives a visual view of the key deciding factors that build trust. 

This is exactly what a product comparison is in ecommerce. It essentially lists out the features and benefits of a couple of different products on the same page. 

Potential customers can quickly see which features each microwave comes with thanks to the handy green ticks in the chart above. If they were specifically looking for a microwave that could connect to Alexa, automatically reorder popcorn, and had hands-free voice control, there’s a very clear winner. 

The main elements a product comparison includes are: 

• Product description and details: what are the specifications and how do they differ from other similar products? For example, one vacuum might be cordless and smaller than another. 
• Product features: what add-ons does the product have that others don’t? For example, one vacuum might have six different heads that can be used for different cleaning purposes. 
• Product benefits: how will the product make life easier for the consumer and how does this differ from other similar products? For example, one vacuum might have a head specifically for pet fur that leaves homes completely hairless. 

Product comparison slots in at the consideration stage of the sales cycle, helping shoppers identify the best-fit product for them in a quick glance and, therefore, boosting conversions. 

Product comparison: best strategies for best results

How you present your product comparison page will depend on the type of product you’re selling and the kind of people you’re selling to (we’ll dig into that in a moment). However, there are some simple strategies to keep in mind so you match customer expectations:

• Include images: display images of the products you’re comparing so customers know exactly which items you’re talking about 
• Make it visual: as well as product photos, include illustrations and other visual elements to maintain reader attention
• Stick to less than five products: don’t overwhelm shoppers with tons of products; instead, stick to 2-5 for best results 
• Consider shopper interests: bring the features that are most important to your customers to the top of the chart 
• Keep it simple: keep text to a minimum and avoid listing complicated features that will confuse customers 
• Include social proof: add ratings and customer reviews to your chart so shoppers can see how previous buyers felt about the product 

How to use research to build a product comparison chart

Product comparison charts might seem like an easy addition to your site or product pages, but there can be a lot of work that goes in to get them right. It’s not just a case of listing size and color and hoping for the best. Instead, you need to dig into customer preferences and each product’s unique selling point. 

1. Study the products

First things first, you need to really get to know the products you’re comparing. It’s not just about their dimensions and design, it’s also about the hidden features and the benefits they bring customers. 

The basic information you should look to include is: 

• Product dimensions (all angles if possible) 
• Color options 
• Specific information regarding the product (i.e. voltage for electrical items or wattage for microwaves) 
• Extras and add-ons that come with the product
• Price 
• Materials or ingredients used 

Once you have the basic product details, what are the benefits of those details? Frame the nitty-gritty details using a customer-centric mindset. 

2. Find the unique selling point 

What makes each product you’re comparing different from the next? Most products will have a unique selling point, even if it’s something as simple as their color options. When studying the products, keep an eye out for what makes them different. 

There are a few key ways you can identify the USP of a product: 

• Read customer reviews to see what’s mentioned the most
• Compare prices to see if the USP is the low price
• Identify what a product has that other similar items don’t have 
• Look for special features, like a unique material 
• Understand the main benefits
• The purpose of a product and its main uses  
• Any additional “pros”, like sustainability or a smaller size 

You should find a way to include the USP in your product comparison page to elevate it above other products you’re comparing it to. If you’re simply comparing your own products, highlighting the USP can help customers determine which product is best for them based on their own unique needs. 

3. Understand your customers

Most importantly, your product comparison page or chart should reflect the needs of your customers. This means gaining a deep understanding of what exactly it is that they’re looking for in a product like yours. 

Customer research can begin before you’ve even developed your products and it can help you refine and improve them moving forward. But, for now, knowing the kinds of features and benefits your customers value the most is crucial so that you can include the right information on your product comparison pages. 

You can find out what your customers want through: 

• Surveys and questionnaires: ask customers what their favorite thing is about a product and encourage them to share their priorities with you via a short customer survey or questionnaire sent via email.
• Customer reviews: collect reviews from customers and dig into their responses to identify what they liked and disliked about a product. The things they liked can easily become key features and benefits to include in your product comparison chart
• Forums: discover what topics customers are talking about on relevant forums to determine what features they might like the most.
• Competitor analysis: check out the information your competitors use on their product comparison pages as they are likely to have a similar customer base 
• Social listening: scout out features and benefits that shoppers are talking about on social media in relation to your product or products like yours from other vendors 
• Customer support: ask your customer support team to share feedback from customers – what did they like? What did they struggle with? What were they pleasantly surprised about? 

4. Build your product comparison chart

With this information you’ve collected, you can start to put your product comparison chart together with a heavy focus on what your customers want. Tapping into their needs and interests will ensure you’re putting relevant details into the chart so they can make a quick decision – which, as a result, will boost conversions. 

Try to prioritize the information you include and break the chart up into sections so it’s easily scannable. You might have sections for:

• Dimensions
• Materials 
• Features
• Benefits 

Keeping it structured like this will help shoppers quickly scan the information that’s most important to them. 

If you’re looking for other product detail page insights, our YouTube channel is full of useful videos. Check out Top Ecommerce Product Detail Page Design Elements: Part 1 & Part 2 to get started. 

6 product comparison examples that boost conversions 

1. Fitbit

Fitbit uses a colorful, visual chart to showcase the different features of its products. The table also displays the product price and uses eye-catching ticks to give shoppers quick information. 

2. Keurig

Like Fitbit, Keurig uses images to illustrate its comparison chart and sticks to just three options to compare. 

3. iPhone vs Samsung 

This chart pits two of the most popular phones against each other in a head-to-head comparison. It uses visuals and simple information to give customers a neutral look into the best option for them. 

4. Home Depot

As well as a comparison chart, Home Depot’s product comparison tool also includes customer ratings and reviews for an extra layer of information. 

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Everything You Need To Know About Building A Product Page That Converts

5. Crate & Barrel

Crate & Barrel does things a bit differently by listing out the details and dimensions of each product rather than using tick boxes in a chart. 

6. Amazon

Amazon’s product comparison tool is shown on product pages and displays relevant items. Customers are able to quickly understand whether the product page they’re on is the right one for them or if there’s a better option out there without having to go back to the search function. 

Create a product comparison template 

Putting together an in-depth product comparison can be time-consuming. You have a lot of details to delve into and, if you’re comparing more than two products, it can quickly become a long-winded process. To ease up some time, create a product comparison template that you can use each time you want to compare products. 

This template should incorporate the key information your customers want to know and include prompts you can fill out when studying similar products. 

Your product comparison template might look something like this with a checkbox for each feature or benefit: 

This comparison feature lets shoppers get all the information they need at a quick glance. It includes the product name in the headers and product details, including important specs, so that customers are able 

Make product comparison easy for customers

Product comparison tables form an important part of the sales cycle. Instead of opening hundreds of tabs and flicking between them all, give customers the information they need all in one place. Product comparison pages are a great way to highlight the features and benefits of each product and ensure customers are making the right choice for them.

When creating a product comparison chart, do your research. Study the products you’re going to include to identify what makes them different, dig into what your customers actually want to know about the products, and create a template that you can work from.  

If you’re looking for guidance on how to implement product comparisons, and other conversion boosting elements to your ecommerce site, you should consider a Digital Experience Optimization Program.

The post How to Create a Great Product Comparison Page to Boost Conversions appeared first on The Good.

There’s an art to putting together the right products and pitching them to customers so they fly off your digital shelves. In this piece, we delve into what exactly product bundling is, why it’s important, and how you can implement it in your online store.

What is product bundling? 

Product bundling is a term used to describe grouping individual products together into a bigger bundle. 

The idea is that the bundle is sold at a lower price point than if the products were to be sold separately, offering increased value to customers and potential savings on their part. You’ve probably seen this strategy in action many times before, whether it’s a shampoo and conditioner pairing or a computer that’s sold with accompanying software. 

There are several different kinds of bundles that ecommerce merchants choose to use: 

• Pure bundles: this is where the products cannot be sold individually and are only available in the bundle 
• New product bundles: this is where brands put new products together with existing popular products to encourage customers to discover new items
• Mix-and-match bundles: this technique allows the customer to “build their own” bundle from a selection of different products 
• Cross-sell bundles: this is where a complementary product is tacked onto the sale of the main item, like a case to go with a new phone

Dollar Shave Club has a range of different bundles that customers can choose from. 

The goal of doing this is to generate more bundle sales and increase exposure across your product line. 

The benefits of bundling products

The math is simple: the more products a customer buys at once, the higher the average order value (AOV) will be at checkout. For example, a customer might arrive on your site to purchase a bar of soap, but then they see a bundle that includes hand wash and a bath soak so they buy that instead. Rather than the single cost of the bar of soap, you’ve quickly secured a higher AOV by pitching extra, complementary products. 

According to McKinsey, 35% of all Amazon purchases come from recommendations, which often includes the “buy it with” bundles. Customers can add all recommended products to their cart with one click.  

Increasing your AOV isn’t the only benefit though. 

1. Sell off stock and improve inventory management

If you’ve got a lot of stagnant inventory you want to shift, bundles can help you do just that. Putting together slow-moving products with your bestsellers will help with inventory clearance and introduce customers to products they might not otherwise have bought. It’s important that the products are relevant, though, as just adding a slow-to-shift product to a package deal for the sake of it can actually put customers off. 

2. Focus your marketing efforts

Marketing one product is a whole different ball game to marketing 20. When you bundle products you only have to push “one” product rather than create marketing campaigns for every single item within the bundle which you would have to do if you were selling them separately. 

3. Encourage product exploration

Product bundling introduces customers to other products in your line. This can increase customer loyalty and LTV if they continue to come back for more. 

4. Simplify the customer experience

It can be overwhelming for a shopper to be faced with hundreds of different product options. Trawling through each individual product description can be time-consuming and boring, but by bundling related products together, you eliminate the need for them to research every single product. 

8 powerful product bundling strategies 

Now you know how product bundling can benefit your ecommerce business, let’s take a look at the ways you can implement it throughout your store. 

1. Group together relevant products

The most important thing when bundling products is to make sure the products relate to each other in some way. They can either complement each other, like a phone case and a phone, or be used together, like batteries and a torch. 

For best results, your product bundles should make sense and address a specific need your audience might have. 

For example, a customer buying a new computer might need a screen cleaner, a spare USB cable, and a suite of software to install. Grouping together products in a practical way not only provides extra value but it shows customers you understand their needs. 

2. Use customer data

No one knows your customers better than your customers. Instead of guessing what products you should bundle together, consider digging into shopper data to determine what products your customers actually buy. 

Using performance and sales metrics can quickly bring to light what products customers are buying and track the products they frequently purchase. This gives you an insight into what products might make sense when bundled together and helps you create stronger bundles. 

3. Emphasize savings and added benefits 

Everyone loves to secure a deal, and that’s one of the biggest draws of a product bundle. Customers get more products for less. It’s a win-win. Highlighting how much they are saving will help shoppers see the value of a bundle – but don’t make it all about price. The value of a bundle also lies in the products included. 

What extras are a customer getting? What can they do with the bundle that they wouldn’t have been able to do with a singular product? 

For example, a customer that buys this yoga bundle from Luma has everything they need to get started straight away. 

4. Reward customers with a discount 

Just like everyone likes to save money, they also love a discount. Encouraging shoppers to invest in bigger bundles at a discount price can help shift more products and provide customers with more value at the same time. 

Discounts can make customers feel good about your brand, securing their loyalty and retention. It also helps you stand out above competitors, but it’s important that you don’t lean on discounts just to drive bundle sales. 

Remember, the main aim of a product bundle is to boost sales and provide value. Simply slashing the price of your bundle offers just to lure in customers can often lead to disappointing results (like a lower ROI). 

5. Personalize product bundles

Shoppers today crave personalization. It makes their shopping journey much easier if they are served product suggestions that are a good fit for them. Creating bundles based on unique interests and needs can be a great way to attract similar customers, but you can also use customer data and automation to build individual bundles for each shopper based on their past behavior and interactions with your brand.

6. Turn bundles into subscriptions 

Customer retention is crucial for growth-minded retailers. Existing customers are often your most profitable, so putting strategies in place to keep them coming back for more can be a gamechanger.

Start by giving customers the opportunity to “subscribe” to bundles. This means they can get a replenishment every month if they continue to pay to cash in on the bundle. 

Universal Yums offers different-sized snack boxes that customers can subscribe to every month. 

7. Let customers build their own box

Give customers the power to choose their own products. This goes one step further than simply recommending products based on their unique interests and needs. Instead, customers are able to cherrypick the products they want, providing a highly-personalized experience that meets all their needs. 

Nintendo is renowned for its “build your own bundle” option that lets customers choose a console, games, and extras that best suit them. 

8. Keep bundles simple

It can be tempting to create huge, elaborate bundles just to entice customers to buy, but this can often do more harm than good. Overwhelming customers with every product in your line can turn them off. Instead, keep bundles simple – they can include as few as two products if it makes sense. 

The simpler your bundles are, the easier it is for customers to choose which one is the right fit for them without having to scroll through hundreds of irrelevant items. 

This travel kit includes just a few essential items. Note how it doesn’t include everything a traveler might need when on vacation. 

4 unique product bundling examples in action 

Let’s take a look at some examples of product bundles in action to see how ecommerce brands are highlighting their offers and promoting their bundles. 

1. Perfect Keto 

Perfect Keto has an entire section on their menu for bundles. Customers can quickly see the different options available as well as start building their own bundle. 

2. TULA Skincare 

Like Perfect Keto, TULA Skincare has an entire section on its website dedicated to sets and starter kits. Customers can browse through a huge selection of product bundles that group together a range of different items. 

3. Quip

Quip puts its bundles front and center on its product page. It encourages customers to group together items in a range of different bundles and starter kits. New customers are sold the starter kits while existing customers are sold refills and bundles. 

4. Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative does something unique with its bundles. They actually serve them as a free offer to shoppers that provide their email address, offering unprecedented value. 

Product bundling marketing 101: How to market product bundles

Setting up your bundles is only the first step in the process. After that comes the important but difficult task of promoting them. This is where your product bundling marketing strategy comes into play.

1. A/B test different product combinations

You probably won’t get your bundles right the first time. Use customer data and purchase patterns to identify which product combinations work best together. Split test different options and see which ones customers prefer. 

2. Create campaigns for each bundle

Your product bundles will each attract a different type of customer. Make sure you’re using those customer attributes to target your ads and campaigns so they reach the right people. Don’t use a scattergun approach to promote all your bundles at once; instead, create unique campaigns and ads for each segment and bundle. 

3. Highlight the added value

We spoke briefly about this before, but it’s important to highlight the added value customers get when they buy a bundle over an individual item. This information should be included in your email marketing efforts, your social media ads, and your website. 

4. Capture (and display) customer reviews

Making a purchase is a big decision for a lot of customers, so make it easy for them to invest in a bundle by showcasing past customer reviews. This will help shoppers identify if a bundle is right for them and will highlight that existing customers have had a good experience with your brand. 

Perfect Keto displays hundreds of reviews for each of its product bundles. 

5. Focus on existing customers

Customers that have already bought a bundle from you understand the value you’re offering and are therefore more likely to buy from you again. 

Send out replenishment details when you think a customer might have run out of products or if a renewal is coming up. For example, if your bundle includes body lotion and shower gel, send a reminder after a month when a customer might be coming to the end of the pot. 

Graze sends out a replenishment reminder so that customers can order their next box of snacks. 

How product bundling can improve your conversion rate

Bundling together similar products can improve your conversion rate by offering more options and more value to shoppers. Instead of buying individual products, customers are served a group of products that address their unique needs at that given moment in time. Investing in multiple, complementary products allows customers to experience a wide range of your product line and find a selection of products that’s best for them.

For ecommerce merchants, product bundling can dramatically increase sales and AOV while providing an improved customer experience for shoppers. The latter plays a significant role in conversation rates, since customers that have an enjoyable experience with a brand are far more likely to buy from them (and come back for more). 

Try out these product bundling strategies to see which ones work best for your brand.

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There is a reason our team is never quick to recommend an in-depth competitive analysis as a part of the research process. 

Let me explain. 

As ecommerce conversion rate strategists, we offer data-backed testing ideas for your website. These concepts are born from qualitative and quantitative customer research specific to your brand. We dig through the information and come up with small changes to your website that result in big financial gains. 

We’ve learned over a decade never to blindly implement the same things your competitors have on their websites. Why? You might be seeing a test or even worse, you might be seeing a site feature that is draining their margins. 

If you follow the same best practices as everyone else without doing your own analysis, you will never take your brand to the next level and you might even bump it back a few.

In this article, I’ve collected five of the common site features that our research clearly shows are conversion killers.

1. Pop-ups: Degrade the user experience, attract low-value subscribers

At The Good, we’ve run thousands of live user testing sessions on our clients sites and one of the most common things we hear is disdain for the multiple popups that hit them when they first enter a site. 

These pop-ups are typically lead generation campaigns, aimed at building email lists. They fail because the web practitioners running them don’t make an effort to see things from their customer’s perspectives. 

Most analytics platforms report that anywhere from 60-85% of your website visitors are new-to-file, i.e. they have not visited your website before on that device or browser. 

If practitioners actually cleared their cookies and viewed their website from the new visitor perspective, they would probably be annoyed too. 

Sites often open with: 

• Cookies policies
• Chat widgets
• Email popups with a discount

And this is before customers are even introduced to the products.

It can be a terrible first impression, and when paired with discounts gives the perception of a discount brand. Imagine Tiffany’s or Hermes offering 10% off in a popup as soon as you land on the site. Brands that protect their value won’t do it, and neither should you.

Can you imagine the same thing happening in a store? If customers could only see the window display and not be let in without deciding right away if they want to exchange personal information for a discount?

And as the final straw, in exchange for the discount (and poor user experience) you are getting low quality and unqualified email addresses. For a startup or small brand that is paying per subscriber through their email platform, the open rate and click-through rate will be abysmal. Pop-ups will build a list full of burner emails specifically used for discounts. 

2. Discounts: Margin drain, attract budget shoppers and tire kickers

The discount pop-up can contribute to another common site feature that makes our list of conversion killers: discounting. 

Once a customer is trained to believe there is a 10% discount waiting for every burner email address they share, they are never going to be willing to pay full price. 

In 2020, we saw real hardship for brands that relied heavily on discounting as a strategy. They had become overly reliant on the boon cycles that discounts offered and accepted the serious lulls between sales. 

But, when at the start of the pandemic nearly every brand was also offering discounts there was no differentiator for their brand and their customers were even more price-sensitive than usual. It left brands that discount heavily in a bad position. 

Similar to the first conversion killer mentioned, a lot of brands with strong recall are selective about the way they offer their discounts. 

Take Glossier, for example. They have a robust referral program but rarely do blanket sales. Instead, they reserve their discounts to endear themselves to industry folks and promote word-of-mouth recommendations. 

There are so many alternatives to discounts that build brand loyalty. Here are a few examples:

• Referral programs
• Points or loyalty programs that offer meaningful items to VIP cohorts
• Free gift with purchase
• Free or reduced shipping for order minimums
• Expedited shipping for priority cohorts or VIPS
• Bundle or bulk discounts

These all attract those customers you really want: people excited about your product. Avoid people who are comparison shopping and only looking for the best deal. 

3. Generic CTAs: Shop Now isn’t helpful, Shop Men’s Pants is

According to Baymard research, contextual language is much more helpful than generic wording. For example, a menu that says “Shop” is far less helpful than one that says “Men’s Pants” “Work Boots” and “Protective Clothing.” 

Generic CTAs can actually be extended far beyond just the button. 

So, what we’re really talking about here is something known as “information scent.” Can a user glean from the copy and context of your site, what is on the other side? 

If not, users develop a hunting and pecking behavior. They click an item, and when it turns out it’s not useful or just not what they needed, they have to start over. They end up having to click multiple times. 

To make sure we avoid this behavior, we sometimes challenge ourselves at The Good to remove the images from a website and see if we can still tell what the site does or sells. 

The best websites have a clear value proposition, a high-information scent menu, and clear CTAs meant to guide users to either an overview or a clear product category. 

Causing misfires or forcing users down an unhelpful path because of bad CTAs or poor information scent wastes their time and expels their attention… clear conversion killers.

And your user’s time and attention are too precious to waste.

4. Features vs. Benefits: Using your language, not your customer’s

Now here is something I wish they taught in all design schools because the people creating products are usually so focused on what it does, rather than what the customer gets out of it. 

You need to speak in the language of your customers. 

Let’s paint a picture of this point with an iconic example from Apple and the release of the original iPod. While there were other music players out there, many said things like “1 Gig of storage.” Apple, on the other hand, said “1,000 songs in your pocket.” 

The difference is that competitors talked about the capacity in a way that was meaningful to insiders but still took some calculation for the average consumer to understand. Apple told us what that meant to the user with human and non-abstract language. 

When we audit a website, we are always paying attention to the little moments where users are required to translate. Technical spec charts aside, the goal is to communicate to a user in a way that means something to them, rather than touting minute, indecipherable differences.

5. FAQs: Where good content goes to die

Only a small portion of users ever make it to FAQ pages, usually around 1%, so hiding important details here is not advisable. 

Here are a few ways you can incorporate FAQ information in the proper locations across the site:

• Sizing questions: Address these in size guides that are easily accessible from product pages
• Shipping questions: Communicate shipping costs and expected delivery windows early in the process so you don’t give shoppers sticker shock or lose a time-based order like a birthday or anniversary gift
• Trust-building: Weave trust indicators throughout your site with social proof on the home page or secure checkout badges as customers enter credit card information

Companies use FAQs to share information that should be communicated much earlier in the funnel. To reach the 99% of customers that don’t make it to the page, share information on the path of the customer journey rather than out of the way in a buried list.

The opposite of conversion killers: site features that boost conversions

Ok, so now you know 5 of the most common site features that are actually conversion killers. What about site features that boost conversions?

The best way to find this out is to talk to your customers and talk to our team at The Good. We can help you comb through your site’s data and conduct personalized research to find out what site features will boost conversions on your website. 

If you’re looking for a place to start, check out our Digital Experience Optimization Audit and let’s get to work!

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