CRO – how to increase sales without increasing costs?

December 27 2022

The title image for the article How to increase sales, showing an animated computer screen

Conversion rate optimization (CRO for short) applies to all activities that lead to an improvement in the conversion rate in the online store.
The main measure is the purchase rate, i.e. the percentage of users who made a purchase – conversion.

What is a conversion?

For the uninitiated: conversion is used in many industries and basically means change, transformation. However, in order not to bore you with boring rules and rigid definitions, we will try to bring you closer to the topic using a very specific example. A conversion on a website is nothing more than a specific action performed by the user.

So many customers will not return to your store if it does not meet their expectations.
87%

A conversion can be signing up for a newsletter, downloading an e-book, setting up an account, completing a survey, or making a purchase. It all depends on what your business goal is at the moment.

Subscribing to the newsletter is a potential that is worth using. However, remember not to leave subscribers alone after signing up! Attractive content that meets the specific needs of your target group will allow them to smoothly move to the next stages of the sales funnel.

Conversion rate optimization in e-commerce

Optimizing the conversion rate requires understanding and getting to know the users of your store, their needs and responding to them as quickly as possible.

All activities aimed at increasing the percentage of users converting on your website are conversion optimization.
In order to increase the conversion rate, it is necessary to carry out research and testing. No matter what you decide to do, the important thing is to act!

Photos of hands over documents - analysis of sales results
Meticulous data analysis provides valuable insights that can help increase conversions.

How are e-commerce conversions measured?

Where to start? It is worth considering an audit. UX Researcher will analyze your website in depth and present all weak points in a comprehensive report. It will be complemented by an analysis of user behavior on the website using maps and recordings, and elements that require more thought can be tested using A/B tests.

Screenshot full of graphs with UX audit results
A well-prepared report will help you determine the direction of changes and improvements.

The analysis of recordings, maps and A/B tests require traffic in the store. If your store is new or there are few visitors, you can confidently rely on the UX Researcher’s knowledge of good practices, design principles or behavioral science.

In addition to changes in the store, it is worth ensuring visibility on the Internet. We mean the start of marketing activities and SEO optimization. They also have an impact on conversion because they will bring traffic to your store.

SEO specialist analyzing data on computer screen
A specialist who will audit your website will explain all the complexities related to its results.

Ongoing monitoring, analyzing the quality of the website and compliance with user expectations is the key to building and maintaining a high conversion rate. Therefore, it is worth conducting optimization activities on a continuous basis. Users are changing, their expectations are constantly growing. Your store should not stand still.

Increase your store's profits? CRO can help you!

Increasing revenue is the dream of many entrepreneurs. There is no denying that this is the goal pursued by all companies, regardless of size or position on the market. So what does CRO have to do with it? We explain…

If your conversion on the website increases – the profit will automatically go up without increased expenses, e.g. on SEO.

Customers like a boomerang...

If the website is easy and pleasant to use, everything works together and there are no nasty “surprises”, customers will be happy to visit it again. No one likes pages that load forever, or searching for key information hidden among strange categories.

Conversion optimization aims to retain users who have already visited your website. Its task is also to reduce the costs of acquiring new customers.

Analysis of user behavior using video recordings is the most demanding process of all CRO stages, but also the most effective. In this way, you will gain valuable information about the purchasing process.
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It is 5 times harder to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.

Does conversion rate optimization always work?

…not always, unfortunately!
Your website is after conversion optimization, but it does not bring the expected results? The problem may lie in the product – its quality or price. Even the best-prepared CRO will not guarantee success if the product does not meet market expectations. This will not encourage users to come back to the website, much less make a purchase.

Another mistake is also the deadline – time is needed for an in-depth analysis, and haste can lead to incorrect conclusions. The research phase and data analysis is very important, so it should be carried out in detail. It is impossible to skip individual steps if you care about measurable results.

Remember that CRO audits are carried out by specialists who will help you at every stage of your online activities to ensure a valuable conversion for your website.

Business portrait of a UX specialist from Click Leaders - Małgorzata Urbańczyk

Malgorzata Urbanczyk

UX specialist. She audits the websites of online stores. Carries out analyzes of user behavior with the help of qualitative data in order to optimize the conversion as much as possible.

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