usability problem,converting only 1 a day

[teamonfuego]

I'm having the same problem with our website. We currently get about 500 to 600 visitors daily but we're only converting about 1 a day. We can't figure out what the problem is. We have been in business for 8 years and have always had this problem. Our company name has the word "sex" in it so we're thinking it might be because of that so we bought another domain sleekandmodern that we considering redirecting our site to to test out the conversion rate.

Any advice?

our company domain is sexy furnishings.

both domains above end in coms

[dangdatkat]

I'm having the same problem with our website. We currently get about 500 to 600 visitors daily but we're only converting about 1 a day. We can't figure out what the problem is. We have been in business for 8 years and have always had this problem. Our company name has the word "sex" in it so we're thinking it might be because of that so we bought another domain sleekandmodern that we considering redirecting our site to to test out the conversion rate.

Any advice?

our company domain is sexy furnishings.

both domains above end in coms

Whats with that "update price" button. I think it is really confusing and distracts from what you really want the customer to do, continue down the checkout funnel. I would get rid of it.

I would edit out content if not needed. Shipping info on the cart when the products have free shipping.

Also, try removing top and side nav on your checkout page. I like how it is only one page.

[teamonfuego]

"Whats with that "update price" button. I think it is really confusing and distracts from what you really want the customer to do, continue down the checkout funnel. I would get rid of it.

I would edit out content if not needed. Shipping info on the cart when the products have free shipping.

Also, try removing top and side nav on your checkout page. I like how it is only one page."

I wish I could make the Update Price button go to the checkout page but it is a volusion template and there is no way I can do that. So this button is only used to update the cart total after choosing your shipping location. I can change it to say "Update Total". We have the "Checkout" buttons below this so is it really that confusing?

So do you think the note on the first page of the cart about free shipping is too much?

[ronchalice]

Seems to me that going under the covers to eliminate the Update Price button and anything else that doesn't need to be there would be worth the effort and cost if you're only getting 1 conversion a day.

[Dubbya]

While yours appears to be a pretty standard online store, I don't see anything that, from a coding, layout or usability perspective, would cause such a high abandonment rate.

One problem you've not tackled is establishing confidence. As a buyer, I'd want to know who you are and where you're located. There's no "About Us" page and no location in your "Contact Us" page. Show me your warehouse or storefront.

Get your "PayPal Verified" logo... I mean actually go through the process and do it properly so that users can click on the image and see your PayPal report.

Add some actual customer testimonials asap.

Even if I put an item in the cart, I'm not giving you my payment information unless I know that I can show up at your door and meet you face to face if something goes wrong. That's a major issue.

On the checkout page, things seem pretty straightforward and standard. Nothing major to note except the shipping choices. If I choose "Canada" as my country, the only option I see for delivery of the chair I'm ordering is "Online Delivery / No Shipping".

That doesn't appear to be right since, at the top of the page, I read "Free Shipping to Continental US". This would infer that there is a fee to ship outside the continental US where Canada happens to be located.

Again, errors and oversights such as these cause users to lose confidence. Precisely what leads to dropped carts and abandonment.

In my experience, users seldom part with hundreds of dollars on an initial visit. Try to find some "loss leaders", aggressively priced, popular and unique items that you can sell for under $19.99. Realize that from a customer's perspective, pretty much anyone who shops online can stand to lose $20 and that they'll be a lot more patient and understanding than they would with a larger ticket item.

Do everything you can to establish trust and to ensure a positive experience and your customers will come back for the more expensive items. Do this on a consistent basis and they'll come back in droves.

.02

[teamonfuego]

Thanks for the response. I have a few questions / comments: we actually do have our address at the bottom of our website (on each page) as well as an "About Us" linke and "Contact Us" link. Do you think we should move these to the top then?

Regarding Paypal, you said:
"Get your "PayPal Verified" logo... I mean actually go through the process and do it properly so that users can click on the image and see your PayPal report. "

I checked and the only thing I could get is a logo standard paypal logo. I called Paypal up and they don't have anything that lets you click on the logo and allow customers to see our paypal report. How do we get this?

Regarding testimonials...I agree. We will make sure to include these throughout.

[cw1865]

Volusion store, nice, I do volusion too. Checked out your site, it looks good, I don't see any immediate deal breakers there. Are you checking this traffic through volusion's stats or through the dashboard through the site where you can 'track ROI' - DO THE LATTER! The stats offered are just absolutely meaningless, I just can't say it any other way.

Furniture is thought of as bulky, so you might, depending on the overall competitiveness of the industry, etc, want to allay that concern right up front with 'Everything Ships Free' and of course make sure you account for the cost of freight in the price.

[SEOMG]

I'd say images are one of the most powerful tools you have to try to overcome the trust gap (especially with relatively high-value products such as those on your site) are images. For many of your products, your images do little to show the detail and workmanship which will give people the confidence to drop their card details in...

Good photography is not cheap, but start to get it done on your bread & butter products... You'll see a difference which should perpetuate the rest of the range.

[Dcrux]

Ahem. Anybody suggest a user test? With people who are actually the user? (FYI, that would be not designers)

Que crickets. I love how you can improve use without ever consulting with users.

User centered design question : Where are you losing users? This may indicate where the trust issues might be.

Finally, yes you're having a problem on the front end conversions. What is happening with customers and back end sales? ...Returns?

There are a tremendous amount of unknowns when users are surgically removed from the feedback loop. Yes, I know a lot of you got into this because of the user firewall, but this calls for an actual methodology and properly done user testing.

[Dubbya]

Dcrux, a usability test by end users is always a great idea so I wouldn't discount that advice, but the advice presented here was offered by people who have already dealt with similar issues in their own sites.

In my case, I actually went all the way through the shopping process, created a customer account and went as far as I could without entering my actual payment information.

It's my opinion that the problem exists prior to the payment screen anyway.

IMHO, it's a trust thing.

teamonfuego, I'd absolutely recommend putting the contact phone and about links right at the top of the page, directly under your header, right where people can see it. Make it easy for them to find out everything they want to know about you and your company.

Something like this should work:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phone: (xxx)-xxx-xxxx Fax: (xxx)-xxx-xxxx Toll-Free: xxx-xxx-xxxx contact us About Us
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regarding the PayPal Verification Logo, here's what you need know:
Verification FAQ - PayPal

this is where you can find the "Verified" logo:
Verified logo - how do I get mine - PayPal UK - PayPal Developer Community

hope that helps.