A shopping cart page is an essential part of every e-commerce website. By using it, customers can put all the products they want to buy online in one place and then just make the purchase much quicker.
It helps a lot and saves a great deal of time which is very important for your customers and your business.
First of all, the most important thing for your website is to stop as many people as possible from leaving your shopping cart page and this is achieved by paying attention to a few key things.
The primary thing is to make shopping easier for the visitors, to make the website clean and functional, and to fill a shopping cart page with essential features for every customer who wants to make a purchase.
In the continuation of this article, we will present you with 8 essential things every customer looks for on a shopping cart page so you can try implementing these and make your website even better.
1. Use the advantage of effective website plugins
It is important to choose effective user-friendly plugins for your shopping cart page if you want to attract as many customers as possible.
These plugins need to be compatible with the theme of your e-commerce website and fully customizable.
Premio plugins offer efficiency but also a fast and successful conversion of your visitors into customers.
Customers love them because they give them the extra confidence that they are in the right place and make the buying process easier with the many features they offer.
Some of Premio plugins are:
- Chaty
- My Sticky Elements
- Subscribe Forms
- myStickymenu
- Social Share Buttons
Effective website plugins allow your visitors easy navigation when it comes to your website and makes the shopping process more enjoyable.
For example, by using the Welcome Bar feature, myStickymenu makes your Black Friday deals more visible to your visitors as presented below:
With an announcement created like this, people that are already on your shopping cart page can become more inspired and make a bigger purchase.
After all, the most important thing is to keep their attention so these aids are always welcome.
2. Include large product images
Although it sounds like the most basic thing when it comes to shopping, product images are often overlooked.
Scientists say that half of the human brain is directly or indirectly devoted to processing visual information. Having this in mind, we can conclude that the visual presentation is always most effective.
In addition to the text and description of the product, people want to see the product itself to make the final purchase decision.
Also, it makes it easier for them to confirm that they have chosen the right product and to check before they finish putting the products in the cart.
Make those images large and clear as Neiman Marcus does on their website as shown below:
The images should be beautiful, large, and clear in order to make it easier for the customer to choose the product, that is, in order for them to become more interested and make a selection.
3. Add customers’ product reviews
Product reviews help build trust and loyalty and that is why it is important to incorporate them into your shopping cart page.
Before making a final decision, customers like to hear other opinions when it comes to a product and what actually sets it apart from others.
To get more reviews for your e-commerce business, you can:
- Ask your customers directly
You can do it via e-mail, over the phone or via text, via social media, and similar.
- Create a review form
Ask them to fill out review forms on your website and answer a couple of short, straight-forward questions.
- Create a reward system
Use discounts, coupons, and similar to attract them and give them a reason to leave a review.
You can also organize various giveaways and stimulate them to join the competition.
It is important to ask them the right questions and make the whole process organized.
The more reviews, the greater the chances that the customer will feel sure even in the phase of filling the basket.
As X-Cart is doing, you can create a section where you can manage all reviews left by visitors to your online store:
Your visitors can also see reviews for individual products before proceeding with the purchase.
4. Create clear CTAs
Depending on the intent of the person who enters your e-commerce website, CTAs can help them do what they set out to do quickly, and even skip a step or two.
Clear CTAs help your customers see which is the next step they need to take. That way, there is no room for confusion.
What is very important to do is to clearly and brightly separate your CTAs from the rest of the text to catch the eye of your customers.
We can see how this is done with the example below where the “Proceed to Checkout” button is clearly marked:
When creating CTAs, use persuasive language, and create urgency.
Also, there are a few more details you need to pay attention to:
- Make your CTAs eye-catching
- Use clear sentences
- Sound encouraging
- Use your CTAs to collect e-mail addresses
- Keep it short
After the Buy button, the second most important CTA on your e-commerce website should be the “Add to Cart” button.
Don’t overdo it with your CTAs and try to place them above where they will be noticeable to customers and where they won’t have to scroll all the way down.
5. Add purchase details and information
In addition to the price, your customers will be interested in what sizes of a particular product are available if your business, for example, is into selling clothes.
Also, they need to select the right quantity and have it all clear on the cart page so they know they have chosen everything correctly.
Customers will look for such details and if your shopping cart page is unclear about this information, it will most likely cancel the purchase.
Here is an example of how it should look like:
It is easy for them to just choose the right options with a couple of clicks.
You should also include information about delivery and returns. When will their product reach customers can be a key factor in deciding whether to put a product in the cart at all? They would also like to know what happens if they decide to send it back.
You can create a section where your customers can calculate shipping costs depending on the size of the product, country, shipping method they choose, and more.
One such example is this:
When it comes to payment methods, they are usually presented through icons representing different cards, so you need to incorporate these, too.
More information is one of the first things that interest customers when they enter a particular e-commerce website because they still plan to spend money and want to be sure about it.
6. Include wishlists
Some of your visitors may not be able to order a product of yours right away, but that doesn’t mean they won’t make a purchase the next time they visit your website.
Wishlists are meant to save products and it can enable your customers to move items so they could remember where they stopped last time.
You can provide them with an e-mail basket which means that if they aren’t ready to buy immediately but intend to do it later, in order to be able to save certain products they need to leave their e-mail address.
One of the great examples of abandoned cart emails looks like this:
Sometimes a little reminder is all it takes, so include this option into your shopping cart page right away.
7. Maintain great customer service
At the stage when they are most likely to leave your website for some reason, it is very important to offer your users the option of customer support.
Maybe it will solve some doubts and convince your visitors that they should stay there and make a purchase eventually.
In this case, e-commerce business founders usually use live chat.
One of the Premio plugins we have already mentioned, Chaty, offers the ability to communicate with visitors via live chat in a very easy way.
You can install it on your website page and enable your visitors to ask whatever they want via their favorite social channels as we can see below:
It is important to be in communication with your customers because it is this information that you offer them at the last minute that can decide a purchase.
8. Use discount and coupon codes
This is just another incentive to make a purchase because everyone loves a good offer.
In addition to getting a product they like, customers also like to see an opportunity to save and because of that, another important thing you need to consider is adding discount and coupon codes.
As HuraTips explains, the discount code usually works as follows: it is first sent as a URL and is automatically applied in the checkout phase. Therefore, your visitors only need to enter their discount code on the shopping cart page, and in a few seconds, they will get the desired result.
We can see how this looks like in the following example:
Motivate your customers in different possible ways and they will thank you for their purchase and built loyalty.
The Bottom Line
Creating a shopping cart page for your e-commerce website is not an easy process if you want this page to be incredibly good.
You need to pay attention and incorporate many different elements into it in order for your customers to find everything they are looking for and make the decision to buy your product or service.
If you want not only to create a user-friendly website, but also a user-friendly shopping cart you can try Premio plugins.
As you have seen, we have selected for you 8 essential things every customer looks for on a cart page and it is up to you to try as many items as possible and see what suits your needs best.
Try out these tips and enjoy your business progress!
