Sara Kleinberg, Head of Ads Research and Insights at Google shared some stellar Canadian e-Commerce statistics in her recent post:
- 86% of Canadians are shopping for something at any given time period and in up to five different categories.
- More than half of Canadian shoppers say they started their shopping online.
- Nearly 9 out of 10 Canadians are not absolutely certain of the brand they want to buy when they begin looking for information online via their smartphones.
- More than half of Canadian smartphone users (55%) have purchased from a company other than the one they’d originally intended to use because the information provided by another brand was more useful.
- 76% of Canadian smartphone users are more likely to purchase from companies whose mobile sites or apps help them easily find answers to their questions.
She suggests Canadian business allow guests to create lists, let shoppers pick up where they left off, and ensure their website’s check-out process is fast and efficient which are all great ideas.
How does your website fare in this regard?
Is your website helpful and customer-centric?
The biggest mistake I see in people’s marketing is friction, and the best way to identify the friction that’s hurting your conversion is to walk a digital mile in your ideal customers’ shoes e.g.
- Pretend you are your ideal customers on one leg of the buyer’s journey. How is your day is going and where you are right now when you’re searching for what it is that your company buys. Are you at home, on a bus, in a car? Is it during the day, at night, at lunch? Do I have wifi? Am I stressed? How do I feel?
- Grab a phone — that’s likely how they are shopping
- Search like they would — use their language, their point of reference. Don’t come up? Make a note to follow up on this and simply go to your website.
- Do you see instantly that you are in the right place?
- How many clicks and how easy is it to buy and get answers?
- Is the website secure and inspire confidence?
- Etc. etc.
In short, if you want to increase sales, focus on customer service excellence and make the path to and through your website, the path of least resistance.
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