More traffic won't fix a website that doesn't convert.

There's a particular conversation I find myself having with ecommerce businesses. Sales aren't where they need to be. Advertising is becoming more expensive. The obvious solution seems to be increasing the budget, finding a new audience or launching another campaign.

And sometimes that is the right answer. But before spending another dollar sending people to a website, I'd want to know what happens when they arrive.

If you're paying to bring people into a poor shopping experience, increasing the traffic doesn't solve the problem. It scales it.

Hannah Grant, Freshmade Creative

What is ecommerce conversion rate optimisation?

Conversion rate optimisation, or CRO, is the process of improving the proportion of website visitors who complete a desired action, usually a purchase. But the definition can make it sound more complicated than it needs to be.

You're trying to understand what's stopping someone from buying, then making that experience easier, clearer or more compelling. That might involve design, messaging, product information, site speed, pricing transparency or checkout. It isn't simply changing button colours until something improves.

The product page is doing more selling than you think

One of the biggest mistakes ecommerce brands make is treating product pages like catalogue entries. A product image. A title. A price. A few specifications. Technically, everything is there.

But the customer still has questions. What does it feel like? How big is it? How does it work? Is it suitable for me? When will it arrive? Can I return it? Why should I buy this one?

The more questions left unanswered, the more work the customer has to do. And online, people don't always bother.

A strong Shopify product page should combine good photography, useful product information, clear pricing, delivery expectations, relevant reviews and a purchase experience that works beautifully on mobile. Not every product needs an enormous amount of content. It needs the right information at the right moment.

Mobile-first is not the same as mobile-friendly

I still see websites designed beautifully on a desktop and then compressed into something vaguely functional on a phone. That's not mobile-first design.

For many consumer ecommerce brands, mobile is where a substantial share of browsing happens. That means looking carefully at image cropping, text size, navigation, variant selection, add-to-cart behaviour, payment options and the number of interactions required to complete a purchase.

A sticky add-to-cart button can be useful. So can a well-designed cart drawer. But neither will rescue a product page that hasn't explained why the product is worth buying. Features should solve problems, not simply make the website feel more sophisticated.

Look for friction, not just abandoned carts

An abandoned checkout is relatively easy to identify. The harder problems happen earlier.

Someone can't find the product they want. A collection filter doesn't make sense. The shipping cost is unclear. A discount code doesn't work. The page takes too long to load. Or perhaps the brand has done a beautiful job creating interest, but the product description is so vague that the customer isn't confident enough to purchase.

These are all conversion problems, and they don't necessarily appear in a standard sales report. I'd start by examining:

• Traffic quality. Are the visitors actually relevant?
• Product engagement. Are people finding and viewing the right products?
• Add-to-cart rate. Are product pages creating sufficient purchase intent?
• Checkout progression. Where are people leaving the process?
• Mobile performance. Are problems concentrated on particular devices?
• Customer feedback. What questions or objections keep appearing?

The numbers help identify where to investigate. They don't always explain why something is happening.

The maths is worth paying attention to

Imagine an ecommerce website receives 10,000 visits per month, converts 1.5% of those visits and has an average order value of $80. That's approximately $12,000 in revenue.

If conversion improves to 2%, with traffic and order value unchanged, revenue becomes approximately $16,000.

Don't redesign everything before you understand the problem

I've seen businesses invest heavily in new websites when the real issue was a much smaller collection of problems. Poor product information. Confusing navigation. Unclear delivery expectations. A weak offer.

Sometimes a redesign is necessary, particularly when the platform or website architecture is holding the business back. But sometimes the smarter investment is improving what's already there. Start with evidence. Make considered changes. Measure the results.

And remember that increasing revenue isn't always the same as increasing profitability. Discounts, shipping subsidies and expensive apps can improve conversion while making the economics worse.

Frequently asked questions

More visitors can create more opportunities. But the website still has to earn the sale.

HG

Written by

Hannah Grant

Founder and director of Freshmade Creative, a Brisbane studio working across brand, marketing and digital.