Here are 5 reasons why you will want to prioritise user behaviour if you are an online business:
1. Optimise your sales funnel
If you manage an ecommerce business, you will be familiar with the frustration of seeing your abandoned cart rate. According to Statista, over 88% of ecommerce orders are abandoned by the consumer before the sale is completed. This leaves a massive missed opportunity for sales conversions.
By taking time to learn your customers pain points, their key motivations and likely future actions, there is huge potential for increased sales and greatly improved conversion rates along all points of your sales funnel. Do customers struggle to find the products they want? Are there unnecessary stages in the purchasing process? Is the shipping price putting off potential customers?
Digital buyers are typically looking for convenience and low cost, so you want to make their shopping experience as smooth and user-friendly as possible, to eliminate any potential drop-off points.
2. Get to know your target market
Unless you are able to analyse your website traffic effectively, you will struggle to know who your audience is and whether your current marketing is effective. Web analytics tools calculate real-time analytics, in-page analytics, attribution modelling and so on.
When it comes to website traffic analytics, Google Analytics was the favoured tool among growth strategists, according to a Hotjar survey. As a free tool, it is accessible to all and can provide a range of useful data to help you see where your users are coming from. However, Heap, Zendesk and Mixpanel are also popular choices.
Utilising segmentation or cohort analysis will allow you to narrow down your search to specific demographics and reflect on how your site is performing across different parameters. You may choose to compare users by region – to see where you generate most sales –, or by device – to see if your site is engaged with more on a smartphone as opposed to a desktop, for example. With digital consumers owning an average of 3.64 devices nowadays, it is crucial to know how your site is being viewed and accessed.
You can also categorise users by their traffic source – to compare, for example, the behaviour of users who found your site through a search engine as opposed to a social media link. Alternatively, you could choose to focus on returning customers, to analyse your ability to retain customers and build loyalty.
All of these comparisons offer a very detailed picture of your typical user. Once you have an understanding of who your customer is, you will be able to target your marketing effectively.
3. Understand how users navigate your site
A range of other tools such as MouseFlow or Hotjar enable you to track your visitor sessions and analyse how users are navigating your site. This process is more refined than simple analytics, providing detailed insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your website. Heat mapping and click tracking show which areas of the page are clicked on or hovered over with the mouse, and which parts do not receive much attention.
Armed with this information, you can adapt your site to maximise engagement and improve your response rates. This could be as simple as changing the wording on some of your menu items to something that users are more likely to respond to.
4. Increase engagement and customer retention
The potential gain in customer engagement and sales growth is undeniable when you start to prioritise user behaviour. An analysis by Gallup found that businesses that apply behavioural economics principles outperform others by 85% in sales growth and over 25% in gross margin. And within the world of ecommerce, there are so many small and simple tweaks that can be made to your store that will have a big impact.
With technology constantly improving and trends changing rapidly, you will want to stay up-to-date with how users interact with online businesses. Techniques such as the use of visual user-generated content, loyalty programs or intelligent pop-ups are just some of the ways leading ecommerce brands are engaging with customers to increase brand loyalty.
5. Improve your international brand value
When it comes to internationalisation, localisation is key. The customer needs to feel that you are a brand that understands and values them. User behaviour from different regions can vary wildly, so launching your brand in a new market is not just as simple as replicating your existing strategy. Your website and marketing strategy will need to be fully adapted to your new target audience.
Localisation is more than about translating your website into the local language and currency. You will want to be sensitive of cultural differences, and consider local terminology and keyword use to ensure your SEO is effective. You should also research preferred payment methods in that region and ensure you incorporate them. For example, an American brand may be well set up for credit and debit card payments, but this would be ineffective in Germany, where Giropay, SEPA direct and Paypal are far more commonly used for online transactions.
There is undoubtedly so much to gain from prioritising user behaviour, and so much to lose if you don’t. At Optiminder we help our customers stay cutting edge in this exciting and progressive industry, by enabling them to understand their users. When it comes to ecommerce, our experience in digital strategy and date-driven approach has a proven track record in boosting ROI and building lasting brand loyalty.