This is the most comprehensive guide to optimizing an eCommerce home goods site.
In today’s guide, you’ll learn:
- All about eCommerce optimization
- How eCommerce conversion rate optimization can impact your store
- 9 ways to optimize your eCommerce home products website
- and much more
In short: if you want to grow your revenue, average order value, and overall profitability, you’ll love this new guide.
What is eCommerce Optimization?
Before we dive into my 9 strategies for optimizing your store, I want to explain what eCommerce optimization is and why it’s so important.
Optimizing your eCommerce store is the complete process of:
- Creating a better user interface
- Improving your customer experience
- Giving first-time visitors more confidence to make a purchase
- Creating more enticing offers
- Building your brand equity
All of these actions lead to more conversions, more profit, and stronger customer loyalty.
The ultimate goal of eCommerce optimization is to improve your home goods website by allowing visitors to easily convert into paying customers.
From your banner images and navigation bar to product descriptions and customer support, every element on your website should be created with the intention of leading each visitor towards the conversion.
I’ll discuss 9 impactful eCommerce optimizations you can make on your website later on in this guide.
Why is eCommerce Optimization Crucial for Profitability?
There are 2 primary methods of increasing an eCommerce store’s revenue. The first method is to focus on marketing and advertising. This involves creating better ad images or videos, finding new audiences to target, and increasing your advertising budget.
The second method is eCommerce optimization. This involves extracting more value from your current website visitors.
Let’s go through an example.
In this example, let’s say your website currently averages 5,000 visitors per day. Let’s also say that your conversion rate is 2%, with an average order value (AOV) of $50.
This means that your store averages 100 sales per day. With an AOV of $50, your store would average $5,000 of revenue per day.
Now, let’s say that you optimize your eCommerce store and increase your store’s conversion rate to 3% and your AOV to $60.
With the same daily 5,000 visitors, your store would now average 150 sales per day. With an AOV of $60, your daily revenue is $9,000.
This means that your revenue jumped up 80% from $5,000 to $9,000 just through eCommerce optimization. You didn’t even need to increase your advertising budget or make new ad creatives.
That’s the power of eCommerce optimization.
How Do I Optimize My eCommerce Home Goods Website?
When appropriately executed, eCommerce optimization is a potent tool that can significantly impact your home products store.
Here are 9 ways you can optimize your eCommerce store today. We’ll be taking a close look at a few examples Everlasting Comfort, a home goods eCommerce store that I helped to optimize.
1. Product Page Essentials
Let’s start with product pages. I’ll explain a few key details that each of your product pages should include.
Product Information
Here’s an example of a well-designed product information section on a product page.
The product image is clear and high-quality, and it’s easy for the customer to choose different variants.
Instead of having a dropdown menu to select the color, Everlasting Comfort uses buttons for each color variant. This enhances the user experience of the product page because it’s easy for the customer to select a color.
Furthermore, this eCommerce store offers an interest-free payment plan with Afterpay. It’s optimal to inform the customers about the Afterpay payment option directly on the product page.
I see many eCommerce stores that wait until the checkout page to inform the customer about a payment plan.
This is inefficient because potential customers who were interested in using a payment plan may have already left the store before seeing it in the checkout.
You can also see that I input my zip code. After inputting my zip code, I immediately learned that I could get free next day delivery if I ordered within 4 hours. This notification didn’t appear until after I entered my zip code. Free shipping already boosts the odds of a conversion, so free next day shipping is incredible.
The product information section also displays:
- A big and contrasting add to cart button
- That the products are shipped from the United States of America
- An option to favorite the product by clicking the heart icon
- The star rating and the total number of customer reviews
These are all content pieces that build more trust and enhance the customer’s experience.
Take a look at your the product information sections on your eCommerce website and see if there’s anything you can change or add based on the image above.
Product Bundle Discounts
Directly below the product information section on Everlasting Comfort’s product pages is a bundling section.
Let’s take a close look at it:
As you can see, Everlasting Comfort offers a bundle option where the shopper can save 15% on their order.
Product bundling is a great eCommerce optimization technique because it increases your store’s average order value.
If a customer only wanted to purchase the seat cushion, they would only spend $46.70. However, if they’re interested in the product bundle, the customer would instead spend $67.70.
Even though Everlasting Comfort offers a discount on the product bundle, they will still realize a higher AOV because of the bundle.
However, it’s important to offer a product that’s commonly purchased together with the original product.
Product Features
No matter what type of home goods your store sells, it’s important to have a beautiful and informative product features section.
Let’s take at the product features section for Everlasting Comfort’s seat cushion:
This section is directly underneath the product bundling section on the product page. As you can see, instead of lengthy text and paragraphs, Everlasting Comfort uses big beautiful icons and impactful power phrases.
The majority of online shoppers skim through product pages, so it’s essential to make it easy for them to understand what the product accomplishes.
Everlasting Comfort’s top features section covers:
- What the product is made out of: 100% premium memory foam
- A reputable reference from orthopedic doctors
- What the product solves: back, leg, and hip pain relief
- How the product is designed: ergonomic U-shaped cutout
- Unique feature: responds to body heat
- Cleaning directions: machine washable
These are all the key bits of information a shopper wants to know when they check out the product page for the seat cushion. Therefore, it’s important to think about the buyer intent for each of your own products and provide valuable information in your product features section.
Product Video
If you want to go above and beyond on your product pages (which is what I recommend), you can also include a product video.
Although I can’t embed the video here, this is what it looks like on the product page:
The video discusses who the product is for, what the product does, and why it’s beneficial for people who have pain while sitting down.
It walks through each of the cushion’s core features and uses real models, a clear voiceover, and well-made graphics.
However, you don’t need product videos for each product in your store. Product videos are great for products that are specifically designed to solve a problem. However, if there’s no inherent problem that a product solves, for example a standard nightstand, including a product video may be unnecessary.
But for a product like an ergonomic seat cushion, it’s essential to teach the potential customers everything they need to know about the product. This is because most people do not regularly use memory foam seat cushions, and the potential customer is likely curious about how it works.
Product Q&A
To finalize your product page, you should include a section that displays:
- Specific product details
- Common questions and answers
- Product manuals (if needed)
- Warranty policy
Since you may already include a few of these on your product pages already, I want to go over the product Q&A section.
Here’s how it looks on Everlasting Comfort’s product page:
If you frequently receive the same questions about your products, I highly recommend making a customer Q&A section on your product page.
This way, customers won’t need to email you their questions. Instead, they can find the answer directly on the product page. This increases the chances of the visitor making the purchase and makes your business much more efficient. You will also spend less time answering emails.
Use the Q&A section to answer any and all questions a potential customer may have about your product. The goal of a product page is to completely inform each visitor about the product and leave no room for questions.
2. Social Proof
Social proof creation is one eCommerce optimization tactic that I rarely see in home goods stores. I cover social proof and its importance in part one and part two of my eCommerce social proof masterclass.
In essence, social proof is when you create social signals on your eCommerce store to build trust and reputability with your store’s visitors.
Let’s walk through an example I like to use:
For instance, let’s say your best friend went to see a new movie and then told you how amazing it was after she saw it. Since your friend told you the movie was incredible, you are now much more likely to see the same movie.
Social proof is essentially recommendations that show how extraordinary your brand is.
Collection Page Reviews
The best way to build social proof on your eCommerce home products website is through customer reviews.
Positive customer reviews show that previous buyers were happy with their purchases and enjoyed the product. For this reason, you must actively gather customer reviews from each of your customers.
Learn how to get more customer reviews on your store in part one and part two of my eCommerce customer review masterclass. This two-part series teaches you the best ways to increase the number of ratings and reviews on your eCommerce website.
I highly recommend reading through those posts before continuing.
As for your home goods store, I recommend showing the star ratings directly on your collection pages.
Before a customer even clicks a product to visit the product page, they should be able to see the product’s star rating. Because of Amazon and other powerhouse eCommerce stores, online shoppers constantly search for products with a high star rating.
If a visitor is slightly interested in a product, a high product rating can entice them to visit the product page and ultimately purchase the item.
Remember, the goal of eCommerce optimization is to lead your visitors to become paying customers. Displaying your product ratings assist in this process.
Product Page Customer Reviews
Your product pages should contain a unique product reviews section for each individual product. It should be easy for visitors to write a review or to ask a question.
Here’s what the product reviews section looks like on Everlasting Comfort’s product pages:
As you can see, their product reviews section contains an images section, a filtering option, and a sorting option. All of these attributes improve the product reviews section’s user experience.
I recommend spending a few days revamping your product reviews section and building a system that acquires more customer reviews. This involves using an automated email sequence that asks previous buyers to leave a review.
You can learn how to accomplish this by reading the customer review guides I linked above.
Media Mentions
Another way to build social proof on your eCommerce home goods website is to display media mentions.
This is typically labeled using a ‘As Featured In’ section:
As you can see, Everlasting Comfort is endorsed by USA Today, People, CNN, and so forth. These are big media outlets that most people recognize. For this reason, it psychologically shows that Everlasting Comfort is a trustworthy brand.
Everlasting Comfort also provides a quote that was used in the media publication. This further increases the brand’s legitimacy and entices visitors to make a purchase.
Instagram Content
The meteoric rise of social media over the past decade has led to the success of many brands. As such, brands that can effectively leverage popular social media outlets are subject to extreme growth and prosperity.
Everlasting Comfort displays their Instagram feed directly on their homepage:
As you can see, the gallery contains images that are high-quality photos of real people using Everlasting Comfort’s products.
When you click on an image, you can add the product that’s in the image to your cart:
Having an active and well-developed Instagram page can create the social proof needed to convert website visitors into customers.
3. Free Shipping Minimum
Help me answer a question.
Who doesn’t love free shipping?
I recommend creating a free shipping minimum on your eCommerce home goods store.
Here’s what it looks like:
A free shipping minimum is when you offer free shipping once the customer reaches a certain price threshold. Your price threshold depends on the price of your products and your average order value.
If your current AOV is $50, you can set the free shipping threshold to $60. This way, you can increase your AOV over time.
4. Offer a Fair Warranty & Returns Policy
Online shoppers need to know that their purchases are risk-free. This is why it’s essential to provide a fair warranty and returns policy.
Here’s Everlasting Comfort’s warranty policy:
As you can see, Everlasting Comfort will send the customer a replacement for any quality-related issues. Once the customer registers the product, they will be protected against defects in materials and workmanship.
Although it’s great that Everlasting Comfort offers a fair warranty policy, it’s even better that the policy is highly visible. Customers can easily find the warranty policy on the navigation bar under ‘Support’ or on each product page.
Let’s take a look at Everlasting Comfort’s return policy:
This return policy is detailed and easy to understand. Customers have 30 days to return their undamaged items for a refund. A 30-day returns policy is standard for most eCommerce businesses.
Furthermore, the return policy also includes instructions on how to process the return. The customer needs to message customer support with their order number and the item they wish to return.
5. Create a Value-Driven Blog
Blog posts are a great way to educate your audience while also boosting product sales. First and foremost, your blog content should aim to provide value to your customers.
Here are a few posts from Everlasting Comfort’s blog.
As you can see, these posts are educational and answer questions their readers may have. Everlasting Comfort’s customer base is people who suffer from back, hip, and leg pain. This means that their content is aimed to benefit this type of audience.
Creating amazing blog content is one of the best ways to build diehard supporters. If you’re able to positively impact a reader’s life through a blog post, they can potentially become a lifelong fans of your brand.
6. Enticing Discounts and Promotions
Discounts and promotions are the most reliable ways of increasing conversions. This holds true for eCommerce home goods stores as well.
Let’s take a look at a few ways you can uniquely offer discounts and promotions.
Discounted Products
Wayfair offers closeout deals and openbox deals. Closeout deals are discounts on products that are discontinued or overstock. This means it is likely the last chance ever to get a discount on the specific products in the closeout deals section.
Open box deals are like-new items that are discounted. This means the products were lightly used in the past but returned to Wayfair.
Well-Designed Discount Popup
A great way to attract first-time buyers is through a well-designed discount popup.
Here’s an example from Everlasting Comfort:
As you can see, the popup is playful, enticing, and slightly provocative.
7. Offer Wholesale
Another impactful way to generate more revenue is to offer wholesale. Wholesale selling is when you sell a large number of your products at a discounted rate.
Everlasting Comfort offers wholesaling:
As you can see, Everlasting Comfort has strict requirements for who can purchase wholesale quantities. It’s important to have these or similar requirements to prevent the buyer from undercutting your store.
8. Troubleshooting Videos and Advice
As a home goods store owner, it’s important to offer help and guidance whenever possible. Everlasting Comfort goes above and beyond by providing troubleshooting videos for a few of their products.
Here’s what the troubleshooting page looks like:
Customers who have issues with any of these products can quickly find in-depth troubleshooting help on Everlasting Comfort’s website. This means that the customer doesn’t have to wait for a customer support reply.
Let’s take a look at the 6L Humidifier’s troubleshooting page:
Everlasting Comfort has videos that explain common issues and solutions for the humidifier. As I mentioned before, Everlasting Comfort goes above and beyond in helping their customers.
If your home products are complex, it’s good to include troubleshooting advice on your website.
9. Intuitive Navigation Menu
You never know what type of products a website visitor is interested in. This is why you need to create well-designed navigation options that allow visitors to find their desired products quickly.
Here’s an example of a well-made navigation menu.
This example is from Macy’s home goods section. Rather than only using text, Macy’s uses big icons that act as buttons.
eCommerce optimization is all about improving user experience, and adding a navigation menu similar to this one is a great idea.
Here’s another example of a navigation menu from Wayfair:
Although Wayfair has a standard navigation bar:
They also show the product categories directly on the homepage’s banner image. As such, website visitors can immediately find the product they want.
Now It’s Your Turn
I hope you enjoyed my guide on how to optimize your eCommerce home good site. At this point, you’re well equipped with the eCommerce optimization strategies that can improve your store.
You should implement each change one by one and add your own spin. The examples in this guide shouldn’t be directly copied but used as inspiration to create your content.
But now I’d love to hear from you:
Which tactic from today’s guide are you going to execute first?
Do you have any further questions about eCommerce optimization?
Either way, let me know by dropping a lovely comment down below!