9 Ways To Optimize Your eCommerce Supplements Site

The 2020 pandemic caused a surge in eCommerce supplements sales as consumers were stuck inside. When physical stores began to close, people still needed to take their supplements.

This gave eCommerce supplements businesses a dramatic boost while also creating many new competitors that now fight for the same customers.

So how can you optimize your eCommerce store to dominate your competitors?

In this in-depth guide, you’ll learn:

  • What eCommerce optimization is
  • Why it’s vital to optimize your supplements store
  • 9 bulletproof tactics to optimize your site
  • How to create a website that’s built for conversions

Most importantly, I’ll explain how to sell more subscriptions to incur sustainable, long-term revenue.

Let’s dive in.

What is eCommerce Optimization?

Unless every single visitor who comes to your website makes a purchase, there’s always room for improvement.

This is what eCommerce optimization is all about.

Ecommerce optimization is when you critically examine your website and make modifications to increase conversions.

The optimization review process answers the following questions:

  • What’s stopping visitors from buying?
  • What page do visitors leave from the most?
  • How can I change my website so people are more convinced to buy?

This may be something as simple as changing the color and size of your CTA buttons. It could also be more complex in the form of redesigning your website from start to finish.

There are a million ways to optimize your supplements website, but I’ll discuss nine strategies you can implement today.

Why Optimization Is a Necessity

You may believe that online retailers don’t need much optimization since shoppers are looking for a specific type of product within their budget anyways.

But this is far from the truth.

Ecommerce sellers need optimization even more than other types of online businesses.

Without optimization, your eCommerce supplements store will never live up to its full potential. Even if your product is the best in the world, a poorly optimized website will fall flat. Your competition will take all your customers and you’ll have to shut your business down.

You are also burning your marketing dollars on ads if you don’t implement an optimization plan first.

So, let’s discuss nine impactful ways you can optimize your eCommerce supplements store.

9 Ways To Optimize Your eCommerce Supplements Store

Each strategy listed below can be implemented without an expert designer or software engineer. As long as you’re willing to put in the effort to work through each tactic, you will reap the benefits of a well-optimized website.

1. Implement Subscriptions

Obtaining recurring revenue should be the main priority of any eCommerce supplements business.

Recurring revenue offers a lot of advantages:

  • Consistent source of income and profit
  • Builld a tighter relationship between your company and your customers
  • Spend less time and money acquiring new customers
  • Predictable revenue and supply forecasts
  • Performance tracking

In the supplements industry, subscriptions are the best way to attain recurring revenue.

Let’s take a look at an example:

As you can see, a subscription for this product provides 15% off and free shipping compared to a one-time purchase that doesn’t include any incentives.

This subscription is:

  • Well-designed with great UX
  • Incentive-driven
  • Customizable

You can choose how many packs you want to receive per delivery:

If you buy a 6-pack, it costs $2.11 less per unit than if you bought a 1-pack or 3-pack. This further incentivizes customers to purchase more, increasing their average order value.

The subscription also lets you choose how many months you want to wait between each delivery:

It’s crucial to make the subscription as broad as possible with customization. The customer should choose exactly how they want to receive their subscription. Since they commit themselves to automatic payments for your product, you can’t give them any excuses to leave your website before purchasing.

Now Its Your Turn

If you don’t have a subscription model for your supplements store, it’s time to build one. Rather than implementing subscriptions on every product page, you can start with your best seller.

The best seller is the supplement that customers already use the most, so many customers will be interested in enrolling in the subscription program.

I recommend offering a percentage discount and/or free shipping like the example above. Furthermore, make sure to run A/B split tests to find the best offer.

The goal of the subscription is to create an offer so irresistible that the visitor has no reason to choose a one-time purchase.

2. Product Page Essentials

Let’s talk about the essential sections to include on your product page.

These are product highlights, dietary restrictions, health interests, and usage instructions.

Since we run eCommerce supplements stores, these sections are vital for our customers to learn more about the product.

Your product page acts as the last line of defense for all questions a visitor has about your product. Any potential questions should be answered on the product page. If not, the majority of customers will leave the website without a second thought.

Product Highlights

The product highlights section is a summary of your product. It should explain the key details and benefits of the product.

Here’s an example from a product called Bone Broth Protein Powder:

This highlight section covered:

  • Basic product details
  • Important product benefits
  • Ingredients
  • Comparisons to competitors

Make sure to cover the same information on your product page. The product highlight section aims to provide key information to visitors who only take a quick glance.

After reading the product highlights, the visitor should have a coherent understanding of the product and why it’s beneficial.

However, it’s important to include more detailed information below the highlights section.

Dietary Restrictions and Health Interests

Another key section to include on your product page is dietary restrictions and health interests.

Here’s an example of how this looks.

With so many diets and dietary restrictions nowadays, many shoppers need this information. The people who shop for supplements are health-conscious, so there is a higher chance they have certain dietary restrictions. This information is critical to include on your product page.

Furthermore, it’s helpful to include health interests in this section.

Health interests show what kind of traits the product should be used for. In the example above, the protein powder is recommended for five different health interests: fitness, aging & beauty, joint health, gut support, and wellness.

All five of these interests are relevant to all types of people. Although there is truth to the relationship between these health interests and the product, they also serve as a marketing and optimization tool.

It allows people to “solve” the current problem they are facing.

Usage Instructions

Usage instructions are also important to include on the product page. No matter how simple your product is, people will always have questions about using it.

So explain the recommended usage technique on your product page like the example below.

The example includes how much to take, different recipes to mix the product in with, and when to take the supplement. These three factors are perfect to have in your own suggested usage section.

FAQ Written By a Doctor

To build the perfect product page for your supplements, I recommend including an extensive FAQ section that a certified doctor writes.

Here’s an example of what this looks like:

This FAQ section is informative, in-depth, and well-designed. Best of all, it builds trust and legitimacy. This plays into the social proof that I’ll discuss later on in this guide.

Your FAQ section should answer any potential questions an interested visitor might have about the product. People are always skeptical of purchasing something from an online store for the first time.

So brainstorm the most common questions for each of your supplements and write out detailed responses for each. In terms of design, the image above showcases an accordion design. This means that each section is collapsable if you click on it.

I recommend creating an accordion since it saves space and is hyper-efficient.

3. Create Attractive Promotions

Promotions are a tried and tested marketing technique that:

  • Increases sales
  • Convert a higher percentage of traffic
  • Create a better sales strategy
  • Are the ideal way to engage people

They are the reason why Black Friday eCommerce sales in 2021 were $8.9 billion. People wait all year until Black Friday because this is when stores offer their best promotions and discounts.

However, you don’t need to wait until November of each year to bring out amazing promotions. In fact, promotions can and should be run throughout the entire year.

Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Hero Image

The hero image is the first banner on your website’s homepage. It’s the first thing visitors see when they enter your store. For this reason, it can make or break the success of your entire business.

Here’s an example of a well-designed hero image with an attractive promotion:

Everything about this banner is clean, sleek, and attractive. Although it may seem “simple” in design, it’s actually genius. Keeping the design straightforward brings the visitor’s attention to what’s important.

  • What the promotion is
  • A picture of the product
  • A beautiful CTA button

It’s essential to find a promotion that resonates with your visitors. This may require split testing as well as brainstorming and creativity.

Product Bundles

Product bundles are an effective way to increase your store’s average order value and get the most out of your best-selling products.

Here’s an example from Huel:

This bundle consists of Huel’s most popular snacks, meals, and shakes. New customers will also receive a free t-shirt, shaker, and pot with their first order.

Newsletter Incentive

Another tried and testing optimization technique is to offer a newsletter sign-up discount. This is when you give the visitor a discount if they enter their email and agree to join your mailing list.

This section is typically near the bottom of a website’s homepage:

Providing a discount is worth the value that is attained by capturing an email. With an email, you can start feeding them your automatic email flows and weekly newsletters. This means that your brand will always appear in their inbox and be on their mind.

4. Build Social Proof

I covered social proof extensively in part one and part two of my eCommerce social proof series. However, I’ll cover it again here because it’s even more important for a supplements company to build reputable social proof.

This is because supplements require even more trust than other products.

Here’s a list of questions customers may have when shopping for supplements:

  • How do I know this supplement will work?
  • Is this supplement safe?
  • Am I putting myself at risk by taking this supplement?
  • Are the benefits backed by research and testing?

Online shoppers are savvier than ever before and are willing to question the legitimacy of something until proven wrong.

Social proof is a way to eliminate these concerns.

Approval From Reputable Sources

The most effective way to ease your visitors’ minds is to include a section like this:

This ‘Approved by registered dietitians & nutritionists’ section answers most of the questions a visitor could have about the legitimacy and effectiveness of your supplements.

I recommend putting this section on your homepage so that visitors can find it fast and efficiently. So please get in contact with approved dietitians and get their honest thoughts about your supplements.

It’s best if they are comfortable showing their face and name to boost the legitimacy of the testimonial.

Media Mentions

Media mentions can also build social proof and trust among first-time visitors.

Here’s what this section looks like on an eCommerce website:

As you can see, this supplements brand has been mentioned in five reputable media outlets, including Vogue and Women’s Health. Although any brand can get their website mentioned in the media as long as they have the right publicists, it’s a bulletproof way to build trust with customers.

Customer Testimonials

You can list your best customer testimonials on your homepage. Since it’s impossible for visitors to read every customer review for every product on your website, this section highlights the best feedback you’ve ever received.

Here’s an example:

As you can see, this testimonial included a wonderful picture of the product that a customer has taken. It also consists of a caption of what they wrote about the product.

Product Reviews

I covered eCommerce product reviews in part one and part two of my eCommerce ratings and reviews guide. Be sure to check these posts out if you want to learn how to get more customer reviews.

As such, it’s imperative to have customer reviews for your supplements. Your customer has no outside information to base their purchasing decision on without reviews. This means they are more likely to leave your website without buying anything.

Here’s an example of a well-designed product review section.

This review section shows a clear star rating, and it allows you to filter the reviews by a specific word.

5. Enhance Product Searching Capabilities

When it comes to supplement buyers, they have an intrinsic motivation to improve their health. For this reason, your product recommendations should be designed with this in mind.

Here’s an example of an outstanding product categorization section:

As you can see, visitors can shop by category or shop by interest.

If the visitors know what they’re looking for, they can shop by category and choose the supplement they want. If visitors aren’t actually sure what they want, they can shop by interest.

Shopping by interest allows them to choose the health problem they face and find products that solve the issue. For example, if I have insomnia and trouble sleeping, I would choose ‘Stress & Sleep’.

This allows visitors to find products they didn’t even think about looking for.

6. Develop a Community Movement

Creating a philanthropic movement is a fantastic way to build community and empower your supporters.

Ancient Nutrition has developed the R.A.N.C.H project and is committed to being carbon negative, planting one million super-food bearing trees, and reducing plastic usage.

This is a genuine campaign that focuses on protecting the environment and the world we live in. Visitors who have the same moral outlook will be hooked and want to support the cause.

I recommend brainstorming a cause you’re truly passionate about for your own supplements website. This could be anything from heart disease prevention to cancer research. It has to be something that resonates with you on a deep level. This way, you’ll work to support the cause without thinking about the marketing benefits of creating it.

7. Create a Matching Quiz

The modern online shopper wants personalized recommendations that are unique to their own bodies. Everyone thinks they’re unique.

This is why a matching quiz is a perfect solution to help customers find the right supplement.

Here’s an example from Ancient Nutrition:

The quiz walks through a series of questions about your lifestyle, health goals, dietary restrictions, and much more. Based on your goals and what problems you face, the quiz will output a list of recommended supplements.

The level of engagement a quiz offers is unique and personal. It feels like you’re talking with a doctor and getting a recommendation from an expert.

Furthermore, the longer a user spends on your website, the more likely they will make a purchase.

Several applications let you create a quiz:

8. Add Value To Your Community

Your community is everything to your supplements business. They are the people who buy your products and recommend your products to their friends and family.

For this reason, you need to provide as much value as possible to your community.

Two ways to accomplish this are through free recipes and consistent blog posts.

Free Recipes

Depending on what kind of supplements you sell, you can create a recipes section on your website. This section should include a variety of different ways to use your supplements to create a dish.

Here’s what the recipe section looks like for Ancient Nutrition:

As you can see, these are legitimate recipes that look tasty and nutritious. If your supplements business doesn’t sell a product that can be integrated into a recipe, don’t worry. You can provide recipes that your customers might be interested in.

For example, let’s say you were selling a fat-burning pill. You can’t implement a fat-burning pill into a dish. So, you can create general healthy recipes instead. Since your customers are interested in losing weight, they are going to want healthy, low-calorie recipes as well.

Beneficial Blog Posts

It doesn’t just stop at recipes. It would be best if you implemented an entire blog section that extensively covers your niche.

Take a look at the example below:

As you can see, this blog has articles that include ‘8 Best Supplements for Gut Health’ and ’12 Best Supplements for Healthy Aging’.

These topics are relevant to their product line and customers.

9. Create a Flawless Navigation Bar

Your navigation bar needs to be designed so that anybody can find what they’re looking for. It should be easy to use, have clear text, and have logical categories.

Let’s take a look at Ancient Nutrition’s navigation bar.

Products

The products are segmented by category and ingredients. This makes it easy for customers who know which type of supplement they’re looking for.

Health Focus

Ancient Nutrition even includes a ‘Health Focus’ section that categorizes their products by health benefits. Paired with great icons, this section is excellent to have in your navigation bar. It makes it easy to visitors to solve the problems they want to fix.

Diet Type

Visitors with dietary restrictions can also find products that suit their needs in the ‘Diet Type’ section. This is another essential section to include in your navigation bar.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my nine ways to optimize your eCommerce supplements site.

Without an optimization strategy in place, you’re working blind.

Brainstorm what problems your eCommerce store suffers from and which strategies from today’s guide can help.

Then take the time to implement each optimization tactic one by one.

Now it’s your turn:

Which conversion optimization method will you implement first?

Are there any strategies I forgot to mention?

Either way, let me know by dropping a short reply down below.