Why 95% of your website visitors don't buy, and what you can do about it

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Why 95% of your website visitors don't buy, and what you can do about it.

E-commerce is more competitive than ever before, with online retailers spending billions of pounds each year on pay-per-click, online advertising, social media and SEO campaigns to tempt people to visit their websites.

The average conversion rate for online retailers in the UK, however, stands at less than 5%, yet surprisingly for every £92 spent on attracting visitors, just £1 is spent on converting that initial interest into a sale.

So why is it that 95% of website visitors fail to buy? Is there a magic formula that will make them take that all-important final step and part with their cash? The truth is that 95% of human decision processes are sub-conscious, but by using data to understand customer behaviour, you can unravel the mystery of low conversion rates and improve your return on investment.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) should now be an integral part of any digital marketing strategy, and an insightful new guide, E-Commerce Website Optimization, helps you to understand the art and science of finding the conversion killers on a website. It includes everything you need to know, from the software tools to use, the best ways to do research, how to structure a team, how to create high-performing tests and more.

The authors, Dan Croxen-John and Johann van Tonder are CEO and COO of leading global e-commerce conversion specialists AWA digital. They have helped major retail brands like Canon, Interflora and Dunelm to use data to optimize their site performance and increase sales, and have now distilled the insights from their work in practical tips that other business leaders and marketers can apply to their own sites.

E-Commerce Website Optimization brings together usability, analytics and persuasion to offer a straightforward and detailed 5-step methodology of how to use the tools and techniques of CRO to increase the sales on ecommerce websites. It is grounded in the latest theory and research and backed by real-world case studies, outlining practical ways to create long-term increases in revenue, build competitive advantage and retain customer loyalty.