Whilst we’ve all been very familiar with buying clothes and books online for a long long time, the pandemic really forced us to take our online shopping to the next level; from designing your car online to virtual house tours. It’s likely until now you’d never dreamed about viewing houses online or buying high-ticket items, such as a car, without seeing them in person first.
The evolution of e-commerce
Buying behaviours have evolved and companies are making the most of it with detailed information, virtual experiences and heavy investment into paid social and influencer marketing. Take our client Adventure Base, high-ticket adventure holidays used to require a long, in-person sales process, but now they can do it all online.
The e-commerce experience is even more transactional than before, so if you want your business to reap the rewards of this upward trend, then you’ll need to have a high-converting website. One way to do this is by designing a bespoke, single-product page and we’re going to explore exactly how this can lead to great conversion rates.
New kid on the block – single product commerce
When you look at the product pages on most e-commerce sites, you’ll notice that they probably look pretty much the same as any other product page you’ve ever browsed.
However, given that a product page can often make or break an online sale, investing in a unique experience on this page can really make a difference. To support this, a trend in new business that has been growing in popularity is single-product commerce. Businesses start off by selling just one product really well during their initial years.
To help make this a success, you must invest heavily in a single-product page by handling all customer objections, sharing social proof and embodying the brand entirely throughout.
If these single-product pages are done well, then, these high-value, single-product pages can lead to a high conversion rate.
Alternatively, brands that already have a number of products available, can identify some ‘hero products’ that truly represent the brand. To maximise the same conversion opportunities, build detailed, bespoke product pages to promote these ‘hero products’ above others.
Whilst, in theory, this strategy is very clever and does have some great results to back it up, it is still a risky business. For example, if a targeted social campaign drives a user directly to the page, the hope is that they see enough on this single-product page to commit to purchasing. Other campaigns push users to sign up for email newsletters, to help drive engagement long-term, but in this instance, you’re aiming to get conversions, straight away.
The method behind the madness design
Every part of our UX design process is done with intention and is backed up by research. At Strafe Creative we regularly use and reference the Baymard Institute’s plethora of research and insights that helped us make informed decisions about the user experiences we design for clients.
Research from the Baymard Institute tells us that the product page typically is the centrepiece of the user’s e-commerce experience. Users often make up their minds about a purchase on that page. However, the product page layout and features are often used time and time again, for every single product and that means they are under a lot of strain to perform.
By selling just a single product or choosing ‘hero products’ you can eliminate that strain and make the most of bespoke product pages that are designed to sell that one item, and that one item only. So, what should those pages include…
7 single-product commerce page elements for increased conversions
We’ve identified seven key elements a strong product page should include. Both in terms of design and content. Your product page needs to:
1. Showcase the result(s) – remember that age-old sales story about selling the solution rather than the product? ‘Don’t sell the drill, sell the hole’. It stands the test of time. On these pages, the end result, rather than the product itself, should be the key focus of the messaging. Explain why it’s different and why a user should want your product over a competitor’s.
2. Explain the key benefits – use these to back up the results. Ensure it is digestible through the use of icons, numbers or bullet points.
3. Include a bold call-to-action – consumers often make split-second purchasing decisions, so if they can’t find the CTA then you could lose them then that exact moment. Grab their attention with a CTA button that stands out. Use colour theory and make sure the hierarchy of the page considers that the most obvious element should be this all-important CTA e.g. BUY NOW or ADD TO CART.
Balls.co – here you can see there are multiple payment options and a clear, blue CTA.
4. Fully explain the product through a range of mediums – cater for as many users as possible, through video, images and text. For example, include a written description, bullet points with icons, gifs or images and videos.
5. Explain your brand – if users are going to end up on this page immediately, without experiencing your homepage or ‘about’ page then you’ve got to be clear on who you are as a brand. If your potential customer has to click back to the ‘about’ page to learn more then you might lose them. Keep them engaged through a clear explanation of your brand – show that you are the brand for them straight away.
6. Show social proofing (testimonials, reviews) – people generally trust the opinions of those they don’t know, it’s why the likes of Trustpilot and Tripadvisor are so popular. To improve conversion further, make it easy for users to navigate reviews based on their own needs.
7. Increase average order value by upselling – once you’ve got that all-important item in the shopping cart, use this as an opportunity to upsell complementary items – typically 20% of users will buy the upsell items if you offer them. If users are not offered anything then they don’t know it’s there – the item might be something they need but haven’t thought about yet! In addition, offering free shipping over a certain value is a great tactic, people see that as a target to reach and will buy more.
What are the benefits of investing in a single-product page?
Whilst high conversion rates are ALWAYS on the top of every e-commerce and marketing manager’s wish list, there are some other benefits you can take into consideration. For example, you can be more targeted with your marketing campaigns and direct users straight to a single product page.
Here’s a full list of the great benefits you can enjoy from a detailed, highly bespoke, single-product page:
- High conversion rates
- Opportunity to be more targeted with marketing campaigns and spend
- Less stock wastage
- Lower cost per acquisition (CPA)
- Higher profit margins (single product sites generally have a higher quality product or at least price it as they do)
- Better brand positioning
- Easier to split test/improve
- Simpler user journey
E-commerce across all industries is showing no signs of slowing down, so, will you be investing in bespoke product pages?