IMRG have just reported that April UK online sales were up 14% compared with the same month last year. Growth is slowing as eCommerce matures and shoppers have become more cautious, but nonetheless online sales have still increased on average by 15% over the last 10 months. The outlook still looks good, but it is clear that ecommerce websites are going to have to work harder to keep delivering the numbers.

There is one area that you can look at to increase conversions - your Product Descriptions. And it really is surprising how many of the leading e-tailers don’t seem to make the most of this opportunity. How many times do you see sparse or badly written copy and poor images?

Good Product Descriptions

When it comes to Product Descriptions, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a small niche player or a major e-tailer. Assuming you have reasonable eCommerce website software then there is much you can do to optimise the selling opportunity, even without employing professional copy writers or putting big budgets behind your efforts.

Let’s start with images. Poor quality and/or small images are a real turn-off, whatever your product. Also, one image is probably not enough - really use  the opportunity to showcase your product. Multiple images with different views or action vs studio shots should be used and if you have high ticket items then you really should invest in high quality photography. Make use also of video, especially if it would be helpful to demonstrate how your product works and/or if your product is new to market. Read also our blog post ‘Video boosts online sales’.

High Quality Images

Your product copy really should ‘sell’ off the page – one liners just won’t do, you must inspire your customers to buy. Make sure your copy is well-written and and that it answers all the questions your prospective customer may have. Think about how to make your copy really persuasive and adapt a style that suits your offering and target audience.

Provide links to support documentation such as FAQs, Brochures/Buying Guides/Technical documentation. Make sure you use customer generated Product Reviews to endorse your product/service. These are incredibly powerful for boosting confidence and trust in what you are selling and research has shown that they can boost sales by more than 20%+.  Also make sure that you use the opportunity to cross-sell or up-sell other products and thereby increase basket values.

Support Documentation

Make sure there is complete transparency on pricing and delivery charges on each product page (so important for reducing shopping cart abandonment). Also your telephone number should be visible so that prospective customers can easily contact you should they have a query (and once you get them on the phone you have an even better chance of converting them to a paying customer).

And finally, if you have some budget for your Product Descriptions then you may want to consider investing in professional graphics to enhance your product pages. An excellent example of this can be found here: http://www.squadronleader.co.uk/product/Spitfire_Mk_IIB_PKZ1700-SPIT