‍17% of consumers visit your website to make a purchase and only 2% actually do.
When these numbers are so low, how do you count your wins? Let’s take a look.
First, a fact - a majority of your eCommerce store visitors won’t be going in with the intent to purchase.
While most people aren’t ready to make a purchase just yet, there are steps you can take to increase the likelihood that they’ll buy in the future.
These steps are called micro-conversions, and they help increase brand loyalty , trust , and comfort the shopper experiences while interacting with your storefront.
You can think of them as low-hanging fruits i.e. steps that lead to the final objective—conversions and sales—known as “macro conversion”.
When you know which micro conversions to target based on your best-performing funnels, getting those larger conversions automatically gets easier.Â
This post will also cover:
How can you boost conversion rates by monitoring micro conversions?
4 micro conversion best practices you can’t ignore
A BONUS section (FAQ)
Here are 19 proven ways to get more micro conversions: 1. Design a click worthy hero header Among the first touch points shoppers will encounter in forming a brand & product perception on your site, is the hero section.Â
This is why optimizing it can get you more micro-conversions than you’d expect.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Contrast the placement of products and the background Make the headline convey the USP of your brand / new product launch Support the primary CTA with a compelling feature like social proof Embed the search function into the hero space and feature a convincing CTA—that’s what drug coupon & health info brand GoodRX does to improve micro conversion rates: 2. Make search bar spotting easy The good news is that 69% of all shoppers head to the search bar when they land up on an eCommerce site—which means if your search bar is prominent and attractive, the chances of shoppers wanting to stay longer on the site increases.Â
If that’s not enough, searchers are also known to generate 60% of all eCommerce revenue.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Make it the most prominent feature in the primary navigation —like Asos does: ‍
Enable the search bar with a “photo search” option—eCommerce brand Fashion Nova brings this alive by featuring a camera icon Use microcopy that nudges shoppers to search—home & decor brand Wayfair, for example, says “find anything home…” on their search bar 3. Make email sign-ups compelling Around 81% of businesses credit email marketing as their primary driver of customer acquisition.
From announcing new offers to sending cart abandonment reminders to establishing a connection by communicating brand values, emails are versatile. What’s more, the ROI on email marketing is insanely rewarding ($42 being the return on every $1 spent ).Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Add a Hello Bar to your eCommerce page. It doesn’t affect your page speed and comes with several customization options Offer to email visitors their shopping carts (helps to retain 24% of abandoned cart visitors) Create product pages for to-be-launched products and use the “Pre Order” CTA “Coming Soon ” homepage with a “notify me” prompt Use a product quiz and ask for email to send personalized recommendations Flank the “subscribe” prompt with trust signals—just like Chubbies does: Hey, you’ll love: 28 No-BS Ways To Get More Email Subscribers in eCommerce
4. Make sure people interact with your category pagesForrester research has found that a good 68% of shoppers will drop off if they have an uneasy time searching for relevant products.Â
Now that’s a problem your category pages can partially solve if you optimize them well—since they’re intermediaries between your homepage and product pages, micro conversions like clicking on “quick view” or filtering the search can easily happen.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Make sorting & filtering easy—bring both up on to the first fold Highlight the highest rated products in the first 10 rows—this drives more clicks Feature image changes upon hover—this helps shoppers visualize products better without having to go to the specific product page Use a banner at the top of the page with an expressive image & a descriptor that describes the kind of products the category features Beauty brand ILIA Beauty features an autoplay category page GIF banner and a super succinct descriptor:
5. Get those product page clicks Product pages are ultimately the one-stop shops for ALL product information—making them one of the topmost reasons why shoppers move from micro-conversions to macro ones.Â
And this is why how easy you make it for shoppers to arrive at product pages they’d be really interested in, can make all the difference.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Create product comparisons—and make sure to drive value—mattress brand Casper, for example, typically brings in just one or two products for comparison and always labels them attractively: Feature highly rated products on the homepage Flank product recommendations with good review callouts—highlight appreciation, ease of use etc. Categorize primary categories by intent—for example “for oily hair” will invite more clicks than if you just mention the product name 6. Make product recommendations interesting Old research already points out that 35% of all Amazon’s sales come from recommendations.Â
Good reason to make your product recommendations stand out and induce more visits to your product pages.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Feature recommendations through a compelling hook like “shop by mood” or “shop by concern” Showcase recommendations alongside relevant social proof Position them in context to your main product (especially on the product pages, make shoppers think of them as an extension of the featured product) Everlane, for example, pulls attention to their recommendations by highlighting the in-context seasonal preferences:
You might like reading: eCommerce Product Recommendations: Strategies, Examples, Do's/Don'ts
7. Get more people to wishlistWedged between those who abandon carts and those who buy, are those who wishlist .Â
Wishlisting is a great micro-conversion when you’re trying to create a balance between a potential shopper’s non-readiness to buy and an eventual interest to do so.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Let shoppers “save” when they reach the mini cart or the cart page Reward the act of wishlisting if they’re a loyalty member—”earn X points when you wishlist” Feature a wishlisting pop-up if they’ve just abandoned a purchase  Make wishlisting an option no matter which page you feature recommendations—that’s exactly what Warby Parker does to great effect: 8. Improve add to cart functionality The trick here is to ensure this micro conversion makes the shopper want to move towards checkout.Â
However, even before that, it needs to be easy for people to add to cart (and visualize the cart as well.)
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Feature “add to cart” CTAs on the homepage itself One eCommerce brand that follows through with this rare but ideal practice on their homepage is Golde—here’s a look:
Feature “quick add” CTAs on the category pages Instead of “shop now” link in abandoned cart emails, use “add items back to cart” 9. Make your cart abandonment recovery pop(up) Currently over 70%, cart abandonment is a hot topic across eCommerce stores.Â
But while you may not be able to control who drops off entirely, you might be able to discern who may have a greater interest in completing the purchase.Â
This is where your cart abandonment discount pop-ups come in—and getting clicks on these is a kind of eCommerce micro conversion.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Make sure there’s a sense of urgency involved—include a countdown timer to increase clicks Throw in a free shipping clause—if you don’t offer free shipping otherwise, it’ll make sense to offer this only to those who’ve bought from you before Start a conversation leading with empathy—that’s exactly what clothing brand Boohoo does here: ‍
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10. Write blogs that draws comments Throughout your conversion funnel , product content that’s valuable, matters.Â
So one way to increase awareness for the TOFu crowd and improve web traffic to your eCommerce store, is to maintain an active blog that receives regular engagement.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Feature a “products” section on your blog where you elaborate the making process, benefits and also feature relevant recommendations (this is what Beauty Pie does) Offer science-backed value-add content that offers non-transactional information to support a shopper’s learning (mattress brand Casper blogs about the circadian rhythm as well as sleep dysfunctions) Create content that nudges shoppers towards your products—Fishwife features recipes that shoppers can comment on, but what’s best is this becomes a way for the brand to gather email IDs: 11. Improve mobile-first search functionality A well-highlighted search button and field with a relevant CTA can move visitors to go deeper into the underlying product pages of your website. This is especially relevant for mobile users.Â
Check out how Printerland prioritizes the search option on their website.Â
Look at how the drop-down menu helps segregate the categories with a clear indication of how many products fall under that category. It doesn’t get simpler than this!
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Use filters to help users narrow down on products & categories Include selectable autosuggestions for faster search results Show a numbered quantity of products and learning resources like Burt’s Bees does—this is especially effective for eCommerce businesses with limited SKUs: We recommend you read: 30 Mobile Optimization Tips For eCommerce (+ Examples)
12. Prioritize simple & intuitive forms Form abandonment is real. However, you can counter that by keeping your forms simple and intuitive .Â
Depending on your goal, you can decide whether to go for short or long forms, single-step or multi-step forms. Research by Venture Harbour reveals that multi-step forms can increase conversions by 300% .Â
Surveys are also a great way to improve customer engagement with your brand and record visitor behavior for channeling macro conversions.
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Ensure that it’s mobile-friendly as per Google. Here’s a handy test to help you with that Allow users to fill only sections marked with an asterisk Make it less daunting by turning into an experience—Tiffany & Co.gathers client details in steps for their customer assistance process, highlighting one major step at a time: Don't forget to check out: 24 Scientific Strategies to Increase your eCommerce Conversion Rate
13. Enable page discovery from the main menu As per Littledata’s 2020 research, the average number of pages browsed per session was 2.8. Moreover, if the number was above 4.4, that would mean the website fell within the top 20% of sites.Â
So, you can imagine that if a visitor opens more than 3 of your website pages, it’s a good sign. That said, it is best to be wary of high engagement but low conversion pages. It often means there’s some problem with the site.Â
Let’s look at an example. Suppose a visitor lands on The Perfume Shop’s website. They browse multiple pages from the top bar. All of these will reflect valuable micro conversions.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Come up with interesting category names such as “Just In,” Limited Sale” and “One Day Exclusive” Color code options that you want shoppers to see first—for example, some top eCommerce sites highlight “SALE” in deep red as a best practice Use a countdown timer band if you want a single page to get all the attention for a limited period—this is what Solo Stove does with a notification bar : 14. Make way for easy account creation If you head over to Camper’s site, you’ll see find an option for account creation on the right. Upon clicking, this is what you see. It’s short, simple and cuts out all the fluff that may put off shoppers.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Articulate the advantages associated with account creation—talk about exclusive discounts, member-only product drops, free content from experts etc. Make the form-filling process more interactive—IKEA, for example, ensures to feature some of their lifestyle brand photography alongside the sign-up form to trigger happier & warmer feelings: Make only the most necessary fields evident—Patagonia, for example, asks only for name, email and password 15. Let live chat actually help A live chat is a wonderful feature to embed if you want visitors to act towards a bigger conversion. What a live chat with a representative does is that it takes away the hassle of a long wait over call to resolve an issue. It also removes the non-human element from automated chats.
However, be sure to keep the live chat feature non-invasive. You want it to be available for your customers in case they need help and not in their way at any point.
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Label the chat icon for greater clarity: “Here to help,” “Talk to Us” and “Let’s Chat” work well Leave clickable actions as part of the chat window—so that if a representative isn’t immediately available, shoppers can still create self-help; check out how Bear Mattress makes this possible: Clearly mention timings for business hours 16. Attract more video clicks Customers are 64-85% more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it.
A study by Biteable revealed that 52% of marketers rely on videos to build trust among their customers .
By developing compelling video content, you already place your brand with one foot in the door.
But first, how do you get them to watch a video?
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Include a video in the main image gallery Enable shoppers to upload videos in reviews—that’s what watch brand Fossil does: Feature hyperlinked text right beneath the product name (on product page), which leads to the product/brand video on Youtube 17. Highlght your social channels According to Hootsuite’s Social Media Barometer Report, 90% of brands use social media channels for brand awareness .
When people engage with your business on social media, they’ll be more likely to make a purchase from you down the road.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Feature your most popular social media icon on the top right side of the primary menu Feature your social handles under “Share” after the first fold on every product page Display your social icons prominently across emails 18. Strengthen your social engagement The annual increase in social commerce conversions is about 31%—in fact by 2030, social commerce revenue is expected to reach $6.2 trillion.Â
And this means it’s well worth your time to drive smaller conversions through these channels.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Respond to social media comments quickly—this convinces potential shoppers to leave comments if they feel the need to Automate DM messages on what time you’ll be available to take queries or when you’ll get back Use interesting content on stories like polls and Q&A for visitors to engage Feature contests & giveaways and ask visitors to tag their friends & family Women’s sleepwear brand EberJey takes their social commerce engagements seriously and are prompt at answering an array of questions on product drops and stock unavailability:
19. Make it easy to pay If a shopper begins the process of payment, then you already have a micro-conversion in hand.Â
But getting to do that can be tricky especially when a chunk of shoppers are comparison shopping and in the process, adding to cart & abandoning across several eCommerce stores.Â
How to make this micro-conversion happen: Feature a popular payment method on the product page as secondary CTA Offer “quick add” as CTA, which when clicked, the shopper gets a prompt to “checkout” Showcase BNPL options as legit methods to pay Display a number of express payment options on the cart page Offer a way to enter gift card, coupon or store credit details—just like Keen Footwear does: How can you boost conversion rates by monitoring micro conversions? 1. Pull out data on visitor activities For example, if a visitor is spending more time on your Blog page, then it’s evident that they aren’t looking for a sale immediately. On the other hand, if you find a visitor repeatedly going to a specific product page or browsing similar & related products, you can say they’re more likely to move towards a purchase.Â
2. Optimize key conversion areas Once you analyze drop-off rates in comparison with the total website traffic at each stage, you can optimize them to drive more conversions.
For example, if there’s an issue with form signup (and it’s an important part of your conversion funnel ), then that’s a key area to focus on.
Do check out: Convert More Paid Traffic—9 Strategies That Always Work(eCommerce)
3. Offer value to your customers For example, Ashford does a great job of catching the shopper’s eye with an offer (with urgency) that’ll nudge them towards a purchase
4. Track the performance of your communication channels When you’re assessing the micro conversion factor, there can be multiple markers of visitor interest: signing up for your monthly newsletter , subscribing to your RSS feed , frequently commenting on your YouTube channel , etc. Consistent customer engagement will reflect higher conversion rates.Â
5. Build an air-tight conversion funnel For example, this chart shows the exact journey a customer makes on an eCommerce website before the final macro conversion of product purchase.
So, let’s say you have shoppers coming up to the product page, adding to cart but leaving items behind, you may have to look into what’s happening within the mini cart and the cart page.Â
Micro-conversions help eCommerce businesses learn more about their friction points and optimize based visitor behavior.Â
Source Want to know more? Here are 5 stages of an eCommerce conversion funnel (+ways to improve each step)
4 micro conversion best practices you can’t ignore 1. Figure out buyer intent & readiness For this, tracking activities that happen right before a shopper adds to cart or clicks on an abandoned cart email, becomes crucial.Â
The reason behind this is: buyer intent & readiness is typically a spectrum. For example, someone who is clicking on an expandable product description to read and consider certainly has more intent than someone who is browsing through multiple product pages but not viewing shipping information or clicking on the gallery.Â
2. Improve personalization If you don’t already have a customer journey map , this may be difficult to do.Â
Once you’re able to map what the customer’s actions are saying about what they would prefer, you’ll be able to make tweaks to your micro conversions.Â
An example would be the offer and messaging you showcase on your exit intent pop-ups—what you show to a new customer would have to be different from what you show to someone who may have bought from you earlier. In this case, without personalization the chances of a macro conversion taking place goes down considerably.Â
3. Offer the right incentives Assessing your list of micro conversions will also help you look into what nudges shoppers towards a macro conversion. Do they convert right after they click on a link that features a special membership price? Or do they go ahead with a purchase after receiving a discount on a cart abandonment email?
4. Narrow down on performing channels At no point is it wise for an eCommerce business to try and maximize micro conversions across all channels .Â
Based on customer & behavioral segments, you’ll see patterns emerge—while newer buyers might be spending more time on your website, loyalists may be engaging more with your emails, newsletters and even more immediate channels like WhatsApp.Â
These distinctions can help you reduce friction across points that are more likely to bring you macro conversions.Â
BONUS: What is the key difference between micro and macro conversions? The main difference that sets apart micro conversions from macro conversions is the fact that the former are steps to a larger goal—for example, a newsletter sign up is a step towards a shopper getting interested in purchasing a product recommended in the newsletter at a later date.Â
Macro conversions, on the other hand, represent the end goal that all micro conversions are meant to enable—a purchase, an upgrade or even a bulk buy.Â
Some of the common examples of micro-conversions are:
Email newsletter signups Browsing through home, product, or category pages Blog comments Social engagements such as shares or follows eBook downloads Macro conversions refer to the final product purchase or sale. For an eCommerce store, it’s when the customer finally orders the product.Â
The customer generally follows through with micro conversions before eventually moving onto a macro conversion.Â
Source What are the types of micro conversions? a) Process milestones
Process milestones are the conversions that directly lead to a primary macro conversion. These help to identify the critical junctures where UX improvements are required.
Some examples for an eCommerce store are:
Navigating to a category or sub-category Viewing a product page Adding a product to the cart Progressing further in the checkout process b) Secondary actions
Secondary actions are conversions that don’t lead to the primary macro conversion goal—they lead to potential macro conversions in the future. These conversions require a lot of engagement from the visitor and help build trust in their minds.
Some examples for an eCommerce store are:
Using the search button on the site Comparing different products Watching a video review Signing up for an email newsletter Adding a product to the wishlist Creating an account on the site Social media engagement Source How can you choose the right micro conversions for your brand? Any micro-conversion—in order to be effective—has to enhance existing KPIs, improve leads, and contribute to the final macro conversion.
To create micro conversions that’ll readily help reach your set business goals, you need to consider 2 factors:
a) Efficiency
These key performance indicators (KPIs) usually measure how many visitors are lost between each step of the conversion funnel . This will help identify the micro conversions that have the greatest impact on your business goals.Â
Source b) Effectiveness
These KPIs focus on the key activities that can lead visitors to become paying shoppers. The idea is to compare various long-term strategies and identify the one that works the best for your business goals.Â
Here’s another bit of advice—you’ll know it’s an important micro-conversion to track when it meets any of these 3 criteria:
Connects to a macro conversion Reinforces your KPIs Generates more leads How do you track eCommerce micro-conversions? There are several ways to track smaller conversions on your eCommerce store:
Watch session recordings: Session replays can be crucial in revealing customer behavior—what they clicked after what, where they engaged more, where they dropped off and even differences in behavior between users.Â
Set up events in GA4 & track them: GA4 comes with pre-determined events that you can choose to track—alongside, you’ll have to pick the right parameters and triggers to get the process going, after you assign GA4 tags to each event.Â
Use A/B testing insights: Ensure there aren’t too many variations when you’re testing micro conversions—also, it’s best to track micro conversions that invariably lead to a purchase for a longer duration, if there’s a need. A/B testing multiple incentives for the same micro conversion stage can help you come away with sharper answers.Â
How are micro conversions helpful for low traffic eComm websites? One of the key issues that low traffic eCommerce websites face is lack of data.Â
Since the virtual footfall they receive is low, they don’t get enough traffic to study for further improvements—so for such sites micro conversions can mean:
More data to considerÂ
If high traffic websites count more conversions, the ones with lower traffic can consider smaller interactions along the customer journey. This can help them prepare for higher traffic & macro conversions as they scale through marketing and branding efforts.Â
Friction & pain points show up clearly
With data on micro conversions available, low traffic websites can then identify what’s not working and what can be instantly improved. Typically micro conversions in such cases can reveal which pages are most problematic and what about them shoppers are finding difficult to negotiate.Â
Do read: Convert Organic Traffic Into Customers: 16 Ideas for eCommerce Stores
One MAJOR factor to make or break your micro-conversions That would be user experience, alright.
98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything.
Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.
And this is the problem ConvertCart solves.
We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.
How we can help you:
Our conversion experts can audit your site —identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.
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