Climbing gyms spend significant amounts of time promoting their facility and driving traffic to their website through various sources. However, they often fail to analyze the process of their online membership offerings that customers face after starting the membership purchase process, which leads to checkout abandonment.
If someone enters the purchase process, chances are that they have already determined that your gym may be worth joining, they have the money and an interest in purchasing a membership… all of which are critical when converting a potential customer into a purchasing customer.
Businesses can increase their sales conversion rate and reduce shopping cart abandonment by improving the purchase process with these proven ways:
1. Reduce Steps
Reduce the number of steps required to complete an order. The order process should require as few clicks as possible. Think of it this way… for every additional click in the order process, you run the risk of losing some customers. In other words, the fewer clicks required, the more orders will be completed.
2. Secure Checkout Process
The website order form should clearly indicate that it is secure, and most online shoppers now know how to check for such security. Website security will instill confidence and trust during the process. The easiest way to know if your checkout process is secure is to use HTTPS and make sure there are no warnings.
3. Remove Useless Elements
Do not require the customer to re-enter information in the order form if they don’t have to, or have useless elements like a drop-down with a single value if it’s irrelevant.
For example, if an individual is in the checkout process and you have an online membership offering that’s setup just for an individual membership, there’s no need to display a drop-down box for the numbers of members and the -/+ options that provide no function to the user since it can only be “1”.
Before Checkout Optimization
After Checkout Optimization
4. Communicate
Clearly communicate the terms and conditions of their membership agreement (avoid calling it a contract), display how much their future dues will be and the end date of the agreement with instructions on how to terminate their membership. The more you communicate during the signing up process, the less likely they will feel surprised later on by the terms of the agreement.
5. Guarantees
Include information about any satisfaction guarantees on the checkout page. This will provide the purchaser an additional reassurance that they are make the right decision. Also include social proof through customer testimonials and positive reviews from Google and Yelp.
6. Remove Options
Remove all other navigation options from the order process, so that customers are not distracted into clicking away before completing the order. Once the customer enters the purchase process, they should be clearly guided toward completing the order, and nothing else. Remove any distractions or extraneous links, and enlarge navigation elements to take them to the next steps.
7. Remove Surprises
Do not add any additional products or fees in the final steps of the order. Clearly display such costs on the website, so that there are no “hidden” charges that take the customer by surprise. Additional fees that are added in the final stages, even when they are legitimate, will often frustrate customers and they may abandon the order.
8. Add Additional Payment Options
Offer a wide variety of payment options. The last thing you want to happen is for the customer to decide to purchase your product, but then be unable to pay with the options they have available. Offer customers a variety of mechanisms and payment options. Both EFT and Credit Card options should be made available.
9. Professional Design
The order pages should be professionally designed, and should use quality images depicting the culture of you facility. Avoid using stock photography or images that do not accurately represent your facility.
Unprofessional design on your order pages will make potential customers hesitate before spending their money. If possible, design and brand the order pages to match the rest of your website’s look and feel, which will not only reassure the customer they’re in the right place, but will also help to reinforce your brand and reduce cognitive load (yeah, we said it).
10. Do Not Rely On Scripts
Many web browsers now turn off third-party trackers, javascript, cookies, and block advertisements. Stick to the basics when it comes to order pages. Avoid forcing customers to use any scripts or browser add-ons to complete an order.
Reducing the number of customers who abandon your checkout process will ultimately increase your ROI for any of your marketing campaigns.
The good news? You don’t need to overhaul or change your existing payment processing system. A digital marketing agency, like ROI Junkies, can make changes to your membership purchase process to quickly reduce checkout abandonment.
