High customer engagement brings to your online business multiple benefits including boosted brand advocacy, more returning customers, shortened sales cycle, and many more. In other words, it can become your greatest asset and key competitive advantage in the current reality of eCommerce.
With the holiday sales 2023 season coming close, the competition is higher than ever, any business is on the same wave of trying to boost customer engagement effectively. You better don’t miss this wave!
Fortunately, we’re here to give you customer engagement strategies that no one told you before.
To start, let’s take a look at some statistics:
- 75% of users judge a business's credibility based on its website's design
- 38% of users will stop engaging with a website if the layout is unattractive
As we gear up for this crucial time, it's essential to recognize the significance of strategic website design in ensuring your Shopify store not only stands out but excels in capturing customer attention, fostering engagement, and ultimately driving conversions.
By understanding the benefits of customer engagement and implementing its best practices in website design, your Shopify store can truly shine during this peak shopping season.
Let's explore some customer engagement best practices to make your online presence a party!
First, Equip Yourself with the Right Tools
Designing a website is no small feat. To navigate this relentless process effectively, you need the right tools in your arsenal. As powerful as a Shopify theme can be, sole reliance on it can leave you missing out on great opportunities. What you truly need is a robust page builder that not only facilitates the creation of a visually appealing site but also empowers you with functionalities to enhance user experience.
Consider Foxify Smart Pagebuilder, your weapon for crafting a website that not only looks good but also performs exceptionally well. Here are why Foxify stands out in the crowded field of page builders:
- Diverse templates: Foxify has over 70 high-converting templates for different page types (home page, product page, landing page) in a wide range of industries (clothing, cosmetics, technology,, etc).
- Device-specific designs: Recognizing the diverse ways users access your site, Foxify provides device-specific designs. This ensures an optimized experience, whether your customers are browsing on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.
- Built-in upsells and cross-sells: Foxify provides built-in upsells and cross-sells app extensions for absolutely free, such as Sticky Add to Cart, Recently Viewed Products, Product Option Swatches, etc. This means you can effortlessly boost your sales by offering additional shopping value to your customers.
- Advanced analytics and report: Knowledge is power, and Foxify equips you with the insights you need. Keep a close eye on your store and page performance with Foxify Analytics, allowing you to make informed decisions to enhance user engagement and drive conversions.
Now armed with Foxify, let’s delve into some awe-inspiring website design tips that will increase user engagement on website and set the stage for your Shopify store's holiday sales 2023 success. These tips, coupled with the capabilities of Foxify, will ensure that your online presence not only survives but thrives during this festive season.
Holiday Website Design Tips to Boost Customer Engagement
Use Spin the Wheel
One of the most popular eCommerce holiday marketing tips is to use a "Spin the Wheel" feature to reward customers during the shopping season in an engaging way. It's a gamified element where visitors can spin a virtual wheel to win discounts, free shipping coupons, gift cards, or other prizes.
Benefit:
- Increased engagement: Inject a sense of fun and excitement, engage website visitors to interact and stay for longer durations.
- Incentivized actions: By offering rewards, the "Spin the Wheel" feature becomes a powerful tool to motivate visitors to take desired actions. This can include subscribing to newsletters, making purchases, or sharing the website on social media.
Drawback:
- Potential for overuse or misuse: Like any gamified element, the "Spin a Wheel" feature can backfire if not implemented properly. There's a risk of it seeming gimmicky or intrusive, potentially harming the overall user experience.
Tips to do it well:
- Set clear rules and limitations: Establish transparent rules and limitations for the wheel prizes to ensure fairness and avoid misleading visitors.
- Customize design: Align the design of the wheel with the holiday theme and overall website aesthetics. Consistency is key for a seamless user experience.
- Strategic integration: Place the "Spin a Wheel" feature at strategic points in the user journey. Consider triggering it during exit intent or after a certain level of engagement to maximize its impact.
One of the customer engagement best practices in website designing is from CRAFTD London. When visiting their website, a pop-up lucky wheel will be shown after a few seconds, which offers shoppers to spin and win discount codes.
From shoppers’ perspective, it works well since it’s easy, fun, and costs them nothing to try.
From the brand’s perspective, it helps them to engage with shoppers, gives them discount codes so that they will feel the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) effect, and collects shoppers’ data to use in holiday marketing campaigns later.
Image source: CRAFTD London
If you want to create a pop-up lucky wheel like this, consider using the free FoxKit app. It not only lets you create your customized wheel but also provides you with a detailed analysis of this wheel so that you can track its performance.
Add an Auto-Scrolling Promotion
Another customer engagement strategy is to use auto-scrolling promotion, which is a design element that automatically slides limited-time offers, deals, or product recommendations across the parts of your web pages where they’re most relevant.
Benefits:
- Increased visibility: Ensure your important offers or announcements take center stage. Auto-scrolling promotions make sure they are prominently displayed, increasing the likelihood of customers noticing them.
- Enhanced engagement: The subtle movement of scrolling banners is like a virtual tap on the shoulder, capturing users' attention and encouraging them to explore the promotions further.
Drawback:
- Potential overload: While auto-scrolling promotions are effective, there's a risk of overwhelming users if not implemented carefully. Too many scrolling promotions can clutter the browsing experience.
Tips to do it well:
- Limit quantity: Keep the number of scrolling promotions to a manageable quantity. Prioritize quality over quantity to maintain a clean and organized layout.
- High-quality visuals and compelling copy: Make your promotions visually appealing and enticing. High-quality visuals paired with compelling copy can make a lasting impression on your visitors.
- Clear and visible CTAs: Ensure your call-to-action buttons are clear and visible. Guide users towards desired actions by making it easy for them to explore and engage with your promotions.
Burga practices this customer engagement strategy well. The brand places an auto-scrolling promotion section right below the hero section to capture shoppers’ interest instantly.
By using short sentences like “25% off everything”, “buy 4 pay 2”, “Black Friday”, etc., Burga writes to shoppers’ minds a message that their desired products are discounted and ready to buy.
Image source: Burga
Add an Exit Intent Pop-up
To recover potentially lost opportunities and keep your holiday sales 2023 sleigh on track, consider the strategic implementation of an Exit Intent Pop-up. It is a pop-up window that cleverly appears when a user indicates an intention to leave the website, offering a secret discount or coupon to keep customers engaged.
Benefits:
- Reduce cart abandonment: Combat the dreaded cart abandonment scenario by offering last-minute discounts, incentives, or personalized recommendations through Exit Intent Pop-ups. This entices users to stay and complete their purchase.
- Opportunity for additional engagement: Extend the user journey beyond their initial exit intent. Use these pop-ups to collect email addresses for future holiday marketing campaigns or provide valuable information to users before they bid farewell.
Drawback:
- Potential annoyance: While Exit Intent Pop-ups can be effective, there's a risk of users finding them intrusive or disruptive to their browsing experience.
Tips to do it well:
- Compelling incentives: Make the offer irresistible. Provide compelling incentives or exclusive deals to entice users to reconsider leaving.
- Simple and unobtrusive design: Keep the design of your pop-up simple and unobtrusive. Ensure that the close button is easily visible, allowing users to exit the pop-up effortlessly.
- Polite and persuasive language: Craft your pop-up message with politeness and persuasion. Use language that is both convincing and respectful of the user's browsing experience.
To illustrate, let’s take a look at the below banner from Snow, a toothpaste Shopify store. This box will be shown when shoppers move their mouse outside the web page for the first time to entice them into giving their email address in exchange for a free whitening wand.
Image source: SNOW
Apply Holiday Sales Effects
To increase user engagement on the website and infuse it with the enchantment of the season, consider incorporating captivating holiday sales effects. They are dynamic visual elements or animations that bring the holiday spirit to life on your website. Think snowfall animations, falling confetti, or gift-wrapping visuals – all designed to evoke the joy of the season.
Benefits:
- Create a memorable user experience: Transport your visitors into a winter wonderland with holiday sales effects. These delightful animations engage website visitors, evoke positive emotions, leave a lasting impression on users, and imprint an unforgettable shopping experience.
- Enhance brand perception: By incorporating holiday-themed visuals, your website communicates a commitment to the festive season and customer satisfaction. It's an opportunity to reinforce your brand identity in the hearts of your visitors.
Drawback:
- Potential impact on website performance: While the magic of Holiday Sales effects is undeniable, there's a caveat. Heavy or excessive effects can potentially slow down your website's loading speed, impacting user experience.
Tips to do it well:
- Subtle and lightweight animations: Less is often more. Use subtle and lightweight animations that enhance the overall user experience without causing significant performance issues.
- Optimize images and animations: Ensure your holiday visuals are optimized. Compress images and animations to minimize their impact on loading times, allowing for a seamless browsing experience.
- Motion effects in Foxify Smart pagebuilder: For an easy implementation, make use of Foxify's capabilities for motion effects, such as …. Brands can keep it simple by incorporating motion effects for text or visuals, adding a touch of dynamism effortlessly.
- Test across different devices and browsers: To guarantee a consistent and smooth experience for all users, conduct thorough testing of your holiday sales effects across various devices and browsers.
Last Christmas, Kith transformed its home page, from a bright and clean style to a warm look with holiday images, animation, and mellow transitions.
Image source: Kith
These holiday sales effects are trendy and impressive, which engage website visitors to continue exploring its website, and eventually increase the chance of purchase.
Advanced Tips to Improve Customer Engagement No One Tells You
Page Scheduling
Page scheduling is an advanced feature that allows you to schedule the visibility of specific pages or promotions during designated timeframes. Essentially, it lets you plan when certain content or promotions go live.
In the chaos of holiday marketing and sales, timing is everything. Page scheduling ensures that you can orchestrate timely launches of your special holiday pages or campaigns. Whether it's a flash sale, exclusive product launch, or festive-themed content, page scheduling empowers you to strategically unveil them at the most opportune moments.
By having perfect timing, you can boost online customer engagement at the most suitable time as you planned in your holiday marketing strategies.
With built-in page scheduling, Foxify Smart Pagebuilder puts these tools at your fingertips, simplifying the process of optimizing your website for the holiday sales 2023.
To schedule a page for publishing, instead of clicking “Publish now” as usual, you can choose the option of “Publish later” and choose the date you want.
Advanced Analytics
Advanced analytics shapes more strategic decisions compared to surface-level metrics. Foxify's built-in reports break down page views, location data, and way more with granular insights.
Armed with these findings, you can optimize weak points and scale up wins - vital tweaks as the new year approaches.
By doing so, you can not only increase user engagement on website continuously but also establish a complete brand engagement strategy to execute long-term actions.
In Foxify Smart pagebuilder app, select the tab “Analytics” on the left sidebar. There you’ll find an overall dashboard which covers essential metrics of both store performance (orders, sales, average order volume, etc.) and page performance (sessions, pageviews, etc.).
Each tab in the dashboard presents a certain metric. You can click on the top right icon to view the detailed analysis of each metric.
Wrapping up
In conclusion, as the holiday sales 2023 approaches, the significance of effective eCommerce website design strategies cannot be overstated. A well-crafted website not only captures customer attention but also fosters engagement and drives conversions.
By applying these customer engagement best practices in website design, you now can turn your website into an invaluable tool to navigate the festive digital landscape.
To realize it efficiently, harness the power of Foxify! It’s like the unsung hero that seamlessly integrates into these strategies with its diverse features, including built-in upsells, device-specific designs, and advanced analytics. With Foxify, businesses can transcend the ordinary, creating visually stunning and conversion-focused websites that elevate the customer experience.
As the eCommerce holiday season unfolds, let Foxify be the guiding star that helps you to make the most of holiday marketing efforts and propels your Shopify store to unprecedented heights of success and customer engagement. Happy holidays and happy thriving in the world of eCommerce!
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