6 Psychological Triggers to Supercharge Your Ecommerce Conversion Rate

If you’ve been an ecommerce site owner for quite some time, then you’d know how challenging it can be to turn your web visitors into paying customers.

It takes art, science, strategy, and continuous effort to sway them to say “yes” to your offers.

Perhaps you feel like you’ve applied every technical digital marketing strategy that you know, but you’re still not getting any significant boost in your conversion rates.

If so, then maybe what you’re missing are psychological triggers — emotional and cognitive stimuli that affect human response or behavior.

In this guide, we’re going to share with you six psychological triggers you can use to supercharge your ecommerce conversion rate.

Let’s jump in.

1. Scarcity

When consumers know there are limited supply and fierce competition for a valuable resource, they’ll do anything to have it, so they don’t miss out.

As a marketer, you can leverage the fear of missing out (FOMO) and scarcity trigger to increase your conversions in different ways.

One of them is pre-launch selling. 

Let’s say you’re selling movie tickets. There is a way to guide your moviegoers through a sales funnel on Facebook that turns prospects into customers.

After building up the excitement for the movie premiere, wait shortly — say, weeks — before the movie release and viewers can start buying passes.

See how Fast and Furious did it:

They announced that you can now start booking tickets six days before the movie opens in cinemas.

After working up the thrill, this tactic evokes a sense of urgency on your moviegoers, so they become more eager to buy your tickets before everyone else does.

2. Altruism 

When you employ the altruism trigger, you make them feel that they can contribute to a higher social cause if they support your ecommerce business.

Altruism says something along the lines of, “if you buy this product, you can help save the world.”

This trigger touches on the kind-hearted and charitable aspect of humans to influence their converting decision.

Take a look at this example:

The example says that for every product you sell, you can opt to donate one tree and help reforest and create local livelihoods.

When applying altruism, here’s a tip: be transparent and honest about how your customers’ actions will impact your cause, or where their donation will go.

Later on, present to them the figures regarding the progress and fulfillment of the cause. 

Doing so assures your customers that your cause is legitimate, making them more willing to convert again for a social purpose.

Lastly, since we’re already discussing altruism, another aspect you should start considering is digital inclusiveness. Remember not all your customers have the same abilities.

3. Authority

It’s a human tendency to trust perceived figures of authority based on their status, background, achievement, or even appearance. 

As a result, people regard what those authorities say as reliable enough for them to try the products promoted.

Here’s how this applies to your business.

Let’s say you’re into the dropshipping business model and you’ve already setup your website.

One of the ways to project yourself as an authority is by stating what you’ve achieved, like this:

Selling over one million pairs is an impressive track record that shows you’re a dependable ecommerce seller.

You can also write your best dropshipping practices and success stories, like strategies that helped you scale and earn $500,000 a month, finance your out-of-the-country getaways, etc.

Now, if you’re a budding dropshipper and think you’re far off from being a dropshipping guru of sorts, let me tell you — it is possible to become one. 

You just need to persevere, implement the right strategies, and increase your knowledge with practical dropshipping guides, among other things.

In time, you can become a seasoned dropshipper who will teach newbies how you did it.

4. Commitment

The principle behind commitment states that when humans pledge to do something, they desire to be consistent and follow through on their word.

You can leverage this psychological trigger in your marketing campaigns.

When you invite them to sign up for your offer, your CTA should compel them to commit. 

Here’s how you can do it:

In this offer above, the CTA is in the first person so that the customer responding feels like it’s him committing to “want more subscribers.”

When the CTA is consistent with how you influenced them to feel, the customer is likely to respond.

Another way of using the commitment trigger is by asking him to put in contact details so he can get his freebie or some other offer, like so:

Before your customer can get the ebook, you’d like to ask him to commit by filling in the form. To show him it’s only a quick step, you can also show a progress bar at the top.

5. Social Proof

When you’re doubtful about the quality of a product you haven’t used before, chances are you’d check first who has used it and what those users can say, right?

If you answered yes, then your customers would likely do the same if they’re unsure about patronizing your product, service, or offer.

If you want to assure prospects that your product is worth trying, maximize social proof. 

Social proof refers to the phenomenon that when you see someone do it, it’s likely correct and worth imitating. 

Here’s how Pigeon applied social proof for their services:

Pigeon displayed a client’s testimonial that expressed the benefit he got from using the tool.

Similarly, testimonials by regular users and well-known companies on your website validate your product’s trustworthiness.

Once your prospects see that others had a satisfactory experience, they’d be willing and feel more at ease to try out your product.

You can apply social proof in several other ways. Check out social proof guides online to learn how to do so in detail.

6. Reciprocity

The idea behind reciprocity is that when you receive something, you also want to give back.

Humans tend to feel obligated to do something in return for what was done to them — especially when it’s freely given to them.

The question becomes, how can you use reciprocity to boost your ecommerce conversion rates?

One way is to provide your website visitors and customers valuable freebies.

Take a look at this example by Smart Insights

In this case, Smart Insights invites its prospects to access digital planning templates that come with guides and latest updates.

In the same way, you can choose to hand out free trials, courses, research papers — any useful offer that serves as a sample of your product or service.

Later on, as they enjoy the free taste, they are likely to sign up for regular use of your product, boosting your conversions and sales.

Supercharge your conversions.

These and other psych triggers are dynamic and powerful. They tickle the natural human thought patterns, making it easier for your prospects to respond.

Supercharging your ecommerce conversions with these triggers takes time, but it’ll be well worth your effort as you keep applying them.

If you found this guide practical and valuable, please do me a favor and share this with your colleagues. Cheers!