Three Steps to Prepare for a Conversion Lifting Cyber 5
As the leaves have fallen from the trees, and Halloween decorations are put away until next year, that can only mean one thing – the holiday shopping season is fast approaching, and eCommerce sites must be prepared for the 2022 edition of Cyber 5.
Cyber 5 is the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, and responsible for much of the eCommerce sales in November and December each year. For eCommerce sites, that means heavy traffic and making sure to deliver a smooth and efficient customer experience no matter what.
Determining whether your eCommerce site is prepared for Cyber 5 is almost half the battle; here are the three steps you must take to ensure you will have a successful Cyber 5 this season.
The Need for Speed
During last year’s Cyber 5, digital traffic rose 11% from the previous year, a number that is sure to go up again in 2022. According to Rick Kenney, Managing Director of eCommerce consulting firm Leading Lights, on both desktop and mobile, bounce rates doubled during the slowest sessions. Conversely, faster page loads led to higher conversion rates. The fastest sessions on desktop doubled conversion rates and went up over 4% on mobile when a page loads in under four seconds. Bottom line – if you want to keep your customers on your eCommerce site, you had better make sure your site is running fast.
Gain Control Over Your Third-Party Technologies
To offer customers a seamless Cyber 5 user experience, eCommerce sites must get a handle over the third parties running on their sites. Every eCommerce site is filled with different third-party technologies on their back end. These can range from live chat to ratings & reviews to personalization, just to name a few. But while these third parties are critical to have to provide great online experiences, they also are a primary reason your eCommerce site is being slowed down. Shaving just one second off page load time results in a 5.9% conversion lift through an accelerated and improved customer experience. If you’re not increasing conversions this Cyber 5, you can bet that your competitors are.
Your Most Important Page(s) to Optimize
It is imperative to optimize all your pages, but your product detail and category pages are of the upmost importance. As many as 72% of all page views on an eCommerce site belong to a company’s product detail and category pages, especially during Cyber 5 when brands run promotions directly to these pages. If your product page is not fully optimized for Cyber 5, your eCommerce site could be in for some serious trouble this holiday season. During last year’s Cyber 5 peak, the product and category pages accounted for 70% of all page views from buyers.
Are you prepared for Cyber 5? Request a completely FREE eCommerce Site Performance Snapshot today and find out.