When you build an e-commerce business, one of the biggest decisions you must make is to choose between a shopping cart and an order page˳ That’s because the one you choose will impact your sales results˳ And if you choose the wrong one, you will lose customers and sales˳
You cannot make a sale until the customer submits the order˳ A persuasive landing page and compelling sales copy are vital to get the prospect to want to buy˳ But it is equally important to have a smooth order process that helps to close the sale˳
Any point within this order process can cause would-be customers to not buy anything˳ For example, if they encounter a detour or something unexpected, they can quickly lose interest and not buy˳
To close the sale, the order process must confirm the offer to keep them excited˳ Plus, make it fast and easy to complete the order form˳
The Difference Between a Shopping Cart and Order Page
In online marketing, a shopping cart is part of e-commerce software that allows visitors to a website to select items to buy˳ It can be integrated with a small or large catalog of items, each with a unique price˳
The shopping cart can allow customers to choose different features, such as size or color, plus the quantity˳ Then upon checkout, there is a form to collect the customer’s name, address, plus billing and shipping information˳
An order page contains a summary confirmation of the offer˳ Plus a form that collects the customer’s name, address, plus billing and shipping information˳
Depending on your software, both the shopping cart and order page can give a wide range of features˳ These may include integration with an online payment gateway, such as Paypal or Stripe˳ Plus, product quantity, shipping, real-time pricing calculation and data encryption upon order submission˳
But while both can facilitate a sale, the order page has three big advantages in getting the prospective customer to buy˳ The following are 3 reasons why it trumps shopping carts for most types of products and services˳
Order Page Advantage #1: Speed of Sale
Once you get a prospective customer to want to buy, you must do so as fast as possible˳ That’s because doubt can quickly enter the consumer’s mind that can cause them to hesitate to buy˳
Perhaps the biggest difference between a shopping cart and order page is the number of clicks and pages the consumer encounters˳ A shopping cart can require anywhere from one to upwards of 6 or more clicks that take the consumer to different pages to enter information˳ Pages may take time to load˳ The number of clicks and pages plus long amount of time it takes to complete the process are big reasons for why there are so many abandoned shopping carts˳
Yet an order page has everything on one landing page˳ So the consumer can quickly follow the information, usually from top down, enter the information requested, and click just one button in the whole process to submit their order˳
Order Page Advantage #2: Persuasive Content
A shopping cart is bulky with respect to the layout and information displayed˳ Yet the information that is displayed is factual˳ The longer the consumer sees this, the more likely their emotional excitement about the product or service will wane˳
Order pages on the other hand can start off with persuasive content that confirms the offer˳ So when the consumer is completing the order form, they are more likely to retain an emotional connection with buying the product or service˳ Emotion is what sells˳ The longer you can keep the consumer emotionally engaged with your product, the more likely you are to close the sale˳
Order Page Advantage #3: Personalization
Shopping carts are a one size fits all˳ Each consumer uses the same cart with the same content to select the specific products or services and quantities they want to buy˳ There is very little if anything that is personalized for each customer˳
Order pages can be personalized for each customer based on information in their contact record or specific landing page they visited˳ Personalized content can increase sales conversion˳ So you can not only make the customer happy, but your wallet too˳
In summary, shopping carts and order pages enable consumers to buy and merchants to earn sales˳ Yet order pages have 3 distinct advantages that can lead to higher sales conversion˳ They also take less time to close the sale and results in fewer contacts that abandonment the check out process˳
Plus, they can boost sales conversion with persuasive content that keeps the consumer emotionally engaged with your product or service˳ And they can contain personalized content which further enhances customer satisfaction and higher sales conversion˳
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?Why-Order-Pages-Trump-Shopping-Carts-in-Sales-Conversion…-Plus-How-to-Lower-Your-Abandonment-Rates&id=10069583