The eCommerce world is extremely competitive and difficult to master. Even those who are able to gain a lot of traffic to their channels still have to convert visitors into shoppers. The attention span of a typical website visitor is very short, around 10-20 seconds. However, if the visitor feels your page has a clear value proposition, they are likely to spend several minutes on it. The catch? You must make your value proposition clear within the first 10 seconds of their visit. So how can you present your value proposition quickly to keep people on your site longer and ultimately boost sales? By using popups. Here we explain the many different ways your eCommerce business can strategically use popups to increase conversions.

What are Popups?

Anyone who has spent any amount of time shopping online will have seen a popup. A popup is essentially a little block that unexpectedly appears over the page and blocks you from continuing until you complete the task or exit out of it. While they may seem a bit annoying at times, they are actually a very effective eCommerce tool.

There are many different benefits to using popups. Of course, the ultimate goal is to increase your sales, but this can be done with a number of popup strategies.

Offer New Visitors Site-Wide Promotions

New visitors are historically difficult to convert, due to the lack of data on their interests and motivations. A good way to intrigue new visitors is to offer them an enticing promotion. Make sure that your promotion has a high value, strong emotional appeal, brand consistency, and time urgency. Displaying this kind of popup to new visitors will help increase your conversion rate and turn those visitors into customers.

Provide an Incentive for Emails or Social Follows

Building your email list and social media following is another challenge you may face as an eCommerce business. You can use popups to encourage email submissions or social followings in exchange for an exclusive deal. Having a visitor’s contact point is incredibly valuable, and will allow you to drive them back to your site for purchases.

Fight Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment is very frustrating for eCommerce businesses. Luckily, popups can help curb cart abandonment. A customer who adds your products to the cart but does not follow through with the purchase still has a hesitation to buy. Typically, that hesitation involves the price. Use popups for exit-intent offers like a percent discount or free shipping.

Cross-sell and Upsell with Popups

The value of upselling and cross-selling is already proven in eCommerce, and popups can help you do that. You can set up certain popups to display based on the interest a customer shows in a certain product. For example, you could have the “add to cart” function trigger a popup that shows an addition or more expensive alternative the customer may be interested in. offer an incentive for your customer to add the upsell or cross-sell. While converting new traffic is important, it is often much easier to sell more to existing customers.

Promote Free Shipping

Free shipping is incredibly important to online shoppers, and one thing that will help differentiate your brand. You can use popups to offer free shipping for a limited time, in exchange for an email address, or just to those in certain locations. For example, maybe you can accommodate free shipping within the United States, but cannot afford to offer it worldwide. Use geotagging to only display the popup to those it applies to.

Best Practices for Popups

Popups are really a simple tool that can yield amazing results for your eCommerce business. There are many different ways you can implement popups into your marketing strategy. However, just adding popups alone is not the answer. There are some important things to keep in mind when using popups. Some best practices for popups include:

  • Don’t overdo it. Popups should not be so prevalent that they impede visitors from navigating your site and become annoying. Less is more. Use popups sparingly.
  • Personalize them. Many popup tools allow you to use targeting options. Use geotargeting, website behavior, and traffic source to customize your popups.
  • Allow them to exit. Absolutely nothing is more annoying to a shopper than a popup they cannot get rid of. Make it clear and easy for users to exit the popup.
  • Keep the popup design and message consistent with your brand.
  • Make sure your popup has strong context. The popup should be relevant to where it appears on your website. Popups with the strongest content do the best.
  • Provide clear value to your audience and a strong, but simple, CTA.
  • Change up your popups. Your popups should not necessarily be the same every second of every day all year. Make sure your popups are fresh and relevant.

Incorporate Popups into your eCommerce Marketing

MobilityeCommerce makes it easy to manage popups for your multichannel eCommerce business. We offer unparalleled integrations with Oracle NetSuite, SAP Business One, and over 50 of the top marketplaces. Manage all aspects of your business, including your popups, with MobilityeCommerce. Our enterprise-level solution meets all of your business needs and integrates and automates all of your business workflows. Find out why we are the only eCommerce tool you will ever need by visiting our website or contacting us HERE.