The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Irresistible Ecommerce CTAs
Call-to-actions (CTA) are the crucial touchpoints on your eCommerce website that act as interaction windows between you and your shoppers. How your CTA button is written, designed, and positioned has a lot to do with how your conversion works. In this expert-written blog, you will understand the basic components of successful CTAs and the best CTA practices to boost conversions with real-time examples.
What’s Inside This Blog?
All you need to know about crafting impactful CTAs for your eCommerce store is thoughtfully handpicked and compiled in this blog.
- 5 Key Attributes of CTAs
- 25 Compelling CTAs
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- Where to use them
- Why they work
- Real-time Case Studies
- Ready Reckoner for E-commerce CTA
5 Key Attributes of CTAs
Call-to-action is not merely an action verb or an imperative sentence. It is the prompt you give your shoppers on what you want them to do next. The call to action button plays a critical role in converting your browsers into buyers, potential customers into repeat shoppers, and window shoppers into loyal customers. Here are the five key attributes of a winning CTA:
- Intuitive, simple & direct: The secret is in simplicity. Write action-oriented CTAs that are straightforward and self-explanatory yet compelling and irresistible.
- Trust: Instilling trust and credibility shortens the purchase curve. Use friendly and assuring words that make your shoppers feel secure.
- Urgency: Gently nudge your shoppers to make a purchase decision instantly using CTAs that create a sense of urgency.
- Flexibility: Choices are liberating. Your CTAs must offer flexible options that allow your shoppers to act freely based on their intent as well as convenience.
- Engagement-driven: The more your customers engage on your website, the more likely they are to make a purchase — sooner or later. Drive optimal engagement with exploratory CTAs.
25 Compelling CTAs That Drive Guaranteed Clicks
Listed below are popular and commonly used call-to-actions in the eCommerce world. These tried-and-tested CTAs foster engagement and accelerate the customer journey, transforming the mundane shopping experience into an immersive and dynamic one.
- Buy Now
- Add to Cart
- Buy Now & Save 20%
- Shop Now
- Shop All
- View All Categories
- See What’s New
- View Product
- Quick View
- Quick Buy
- View Catalog
- Explore Deals of The Day
- See All Deals
- Discover Offers
- Pay Securely
- Pay via Google Pay
- Pay With Apple Pay
- Save 20% / Save 50%
- Explore Under $99
- Buy Now Pay Later
- Pay Online Buy In-Store
- Shop Online
- Buy In One-Click
- Protected Purchase
- Explore All Products
Let’s delve into each of the above call-to-actions and the rationale behind their usage with real-time examples.
#1 Don’t Reinvent The Wheel. Trust in the Traditions
‘Buy Now’ and ‘Add to Cart’ are two widely used CTAs that have worked for millions of eCommerce stores. Adopting these traditional practices is a safe bet because they are tried and tested and convey the meaning in a simple and straightforward manner.
Buy Now
‘Buy Now’ is one of the most common CTAs easily used by millions of eCommerce stores. Using this conventional CTA has its own advantages. As shoppers are used to this call-to-action, its familiarity increases click-through rates and conversions.
Highlights
- The CTA is simple, direct, and intuitive, prompting immediate action from potential customers.
- The CTA resonates with the customers’ natural language, aligns with the industry standards, and increases the chances of making a purchase through psychological persuasion.
- Using a widely recognized CTA like “Buy Now” can enhance the credibility and professionalism of an eCommerce store.
Where to use?
- Product pages
- Shopping Carts
PRO-TIP
Power your CTA with a value-add
HubSpot’s detailed research on CTAs found that CTAs with personalized offers deliver 202% better results than plain CTAs.
For instance, as seen in the above CTA, adding the offer details to the button makes it more captivating, incentivizing shoppers with a compelling value.
Add to Cart
The flip side is that the ‘Buy Now’ CTA limits the shopper from exploring more products. And that’s why the recommended practice is to use it alongside another CTA, ‘Add to Cart.’
- Providing shoppers both the options to buy now and add to cart vests them with the choice to act according to their intent.
- Shoppers who want to explore more products and continue their shopping click the ‘Add to Cart’ CTA. Those who land on your website with a narrowed and certain intent to purchase a particular item will hit the ‘Buy Now’ button.
Where to use?
- Product pages
- Standalone CTA
- Alongside ‘Buy Now’ Button.
The CTA Experiment #1
Adding an ‘Add to Cart’ CTA alongside ‘Buy Now’ drives 115% more orders.
Our client for many years, Primera, one of the leading printing equipment stores, faced an unforeseen conversion dip as they scaled their business to a larger audience scale. Our team diagnosed that the root cause of the problem was unidirectional CTAs that restricted the users from exploring and purchasing more products. We added an ‘Add to Cart’ CTA that let customers continue their shopping.
RESULT
115% more orders after implementing the additional CTA
#2 Drive Engagement with Exploratory CTAs
It is important that you write tailored CTAs on your website that are in line with the customer’s journey. The CTAs on product pages need to be goal-oriented, while the CTAs on the product discovery pages can be exploratory and engagement-driven.
Here are a few interesting CTAs that will lead your visitors to explore your brand, navigate across the website, discover products, and engage with various sections.
Shop Now / Shop All
These CTAs prompt your visitors to embark on their shopping journey and explore the website.
View Product
This CTA guides your customers to navigate across specific product pages and consume more information about their favorite products.
Quick View
This CTA is often used when you don’t want your shoppers to exit the current page and still have a quick overview of the product using an overlay pop-up or snippet preview.
Category-based CTAs
Product categories are important sections of eCommerce websites that help your shoppers understand your offerings better. Use exploratory and category-specific CTAs that instruct your shoppers to proceed exploring further with conviction. Here are some examples:
- Shop For Men, Shop For Women, Shop For Kids
- Explore Winter Collections
- Shop Best Sellers
- See All Products
- Gifts For Him, Gifts For Her
- See New Arrivals
- View All Categories
- Discover Party Collections
Offer-based CTAs
Discounts and offers are integral parts of eCommerce stores. Categorizing products based on offers and discounted prices will help enhance user engagement rates. Here are a few examples of deals and discount-based CTAs that will encourage your shoppers to discover more by incentivizing them with attractive deals.
- Save 20%, Save 50%
- Under $99, Under $199
- Explore Deals of The Day
Where to use?
- Home page
- Product Category Pages
- Special Deals & Sale Pages
- Menus & Mega Menus
- Product Collections & Curated Bundles
The CTA Experiment #2
Replacing ‘Learn More’ with ‘Shop Now’ Boosts Conversions By 311%
Gifts Catholic is one of our loyal clients that sells handpicked and novel catholic gifts. After introducing a mid-page section that highlights featured collections of trending products, we saw a 311% upsurge in the no. of orders placed and 2.5X more time spent on the site. As you see in the adjoining screenshot, the CTA ‘Shop Now’ received threefold more clicks compared to the previous CTA: ‘Learn More.’
RESULT
2.5X increase in average time spent on website
311% increase in conversions after featuring curated product collections with a ‘Shop Now’ CTA
#3 Urgency, Flexibility, and Ease — Blend All Together.
In a world of short-lived attention spans and increasing digital distractions, your CTAs should impress your customers at first glance and softly influence them to take desired actions. Here are some examples of winning CTAs that are rich in flexibility and work for all industries and audiences.
Buy Now Pay Later
Offering easy payment and credit options increases the likelihood of your shoppers placing orders. ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ is the latest buzzword in the world of eCommerce that breathes so much flexibility, ease, and convenience.
Pay Online Buy In-Store
Your eCommerce store should make space for those who love in-person shopping, too. The POBIS (Pay Online Buy In-Store) CTA makes it easy for your shoppers to choose where to buy. Especially in the apparel, beauty, and furniture industries, shoppers expect human-powered interactions and in-person trials, which can be fulfilled by a flexible CTA like POBIS.
CTAs With Countdown
Subtle urgency works big time in eCommerce. Countdowns go a long way in fostering your shoppers to fasten their purchase decisions. Leading marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart allow you to offer timed deals with a live countdown as an underlying text to the CTA.
Buy in One-Click
The above makes the purchase process look like a breeze. The CTA’s emphasis on ‘ease’ attracts more clicks and encourages even window shoppers to consider buying.
Where to use?
- Shopping Cart Pages
- Payment Gateways
- Select Product Pages
- Overlay Pop-ups
- ‘One-page Checkout’ Pages
The CTA Experiment #3
‘Shop In-Store’ CTA Drives 157% More Foot Traffic To Apparel Brand’s Physical Store.
Our client, ‘The Foursome,’ is a three-generation apparel brand that offers personalized tailoring services both online and in-person. Adding a ‘Shop In-Store’ CTA to their home page’s banner section increased their weekly store visits by 157%. Placing ‘Shop Online’ and ‘Shop In-store’ CTAs side by side effectively catered to diverse customer preferences, resulting in a significant boost in both online sales and foot traffic to their physical stores.
RESULT
157% more in-person shoppers
87% increase in weekly orders through hybrid sale touchpoints
#4 Weave trust into your CTAs
Replacing the mundane ‘Checkout’ or ‘Place Order’ CTAs with ‘Pay Securely’ makes your shoppers feel safe and secure with your brand and place orders confidently. This step can prevent leakages in the bottom-most points of your conversion funnels, reducing cart abandonment rates.
Here are more insights on making your CTAs security-assuring and reliable:
Pay Securely
In the above CTA, ‘securely’ acts as a word of affirmation that reassures your shoppers that the money they are about to pay is safe. This CTA subtly yet impactfully plays a significant psychological role in boosting the end-touchpoint conversions.
CTAs With Trust Badges or Icons
Adding renowned badges, icons, or guarantees beneath the CTA is a tried-and-tested practice that evades ambiguity and amplifies conversions. Here are some examples of security boosters to use along with your CTA:
- Protected Purchase
- Guaranteed On-time Delivery
- Safe Shipping Promise
Globally-recognized Payment Partners
Leverage the trust, reputation, and legacy of your banking partners by incorporating their brand names into your CTAs on the payment pages. Here are a few examples:
- Pay with Google Pay
- Proceed with Apple Pay
Where to use?
- Shopping Cart Pages
- Payment Gateways
- Select Product Pages
- Overlay Pop-ups
- ‘One-page Checkout’ Pages
The CTA Experiment #4
CTA With Banker’s Logo Reduces Abandoned Carts By 71%
One of our premium clients, ‘HH Clothing Co.,’ has emerged as an unparalleled apparel leader. When their shopping cart abandonment rates never-before lows, our team replaced their ‘Buy Now’ and ‘Checkout’ CTA buttons with banking logos like PayPal, Shop Pay, and G Pay. This measure drastically slashed their abandoned carts by 71% within a month.
RESULT
A Whopping 71% Decrease in Abandoned Carts
87% increase in weekly orders through hybrid sale touchpoints
Your Ready Reckoner for Ecommerce CTA
On The Money’ CTAs
Where to use them?
🟡 Product pages
🟡 Shopping Carts
🟡 Product Preview Snippets
Why they work:
These simple yet powerful and globally accepted words have a proven track record of success rate. The familiarity with these CTAs prompts the users to take action inherently.
Best Practise
Use these CTAs in a clutter-free design and compelling color combination so that it is visually compelling.
Exploratory CTAs
Where to use them?
🟡 Home page
🟡 Product Category Pages
🟡 Special Deals & Sale Pages
🟡 Menus & Mega Menus
🟡 Product Collections & Curated Bundles
Why they work:
These CTAs widen your users’ intent and evoke curiosity to explore more products than what they intended to buy, thereby increasing product exposure and average order size.
Best Practise
Do extensive A/B testing experiments to uncover real-time insights on what exploratory CTAs work for your audiences and industry.
CTAs That Reflect Urgency & Ease
Where to use them?
🟡 Shopping Cart Pages
🟡 Payment Gateways
🟡 Select Product Pages
🟡 Overlay Pop-ups
🟡 One-page Checkout Pages
Why they work:
A little nudging can accelerate the purchase journey, and emphasis on ‘ease’ can make it a convenient journey. Combining flexibility and ease does all the magic.
Best Practise
Add a visual progress bar as they complete each step to make the payment process feel easy peasy.
Security Booster CTAs
Where to use them?
🟡 Shopping Cart Pages
🟡 Payment Gateways
🟡 Select Product Pages
🟡 Overlay Pop-ups
🟡 One-page Checkout Pages
Why they work:
These words of affirmation humanize your brand and nurture long-lasting customer relations that are strong-built on the pillars of safety and reliability.
Best Practise
Along with the CTA design, use icons or imagery that instill a sense of trust and visually reassure that they are safe to proceed with the payment.
TheCommerceShop is an award-winning eCommerce agency specializing in transforming eCommerce websites into reputed brands and skyrocketing their revenue growth. Get in touch with our CRO specialists for a free consultation.
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