An online store is not just a catalog of products with an “Add to cart” button. To increase the number of buyers, you need to increase the interest and loyalty of casual users by engaging them in more interaction. Widgets can help with that. Here’s what widgets are, why they’re useful, and how to configure them.
Table of Contents
What Widgets Are Available
- A pop-up window.
- A bar. It may be static and placed at the bottom of the page. Can be dynamic, pinned at the top or bottom of the page. Dynamic bar doesn’t disappear and is constantly accompanied by a visitor while he scrolls the page.
- The shortcut works like a widget call button. It can appear as a pop-up or static, but often immediately attached to the screen and accompanies the user.
- Inline widget is a form embedded in the content. This may be, for example, a card in the catalog, the bar in the middle of the page with the content.
What Functions Widgets Perform
Depending on the function widgets can be divided into four groups: widgets to generate leads, widgets to inform, widgets-forms (enrichment base) and others. In the fourth, undefined groups are less popular but also effective widgets.
Widget for Lead Generation
This is a widget for collecting contacts. It invites the visitor to leave their email or phone number.
Switching from website visitor to subscribers is much easier psychologically than going straight to buyers. That’s why the conversion to a subscription through the lead generation widget is much higher than the conversion to a purchase. But it should be because it is a work in progress. Due to the email received, it is easier to convert an already subscribed user into buyers than a visitor.
Through email it can be warmed up with letters with special offers, useful content, personalized information. Gradually the subscriber learns more and more about you, begins to trust and soon becomes a customer. And then a competent marketing strategy retains his interest and stimulates him to make new purchases.
Thus, the lead generation widget is needed to smoothly prepare the user for a purchase. This is the first step for converting a visitor into a customer.
Informing Widget
The task of this widget is to inform the visitor of information that is easier to convey with the setting of the widget than to program in the basic settings of the site. This information:
- Informs about discounts, free shipping, promotions, specials.
- Transfers to another page of the site, where certain products are collected, sorted by topic.
Informing widget brings the visitor closer to the purchase. Learning about the discount, the user is easier to agree to become a buyer. With this widget, it is easier to sort the goods of the site by topics and sections. It’s useful for the site and for the visitor – it’s easier for him to find what he needs.
Questionnaire Widget
This widget collects information about the subscriber to make more personalized offers. The widget asks the subscriber to:
- Provide the date of birth.
- Specify gender, age, profession.
- Take a survey – for example, a survey-diagnostic to determine skin type, hair color, etc.
In return, the widget offers the subscriber:
- A gift. It can be a discount, useful content (price list, book, a free guideline on football betting odds, or articles).
- Opportunity to receive more targeted newsletters (e.g. for designers – news about the world of design).
- A selection of products suitable for the subscriber.
A personalized offer is not only a name insertion in the text of an email. The process is much deeper. At first, it’s really possible to segment the mailing by gender, for example, and send women discounts on women’s products and men discounts on men’s products.
But beyond that, the possibilities are unlimited:
- Segment furniture site subscribers by profession and send designers ideas for inspiration, professional tools and invitations to profile conferences, and everyone else new arrivals, content about basic interior design principles and discounts on products.
- Find out which subscribers to the whole-family clothing site have kids and send them a selection of children’s products.
- Ask the sports store subscriber what kind of sports they like, and send them sporting goods. Find out if he’s an amateur or a professional, and send him articles and links to instructional videos based on his skills.
- Set up a survey on the quality of your products and pay attention if a product gets a lot of negative feedback. There will be a reason to improve the product, regain customer loyalty on it, and increase sales.
- Ask the subscribers of the sports store who only bought equipment for running, what additional sport they play or would like to play. It may turn out that some of them also swim or dream about it. Offer them selections of products not only for running, but also for swimming.
- Ask your cosmetics store subscribers which hair product suits them best. It may turn out, for example, that a hair strengthening mask helps blondes more than people with other hair colors. Then, referring to the reviews, it can be offered to blond customers who are not yet familiar with it.
As a result, the widget benefits the subscriber – he gets the information he needs. At the same time, this widget is effective for business. With its help, you can:
- Increase subscriber loyalty through personalized offers.
- Get a cross-section of the audience and assess the needs of your average customer.
- To analyze your product.
- If you analyze it properly, you’ll find unexpected patterns and identify additional categories of consumer demand.
Widget With a Feedback Form
With this widget, the user asks a question about the product, shares his impressions about the product or service. The widget engages the visitor in communication and brings him closer to purchase. And if the customer doesn’t like something already, high-quality feedback will keep him loyal.
A feedback widget comes in the form of an NPS widget. NPS (net promoter score) shows the attitude of customers to your brand. If the index is high, customers like your company and are ready to recommend it to their friends and acquaintances. Periodically evaluating NPS, you can always keep abreast of the opinions of your clients.
The Calculator Widget
This widget calculates the indicators you need online. For example, for a construction store, this widget counts the amount of materials and their total cost. For a sporting or bodybuilding store, it will calculate the visitor’s body mass index, and based on the results, it will suggest suitable products.
Such a calculator on the site will reduce the number of calls to the contact center and relieve your employees.
