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7 Ways to Increase Your Shopping Cart Conversion Rate

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Amidst the din of online marketing, it can be difficult to attract customers to your website. Consequently, it is nothing short of a tragedy when a prospect goes through most of the purchase cycle, but stops short of completion. Such incomplete transactions are a thorn in the side of ecommerce.

Amidst the din of online marketing, it can be difficult to attract customers to your website. Consequently, it is nothing short of a tragedy when a prospect goes through most of the purchase cycle, but stops short of completion. Such incomplete transactions are a thorn in the side of ecommerce.
When a customer discontinues the checkout process midway, it’s called “shopping cart abandonment.” The higher the incidence of shopping cart abandonment, the lower the shopping cart conversion rate. You can improve your conversion rate in seven easy steps:

Do Not Force Customers to Register
You may be tempted to capture as much customer data as possible. However, many prospects would prefer to abandon you, rather than fill up a long registration form.
Allow customers to buy without registering. If that is not an option, keep the registration form as simple as possible. Only ask for information that you really need. Make the form less intimidating by hiding the parts of the form that are not required at that point of time.

Remove Generic Navigation during Checkout
To engage customers, ecommerce websites like to provide them with many navigation options – top menu, sidebars, footer links, search box, and more.
Once the customer initiates checkout, it is best to eliminate generic navigation, and only retain links that process the transaction. This w ill lower the risk of distraction.

Build Customer Confidence in the Purchase Process
If you are an iconic brand such as Amazon.com, customers may not think twice about paying on your site. For the rest of us, it can be a challenge to inspire customers to pay online. Here are three simple measures to boost customer confidence:

Display a Summary of the Customer’s Purchase
Many customers multi-task online. They could easily forget what they have already added to their shopping cart. At the top right corner, display a summary of the purchase at all times. This w ill make customers feel that they are in control of the purchase process.

Display a Progress Indicator
A progress indicator can reassure customers that each step in the purchase process is taking them closer to completion.

Disclose Supplementary Costs Upfront
Supplementary costs include: shipping, packing, taxes, and the like. Put yourself in the shoes of a customer who chooses goods worth $35, but is eventually asked to pay $47.
Wouldn’t you feel cheated and abandon the shopping cart?

Have a Well-Planned Coupon Strategy
Many online shoppers are bargain hunters. Discount coupons provide them instant gratification. These shoppers might abandon their shopping cart while they look for a coupon. If you accept coupons, make it easy for customers to find a coupon.

Direct the Customer’s Actions
Here are three simple strategies that can positively influence your customer’s actions:

Have a “Checkout Now” Button
While some customers may w ant to brow se around, others may be ready to pay right away. If a customer is ready to pay, it is a cardinal sin in the business of ecommerce to delay the collection of that payment.

Have the Most Important Action Button above the Fold
The most important action button could be the checkout now button. It could also be a “buy now” button, if the customer has not added goods to the shopping cart. Make sure that the button is prominently located above the fold.

Reduce the Number of Clicks to Check Out
Design a single-screen checkout form. If that is not feasible, reduce the number of clicks required to check out. The more the number of clicks you thrust upon a customer, the higher the likelihood of shopping cart abandonment.

Up-Sell After the Sale
The temptation to sell more to a customer is understandable. However, persistent upselling heightens the risk of losing a customer. It is best to close the sale at hand and upsell later.

Recover the Abandoned Cart
Despite your best attempts, some customers will abandon the shopping cart. That is not the end of the world. Immediately upon cart abandonment, you can email the customer and encourage her to complete the purchase. If the customer is not registered, you can store the shopping cart information in cookies on the customer’s computer. The next time she visits your site, you can prompt her to complete the sale.

Final Words
You will notice a consistent theme in the steps listed above: encourage rapid checkout. However, any changes you make to your website should be set in stone only after rigorous testing.

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A conference on blockchain and health is scheduled to be held at the Africa Blockchain Developers Call.

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The Africa Blockchain Developers Call (ABDC) Pan-African Bootcamp on blockchain technology has declared its intention to hold a weekend conference on incorporating blockchain technology into Africa’s health sector.

In an attempt to execute comprehensive blockchain training sessions and promote the implementation of specially designed applications for different sectors in Africa, the Bootcamp, officially launched on 5 September, has taken on a host of African developers.

The Bootcamp also features virtual weekend conferences on many use-cases for blockchain. These conferences are aimed at encouraging creative and comprehensive discussions on the implementation of blockchain technology in Africa, including platform presentations by businesses and panel sessions on many Blockchain issues. The first meeting, focusing on Blockchain in Finance, took place on September 5. It featured a keynote speech given by Professor Anicia Peters, University of Namibia Pro-Vice Chancellor for Science, Innovation and Development.

The next conference, scheduled to take place on October 3rd, will focus on the theme: Blockchain in Health. The keynote speech will be given by Arnab Paul, President of the Kolkata Chapter in India. Several organizations and startups will also give platform presentations via their representatives based on medical use cases for blockchain technology.

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Pan-African incubator, MEST Africa to invest $700k in its Class of 2020

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After graduating its 2020 class a month ago, MEST Africa, the Pan-African incubator, revealed that it will invest $100k each in seven start-ups.

In the final pitching event, fifteen teams participated, but only seven were picked, adding $700k to the overall funding round for this class.

In addition to the funding, start-ups can also participate in the ongoing incubation programme at MEST.

Ashwin Ravichandran, managing director of MEST Africa, had this to say, speaking about the range.

This was the first time that our entrepreneurs were educated online and away from our campus for the most part, and I’m proud to say they came out stronger than ever. We are incredibly excited about the 7 companies in which we have chosen to invest and look forward to continuing our support and mentorship as they start their companies across the continent.

The seven startups include:

Shopa, a last-mile ordering and delivery startup for informal retailers in Africa.

Heny, a forum to explore new flavors and perspectives for young professionals by changing the way diners eat.

Boxconn, a network that offers companies and individuals access to a list of confirmed distribution partners nearest to them, instantly delivers packages from one location to another.

KPILens, a start-up that automates the documentation, tracking and assessment process for development organizations and makes it simpler.

Tendo, an online network that ties independent resellers to companies, aims to tackle two of the biggest issues facing Africa: unemployment and gender inequality.

Joovlin, helps fintech platforms and merchants increase their sales by interconnecting mobile wallet users and allowing them to transact with each other.

Eleka, streamlines onboarding procedures for customers that are fraught with lengthy and expensive labor measures.

Move In Rentals, Credia, Uyolo, VendoorPro, Trastea, Cornerstock, Colibri, and JidiTrust are the other startups that didn’t receive funding from MEST.

Last year, MEST invested $100k in eleven startups while celebrating its 11th year in business. The sum, $1.1 million, represented the organization’s largest single cohort investment.

And although the amount this year is $400k smaller, the selected startups will have the opportunity to enter the incubator ‘s portfolio of over 40 startups across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

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Get Financial assistance through the Bold.org Scholarship for US Universities

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Tuition waivers or scholarships are financial assistance incentives intended to help students pay for an undergraduate or graduate degree. A scholarship is only just a one-time test. Other school scholarships are annual and provide money per semester or school year for the students. These grants are special from student loans because they don’t have to be paid back.

Students will earn the money in their name directly as verification. In other instances, the money is donated to the school for the student. The student would then pay the school in those cases for the difference on any money owed for tuition , fees, room , and board. If the scholarships and other forms of financial aid are adequate to cover the direct costs of education, the applicant may be refunded the excess money.

About Bold.org

Bold.org is a Scholarship website established in 2019. The platform’s concept is simple: corporations, charities, and even individuals can build a personalized scholarship, internship, or student grant opportunity. Such programs could be targeted at helping a range of high-potential individuals with a wide array of interests, talents, and backgrounds.

The kind of Scholarship in Bold.org

Bold.org scholarships tend to be very precise, which is a very positive thing for students. There are scholarships for students who love reading, Native American youth scholarships and scholarships for students who want to have a major in philosophy.

Like several other sources of scholarships, the programs aim to help a wide variety of education levels from high school students to medical students! Below are some of the best scholarships we profiled at Bold.org:

  1. Minority Women in STEM Bi-Annual Scholarship
  2. One Move Ahead Chess Scholarship
  3. High School Social Leaders Scholarship
  4. The “Be Bold” No-Essay Scholarship
  5. Bold.org No-Essay Community Scholarship
  6. Recent Immigrant Scholarship
  7. Elevate Women in Technology Scholarship

How do I get signed up?

You can get signed up for free on the Bold.org website. Signing up is easy should only take five minutes or so.

My Profile in Bold.org

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