How to convert a “maybe” into a “confirmed” visit to your attraction

A great deal of time, thought and cost  goes into the design of your eCommerce Booking site. The design and features of the checkout process in particular impact directly on customer perception and satisfaction. They influence checkout abandonment rates, conversion rates and overall visitor revenues.

From start to finish there are steps you can take to streamline the process, increase conversion rates, improve customer satisfaction and encourage repeat visits.

Our top ten tips provide a pathway to online success

1. Ensure your online ticketing process is mobile first by design, and uses mobile payment technologies that visitors are familiar with, in particular; Stripe, Apple Pay, Paypal and google pay. Consider Klarna and other buy now, pay later options.
2. Allow for guest checkouts - while it is important to capture customer data, don’t make it a barrier by capturing unnecessary data. eTickets only require a name and email address and not full address details. Revisit the subject later with personalised emails to capture additional customer profile information.
3. Use a clean design and remove distractions. Upsells and bundles are great, but can distract users from completing the purchase.
4. Remove unexpected costs. Customers want to know the total cost ahead of time, with every added charge such as ticket fees, taxes and shipping fees increasing the likelihood of abandonment.
5. Display security badges and seals to show visitors you take security seriously, instil confidence and give peace of mind.
6. Enable form and field validation in real time to help customers input data correctly and alert them when they enter data that cannot be accepted. Not only does this remove frustration of having to backtrack but it helps your data collection and transaction validation.
7. Offer customer support at the right time. Guide visitors through the booking steps with FAQ’s, Chat or a support phone number. It offers a huge impact on abandonment rate if you can get instant access to information to help complete the booking.
8. Use a process indicator bar to provide customers with visibility of where they are in the checkout process.
9. Offer auto-save for items in the cart when they do decide to leave the checkout process early. Inform of how long tickets will be reserved before they are released. Create urgency and encourage customers to return to their purchases.
10. Send post payment booking confirmations and visit information. A great booking experience goes beyond the checkout process. Booking confirmations, eTickets and update notifications provide visitors with confidence that they are being looked after and are expected.