8 Reasons to Use Popups on Your E-commerce Website in 2023

For any eCommerce business, the biggest dilemma is retention and engagement. The longer a user stays on a website, the more likely they are to purchase or build trust with the brand.

If you have been an internet user for over a decade, you probably think of popups as an inconvenience. The internet users of the 90s saw popups as spam or bots that redirected you away from the main website. We rarely trusted websites with unusual popups and were quick to close them.

Over time, this technology has been harnessed for the betterment of marketers. Using popups has statistically proven to better conversion rates, especially in the case of popups for eCommerce.

Here's a wholesome guide to everything **website popups—**What are they? How do you use them? When do they appear? What's the ideal way to use them? Commerce brands today need to leverage the use of popups, as these benefits will guide you in the right direction.

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What are Popups?

As the name suggests, a popup is an overlay that appears on your online store to grab the user's attention. With modern-day eCommerce websites, one can merely use Shopify popups as a plugin to create these effortlessly.

In today's market, popups for eCommerce provide a plethora of uses. They also come in various types:

• The most commonly used popup is called the "time-based" popup. These appear on the website at a fixed time. These delayed popups allow users to surf the website for a few seconds before promoting an action or offer.
• Another type are the "On Entry" or "Exit intent" popups. The first website popup emerges when a user reaches the website, while the latter aims to stop users from exiting the site.
• A "scroll-based" website popup prompts users after a pre-decided number of scrolls on a long page and is commonly used on blogs and news channels.

While we have all experienced these somehow, do they really work for the modern-day shopper with a low attention span and less time? Let's see.

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Do Popups Really Work?

"A user can just close the popup!" or "They are so annoying!" are both common arguments against popups for eCommerce. However, the statistics would like to explain otherwise.

Research by iPaper, which examined the performance of over two billion popups, provides distinct proof of their effectiveness. Furthermore, customers who encounter a popup on a first-time visit to a brand website noticed a conversion rate of 11%.

Mailchimp, the world's top newsletter provider, states that the average clickthrough rate for email signup via a popup can increase by 2.6%. Even a popular newsletter like Entrepenuer found their opt-in rate spiking to 86% with a popup.

Lastly, a well-designed and highly optimized popup can provide close to a 28% conversion rate. So, what makes a good website popup? We'll get to that in a bit. First, here are the best ways to use a popup.

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The Eight Objectives of a Popup

Here are the multiple ways to use a website popup:

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1. Drive Sales

One of the most influential purposes of using popups for eCommerce is to drive better sales. The ultimate goal is to keep the user on the website and eventually make a business transaction, and a user merely browsing will hardly help.

Now, such a prompt can enable them to purchase with a discount or a benefit highlight. A delayed popup or an exit-intent popup are commonly used for this use case.

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2. Lead Generation

Leads are the starting stage of a marketing funnel. Many leads are possible from the home page of your eCommerce website. A Shopify popups template is also available for this very use case.

Typically, these popups tend to offer some lead magnets. These are entities provided to the customer in return for their contact information. An e-book, course, or product discount are ubiquitous lead magnets.

These popups demand particular attention towards A/B testing to ensure better efficiency.

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3. Mailing List

As mentioned earlier, getting more interaction with your mailing list is much easier with these popups. It's the next valuable action for your business if the user spends a significant amount of time on your website, especially on your blog page or home page.

A popup creator is typically built into mailing list providers like Mailchimp. The same practice is also applicable for an SMS or social media list.

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4. Customer Support

Help out a lost customer to enhance their user experience. Many eCommerce companies use a popup linked with a chatbot to provide ongoing support to the customer. These chatbots (or later, executives) reduce the fraction between doubts and the final point of purchase.

The same chatbot is also programable with FAQs to make the experience more direct. It's beneficial for customers who have been on the website for long or seem to scroll and go through many pages.

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5. Promote Actions

Apart from generating leads and collecting data, the website popup is also helpful to promote other actions like encouraging a follow on social media, entering a referral program to share websites, prompting abandoned carts, encouraging to log in, etc.

Some of these prompts can also be made possible based on interactions. For example, if your sporting goods website is selling a swimming class, the registration for this class can be made possible with a click and a popup, and such an approach will keep the user on the website without redirections.

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6. Targeted Offers

This is another type of sale-driving popup that is highly dependent on the user's behavior. Based on a set of actions taken by the user, an intelligent learning engine can determine the nature of the customer.

This data enables smarter popups for eCommerce as every message becomes tailor-made to each customer. For example, if the user is a woman who spends a few minutes on the website's cosmetics page, targeting them with a popup about a combo offer or a limited-time sale will help tip the scale in your favor.

Another example, and commonly used popup, is one used on repeat users. When a customer returns to your website, present them with their previously browsed products, further encouraging better conversion.

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7. Promote Cross-Selling

Cross-selling is an everyday use for Shopify popups. These appear after a customer adds products to their cart. For example, in the case of a sports goods store, when a customer adds a tennis racket, a popup can suggest tennis balls or athletic apparel.

The perfect combination of these two parameters can enable users to spend more based on their purchasing behavior.

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8. Feedback For Better UX

"Thank you for your purchase; please rate your experience!" is a Shopify website popup we have all come across. Customers will definitely provide feedback on this popup as they have completed their shopping process, and the message does not interrupt them.

Such feedback is also helpful for both the marketing and the development teams.

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How to Use Popups Correctly in 2023

Lastly, you must clearly understand the best practices for this marketing tool. Using a popup creator can often help you with templates and reduce redundancies. However, it's wise to know the Dos and Don'ts.

• Think outside the discount coupon. While this method is the most popular option, it promotes the customer just on the price point.
• Make them easier to close. Don't force your users to spend time looking for the close button. Such gimmicks will not bring you sales. Focus on making your popups better optimized.
• Align your branding using a popup creator. Your popups should carry the same colors and fonts as your business.
• That being said, don't allow the popups to blend with the background.
• Don't show the same popup twice. This only seems desperate and would drive minimal action from the end-user.
• Placement is everything. Ensure no popup is wasted. Run A/B tests to optimize it.
• On-Entry website popups don't work on new users. Give them a chance to surf the website and explore the products before expecting any actions.

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In Closing

The key takeaway when considering popups for eCommerce is that they must add value to the end-users. Bland and irrelevant popups annoy your customer and slow down the shopping experience.

The first popup you introduce on the website might not get the engagement you assume. This segment requires time to master.