While there are dozens of e-commerce platforms out there, Shopify and WooCommerce have, in recent years, emerged as two important leaders in the Philippine e-commerce landscape. With their low setup costs, brand recognition, mature developer communities, and high levels of customization, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as startups looking to build e-commerce websites often turn to these platforms to capitalize on their advantages.
However, as excellent as these e-commerce technology frameworks are, simply having a site on Shopify or WooCommerce does not guarantee success. Without the right strategies in place, even the best-looking websites on these platforms may struggle to find lasting success, particularly given the growing sophistication of the Philippine market. In this article, we’ll look at a few strategies that can significantly improve customer experience on your online store and ensure that your SME or startup can thrive over the long term.
1) Install Maya Checkout Plugins for Shopify or WooCommerce to Reduce Abandoned Carts
Few things are more frustrating to budding businesses than having a high abandoned cart rate on their website. High abandoned cart rates mean that many site visitors are unable to complete their purchases, leading to potential lost sales and poor cash flow.
Abandoned carts are often caused by friction in the checkout process, particularly in the selection of payment options. Given this, your WooCommerce or Shopify payment gateway solution must be able to facilitate the kinds of payments preferred by Filipino buyers, particularly electronic wallets and payment cards
While they each have their own out-of-the-box payment gateway, Shopify and WooCommerce’s own solutions are limited in terms of the payment localization that they offer. With this in mind, Philippine-based SMEs and startups that want to better serve both the local and international markets should consider the checkout solutions offered by Maya Business.
Through https://www.maya.ph/business, Maya offers plugins to integrate a localized third-party payment gateway Shopify and WooCommerce site owners of all skill levels can install. With a simple Shopify or WooCommerce plugin, you can integrate Maya Checkout into your online storefront, allowing it to facilitate payments through credit and debit cards, e-wallets, and other emerging payment solutions. Create your Maya Business account today to start reducing abandoned carts in your site’s checkout process.
2) Optimize Website Performance
The great thing about Shopify and WooCommerce is that they offer businesses complete freedom to design a virtual shopping experience that reinforces their brand and facilitates other business objectives. However, it can sometimes be too easy to add too many elements, resulting in a bloated, slow-loading website. This can be a problem in the Philippine context, given that digital infrastructure is still being developed in certain areas.
By striving to offer a smooth browsing experience, you’ll keep visitors from leaving your site and increase the odds of them buying things from your store. While there are many ways to achieve a seamless experience, generally speaking, you should aim to keep your site’s code simple, optimize image quality, and avoid resource-intensive site elements. Doing these should help boost your site’s loading speeds, create a smooth browsing experience, and encourage visitors to purchase items from your store.
3) Simplify Site Navigation
As a general rule, you’ll want to ensure that your online storefront is clean and easy to navigate. Clear and intuitive site navigation keeps visitors within your e-commerce site for longer and also makes it easier for them to find what they’re looking for. These benefits, in turn, will help boost your site’s conversions.
To make things easier for your site’s visitors, be sure to implement clear and intuitive navigation menus and to categorize products logically. Use descriptive labels and site content strategically to help guide visitors through your store and encourage sales.
4) Focus on Mobile-Friendly Design
Implementing a mobile-responsive design is critical for most Philippine-based e-commerce sites, as they can expect the vast majority of their site traffic to originate from mobile devices. This is especially true for the consumer market, where most businesses could expect the bulk of their sales to be completed through smartphones. Given this, mobile friendliness should be prioritized when looking for a WooCommerce or Shopify payment gateway Philippines businesses can trust.
5) Offer Highly Localized Content
Developing content in Philippine languages such as Tagalog, Cebuano, or Ilocano can have several benefits for your Shopify or WooCommerce store. Firstly, it creates a sense of familiarity and relatability, making your brand more approachable and accessible to local audiences. When site visitors encounter content in their native language, they are more likely to engage with it, as it resonates with their cultural identity and personal experiences.
Importantly, incorporating local languages can have a positive impact on search engine optimization (SEO). While English content may have a broader reach, competition can be more difficult to overcome. By developing content in local languages and dialects, you can tap into a less saturated online market, increasing the chances of your website ranking higher in local search results, driving more organic traffic to your store, and improving your online store’s overall visibility.
To implement this strategy effectively, it is essential to conduct market research to better understand the linguistic preferences and demographics of the regions you serve. You can also consult with local experts to ensure that the content is created with the proper appreciation of linguistic and cultural nuances.
6) Implement Live Chat
Thanks to WooCommerce and Shopify’s active developer communities, sites on these platforms have several options for integrating live chat functionality. Provided that you can support it with full-time customer service and technical support representatives, a live chat function can create a highly personalized experience that will keep your customers coming back to your site.
7) Keep Improving Your Site Experience
Make sure to leverage site analytics, customer feedback, reviews, social media interactions, and expert advice to continuously improve the overall visitor experience on your website. Even seemingly minor improvements in details like the fonts, colors, and layouts can make a significant difference collectively and over the long term. By making small, consistent improvements wherever you can, you can ensure that your site evolves alongside the needs of its customers.
Enhancing Customer Experience: Creating a Smooth Payment Journey with Maya Checkout Plugins for WooCommerce and Shopify
Given these platforms’ reliability, customizability, and active developer communities, Shopify and WooCommerce have become the go-to platforms for SMEs trying to carve a niche for themselves in the rapidly expanding Philippine market. By keeping their site’s visitors happy and selecting the right WooCommerce or Shopify payment gateway, Philippines’ budding businesses have a better chance of standing out and developing a dedicated following among their customers.
To access Maya Checkout plugins for Shopify and WooCommerce, create a Maya Business account today. Creating a Maya Business account also gives you access to the Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle, a promo designed especially for SMEs and startups.
Maya 1-2-3 Grow lets you save on contactless payment processing with a 1% MDR (merchant discount rate) on all QR Ph sales for 3 months from promo onboarding. Creating a Maya Deposit account and using it as your payment settlement account also entitles you to an extra month of 1% MDR, saving your SME even more on transaction fees. This exclusive promo also qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer within 3 months or less, giving you access to as much as PHP 2 million in funding to take your business even further. Sign up for Maya Business today to transform your e-commerce site and your startup or SME’s finances.
