How to Design Call-to-Action Buttons that Actually Convert for 2023 E-Commerce Websites – Part II

It’s always advisable to use clickable call-to-action buttons to prioritize specific actions or take potential customers through sales paths that are most likely to result in conversions. So, focusing on the design of your CTA buttons can direct customers to high-priority pages and actions, driving them further into the conversion funnel, and increasing your goal completion metrics and e-commerce website’s conversion.

In our previous blog, we discussed some of the best practices for e-commerce calls-to-action buttons that can help you get better conversion rates in 2023. But beyond the CTA best practices, it’s important that you also learn about the wide variety of significant calls to action which you must use across your e-commerce website to convert more visitors into customers. These CTAs have different purposes for each stage of the conversion funnel and help provide various information asked or required by the users at each stage to move further down the funnel.

We will discuss these must-have calls to action in this part of the blog to give you a better idea and in-depth understanding of how to efficiently create revenue-generating CTAs for your e-commerce website in 2023. We will also explore some fantastic examples of e-commerce brands that are acing CTA techniques in 2023 to help you get started.

1. Subscribe CTAs

Not all users are ready to buy when they visit your e-commerce platform. Only 2% of the web traffic on average that comes to your e-commerce website results in a sale, according to market research. Effective subscribe CTAs can help you capture the attention of these visitors and get them into your conversion funnel when they agree to share their email addresses with you. But, the most common ‘Sign Up’ phrase might not get you the desired results in terms of sales in 2023 if you are looking for subscribers for your monthly newsletter to market your products and services.

Instead, try adding a more personal touch with the phrase “Sign Me Up” and give the users a sense of empowerment. You may also use an assertive call-to-action phrase that reflects a strong benefit if you expect particular users only to subscribe to a specific program on the platform.

Some of the best ways to get users to subscribe include a simple callout on the homepage, and offering a coupon code. The callout to sign up on the homepage is apt for users who like the products they see on your homepage and continue their browsing across the site before they are ready to buy. To make it more appealing, you can try offering a discount. Place the CTA in the middle of the page as well as in the footer so that the users get to notice it and engage no matter where they are on your website.

Another great way to entice potential future customers to join your subscription list is a coupon code. It not only serves as a trigger for subscribers to open the emails/newsletters you send because of the deal they can avail on your e-commerce platform but also provides the opportunity for you to build engagement with the subscribers and encourage them to take a step further down the conversion funnel. You can use it in a regular callout on the homepage or a pop-up subscription CTA or both.

2. The Add to Cart and Buy Button

While the Buy button is the most important CTA on your e-commerce platform and you want it to be the most appealing button, remember that the Add to Cart button is the second most important one. When a user clicks the add to cart button but doesn’t click on the buy button, you have an abandoned cart. So, make sure you design your Add to Cart CTA button effectively to increase conversions.

The simplest way to achieve this is to attract users to the add to cart button and get them to click it, and minimize resistance between add to cart and buy button. Include both CTAs on your product pages so that customers have more than one option to get the item into their shopping cart. Take the users to a clean checkout interface once they add an item to the cart and make the entire checkout process quick and convenient on a single page so customers can complete a purchase as soon as possible.

3. Review CTAs

Today, when consumers decide to make a purchase from a brand online for the first time, they search for social proof to become sure that your brand has already served other consumers well and that they can expect a good online shopping experience too. Reviews serve as a vital psychological reinforcement factor in such cases. So, you should make use of this sentiment by providing genuine reviews from customers who have had great purchase experiences on your e-commerce website. You can include and make extremely visible a CTA that highlights customer experiences. To collect reviews, on the other hand, you can add a “Leave a Review” call-to-action on all product pages, and send emails asking for a review after customers have received their purchased items.

4. Social Share and Follow CTAs

As an online business, you need to build an online community and you can use your e-commerce website to grow your follower count. Make it easy for your audience to follow your social channels and become a part of your social communities by adding social media icons and buttons on the site. Put them also on the product pages so that customers can share the items with their networks.

5. Welcome MAT CTAs

Build your email list and nurture those potential customers who are not yet ready to buy. You can retarget those audiences across the web and create email campaigns offering new product releases, special discounts, and engaging new content. A welcome mat often works better than a pop-up as it looks and feels more like the website’s homepage and doesn’t interrupt the users.

7 Best CTA Examples for 2023 We Really Liked and You Can Take Inspiration From

1. Amazon

There’s a lot to learn from how the king of e-commerce successfully makes its CTAs so effective every time. A simple instance can give you all the inspiration you need. Just check out how Amazon places clear CTAs above the fold on the product pages to increase engagement and trigger the desire to become a buyer immediately.

It emphasizes the traditional Buy Now call-to-action with a 1-click add-on! It enhances and hints at an easy purchase and transaction experience that the customers may not have experienced anywhere else.

Now you can understand why and how Amazon manages to get a whopping 13% conversion rate while the e-commerce conversion rate on average is only 2%, according to market research.

2. Netflix Shop

Netflix has launched its e-commerce website where consumers can buy limited-edition merchandise related to its shows and brand. It does a great job with its clear and direct CTA using a striking red button in tandem with its brand colour. It eliminates any friction and common concern and users know exactly what they will get into.

3. IKEA

One of the best things that IKEA do is include a picture of the product it actually offers and puts the name and price along with a link to additional options in the CTA. Many online stores use an enticing image to create an interest among visitors to buy but that specific item is nowhere on the website, which often leads visitors to leave the website or get discouraged. But IKEA’s tactic is on-point – it allows visitors to check out the specific product and also explore a bit more to find if better options are available on the site, making it a good customer experience.

4. Airbnb

The travel website Airbnb needs no introduction. The brand successfully develops ways to capture user attention and convert potential customers every time. We have been following the brand’s tactics during various market conditions and we found how they achieved this. Let’s look a bit into the past before talking about how they are doing it now. During the COVID-19 pandemic when restrictions were imposed now and then and the hotel industry was crippling, Airbnb stayed top of mind by targeting its audiences in an appropriate way.

Take a look at one of its landing pages of that time, for example, where it featured a beautiful illustration on its website and a wish list of outdoor locations with a soft CTA “Get Inspired”. The CTA button was designed in a way that stands out against the background with simple and clear typography. It worked dramatically well as it invited the visitors to explore travel ideas for the future, opening avenues for remarketing as well.

Now, let’s explore how Airbnb is making its calls to action effective in 2023. When you visit the homepage, you will first come across a pop-up that targets visitors who would want to learn more about the new features and rooms Airbnb is offering. Note how the Learn More button stands out against the background again. Besides the conventional “Learn more”, it also cleverly includes another CTA as “Play the Airbnb Rooms film” instead of the traditional play button, giving a clear idea of what users will get to see in the video.

The homepage appears when the user closes the pop-up box. You can see the clickable listings featuring all the important information that a potential customer needs to get interested first and engage further such as the location, the host name, their profession/years of experience in hosting, price per night, image, etc. along with user ratings. A “Show map” button is also included if users want to check out the location on a map.

Once the user clicks on a listing, a new product page opens but with a pop-up message informing the user about automatic content translation. A link to translation settings is also provided to help users choose their language as per their choice.

Next, when the user closes the pop-up, the product page layout includes detailed information regarding the property, rooms, the host, price per night, and rating, along with the options to save it for later and share it with others who might find it helpful. There is a button “Show all photos” and users can explore the rooms further by clicking on it.

As you scroll down, you can see the “Reserve” CTA button in a striking colour and clear, bold typography that resonates with the brand. The calculations, ratings, a link to reviews, and necessary information around the button effectively pique the user’s interest.

In the ‘Meet your Host’ section, you can further find a call to action “Message Host” through which users can get in touch directly with the host on the online platform. This button again uses the same contrasting technique by highlighting the information in black to capture the user’s attention.

It is interesting to note how the reserve section is kept sticky throughout the page as a user further scrolls down. This is to ensure that no opportunity is missed out to convert the visitor into a customer across the user journey.

Once the user nears the bottom of the page, a review section is included, featuring customer reviews, ratings, the total number of reviews collected, and a call to action “Show all 124 reviews”. Note how the primary CTA “Reserve” button is placed at the right top corner of the page along with the sticky menu.

Airbnb is an excellent example to learn how to take users through the different stages of your conversion funnel with a brilliant UX design and smart CTA strategy.

5. Kayak

A popular travel booking website for people who look for adventurous and impulsive trips and experiences, Kayak is another fantastic example of simple but effective CTAs.

With a powerful image, the visitor knows exactly what the company is offering currently and where to click. The responsive theme also makes the storefront look appealing above the fold on any device. A simple “Search Deals” message is intriguing to compel the right audience to click and learn more about the deals offered.

It also uses a clever call to action when asking people to subscribe. Ditching the conventional language such as “Sign Up” or “Subscribe”, the company uses “Let’s do this” which reflects the daring and adventurous vibe it stands for, targeting the right audience.

6. Sheer Miracle

We liked how Sheer Miracle created the welcome mat. Check out how identical the welcome mat and the homepage look after a visitor closes the welcome mat.

The welcome mat CTA:

The homepage after closing the welcome mat:

7. Myntra

Myntra is one of the top 10 e-commerce companies in India (2023) launched in 2007, and it has since gone on to become one of the premiere fashion, home, and lifestyle online shopping brands. It utilizes coupon codes in a fantastic way to capture the attention of potential customers and make them join the list of subscribers by sharing their email addresses. Myntra uses a clever sticky collapsible content widget to offer the coupon code across the home page and the product pages. The users can simply toggle and find out the coupon detail and avail of the offer on their purchase after signing up.

The Takeaway

When you optimize your sales funnel, offers, and all other elements in your e-commerce website, you are likely to get a high click-through rate, which in turn, will result in a higher conversion rate. One of the most effective ways to encourage users to move up your sales funnel and reduce the bounce rate of your website is to create a convincing call to action (CTA) button that compels them to take the next step in their user journey.

From the examples above, you can see that all these e-commerce companies are using most of the CTA best practices that we have discussed in this blog post and the previous blog post as well. Start applying what you have learned here to design your CTA strategy, keeping your target audience and brand message in mind.

Remember that there is no proven formula or fixed answer on which phrase, styling, size, colour, button design, or placement works best for the CTAs in your e-commerce website, so it’s important to A/B test and optimize and repeat continuously. You can use the above CTA examples as inspiration and keep testing with your audience until you find the best calls-to-action or CTA buttons for your e-commerce platform that give you the most conversions.

Still not sure how to get started? Get in touch with our team at Leidsens and let’s create successful designs together!