How to Use Buy Now Buttons to Increase Your Bottom Line
Last week, I experienced something I never anticipated ever happening in my lifetime (at least until I have grandkids, which is decades away). I found myself drooling over a Lego set. And it wasn’t just any Lego set either. It was a beautiful, 756-piece flower bouquet made entirely of those plastic little pieces that become instant torture devices if you drop them on the floor.
I clicked on this gorgeous item on Lego’s website, added it to my shopping cart, then completed the next seven steps to actually purchase it and make it mine. Seven. Steps. That’s way too many steps for an e-commerce checkout experience. But so many online retailers make customers jump through hoop after hoop before making the order official.
If I had not already envisioned a fun and challenging date night in to complete the Lego set, I may have closed the browser and walked away. And many people do.
According to a report from Business Insider, online stores lose more than $4 trillion worth of merchandise every year to abandoned carts. And it’s only gotten worse with the increase of mobile shopping.
Sure, some abandoned carts can be recovered through re-engagement emails, and some of them are merely the result of window shoppers killing time on their work breaks. But a large portion of abandoned carts happen because of unexpected shipping costs, poor checkout experiences, extended delivery times, and having to create an account (and verify it!) before purchase.
Now, let’s revisit that Lego set I made googly eyes over. I found the same set on Amazon for nearly double the price on Lego’s site. A price comparison shopper wouldn’t bite at that price, but someone who is looking for convenience and instant gratification might for one simple reason. The Amazon listing had a buy now button.
What’s a Buy Now Button?
In its most primitive form, a buy now button is a call-to-action link or button that either takes shoppers directly to a checkout page or begins the checkout process. To continue the Amazon example, the item you have your heart set on can be yours in two teeny, tiny clicks if you have logged in as an Amazon member thanks to the Buy Now Button.
The first click initiates the checkout process, which pulls up right there on the product page, where you confirm your method of payment and shipping address. The second click confirms the order.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Once you’ve used a buy now button, it’s hard to go back to jumping through hoops during checkout when buying something online.
Before we go any further, I want to point out the marketing magic that’s at work in the buy now button. Creating a sense of urgency is one of the most reliable ways to market your product or service. When you add a deadline or limit the supply of a product or service, your customers immediately feel the need to act fast or with purpose. The same thing happens when you use certain words in your messaging and product pages that appeal to people’s wants and needs. One of those magic words is, you guessed it, “now.” Because when we want something, we tend to want it right now.
So, how does this buy now button concept apply to you, a small business owner who runs an e-commerce store? Can you actually create (or figure out how to create) a button like this? And is it worth your time?
I’m glad you asked.
Making Your Button a One-Click Experience
Creating a buy now button varies from platform to platform. Whether you’re on Shopify or using WooCommerce on WordPress or you accept payments via Paypal, each service has its own plugin or mechanism for you to customize a “buy now” experience for your audience. I always recommend chatting with your web developer to find out the best solution for your business instead of tinkering around in the HTML and hoping for the best.
Since you and your developer know what’s best for your web page, I want to instead focus on creative ways to use buy now buttons and give you three ways to polish up the most immediate call-to-action online.
Polish Your Buttons Instead of Pushing Theirs
Once you have your buy now process in place, you can begin to think outside of the box on how to use it. My first recommendation is to brand the experience. Almost every plugin or code will allow you to customize the look of the button.
#1. Brand Your Buttons
On Etsy’s site, it displays two button options in contrasting black and white. While Etsy’s brand color is orange, the black and white buttons stand out on the right side of the product page. And the font matches the font family throughout the site.
Plus, Etsy acts as a marketplace for makers and resellers. The simple black and white color scheme of the “add to cart” and “buy now” buttons compliments whatever item may be listed beside it. And it corresponds well with the monochrome brand theme Etsy uses throughout its marketing.
#2. Be Clear, Not Clever
Here at SizzleForce, we love adding personality to call-to-action buttons. But when it comes to something as direct and immediate as a buy now button, we always strive for clarity.
Use phrases like “Buy It Now” or “Buy Now” or “Continue to Checkout” on your button HTML code. This makes it crystal clear that you are going to provide a way for a customer to purchase the item via credit card or Paypal as soon as they click the button.
Plus, when you are clear in your instructions, your audience knows exactly what to do. You take the guesswork out of what’s next.
#3. Play with Colors
While being on brand is an essential part of marketing, playing around with color psychology can work to your advantage. Evidence shows that purchasing decisions are more often driven by emotion than logic. And color has a major influence on the emotions we feel.
For instance, red creates a sense of urgency and action. Orange is associated with “cheap” products more than any other color. And blue is considered a safe color wherever it’s found.
You can read more about color psychology and branding here (the infographic is fantastic!), but at the very minimum, think about how you can use your brand colors in your call-to-action links and buttons on your website, your marketing emails, and even social media.
At the end of the day, buy now buttons can boost your revenue and get more people through the checkout process on your website in a heartbeat. However, if your marketing strategy focuses on building relationships and rewarding loyalty, it might be worthwhile to refine your normal checkout experience instead. Buy now buttons move merchandise, but a checkout experience that is warm and welcoming can make a customer a loyal fan for life.
Let us make it easy for you.
Whether it’s a “Buy Now Button”, your SEO, or the design of your landing page, there are a lot of ways to improve your marketing strategy. That’s why we designed this sweet quiz to help you figure out how you can improve your marketing strategy! It’s brief, beautiful, and is the first step to improving your strategy so take our quiz today!