Widgets are an effective tool for solving the main task of ecommerce marketers — converting more site visitors into loyal customers. In addition, thanks to this functionality, you can retain those users who have already chosen your services and collect additional data to personalize your offers. Some marketers call widgets popups or overlays, but the essence remains the same regardless of the name.

Widgets are a software add-on on top of the site that allows you to communicate interactively with all visitors in different ways without the need to change the site's design.

To understand how effective widgets can be for your business, considering your competitors' experience makes sense. We have collected statistics on the usage of ecommerce widgets and explained how to improve these indicators with the help of various tactics.

How Different Types of Widgets Convert Users

Yespo omnichannel CDP offers its users different types of widgets. With the help of the system, you can create a subscription form, informer, launcher, age gate, survey, and slider. Various display types are available for widgets: inline, popup, floating box, and floating bar.

We analyzed their Click-through rate for three groups: median, top 25%, and top 10% of companies using this Yespo functionality.

Inline Widget

Such a widget can be placed inside any other element on the site.

Floating Box

Such a widget appears on top of other site elements in the lower right corner or across the entire width of the screen.

Popup

Such a widget appears on top of other site elements and does not allow you to work with them while the widget is open.

Floating Bar

Such a widget appears at the bottom of the screen in full width and does not interfere with interaction with the content of the site.

How Widgets Convert Desktop and Mobile Users

More and more people choose to shop online using smartphones. It is expected that this channel will become the most popular one for shopping in the next five years. However, to attract mobile users, you have to take care of the website adaptability and the adaptability of widgets in particular.

Statistics confirm that using widgets on mobile devices makes sense. Metrics from various companies show that mobile widgets have a 3.1% higher average conversion rate than desktop ones.

Widgets have high conversion rates on smartphones, but with this tool, you can also increase the number of application users.

Thus, the Ukrainian loyalty program Fishka created an informer on the website encouraging users to discover more special offers in the application. This widget took the customer to a download page on Google Play or the App Store. Such an informer, created in Yespo CDP, received a CTR of 12%, and more than 30% of users who clicked on it downloaded the application.

How to Increase Conversion with the Widget Content

By adding certain content to widgets, you can attract the attention of the site visitors and encourage them to take desired actions. Let's discover the main mechanics and elements that can affect click-through and conversion rates significantly.

Image

It's no secret that images help draw a customer's attention to a product or offer. Thanks to well-chosen graphic elements, you can increase the CR of widgets, as evidenced by the indicators of various companies:

Bonuses

The strategy of using bonuses is effective in various areas of marketing. Widgets are no exception. To encourage the user to subscribe or purchase, you can offer them a promo code or a discount.

How does the use of bonuses affect the performance of widgets? Company statistics show that discounts, promotions, and other types of bonuses increase the effectiveness of widgets.

So, the Ukrainian clothing brand MustHave uses various widgets: to inform about a similar product of a different length, to display general information, to share news about promotions, etc. One of the most effective is a widget with a message about a spring promotion with a special offer "30% off selected products". This informer received a conversion rate of 14.6%.

Countdown Timer

You have a better chance of attracting a user with a limited-time offer. After creating a widget with information about a promotion or discount, specify the date of its end. To create a sense of urgency, add a countdown timer.

The experience of companies shows that the timer increases the conversion rate of widgets:

To make it easier for you to create effective widgets, we have collected 9 best scenarios for their use based on the experience of Yespo customers.

View examples with detailed descriptions >>

Gamification

A game is a great way to engage users, entertain them, and increase conversions. Widgets can also use this strategy. For example, create a widget with a wheel of fortune instead of a usual informer with a text promo code. The customer must click to make it spin and win an additional gift.

How gamification increases popup conversion rates:

Number of Fields to Fill

The more fields a form has, the less likely a user will fill it out. That’s why a quick order form was invented — the website visitor leaves only a phone number, and the manager calls to clarify all the purchase details.

Statistics on the number of fields in the widget are not surprising — often, the conversion is higher when the number of fields to fill is small.

But what can you do if you need to get more data about the client but don't want to bother them with the number of fields in the widget? In such a situation, you can use a multi-step form that contains several parts.

By dividing the survey into stages, you will simplify the user's filling process and get more data. At the same time, such a widget will not look bulky and will not take up a lot of space on the site. According to statistics, using a multi-step form instead of a regular one can increase the number of leads by 241%.

How Widget Display Settings Affect Conversion

The effectiveness of widgets is affected not only by the design and their content but also by the setting of the moment of display. It is worth remembering the time before displaying the widget, the percentage of the viewed page, after which a popup appears, a display by click, or by a trigger. 

If you've created the perfect widget with a great deal but haven't chosen a relevant audience to show it to, chances are you won't get the results you want. For example, a widget with discounts on women's shoes in a store in a particular city will convert better if you target female visitors to the site who live in that area.

Does your brand have promotions that run on certain days or hours? Display the widget at this time to attract the attention of more users for whom this offer will be relevant. Now, let's take a closer look at the relationship between settings and conversions.

Widget Calling

Statistics show that popups that are displayed after clicking on the call button (launcher) have the best CR — 37%. The launcher does not irritate the website visitor, it is clicked by those who want to discover more about the offer. However, do not forget that the call button itself also has a conversion, that is, CR 37% is calculated only from those users who clicked the launcher.

Next, there are widgets that appear after trigger actions. Their average CR is 5.4%. It can be an abandoned cart or a view, etc.

In addition, marketers often use exit-intent widgets. Their average CR is 2.9%.

Time Before Display

What is the best page dwelling time after which the widget should be displayed? According to Drip:

A study by Getsitecontrol showed similar results: popups that were displayed after 5 seconds or more had a 52% higher conversion rate than those that were displayed after less time.

Page View Percentage

Another option to customize the display of the widget is to set the page view percentage, after which the visitor will see the popup. If a person has just entered the site and has not had time to look at the content, and you already display a subscription form or an informer with a promo, there is a risk of annoying the visitor and not achieving the desired conversion.

So, when to show the widget? This is what the experiment shows:

Here, as with the display time, it is important to find the optimal option — not too early, not too late.

Targeting

The widget, which the company will show to all visitors of the site, can collect many views but few conversions because not all users will find the offer relevant.

Targeting it to a certain audience allows you to significantly increase the rate of targeted actions — subscriptions or clicks. For example, you can configure the display of widgets on certain pages, for visitors from specific countries or cities, etc.

Сhoosing an audience that meets specific conditions allows you to make targeted offers. So, choose relevant pages and placement and set the segment of users who will see your widget. For example, show it only to visitors of a certain gender who have already made x number of purchases and viewed specific pages.

Another example of the targeted use of widgets is accompanying the visitor through the funnel on the site. The hotter and closer to conversion your leads are, the more actively they will respond to offers in the informer.

The closer the user is to completing the target action, the more personalized and specialized the offers shown to them in the widgets should be. This not only increases the chances of a successful conversion but also improves the overall brand experience.

For example, Yespo CDP uses its own widgets on its website. On different pages, we have configured the display of three widgets. They perform the following tasks, accompanying a potential client through the funnel:

• Widget 1 is displayed on the main page with a call to action to increase conversions and sales and leads to the widget landing page.
• Widget 2 is displayed on the widget landing page with a call to select the required pricing plan and leads to the pricing page.
• Widget 3 is displayed on the pricing page with an invitation to try the widgets in action and leads to a demo booking form.

The more relevant the page for displaying was, the more effective the widget was:

Widget 1 on the main page had the highest reach but the lowest CTR of 0.9%.

• The widget on the functionality landing page received fewer views but more clicks — a CTR of 10.7%.
• The widget on the pricing page had the fewest views but the highest CTR — 11.1%.

How to Evaluate Widgets by Generated Revenue

It is not always possible to objectively analyze the effectiveness of widgets based on the indicators of conversions or subscriptions. For example, visitors clicked on a widget with a promotional offer, but it erroneously linked to the main page instead of the sale products page.

In this case, the CTR might be high, but the users who converted didn't make any orders, so the effectiveness of the widget was zero. The company will spend the marketing budget but will not receive any profit from this channel.

Here is another example: you can create a widget with a clickbait call to action, which will definitely provide a large CR but will not lead to an increase in sales in the end.

So, how else can you evaluate the effectiveness of widgets? In this case, you can use income reporting. Yespo CDP allows you to configure the transfer of order data to the system so that the widget performance report shows information about the number of purchases, the average order value, and the total revenue from a particular widget.

In this way, you will be able to clearly see the effectiveness of widgets and evaluate it not in abstract clicks but in money.

Summary

Widgets help businesses perform a variety of tasks — from attracting site visitors to retaining them. This tool is much more powerful than just a form to collect subscribers. However, in order to fully use it and achieve impressive results, it is worth focusing on the experience of other companies and their indicators.

The average conversion of widgets can vary depending on their type, whether it's a popup, an inline widget, a floating bar, or a box. We analyzed widget performance indicators of three groups of Yespo omnichannel CDP users: median, top 25%, and top 10% of companies. This revealed the average expected values for each type of widget.

You can achieve better results and higher conversions with widgets thanks to additional content: images, videos, and countdown timers will help attract visitors to your site. We have discovered the expected increase in conversion from the use of various elements in widgets. For example, images can increase CR by 60%. In addition, benchmarks show that widgets on mobile devices perform better than on desktops.

It is important to remember that the performance of widgets is affected by the setting of the moment of display. Detailed targeting of a certain audience allows you to significantly increase the rate of targeted actions — subscriptions or clicks. Using the Yespo website as an example, we showed how widgets help guide visitors through the ecommerce conversion funnel. See also our DeepStateMap case to learn more how widgets can be helpful for your website.

How else can you evaluate the effectiveness of widgets? A more objective measure than views and clicks is the revenue generated by the widget. Revenue reporting can only be provided by integrated CDPs like ours. However, this kind of analysis is very important because it allows you to see the real impact of widgets on additional sales and ultimately evaluate ROI.

With Yespo CDP, you will be able to easily create different types of widgets with the necessary elements for any business goal and evaluate the performance directly in the reports.

Sign up for a demo now, and we will be glad to share with you the best experience of using personalized widgets!

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