Oh, and actually fill and ship orders, too.

All that, and e-commerce sales will rise to $4.4 billion USD by 2021. That’s a 245% jump since 2014.

There’s so much to do that sometimes crafting the perfect product page falls down the list of priorities until it hits the level of, “Oh yeah, I better post that item.”

Snap some pics, write a few specs, give it a title and price and bam. It’s now for sale.

I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, but trust me when I say: don’t put your product pages on the backburner.

‘Cause guess what? Your competition isn’t.

Today I’m going to show you some envy-inducing product page examples. These are from companies at the top of their e-commerce game.

I’m also going to explain how you can use these examples and five advanced strategies to optimize your product pages for higher sales.

Let’s jump in.

Add These 5 Elements to Your E-Commerce Product Page

This article is quite in-depth. To make life easier, I’ve broken each strategy down in more detail. Click a link below to jump to a particular section of interest.

Let’s look at each strategy in more detail.

4 Must-Have Basic Elements

Before we cover the advanced tactics, you need to make sure you’ve got the basics down pat first.

Do your product pages have the minimum features needed to keep your buyer’s attention?

Here are four things you need to conquer before moving onto trying the advanced strategies.

i. Highlight Reviews and Ratings

Reviews are worth their weight in gold for e-commerce retailers. 85% of shoppers research products online before buying.

And where’s the best place to put your reviews? Where people will see them, of course.

TymeStyle does a great job of this, featuring their ratings at the top of the page right under the price.

ii. Use a Large Add to Cart Button

Don’t overlook this as too basic.

Making your “Add to Cart” button big and bold ensures it won’t get lost on the page. You might think people wouldn’t miss it if it were small anyway, but surprise. They might.

Mattress retailer Leesa does this well with a bold, full-width and bright green Add to Cart button that stands out on the page.

This is especially important for mobile devices. Having your buttons too small on mobile can actually cause you a Google SEO penalty, something Google calls “size tap targets.”

That just means buttons need to be an appropriate size for people to be able to easily touch on all devices. Size matters.

iii. Provide Easy Access to Customer Service

Even with the best product descriptions, your customers may still have questions. Don’t make it hard for them to get answers.

While there’s ample space on desktop computers for “Contact Us” buttons, many companies seem to overlook this for mobile. 90% of consumers have had trouble accessing support on mobile devices.

Make it easy for people to contact you from any device.

Wayfair does a good job of this with a large “Call Us” button at the bottom of every page. One click connects the user with support immediately.

iv. Make Your Policies Obvious

Don’t keep people guessing about your store policies.

List important details like if you offer free shipping, exchanges, or any other store policies that could influence a visitor to buy.

Instead of burying this information on another page of your site, place it front and center on your product pages.

Fitbit lists their policies, like free shipping over $50, right under the Add to Cart button. This is a perfect place for potential buyers to notice it.

Remember: surprise shipping costs are the #1 reason customers abandon e-commerce orders. Don’t keep people guessing until they reach your payment page.

Now that we have those basics out of the way, let’s look at five ways to take your product pages to the next level.

1. Show Photos From Real Buyers

Stock photos and your own styled shoots only go so far.

Those may get people interested in your product, but nothing works better than real shots from real customers.

One way to do this is to allow your customers to upload product reviews with photos.

This works especially well for fashion brands. Visitors can see an item of clothing on various types of figures, not just on one model or in a staged photoshoot.

ModCloth heavily promotes user photos, allowing for a whole section of the product page to browse through photos of other people wearing the item.

Why It Works: In a nutshell, it builds credibility and trust.

Seeing others being happy about a product is a form of social proof. The logic in the brain goes something like, “If this looks good on that person who sort of looks like me, it will look good on me, too.”

Or, expanding beyond fashion, it translates to: “If that person likes it, I probably will, too.”

2. List Suggested Products

So someone wants to buy your item. Great. What now?

Don’t stop there. Grow your sales further by adding a section to your product page to recommend similar or complementary items.

These can either be a similar product (e.g. more dresses of the same style) or an accessory (e.g. a travel-sized charger to go with a laptop).

E-commerce giant Amazon does this effectively in two ways.

First, they have a section on every product page that lists similar products in the same category (socks, in this example).

Then, after you add a product to your cart, the confirmation page lists the same “similar items” carousel above, along with recommendations for what you should buy next.

In this example, I had just added some Twizzlers licorice to my cart so it’s showing me other kinds of candy I might like.

Why It Works: Cross-selling and up-selling are two sales techniques that have stood the test of time. And with good reason: they work.

Customers may not have taken the time to browse your store by category to see all the products you sell.

Or, they could have come to your product page directly from an ad or social media posts and not know what else you have to offer.

Make it easy on your customers and do the browsing around for them.

Cross-sold and up-sold products typically make up 10-30% of your store’s sales. With a dedicated space for it on your product page, you can tip that ratio closer to the 30%.

3. Provide Easy Customization Options

If you sell customizable products, focus on making it fun for the user to complete.

This will drive word-of-mouth referrals your way and encourage more people to actually follow through with the customization.

The aptly-named Personalization Mall makes personalizing any of their gifts easy with simple-to-fill-out forms.

The best part is they show the user a live preview of how their item will look.

This reduces the worry that the item won’t turn out as expected.

If you sell a mix of items with only a few custom ones, not to worry.

High-fashion retailer Kate Spade offers monogramming for only some of their products. To separate them, they set up a special area of the site called “The Monogram Shop” that allows users to browse through everything custom.

They make it easy to customize the bag right from the product page as well.

They also display a live preview of your monogrammed bag and let you choose multiple fonts, styles, and colors.

Why It Works: Being able to personalize or customize products is a hot trend that continues to be popular. In fact, a study by Deloitte found that 36% of consumers want personalized products.

Customization also adds exclusivity to your products. Someone else may sell a similar widget, but can they offer the same options as you?

Many new brands are making a splash in markets previously dominated by big companies by offering a custom approach.

Shampoo retailer Function of Beauty allows users to create custom shampoo and conditioner made for their hair.

And, they even make it fun with an interactive quiz to get the right formula.

People love quizzes.

Have you ever lost an entire hour to taking addictive Buzzfeed “What Pizza Am I?” quizzes? Exactly.

Function of Beauty’s experience works because the luxury of making your own products justifies the luxury price. It feels like a 100% personal experience, which premium buyers love.

4. Incorporate Video Whenever Possible

It’s no secret that video marketing is on the rise.

Research shows people are almost twice as likely (1.8x) to make a purchase after seeing a product video versus only photos.

Lush, a natural bath product company, uses video on their product pages to attract users right away.

Add videos of your product in action, or video reviews from bloggers and influencers, directly onto your product pages.

Tech retailer Best Buy features video reviews by bloggers for many of its products, like this one for the new 4K Apple TV.

Why It Works: Did I mention people love video?

65% of people are what’s called “visual learners,” meaning they would rather learn about something from watching it than reading about it.

For those visual learners, adding video to a page can increase conversions by as much as 86%.

Video isn’t just all about selling, though. It’s a way to connect with your buyers and offer them value, too.

Watching a product video can show someone ideas for how to use or wear your product that they may not have realized from only looking at photos.

Like this travel-friendly clothing brand that makes a cardigan that turns into eight different items—including a dress.

Trying to figure out how to fold it into all those shapes by yourself might be frustrating.

So the product page links to video tutorials on how to make all of the eight styles. That makes people feel comfortable buying, knowing they have a resource for how to actually use the product once they get it.

5. Offer an Easy Comparison Tool

A comparison tool is helpful if you specialize in one category of products with several choices. People may not know what the right option is for them.

Also known as a “product finder,” making it easy to compare products can help increase conversions by 113%.

Bellroy’s wallet selector is a great example of this. It helps men pick the right wallet for them based on how many cards they usually carry.

It’s interactive, simple to use and understand, and makes the shopping process painless.

These tools also work well if you sell a variety of styles or products and want to be able to recommend things to customers. Again, this works really well for fashion brands.

TopShop carries so many items, they have a style quiz that shows you only the products they know you’ll like.

This cuts down on the clutter, making it more likely a customer will see something they like and end up buying it.

Why It Works: Product comparison tools make shopping easier. Period.

Anything that makes a visitor’s experience on your site easier leads to more sales.

Instead of having to sort through tons of options and evaluate the features of each of them, a comparison tool does the thinking for them.

It’s the online equivalent of having to hunt through a bin of shirts at a store to find your size or having organized racks of shirts sorted by size so you can go right to what you need.

Conclusion

No matter what you decide to include on your e-commerce product page, your focus should be on your buyer’s shopping experience.

Your number one goal as an e-commerce retailer is to make shopping fun, easy and intuitive.

If you’re not focusing on your buyer, all the promotions and marketing in the world won’t grow your sales. You need to optimize your product pages for an ideal user experience.

After writing great product descriptions and taking great photos, try adding in some of these advanced strategies to your product pages and watch your conversions skyrocket.