Stop leaving money on the table Many businesses have addressed the main things that frustrate ecommerce conversion, such as optimising for mobile, removing unnecessary fields, eliminating errors in checkout forms and so on. As competition for a share of the customer’s wallet intensifies, companies need to look more forensically at the triggers of conversion failure and take measures to avoid them. Today we will look at one of those, often overlooked, subtle ways of avoiding bounce and increasing conversion – USPs or Unique Selling Points. USPs on the Carraig Donn website What are USPs? I have spoken in the past about the power of Persuasion derived from Dr Robert Cialdini's examination of what drives people to say YES. USPs are related to that conversation and can be described as a succinct statement(s) aimed at persuading customers to consider you for their purchase. 'Why us' essentially. Usually they are presented on your site in the form of set of icons and text, cleverly positioned and worded. You might see them at the top or bottom or the homepage and throughout the site. They can take on another life in email communication and indeed BTL advertising also. USPs on Faerly Ireland Surprisingly, many large e-retailers forget about listing their USPs. They assume that because of their brand or size, that customers know why it is so much better buying from them and not from another retailer. This is not always the case, especially customers seeking better value and conditions with the cost of living increases. Do they Work? In a recent engagement, I helped a business tackle their conversion rates, and better USPs was a part of that strategy. In A/B tests, with and without crafted USPs, conversion from the homepage improved by low-single digit figures. This was a huge result given the small amount of effort to put them in place, and the volume through the site. Working on the USPs represented a high return on investment. Not having optimised USPs in place is a good example of leaving ‘meat on the bone’, 'money on the table'. Doing so does not maximise the traffic to your site, traffic that was hard won in the first place. USPs on Loveholidays Why do they work? If we look a little more deeply into why USPs work, we can see that they address the key metrics that have so much to do with whether or not people persist on your site and ultimately convert. USPs are proven to: Improve bounce rates and time on site by giving good reasons to stick around, increasing the effectiveness of SEO and expensive acquisition initiatives. Make it more likely that users will move forward on to product pages and into the cart, reassuring them in moments of doubt along the way. Increase trust so that other mechanisms at improving AOV are better received such as social proof e.g. ‘other customers bought’. Heightens the likelihood of a good NPS score, repeat purchase and positive referrals, should the customer experience the promises represented by USPs in reality. What are Common USPs? Most USPs can be categorised in related groups; Delivery methods (quick delivery, instant digital fulfilment, unique packaging) Breath of the product (choice, range) Quality of the product/service (organic, handpicked, flexible, the original, small-batch) Validity (returns, refund, extensions) Sustainability (carbon neutral, recycled, cruelty free) Authority (endorsed by experts, leaders, accreditation, country of origin, year founded, part of a bigger group, ‘As seen on’, awards received) Ease of use (book with confidence, hassle free, secure payment) Customer Support (availability times, location) Money Value (price matching, price Guarantee, low deposits) Social Proof (top reviewed) USPs on the EZ Living website What are your USPs? The sources of your USPs will lie with your brand guidelines, sales manuals, customer reviews and so on. AI might help you retrieve them here. Interviewing stakeholders from different parts of the business will also help, including those in front line, customer facing roles. Once you have the list of USPs together, it will then be about which ones to promote to give you the biggest bang for your buck. Which USPs to promote? It is important to realise that the reasons why people really buy from you might not be the ones that your company thinks they want to promote, at least initially. In the recent engagement I mentioned earlier, we asked customers in 5 countries to prioritise a list of USPs. To the surprise of Marketing, most frequently at the top of the list was “100% payment security”, followed by “Flexibility around returns”. Surely, in 2026, security of payment is a given at a recognisable brand? Apparently not, it had to be restated. Of course, the top USPs will vary from company to company, from industry to industry. It is important to conduct your own research. Test to see if they work Once you’ve got the prioritised list of USPs, it’s important to realise that you are only going to be able to communicate 5 or 6 of them at any given time on the website or in an email to customers. You are going to have to figure out what icon speaks to that USP and also how succinct you can be in describing it (check wording with Marketing and Legal). This will take a period of trial and error. The good thing about today’s A/B testing solutions is that you can do so on an iterative basis, without having to hard code the design into the website or app. Do so over a period of weeks, testing different iterations of USPs, comparing key metrics such as bounce rate, engagement and ultimately conversion. Report back on findings and go from there. ABC Testing Implement and move on to the next Forensic of Conversion Once you have an answer, you will want to do two things. Firstly, shout about your success, if indeed it did move the needle, even by a small amount. Secondly, arrange for the USPs to become a formal part of your website, email or all, following whatever roadmapping and development methodology that is used by your organisation. Once your USPs are underway, it’s time to move on to the next Forensic of ecomm Conversion - Building Authority. Contact us to find out how I can optimise your product or service, reduce waste and limit risk.