Table of contents
Popups (pop-ups) are interactive elements of a website that appear on top of the main content of a web page to attract the user’s attention or offer him/her some additional action. They can appear when the page is loaded, after a certain period on the site, when the cursor has hovered over a certain element or when you try to leave the site (exit the web page). Let’s consider the main types of popups and the purpose of their use in the complex promotion of an online store.
24 types of pop-ups to increase the conversion rate of your online store
- Popup format “Yes/No”
This is a simple and effective way to get a response from a site visitor to a specific question. It consists of two or three steps and sometimes uses a thank you page after the answer. This popup format is highly engaging because it provides a quick and easy way to make a choice.
- Popup format “Yes/Yes”
They have a similar structure to the “Yes/No” format, but with one improvement that makes them even more effective. In addition to the usual two-choice questions, they offer something unique or unexpected to encourage users to make a positive choice. A common option used is a discount, bonus, or gift with purchase.
- Gamified popups
A fun and interactive way to engage with users. Popups are turned into a game, making them more attractive and memorable. The most popular examples of gamified pop-ups are “Wheel of luck”, “pick your gift”, or “scratch cards”. Such windows can draw more attention to your offer and increase conversion rates.
- Little Side Window
A little side window is a discrete and out-of-the-way pop-up element that appears on the side or bottom of a page. It usually contains a small offer, such as a newsletter subscription or callback. This type of popup works well on mobile devices and provides a convenient way to provide feedback to visitors.
- Survey
Surveys are a great tool for collecting feedback from your audience and understanding their needs. A survey pop-up can contain questions about user experience, preferences, or ideas for improving products or services. After responding to a survey, users can be redirected to a thank you page or offered a special discount for participating.
- Downloading a lead magnet
A lead magnet is free content that can be useful for your audience. The following are used as a lead magnets: ebooks, templates, case studies, infographics, presentations, prices, video tutorials, etc. A lead magnet pop-up window usually offers to enter contact details in exchange for relevant and interesting content.
- Event Registration Window
An invitation to register for an event is a great way to attract website visitors to a particular event. The key is to make sure the event is interesting to your target audience. Whether it’s a themed webinar, course, lecture or online marathon, there are many ways to share interesting information with your website visitors and encourage their participation and further purchases.
- Pre-order
This popup is commonly used when estimating demand for new or anticipated products. You can invite users to pre-order with a discount or bonus to grab their attention and increase the likelihood of purchase.
- Promo Code / Promotion
This type of popup will help increase conversions on your website. Offer a unique promo code or special promotion only available at checkout via the popup. This will create a sense of urgency and may encourage an instant purchase.
- Product Recommendation
This is a great way to show visitors to your site the products or services they are interested in. Using information about a user’s previous purchases and their behaviour on the site (viewing products, adding to wishlist), you can offer relevant and interesting products. This will help to increase the average cheque and sales.
- Apselling
A way to offer a customer a more expensive or advanced version of a product when they have already added something to their basket. For example, if a customer has added a smartphone to their basket, you can offer them to buy accessories or a protective glass for it. Upselling helps to increase the average cheque and revenue of your online shop.
- Downselling
A downselling pop-up is a way to offer a customer an alternative product or discount when they have declined a more expensive option. For example, suppose a customer doesn’t agree to purchase an expensive product. In that case, you can offer them a more affordable option or provide a discount to persuade them to make the purchase.
- Funnel Trap
A funnel trap popup is a strategy that aims to attract users into what is known as a “funnel trap”. The idea is to entice with something unremarkable but incredibly attractive that will interest the visitor and encourage them to make an initial purchase. Then, after a successful purchase, the product is offered at a higher cost (upselling) or with additional options (downselling). - An abandoned basket
An abandoned basket reminder pop-up is a way to bring back potential customers who have left items in their basket but have not completed their purchase. It can contain information about the items left in the basket and offer discounts or free shipping to persuade users to return and complete the purchase.
- Giveaway
Giveaway is a contest that allows you to increase subscribers and attract new visitors to your site. The pop-up window with an offer to participate in the giveaway can be of several types: the user leaves contact details to participate in the draw, and the window is presented as a list of tasks that need to be completed to get a chance to win a prize.
- Popup with Timer
Countdown timers create a sense of urgency and immediacy that encourages instant purchase or action. The timer is typically used to demonstrate the remaining time of a promotion or special offer, encouraging users to purchase here and now “to make it in time.”
- Social Proof Window
These popups usually take the form of a notification of other users’ recent activity on the site. This could be a notification of recent purchases, newsletter sign-ups, or social media activity. Such notifications help create social proof and build trust in your brand.
- Intention to leave the page
A pop-up offering to linger on the page helps delay users who show intent to leave the site. It can contain a discount or bonus offer to persuade them to stay and complete their purchase. You can also invite them to leave contact details for more information or special offers.
- Page-Based
Utilises dynamic user geolocation detection to provide a personalised message or offer. This is especially effective for providing localised discounts or promotions that will appeal to visitors from specific regions. - Expand your email newsletter subscriber base
Popup to expand your email newsletter subscriber base by allowing visitors to sign up for email updates, news or special offers. Motivate subscribing, such as a discount on their first order or access to exclusive content.
- Social Media Subscription Offer
Promote users to join your brand on popular platforms. Motivate to subscribe, such as exclusive content, contests or discounts. - Inform site visitors when an item is back in stock
A product availability notification pop-up helps retain interested shoppers and notify them when an item they previously viewed becomes available again. This can incentivise them to return to the site and make a purchase. - Provide a training video for your service
A pop-up offering a training video helps provide your audience with valuable information or educational content. The video can be related to using your products, solving problems, or demonstrating new features. This kind of content helps build trust in your brand and increase engagement. - Offer a discount on the next order
A pop-up offering a discount on the next order helps encourage repeat purchases and customer retention. Offer the user a unique promo code or special offer they can use on their next purchase. This will create a sense of loyalty and motivation to return to your site.
Six best services for creating pop-up windows
There are various services for quick popup creation, which provide a wide range of functionality and options for customising the appearance and type of popup. Let’s take a look at a few of them:
- Mailmunch
- Features: Mailmunch provides a wide range of ready-made templates for creating pop-up windows and the ability to create customisable pop-ups.
- Features: You can collect subscribers for email newsletters, conduct surveys and notify about new promotions or discounts.
- Cost: There is a free plan with limited features. Paid plans start at $15 per month.
- Getsitecontrol
- Features: Getsitecontrol provides an intuitive builder for creating pop-up windows without the need for programming knowledge.
- Features: Allows you to create different types of popups such as newsletter subscriptions, surveys, discount notifications and others.
- Cost: There is a free plan with limited features and a limited number of impressions. Paid plans start at $19 per month.
- Poptin
- Features: Poptin offers a variety of customisable templates, including the ability to create complex popups with animations and timers.
- Features: Allows you to collect leads, notify about discounts and promotions, conduct surveys and more.
- Cost: There is a free plan with basic features and limited impressions. Paid plans start at $19 per month.
- Hello Bar
- Features: Hello Bar specialises in creating welcome bars at the top or bottom of a website page with the ability to add CTA (call to action) and notifications.
- Features: Allows you to draw visitors’ attention to promotions, discounts, newsletter subscriptions and other important elements.
- Cost: There is a free plan with basic features and a limit on the number of impressions. Paid plans start at $29 per month.
- Helpcrunch
- Features: Helpcrunch provides the ability to create interactive pop-up windows to communicate with website visitors in real time via chat.
- Capabilities: Allows you to provide support and advice, resolve visitor questions and turn them into leads.
- Cost: There is a free plan with limited features and a limit on the number of users. Paid plans start at $15 per month.
- Sleeknote
- Features: Sleeknote provides various tools to create smart pop-ups that adapt to visitors’ behaviour and interests.
- Capabilities: You can collect leads, offer personalised discounts, conduct surveys and A/B testing.
- Cost: There is a free trial period of 7 days. Paid plans start at $69 per month.
A great way to increase traffic to a popup testing site is to order online shop promotions.
Popups performance indicators
Setting up popups for an online shop is only part of the job. You must still consider the nuances of customisation (time, number of fields, window size). Services that provide popup customisation functionality regularly conduct efficiency studies, publishing the results in their blogs.
- The impact of the number of fields on conversion: An input field in a pop-up window can be a powerful tool for collecting user data. However, the number of fields can strongly influence the decision to fill out a form. Research conducted by Sleeknote showed the following results:
- Pop-ups with five input fields have the lowest conversion rate at 0.81%. Pop-ups with four fields show not much higher results – only 0.9%.
- Two input fields show an incredibly high conversion rate of 206.48%. The average CR is 3.31%, while popups with three fields had a CR of only 1.08%.
From this, we can conclude that limiting the number of popup fields can significantly improve their effectiveness and increase conversion rates.
- Optimal pop-up display time: Properly timing pop-ups also significantly impact their effectiveness. The findings show the following:
- Popups appearing after 8 seconds show the best conversion rate result of 3.62%.
- Research has shown that the effective time to show a popup on a website is as follows: 8 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, 30 seconds, 15 seconds, 10 seconds, 7 seconds, 20 seconds.
- The conversion rate is also affected by the progress of the user’s page view, so if the user scrolls 35% of the page, the conversion rate is 3.35%.
Based on this, it is worth paying special attention to setting the popup display time so that they appear at the optimal moment and do not distract users from the main content.
- An important incentive in making a purchase decision is time constraints, so using timers in pop-ups can increase site conversion:
- Pop-ups with a countdown timer convert 112.93% better than those without – with a conversion rate of 8.07% vs. 3.79%.
Countdown timers help create a sense of urgency and encourage visitors to make a decision faster, positively impacting conversion.
In addition, you need to evaluate the effectiveness and analyse the results to see if the popup really increases your site’s conversion rate. You can conduct A/B testing and experiment with different formats, times and types to do this. So you can choose the most effective popup for your online shop and increase the site’s conversion rate. Use the website promotion services in Ukraine to increase traffic or order contextual advertising.
