Synergy team
Store conversion is not a single number but a chain of steps: arrived, viewed a product, added to cart, checked out, paid. It is worth improving where most people drop off, not where something is easiest to change.
The short answer
Order of work by impact:
- load speed on mobile;
- the product card: photography, stock, delivery time;
- transparent delivery cost shown before the cart;
- checkout without registration, on a single screen;
- working follow-up after the order: email, status, notification.
A benchmark for a Moldovan store is 1–2% of visitors placing an order. Below 0.5% the problem is systemic rather than cosmetic.
Where buyers actually drop off
| Step | What to watch | Common cause of loss |
|---|---|---|
| Page load | LCP on mobile | heavy photography |
| Catalogue | click into a product | no filters, unclear categories |
| Product card | add to cart | no photos, stock unclear |
| Cart | proceed to checkout | delivery appears only here |
| Checkout | order submitted | forced registration, long form |
| Payment | successful payment | the familiar payment method is missing |
Speed
This is the first thing to fix because it affects every later step. Heavy product photography is the main cause of a slow catalogue. Compression and modern formats often deliver more than any design rebuild. Threshold values are in the article on Core Web Vitals.
The product card
The card answers five questions, and if even one goes unanswered the buyer leaves:
- what does it look like — at least 3–5 photos, including scale and detail;
- will it suit me — dimensions, specifications, compatibility;
- is it in stock — a status, not "please enquire";
- when will I get it — the delivery time right on the card;
- what if it does not fit — return terms.
From our audits: what is missing from the card most often is not the description but the delivery time. Buyers do not want to discover it at the third step of checkout.
Delivery
Delivery cost that only appears in the cart is one of the main causes of abandoned orders. Show it earlier: on the product card, or at least when entering the cart. A detailed breakdown is in why buyers abandon the cart.
Checkout
- **No forced registration.** An account can be offered after the purchase.
- **One screen instead of four steps.** Or at least visible progress.
- **Minimal fields.** Name, phone, delivery method, address. A manager can clarify the rest.
- **Clear errors.** Not "field filled in incorrectly" but exactly what to fix.
- **All the familiar payment methods.** What is used in Moldova — we cover it separately.
What happens after the order
Conversion does not end at payment. A confirmation email, an order status and a dispatch notification cut down "where is my order" calls and increase repeat purchases. When enquiries and orders collect in one place, handling them is faster — how that works.
What not to do
- Discount pop-ups on the very first screen — they get in the way of someone who already came to buy.
- "Only 3 minutes left" timers on ordinary products — they damage trust more than they create urgency.
- Forced registration for the sake of a "customer base" — the base is built from orders, not from barriers.
An example from Synergy practice
Client: a confectionery taking orders for specific dates.
Problem: buyers reached checkout and left because they could not tell whether the order would be ready for the day they needed.
What we did: moved date selection and available slots onto the product card, showed delivery cost before the cart, and shortened the order form.
Result: the share of abandoned checkouts fell, and "will it be ready by Saturday" questions stopped arriving in direct messages.
Frequently asked questions
Where to start on a tight budget?
Speed and the product card. Those two changes affect the whole funnel at once and do not require rebuilding the store.
How do I find where buyers drop off?
Through analytics: the share of transitions between funnel steps. Without that, any improvement is guesswork.
How long until there is an effect?
Speed and the product card show a noticeable result in two to four weeks. Checkout changes show almost immediately.
Will a redesign help?
Rarely. More often the problem is the order of information and what is missing from the page, not the styling of what is there.
Conclusion
Conversion grows not from general improvement but from removing the specific places where people leave. They can be found in funnel data in an evening, and fixed in a couple of weeks.
Synergy runs a free online store audit: we look at speed, the product card, the cart and checkout, and say what will move the number first.
We will check your website for free
We show the growth points before any work starts — no obligations
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