Developing dazzling UX design for all types of internet sites , from large enterprise sites to association membership pages, to the sites of small service-based businesses is all-important but in eCommerce, UX encompasses every a part of the customer experience from the second a user lands on your page, to the instant they purchase a product. We dive into the way to build an excellent user experience to extend sales for your eCommerce business.
We talk tons about the overall importance of investing in dazzling UX design for all types of internet sites , from large enterprise sites, to association membership pages, to the sites of small service-based businesses.
But during this post, we’re getting to cover one specific sort of site where a robust UX can make a huge difference: eCommerce websites.
In eCommerce, UX encompasses every part of the customer experience from the second a user lands on your page, to the instant they purchase a product, to their post-purchase experience.
And your UX can make or break your eCommerce site. An excellent experience can nudge users to get , inspire confidence in your company, and forge strong relationships between brands and their customers. a nasty eCommerce user experience can cause a high bounce rate, confused site visitors, low conversion rates, and disgruntled customers.
So how are you able to build a robust UX for your eCommerce site? Here’s our list of the ten best practices for eCommerce UX.
1) Use clear and prominent CTAs
Calls-to-action is one among the keys to eCommerce success: they help users navigate your site, and highlight the products you would like your users to get . But not all CTAs are created equal. an honest CTA should:
- Look clickable and stand out from the remainder of the page
- Clearly communicate what happens next
- Nudge your users to require action (like ‘shop now’ or ‘add product to cart’)
CTAs are powerful tools, but they will even be overwhelming if they’re used an excessive amount of . specialise in keeping things simple and streamlined: by paring down the amount of CTAs on each site page, you’ll keep your customers focused on completing the precise task that you simply want to encourage at that moment within the user journey. Want your users to buy for a replacement product line? Tell them that with one punchy CTA button, and save all of your other asks for later.
2) Streamline your checkout process
A clunky checkout process may be a major reason that users abandon online purchases. If the method takes too long—or if it fails to disclose important information—users tend to leap ship.
Fortunately, there are many ways to optimize the checkout process:
- Use clear progress indicators (e.g. numbered steps or stages) during your checkout flow in order that users skills long the method will take
- Use short forms that clearly indicate optional vs. required information
- Enclose the checkout process (and remove distractions) to stay users focused on completing their purchase
- Provide clear information about shipping costs upfront (this may be a big one—over 70 percent of users said they abandon the checkout process once they encounter hidden charges like shipping fees.)
3) Don’t force users to register
Allowing users to checkout as guests are one among the most important UX boosts you’ll give to your checkout process. If you force customers to make an account, you inject unnecessary friction into the purchasing process. which decreases the likelihood that users will complete their purchase: 1 in 4 customers say they abandon a sale if they’re forced to register with a site.
The ‘checkout as guest’ option may be famously effective thanks to boost eCommerce conversions—just take a glance at the story of the .
4) Make it mobile-friendly
Mobile users tend to navigate eCommerce sites differently than desktop users. On mobile, users are usually trying to find something very specific, and that they want to seek out quickly.
So the priority should be to shorten and streamline the mobile user journey the maximum amount possible. you’ll do that by adopting things like:
- Sticky navigation bars
- Pop-ups that are adapted to the mobile experience
- Click-to-call buttons
- Click-to-scroll buttons
- Pinch-and-zoom features
5) Provide intuitive navigation and a robust search tool
An estimated 60 percent of online purchases aren’t impulse buys—they’re planned, and therefore the customers behind them already know what they’re trying to find once they land on your site. They don’t want to spend endless hours scrolling through all of your awesome products to seek out the one thing they know they’re after.
That’s where intuitive navigation comes in—it allows your customers to finish their desired actions without friction, confusion, or unnecessary interruptions.
Navigation are often a difficult thing to nail with eCommerce, but there are some basic principles to stay in mind.
- Keep your homepage streamlined and straightforward
- Stick to a transparent navigational structure from the get-go (most eCommerce sites choose horizontal navigation)
- Use clear and legible labels
- Have your team map the user journey to spot any sticking points
And, most significantly , confirm that you simply always have a robust and functional internal search tool available for your users.
6) Use high-quality product images and powerful descriptions
One challenge that eCommerce sites will always have (at least until computer games really take off) is bridging the gap between the web and real-world shopping experience.
In a brick-and-mortar store, you’ll try things on. you’ll see and touch them. you’ll get a reasonably good pity from the merchandise you’re close to buy. But the web shopping experience is restricted on all those fronts.
That’s where good photos (and ) help. Your product photos shouldn’t only cover the fundamentals of quality (think high-resolution images and good lighting). They ought to also show as many various elements of the merchandise as possible: shots of the merchandise from different angles, pack up images of its texture, photos of the merchandise in use, and in-scale images.
Informative product descriptions also are key here. Photos can only provide such a lot of information. Users also need clear, well-written product descriptions that assure them that your product is the right fit.
7) Highlight your site’s security
Thanks to a couple of high-profile eCommerce security breaches, users are more aware than ever of their potential vulnerability online. So, building up credibility and trust has become one among the foremost important UX tasks for eCommerce sites.
Luckily, this is often relatively straightforward to try to do . Displaying your security badges during a prominent place on your site is an efficient (not to say quick and easy) way to signal to your customers that you simply take their safety seriously. It’s also an honest idea to write down a transparent security policy that’s easy for patrons to seek out.
8) Include user-generated content
Time to harness the facility of psychology. Social proof psychology tells us that when people feel uncertain about a few decisions, they address people for guidance, trying to find the type of ‘social proof’ which will validate their choices and persuade them to require action.
In the eCommerce world, social proof comes within the sort of user-generated content—from testimonials and case studies to user reviews, to photos taken by other customers (which 77 percent of consumers say they like to professional photographs.)
Making this type of user-generated content a prominent feature of your product pages is often a strong tool for driving conversions.
9) Embrace personalization
Some of the foremost recognizable eCommerce giants (most notably Amazon) have worked to personalize the eCommerce user experience in super effective ways. They track their customers’ preferences and observe their purchase histories so as to supply lists of ‘recommended products’ or to showcase the things that ‘customers also bought’.
These sorts of personalization features help users find their desired product faster. and that they can nudge customers to finish their purchase. But they also add a private touch to the buying process by building deeper and more personal-feeling relationships between customers and makes.
10) Don’t ditch customer support
With any luck, this list will assist you to provide such a robust eCommerce user experience that your customers won’t need much extra support. But providing an excellent customer support experience for when problems do arise will really boost your site’s UX.
When it involves eCommerce customer support, live chat has the very best user satisfaction rates, so building a live chat feature is often an honest investment in your eCommerce UX.
But if live chat isn’t within the cards, you’ll still make sure that users have quick access to other sorts of customer support: make your customer support contact information a prominent feature on your homepage, and have an in-depth and easy-to-find FAQ section to supply users with essential information.
