Online shopping has become popular in recent years. The ease of shopping through e-commerce stores is what gains more public attention. There are thousands of e-commerce websites, but only some are famous by their names. Do you know why? Because they are easy to use.
In this article, we will learn how to improve user experience on ecommerce website.
What is eCommerce User Experience (UX)?
The eCommerce User Experience is the experience that a visitor has after visiting your website. It includes visuals, navigation, and even aesthetics. It also involves all that a visitor sees first on your website.
It is the UX of any eCommerce website that turns visitors into customers. If users find it challenging to use your website, they might exit it. If you want good sales and profit, you need to have a website with smooth UX.
Website visitors can belong to any age group. And not everyone knows how to shop online. So, UX ensures that all the users have an easy shopping experience.
Why is eCommerce UX Important?
As an eCommerce store, the only way to interact with your visitors is through your website. The communication has to be concise. Good UX means better business. A brilliant UX directly impacts various aspects of your business and website.
First of all, visitors will take an interest in buying something from your website if the UX is easy. This means visitors will turn into customers. Also, they will spend proper time on your website. This will reduce bounce rates on your website.
Do you know that UX plays an essential role in SEO and makes your page rank higher on search engines?
Clean and Clear Homepage
Imagine a customer coming to your offline shop. Will you start over-sharing about the products at once? No, right? It will take time to introduce each item. The same goes with online stores. Having a clean and clear homepage allows customers to think well.
Let your homepage introduce the online store to your visitors. You can also inform the visitors about any ongoing sales and offers. You can list some of the bestsellers on your website.
Adding multiple elements to the homepage of your website will confuse the user. The visitor might just close the tab and stop shopping. We all know how bad such an experience can be. This can also create a negative image for the brand.
Easy Checkout Process
A dicey part of an eCommerce store is payments. A customer may add many products to the cart but not buy them. This could be because of difficulty in the payment method. An easy checkout process should include multiple payment methods.
According to a survey, one of the most complicated steps is to ask users to create an account before paying. Around 85% of the visitors did not complete the payment due to this step. Keeping limited steps during checkout makes payments easier for customers.
Additionally, you must assure buyers that their payment details are safe and secure. Through this, you are building trust between the customer and your brand.
Site Search Functionality
Visitors may be finding a specific product on your website. Site search functionality enables visitors to search for a particular item. There are also users who are your regular customers. This can be because they like an item from your store. Having a search bar helps in such cases.
You need to place the search bar in a position where users can see it directly. And they can also use it efficiently. To make it easier, you can add auto-word complete suggestions. This will reduce spelling mistakes and save user’s time.
Mobile-Friendly
Everyone uses smartphones these days. Shopping sites are at your fingertips because of smartphones. Designing eCommerce websites that are mobile-friendly is the cherry on top. Buyers find it simple to shop when online stores work smoothly on smartphones.
More than 70% of people use smartphones to shop online. Not everyone has a laptop or a PC. Alongside, people can shop anytime through smartphones.
To help users enjoy their shopping, design UX that fits well on the mobile screen. There is mobile-first indexing by Google. This feature improves your SEO if your UX is mobile-friendly. It will thus make your eCommerce website rank at the top of Google.
Improve Website Speed
Aren’t we all fed upwith slow internet and slow websites? If your website takes too long to load, users will skip your site and never come back. I remember once seeing a beautiful outfit on a website through Google Ads. When I clicked the product, the website took a long time to load. Guess what?
I closed the tab in frustration. Now, whenever I come across that website, I skip it. Who wants to suppress the excitement this way? Therefore, improve the speed of your website. The best way is to keep the homepage minimal.
If your website has so many elements, it slows down the speed. This may lead to an increase in bounce rates. Search engines track bounce rates, which may bring your website to lower ranks. Another trick to improve speed is to use better content delivery networks.
High-Quality Product Images
Online shopping can be tacky when buyers cannot see the images of the products. Cheap quality pictures may create a false image of your brand. High-quality product images are clearly visible. The images help customers choose the product they wish to purchase.
You can add a 360-degree view of the product image to a video that shows the product. This will help customers decide what they are exactly looking for. Customers rely on product images and videos. If they see a product of cheap quality, they will think you are selling such low items.
Transparency
Add all the necessary details to your website. From product descriptions to returns and refunds, add it all. Giving such information to users allows them to trust your brand. They can also get an idea about the exchange, refund, and return policies of your brand.
You can add information about the materials, processing and shipping days, taxes, and rates. Sharing these details beforehand gives clarity to customers. It also keeps you away from potential problems. Consumer helplines are always active, and customers take no time in complaining.
This can have a bad reputation, so it is better to keep your website updated.
Use product & category Filters
As a person who enjoys shopping online, I can say this feature is a must. Using product and category filters makes the shopping task easy and saves time. Your users can select what they want to see and buy.
Such filters keep the brain away from clutter and provide enough space to decide. Bombarding the customer screen with a lot of products is a big no. Customers should have enough space and time to explore the product category.
You can add multiple features, like price range, type of product, popular or latest ones, etc.
This step definitely enhances the online shopping experience.
Testimonials
Make testimonials visible. Allow buyers to add reviews of the products they buy. Users believe what other buyers have to say. Don’t we all check customer reviews before buying something online?
Not every customer will leave a review. You must encourage them to do so. Once they receive the product, you can email them, asking them to leave a review of the product. Make sure you allow them to express their honest opinions.
In the world of influencers, people know that paid reviews are a thing. To stay away from this, honest reviews matter a lot. You can also add rewards, like extra points, to customers who leave reviews. Testimonials make your brand more reliable.
Chat Box
Your customers may have certain questions while exploring your website. Add a chat box as a human substitute. Let your customers feel that you hear them and care for them. Adding a chat box on the eCommerce website where it is visible comes in handy.
Your users may have doubts regarding the products they want to purchase. But they may not be satisfied with the data available on the website. This is when the chat box helps. You can set up some questions beforehand for some common queries.
Multiple Payment Methods
We already know how important multiple payment methods are. Some users may like to shop with a credit card. Having that as a payment method will allow visitors to make a purchase. Sometimes their credit card may not work, so having a debit card payment is also good.
Many people do not trust online websites due to scams that take place all the time. To gain credibility, you should add a “cash on delivery” option. Customers then only pay when they receive the product.
This is how to improve user experience on e-commerce website. UX decides how many sales you are going to make. This eventually leads to profits. To ensure higher profits, design UX that is user-friendly.
Contact Tectera who offer ecommerce website design in Toronto to improve user experience on e-commerce website.