Editor’s note: This is part one of the two part UX UI for ecommerce blogs. To read about the importance of UI in ecommerce and how to implement it, check this knowledge article: Importance of UI in E-Commerce | Influencing Conversions.
The E Commerce industry thrives on conversions, on a high quantity of conversions to be precise. Like every industry, e commerce also works towards acquiring new customers. But for ecommerce stores, building a loyal customer base and driving repeat business is key to growth and profitability.
What makes customers return to a brand? It’s customer experience. For brands with a humant connect (via a brick and mortar store or through customer care), this is achieved by delivering high quality customer experience through service. But for ecommerce businesses where all transactions happen online with little to no human interaction, the only way to provide a great customer experience is through the UX of the store.
Customers interact with your brand via the ecommerce website/app. Their understanding of your business values and their experience with your service comes via the website. How do you ensure that experience is excellent? By designing a great UX.
What is UX?
UX stands for User eXperience. It should be the first step in the technical design process for the website/app (after other business processes like brand definition, feature definition, etc are completed).
UX design involves designing the events and flow of events the user will go through. It creates a wireframe that gives a complete view of all paths a user can take on the website. Remember, we are talking aesthetics at this point. A button is just a rectangle on the design map, and visuals like colour and size come later. In the UX design, we define the elements that will be on a page, where each element will lead to, what elements are on the subsequent page, etc.
This step is important because getting an overview of how the user will travel through the store will give the business a sense how easy or complicated the flow is going to be. Teams can then take necessary action to ensure users have the easiest time navigating from start to finish, thus ensuring great experience.
Common UX Issues to Avoid
Complicated Checkout Process
One of the primary goals of a good UX is to reduce cart abandonment as much as possible. According to a study, almost $260 billion can be recovered simply by optimizing the checkout process. Moreover, there can be an increase of 34.26% in conversion rates just by having a simple checkout design and an easy-to-understand flow of the website. We understand that the checkout section is the last step and the last opportunity for a company to collect some user details that is essential to marketing activity. However, it’s important to strike a balance and make sure these steps do not add unnecessary steps to the user’s checkout process.
Unclear Pricing
As many as 50% of the customers end up abandoning the cart because there is no clarity in pricing. When they see an additional price for shipping, taxes, or any other fee, they end up abandoning the cart because it makes them feel that they are required to pay more than the price of the product. That does not mean you don’t charge for shipping. It just means your store needs to be transparent. Adding a ‘+shipping fee’ to the price right at the start will prepare the user for these additional costs.
Site Errors And Dead Ends
E Commerce is a touch and go business. When a user logs on with the intention to buy, they are most likely going to make a purchase in one visit. A disruption on the site like a crash or a set of buttons moving them in loops can deter them from this goal and drive them to a competitor’s site. Remember, for the user it’s the product that’s a priority and not really the platform. Every step in the user flow should be taking them forward in their shopping journey.
Limited Payment Methods
Almost 17% of the people abandon the cart because they do not trust the website with their credit card information. Some people prefer to pay with credit cards, while some don’t trust entering their card details. Giving users multiple options is the best way to tackle this.
UX Design That Can Help You Increase Conversions
Keep the Flow Simple
As a business your aim is to sell more, but for a customer the aim is to buy what is needed. Overcrowded products, excessive recommendations/pop-ups, a long user path to cover more products, etc will drive the user away. Keep the flow from product to checkout simple. Amazon clubs recommended products at checkout giving the user an option to add more products or continue with checkout without any extra stps in between.
Use Essential CTAs
Adding CTAs in order to engage users more works for blogs and websites that need users to stay on their site. For ecommerce it isn’t necessary. Add essential CTAs only, ones that will take the user forward in their purchase journey. If a CTA isn’t taking them to their destination, you are only stalling and wasting time, something that turns off customers with a clear purchase plan.
Offer Easy Checkout
Take users through the checkout process in minimal steps and ask for essential information only. Also, customers might not prefer signing up especially if they’re trying a store for the first time. It’s a smart idea to allow guest purchases in order to build trust. If you need them to sign up, do it creatively, like give them a first-time user discount or free shipping.
Remove Redundancy
Of course, it is impossible to make sure everything on the online store works flawlessly. From a UX point of view, however, make sure there aren’t broken endpoints on the website/app. Think of it this way, if a user lands on a page and has to hit back and start over, that page is a redundant endpoint.
Payment Options
As mentioned above, many customers abandon their carts due to mistrust with the payment option. So, it is advisable to offer multiple payment options. You must work towards building trust and allow pay-on-delivery if you’re new to build brand trust.
Final Word
If you’re looking to launch an ecommerce store or revamp an existing one, reaching out to experts is the right way to do it. Getafix Technologies is a full stack development company with dedicated UX designers (since it’s the topic of discussion). Get in touch for a consultation.