Once launched and live, online stores need to be optimized regularly in order to assure that the factors leading to underperformance and areas of weak user experience are eliminated or improved. Most retailers are faced with the challenges of making their e-commerce website appealing to the customers once in a while.
However, updates are not limited to the look & feel of your online store. You need to consider various significant things while working on e-commerce UX design.
Apart from top-notch products matched with affordable prices, customers are attracted by the experience that an online store provides them.
A perfectly-designed e-commerce website can entice visitors to browse and buy more products. In this blog post, you will find 10 user experience hacks that every website store owner needs to start doing regularly.
1. Intuitive Navigation
With the availability of multiple e-commerce shopping carts, today it’s easy to create an online store that consists of trendy design, animations, and enthralling images.
But, the success of your store will not be evaluated by the number of exciting features it has, but the number of purchases made in a month. When it comes to building a successful online store, intuitive navigation plays a vital role.
A fundamental aspect of e-commerce UX design is allowing visitors to easily navigate from the homepage to the products they are looking for.
Buyers do not like wasting their time on unnecessary actions; they always look for easier, faster, and more convenient experiences. Every button, link, and coupon placement has the opportunity to influence the decision making process of a buyer.
Make sure your e-commerce website has easy navigation that will benefit mobile users as well. Avoid using long videos and pop-up advertisements, as these elements are proven to dissatisfy mobile users.
2. Make Sure Everyone Can Pay
The largest UX problem of online store abandonment often arises when the potential customer realizes that your website doesn’t offer the right mix of secure payment solutions that they have access to pay with.
When buyers are not able to pay with the most suitable payment method, they are much more likely to leave your store without making any purchase. You can fix this UX issue by using third-party payment integrations which provides an effective and secure payment solution.
You should also display the icons of popular payment methods on your website. Additionally, make sure all the payment gateways are highly secure; don’t forget to use SSL protocols that provide more authentication.
If your store is in the cross-border e-commerce business or if you are still considering to sell to foreign customers, you should think about implementing local payment methods on your website.
3. Social Login and Sharing
“Ease” is the main benefit and reason why most users prefer shopping online. Implementing social login on your online store is another way to engage and make it easier for your customers to shop.
By introducing social login, you can eradicate password failure while making conversions easier especially when you are targeting mobile audiences. Users love sharing their real-life experience on social media platforms such as Facebook.
This will also allow your customers to share what they have purchased with their friends; promoting your online store effectively.
Remember, providing social login won’t automatically boost conversion rates – you still need to provide the best products, reliable services and powerful customer support. But, it will make it easy for a large number of social fans to easily return to your online store. So, you must consider using this feature while working on your ecommerce user experience.
4. A/B Testing
With A/B testing, you can evaluate how different value propositions may have different impacts on your ecommerce sales. While the “landing page” is your main page, the page with the new functionality being tested is the “moderation page”.
You can use A/B testing and compare to see how efficient the overall shopping experience is. Ideally, a website visitor should have to take the least amount of steps possible to find the right products and complete the transaction.
Use this strategy regularly to examine the consequence of different features and variables. You can test the following features:
– Product image size
– Banner ads
– Layout
– Payment methods
– Delivery options
This UX hack will help you discover the conversion points and customer pain points on your online store and where exactly you are losing them during their shopping experience.
5. Live Chat Support
Every customer must be treated with care and served in the best way possible. In some cases, customers may have several questions related to any product and associated charges.
This is where your customer support team needs to come forward to answer their questions so that the website visitors can make an easy purchase. This progress can be achieved by using a live chat feature on the site where the customer would receive reliable assistance without delay.
Unlikely phone and email support, live chat has been found to be the most successful way of conversion optimization in e-commerce. You can also implement chatbot in your online store that can create real engagement while improving your e-commerce credibility among customers.
Such features can significantly impact the buying decision of customers.
6. Button Placements
Designing call to action buttons for e-commerce website requires proper planning, and it needs to be part of your UX design process.
You should provide a simple and easy-to-find call-to-action button which will improve your conversion rate drastically. Additionally, it’s crucial to give your CTA button a prominent place where it will instantly draw the attention of visitors.
If you closely look at the UX of Gmail, you will find that they provide a simple interface which looks like the first stage of a wireframe. With minimal colors and design, the UX is incredibly contextual here. The button placements and colors are simple; making every function easier for the users.
7. Creatively Reminding Customers about Wishlist
Your valuable customers may have added some products to their Wishlist or shopping cart without completing the checkout process.
Perhaps, they are waiting for a discounted price or some other offers. Or they may be looking for similar products on other websites.
You have the opportunity to send them a creative reminder informing them about upcoming discounts, offers or similar products. You can also help your customers to purchase the right product by approaching them through a live chat or email.
8. Loyalty Programs
Rewarding customer loyalty is one of the best result-driven marketing strategies that you shouldn’t avoid. It’s known as a powerful customer retention tool which builds trust and opens up a path for other repeat sales transactions to take place.
Loyalty Marketing programs may include anything from exciting offers to discount coupons. Many e-commerce websites also introduce referral programs on a regular basis, giving discounts when a customer refers the brand to their friends on social media or other messengers.
9. Trust Factors
Do you know that about 75% of customers will not make a payment if they don’t trust an online store? Your e-commerce website must convince the customer that you’re an authentic brand which offers the most reliable services.
You don’t want your website visitors or potential customer to doubt your authenticity. Make sure the design of your site is sleek and user-friendly to build customer trust.
Don’t forget to add easily accessible pages such as About Us, Contact Us, Categories, and Payment Methods. You should also consider using logos of some well-known brands that have worked in collaboration with you.
10. Other Essential Things
In order to provide a smooth online shopping experience to the users, you need to choose the best ecommerce platform available in the online market. Make sure that the platform you are choosing fits your budget and business goals.
Moreover, it must let you customize web pages as per your needs and preferences. Your website should also have well-written product descriptions which highlight positive features in a very practical way.
Also read: 5 Tips for Writing Product Descriptions that Convert
Conclusion
Enable website visitors to enjoy their online shopping experience and you will definitely see improved results. All of these above-mentioned tips are geared towards offering the best user experience possible for your online customers. The goal is to have them become recurrent shoppers of your products and services and share their positive experiences with others.
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