DEV Community

Jignesh Solanki
Jignesh Solanki

Posted on

Optimization tips to upgrade eCommerce UX

eCommerce UX is often confused with designs, logos, color schemes, and whatnot. But it is about the kind of experience and emotions one goes through while shopping on your eCommerce website or app. There is plenty more to do other than to take care of designs and color schemes
To deliver a pleasant user experience, you need to make the entire process very smooth and easy for the shopper. The customer should be able to find the relevant product with ease and then should be able to purchase the product without any relative difficulty as well. If you bring such attributes to the customer journey you can very well be sure to have increased conversion rates and more satisfied customers.
However, it’s much easier said than done. There is a lot you can do to optimize the user experience on your online store. Here are 8 tips that can help you with it.

1. Improve load speeds

If we look from the UX perspective, then fast loading pages add a smoothness to the entire experience. The shopper wouldn’t have much time to get distracted by other things if they are going through the purchase processes in the blink of an eye.
You can make sure if you have the appropriate hosting provider, if there is a need to use CDN, optimize images, minify code, etc. Regular checkups also help keep the store performance to optimal.

2. Easier product discoverability

Product discovery is not just a usual eCommerce UX design practice but has a direct impact on sales and bounce rates. It gets even more important when shoppers with a higher buying intent are involved. If these shoppers feel they are wasting their time trying to find the right product in your store, they are going to look for it somewhere else.
You can try making the homepage more userful, introduce easier navigation, make on-site search more accurate, and use the right product attributes to make the search easier.

3. Provide comprehensive product descriptions

The product page is supposed to tell the shopper all there is to know about the product. If you fail to provide sufficient information, the customer may leave your store. On the other hand, if you end up providing misleading information , the store’s reputation is going to take a hit. The product page is supposed to have the right balance between correct and sufficient information.
You can use images that don’t just look beautiful but are informative. Other things you can do are mentioning all the variants, provide product info such that it answers user queries, and allow user reviews.

4. Make right use of CTAs

CTAs not just aid in enhancing the UX but also motivate visitors to make purchases (or the other action mentioned in the CTA). Proper placement and effective use of CTAs will create a smooth passage for the customer through the eCommerce funnel.
Use CTA buttons that stand out on the page and have text that motivates the customer to take action. However, try not to overkill the experience with CTAs and make them count.

5. Simplify the checkout process

The majority of cart abandonment takes place at the checkout stage. However, not all cart abandonments on the checkout stage are because of the complexity of the process, some happen simply because of the lack of user intent. But there is no denying that the checkout stage is the biggest hurdle for the customers.
There is plenty you can do to make the checkout process smoother. One-tap-buys, progress bars, guest checkout options, shorter forms, etc. are some of the features you should have in the checkout experience.

6. Provide personalised shopping experiences

Preferences vary from person to person. It is an absolute curve ball to come up with a user experience that pleases everybody, perhaps next to impossible. With the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, you take the eCommerce user experience to a whole nother level. It will lead to increased customer retention, increased sales, improved customer loyalty, etc.
You can use tech to come up with personalized recommendations, fastrack processes by figuring out user preferences, and even use geo targeting to show the shopper only what’s relevant.

7. Customer support is important too

Customer support helps with the eCommerce user experience before, during, and after the purchase process. There is no way you can pay less attention to this part of the customer experience. The benefits of great customer support on a website are improved brand and product value, improved retention rates, increase in user trust, and much more.
Omni-channel customer support which involves the use of smart chatbots, and provides self help portals make much more sense these days.

8. Don’t forget the mobile UX

Mobile commerce is set to make up for more than 50% of online sales by 2021. The benefits of working on mobile commerce UX are obvious. It is going to help you sell more products. Keeping customer satisfaction at the forefront is going to help you here as well.
Double tap and pinch gestures, dial pads for number fields, one-handed operations, bigger buttons, etc. are some of the attributes that can help make the mobile commerce UX more pleasant.
To dive deeper into the world eCommerce UX, feel free to checkout this article giving out the guidelines for a better eCommerce UX.

Top comments (0)