How to increase conversions on your e-commerce store by improving its user experience.

What is user experience?

User experience (UX) is the way a user feels when interacting with a system. This can be a website, mobile application, desktop software—really anything where human/machine interaction occurs.

Why is it important?

User experience is the art of creating positive, meaningful experiences for your users. It’s important because it helps you fulfill your users’ needs and keep them loyal to your product or brand.
A good user experience allows you to define customer journeys on your product most conducive to business success.

User experience in e-commerce

E-commerce is on the rise and growing faster than ever. This Dutch research shows that 74% of Dutch people buy something online and 88% of the 25 until 45 years old population buy online. 

Your e-commerce Store should be designed to attend to your customer’s needs. A well-structured and optimized online store has more chances of selling than a store with a poor user experience. It is one of the most (if not the most) important factors in your e-commerce store. If your client can’t use your e-commerce store easily, your customer will leave.

Whether you are starting an e-commerce business or want to improve your existing e-commerce website, attract customers, gain their trust and generate sales from your e-commerce store, here are some key elements that make the user experience of your e-commerce store better.

1. Responsive Design

80% of all adults own a smartphone. That means that if you’re not optimizing your site for mobile, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of the market.

Mobile visits, in many cases now, outrank desktop use. Your e-commerce site needs to be designed and built for all devices, not just laptops.

2. Loading speed

Website loading time is one of the most important factors that determine how much time visitors are likely to spend on your e-commerce website. The speed and loading time of your website directly affects the experience that visitors have with your store, which ultimately determines how likely they are to make a purchase.

3. Product descriptions

Even when you have a website that is well-designed, and has all the right elements, it’s still important to make sure you are providing your users with the right information. This is only possible when you have accurate and original content on your site, which includes describing the items in detail. Cover all aspects of the product, including size, texture, uses benefits, and colors available. You want your potential customer to feel confident that they know enough about your product to purchase it instead of going elsewhere.

4. Seamless checkout process

The checkout phase is often a major source of frustration for e-commerce websites. The process of taking customers through the checkout can be inefficient, leading to many customers abandoning their carts before finishing the purchase.

The secret to improving your customer retention rate is to make it easier for your customers to reach the checkout with as little effort as possible. You can do this by making sure that your site is simple and easy to navigate, offering precise categories for your customers to browse through, or offering them the option of checking out without registering on the site.

5. Security and privacy

When you’re shopping for a web host, you’ll want to make sure that security is a top priority. You don’t want your site hacked, or your data compromised.

Make sure that your host has an SSL certificate installed on their servers so that data being sent from your website to the browser is encrypted and secure. Also, make sure they have a transparent privacy policy in place, explaining how they handle all customer information.

6. Shipping details

Shipping and return processes are what customers check first when they want to make a purchase. If the process is easy and hassle-free, the more likely a customer is to place an order. You can also provide free shipping on orders above a certain range or to some loyal customers. This will help you keep your customers happy and give them some suitable offers.

If you keep this information away from your customers from the onset, and they find out at the checkout phase, it can lead to lost sales.

7. Rating and reviews

Online ratings and reviews are critical factors in making purchasing decisions. They’ve edged out price as the most important factor for shoppers.

A new study by Ever-Growing Power of Reviews found that 94% of shoppers say ratings and reviews are the most important factor in their decision, compared with 91% who said price. That’s a big shift from just some years ago when the price was the most important factor.

With so many options on the market, it’s impossible to make a purchase without some sort of guidance. And since you can’t try something on before buying it, reviews are increasingly becoming an essential part of the shopping experience.

8. Filters 

Filters are really important since customers don’t want to search too long for a product they want to buy. If your filters are too messy or confusing, customers may just give up and leave your site without buying anything at all! Make sure that your product and category pages have clear and structured filters to make the life of your customers easier instead of complicated.

9. Navigation

Ease of navigation is an essential element of a successful e-commerce business. The more accessible your site is and the easier it is to navigate, the more visitors you’ll get. Customers want to find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible, so making sure that everything is easily accessible will go a long way toward improving your online business’s bounce rate.

The next step: optimize your e-commerce store!

Keep in mind, when you’re providing a poor customer experience, no matter what business you’re in, you have a problem on your hands. If a customer has a bad e-commerce experience, it could take them a long time to come back to you, if they come back at all.

We have addressed the some important points, but there are many more you can consider and apply when building your e-commerce business. Test each point, choose wisely, and measure the results. After several months, take a step back, evaluate the results and ask yourself: Are you focusing on the elements that really matter? Are you using those elements in the right way?

If you are still stuck and want advice how to optimize your e-commerce store, feel free to reach out to us. We will be happy to help you to optimize and grow your business.