The trends in e-commerce keep changing quickly. Some trends might just be fads, but others might cause a big change in the industry as a whole. Shopping on a computer or phone falls into the second group.   Customers are pickier and more discerning than ever before. Adobe says that 38 percent of online shoppers will leave a site if they don't like the way it looks. And that's why businesses are working hard to make websites that are clean and easy to use so that buying things is as easy as possible.  

E-commerce User Experience

  In simple terms, the main goal of user experience (UX) design is to put yourself in the shoes of your end-user and figure out what will make shopping easy, logical, and fun for them.   Ecommerce user experience, on the other hand, is all about how a user feels after using your site, whether that feeling is good or bad.   Have you ever wondered why 76 out of 100 of your visitors abandon their shopping carts? It's easy to understand: They're not impressed at all.   Source: Optin Monster   Think about walking into a store with real, physical goods. You are trying to find something that is not easy to find. When you ask for help, you find that the person helping you is playing a game or texting on their phone.   What do you think? Annoyed? Disheartened? Most likely, you'd just leave. These feelings also apply to businesses that are run online. When more people leave their shopping carts, a huge amount of money is lost.   Let's use an example to show this:   Amazon.com is the leader in online shopping. The A/B testing of their shopping cart is a very popular part of the million-dollar venture. Even though the company's website is known for being a mess, it keeps making improvements.   What did they do, though?   First, they worked on getting the best spots. Amazon is great at giving you the most important information right away, like price, savings, customer reviews and ratings, and even if a product is in stock or not.   Next, they put the "buy" button on a different color background to make it stand out. Aside from this, Amazon started offering free shipping, which is one of the best reasons to shop online. Amazon has completely solved the problem of not being able to get instant gratification when shopping online.  

Conversion is driven by E-commerce UX

  Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, says that if you give customers a great experience, they will talk about it with each other. The power of word of mouth is huge.   UX design is crucial to the success or failure of any e-commerce activity, and it's not just about how things look.   Every single one of these things can have a direct or indirect effect on your e-commerce game, from clear logic and transitions to simple and clear micro-interactions, fast feedback from the system, attractive product presentation, easy payment flow, and a bunch of easy-to-use features.   Some of the most basic but most important things you should think about are:

• Operational simplicity.
• Design that’s not overshadowing the e-commerce site.
• Product promotion.
• Security of user’s data.
• Appropriate visual elements such as menus and catalogs.

  And I'm sure you want to make it easy for people to buy your products, not hard. Don't want it to happen? Let's take a look at SkullCandy's work.   The popular site, which was launched on BigCommerce, stands out from the rest because it has great color and images of the products. Detail pages have great descriptions of products as well as information about them. The company definitely pushes its limits a lot, whether it's with its product, its music, or its corporate culture.   As I looked around the site, I got a good first impression and found that it was easy to use and didn't get in the way of the user at any point. Overall, the mobile e-commerce design is unbeatable when it comes to speeding up the customer journey and getting them involved.  

How to Keep Ahead of What Users Want?

 

“The key is to set realistic customer expectations and then not to just meet them but to exceed them — preferably in unexpected and helpful ways.” – Sir Richard Branson

  Don't let your competitors get the upper hand by skipping this important business step. Your competitors are just a Google search away, and it's not a big deal for your customers to switch brands to get the next best thing.   Also, in the modern world, customers act as brand advocates and spread the word about their products and services. So you need to do research on your users to find out what they want, meet or even exceed their expectations, and give them the best experiences.   Here are a few tips to help you connect with your customers better in this age of limitless options.  

1. Make the experience easy and seamless.

Does the phrase "seamless experience" raise your blood pressure? If so, don't worry. It's not as hard as it looks. All you need to do is take a step back and think about what you want to happen. For example, if you already have a storefront, make sure to combine the best parts of both experiences. Try offering services that make it easy for people to return things they bought online to a store.  

2. Users want speed, and Google is no exception.

“2 seconds is the threshold for e-commerce website acceptability. At Google, we aim for under a half second.” – Maile Ohye, Google

Customers want to find what they are looking for quickly, or they will go elsewhere. Google takes the time it takes for a page to load into account when they decide how to rank your site. Several researchers have found that 9.6% of people will leave your page if it takes more than two seconds to load. Every customer is worth something different, which could cause a big drop in revenue.

• Make sure all of your images and web pages load quickly.
• A high bounce rate is bad for SEO, so try to avoid it.

3. Keep your website accurate and up-to-date.

Do you think a website that works well will last forever? Most likely not! Even when you are a well-known business leader, you will still have to deal with some things every day. Your website is one of those things. Ecommerce stores aren't just supposed to be built; they're also supposed to be grown. Here, I'd like to point out a few things that should be kept in mind:

• Update in terms of design.
• Have a responsively designed website.
• Keep content fresh.

Customers need to be able to easily find out if a product is in stock, how long it will take to ship, what other people think about it, etc. When a customer sees that a product is in stock, but when they go to check out, they find out that it's already sold out.  

4. Give the right information in a way that is interesting.

As people, we are always trying to find answers. Make sure your website answers all general questions about your company, its products, and its return policy. Blissworld is the best example of a site where you can see all the important information about a product, such as its description, skin type, and size. While scrolling, you can also end up on the product page. Remember that the goal should be to surprise and delight.  

5. Actively seek feedback.

Customer surveys are an important thing to do. Before something goes wrong, businesses should ask customers what they think. You can add forms for feedback to your site. This also shows that you care about what your end-users think and feel. Another example: Many websites have live chat so that visitors can talk to them while they look around. Any visitor can ask a question and end up chatting with an agent while they look around. This is what I call putting your own stamp on something! Overall, getting good returns in business, how the brand is positioned, and the customer experience is at the heart of everything, whether the goal is to gain new customers or keep the ones you already have. And do you know what's best about all of this? It has results that are special and will be good for a long time.  

7 Best Ecommerce User Experience Tips

 

1. The main navigation needs to be made easier.

Do you think it's easy to make a website that's easy for people to use and understand? Well, I'm sorry to let you down, but it's not true. Putting a search bar and some tabs or other call-to-action (CTA) buttons on the home page is a waste of time. If you have clearly set up groups of products, you might not need a search field. It's all about making tabs and categories that are well-organized and lead to product pages that are easy to understand. So, what should we do? Use what you already know to your advantage. It's the basic information or habits you find out about your site's visitors when they go to your online store. You can get this kind of information by watching what your competitors do or from your own experiences in the real world. Also, make sure that the navigation on all pages is the same. This includes tabs, buttons, commands, and menus. Back in 2016, Amazon had a lot of ways to get around, like the list of categories on the left side of the page.   Source: Amazon   Today, the choices at the top of the page have been cut down and made easier to use. Look at this!   Source: Amazon  

2. Make it easier to pay and faster to check out.

Have you thought about making it as simple as possible for people to pay? After all, this move leads to an increase in conversions and sales. Here are some tips that will make it easier for your customers to pay and help you make more money.  

• Provide numerous payment methods (e.g. debit or credit card, Apple pay, PayPal)- According to reports, 56% of respondents expect a variety of payment options on the checkout page.
• Do not force people to sign up; it’s a major conversion rate killer. · Have a seamless look and feel on your checkout page.
• Offer a guest checkout experience.
• Minimal form fields (seriously, the less the better!).
• Stop sending them to other websites to pay.
• Provide reassurances on security and privacy.
• Add a clear call to action.

 

3. Use things that catch the eye to get people's attention.

Nobody wants to use those hamburgers (or slide-in) menus anymore, so get rid of them as soon as possible, especially for mobile UX. When these kinds of menus are used, important parts are hidden, which makes it harder for the end-user to do things. Last year, Spotify and Next both changed their sites to get rid of the hamburger menu. So, it looks like the tide is turning. Instead, work on making your website more interesting. This can be done in many creative ways with product photos or other content media like videos, social content, or user-generated content (UGC). Find out what your customers are interested in and use that to your advantage.   Source: Spotify  

4. Take note of minimalism.

Both minimalism and maximalism are design styles that are very different from each other. No matter how different they are, they are used in all kinds of work, from literature and art to science and research. Digital media isn't any different. With a minimalist design, the focus is always on the product or text that the business wants people to look at. More importantly, the homepage is more about the brand's feel, high-quality experience, or tone than it is about exposition or displaying information.  

5. Think of ways to get people to visit your site again.

You have worked hard to make a good website for your business. What should you do next?

• How do you attract more visitors?
• How do you convert site visitors into customers? · Once they get on your e-commerce website, how do you keep them coming back?

Here are a few tips that will help you keep customers longer and turn every customer into a long-term brand advocate.

• Make your website more personal by adding customized landing pages, featured sections, voice search, or a pop-up to sign up for your email list.
• Rich product details can help you show off what's new and popular.
• Don't forget to thank people who like your brand.
• With the help of social media, get people's attention.
• Engage users at regular intervals.

6. Don't tell them, show them.

Customers will love your business if you show them how great you are. Companies are putting more effort into marketing instead of putting the customer first. Let your customers do the talking! According to a report from Customer Experience Maturity Monitor, 81 percent of companies that give their customers great experiences and make sure they are happy to do much better than their competitors. In the end, it's all about showing real customer results. Ask them how your product or service changed their life or situation for the better. Show off your best customer testimonials and positive reviews so that people will believe what you say. Today, the real-time proof is what people care about. By including things like pain points, solutions, and results, you can give people a clear idea of what your product does for them. Here's an example of how 99designs uses its own page of customer reviews to show off its work:   Source: 99designs  

7. Even online, customer service is still important.

What do you think is the most important thing for a business? It's how they go above and beyond for the people who buy from them in the end. Of course, if you offer better customer service, it may be hard to lower the initial cost, but trust me: it will boost sales. Are you still not sure? Here are a few reasons why customer service is more important to your business than a

• Provides value.
• Builds trust.
• At times service matters most — even more than price.
• Creates brand awareness.
• Reduces customer churn.
• Increases Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Return on Investment (ROI).

The Best UX Websites

User experience is about giving your customers the best digital experience you can, so they keep coming back to your e-commerce business to buy things. I'll talk more about the best e-commerce website designs that you should think about in the next section. They do well in many ways, such as user experience, brand consistency, mobile responsiveness, and quick checkout. Take a look!  

New Chapter

  The P&G brand tries hard to act like a digitally native brand, especially when it comes to innovation and getting customers involved. New Chapter gives its customers a personalized "choose your own adventure" experience with everything from quizzes to bundles.   Because of how well the site is designed, conversion optimization seems to have gone from about 0.4 percent at launch to almost 2 percent now.   Source: New Chapter  

Bliss

One of the most fun, young, and energizing online channels for spas and products I've ever seen. With the help of fun graphics, gifs, and bright colors, the site makes you want to look around, interact, and buy right away.   Source: Bliss  

The Mountain

After Amazon had some early success, the site quickly learned that it's best to work directly with customers. Including key coupons for certain customers, and segments give a sense of urgency and make the site easy to use. Customers quickly click "add to cart."   Source: The Mountain  

Conclusion

  No matter what you do for a living, your customers need a website that is easy to use, clean and looks good.   After reading this post, you know that a good user experience for e-commerce goes beyond your website. All you have to do is work hard to make things easier for your end-users by coming up with a comprehensive, strategic plan. Every product and audience is different, so you need to do research and keep track of changes to find out what works for you.   Also, keep an eye out for new trends and changes, as most of them will be easy to take advantage of.

“Learning is a continuous process; it’s all about learning what works without jeopardizing your current revenue.”