How to Optimize UX Design for Your eCommerce Store: Home: tor

How to Optimize UX Design for Your eCommerce Store

Page Name:

Rich Text Content

Let me tell you a short story. A couple of years back, I was looking to buy gym shoes. I stumbled upon an online sports footwear store that offered an impressive selection of all kinds of shoes.

When I finally found a perfect pair and wanted to choose my size before I added them to my cart, I realized that their size chart was in numbers I didn't understand.

I didn't want to risk buying shoes that don't fit and then going through all the trouble of returning them, so I left that store and went looking elsewhere.

What would be the narrative of this story? You can have the best products or services in the world, but if your website visitors have to jump over hurdles to complete their buying journey, you are missing out on many opportunities, and your business will suffer.

Here are our top seven tips for optimizing your eCommerce store for UX that will help you create a website that meets all your customer needs and expectations:

Design a user-friendly search bar
Optimize your website for all screen sizes
Reduce page loading time
Be transparent
Use high-quality images and detailed product descriptions
Allow customer reviews on your product pages
Simplify a checkout process

Let's discuss these seven steps in more detail.

1. Design a user-friendly search bar

Some of your website users will know exactly what they are looking for, and they expect to find it by typing the desired product's name into your search bar.

To ensure your visitors always get what they want, follow these five tips for designing a user-friendly search bar:

Design the search bar to stand out graphically and is easy to spot.
Incorporate helpful text like search for products, categories, or brands. Make sure that the text disappears when the user starts typing.
It is a good idea to support typos in search queries so that your visitors get to the desired page even if they make typing mistakes.
Offer auto-complete suggestions.
Show similar products if there are no matching results to a search query.

You should also make sure your search bar can adjust its size to support typing longer product names.

2. Optimize your website for all screen sizes

More than half (58.99% to be exact) of global website traffic comes from mobile devices. This is why your eCommerce website should offer a seamless experience through all devices.

Here is what you can do to ensure your mobile visitors leave your website satisfied:

Use a responsive layout that adjusts your website to the user's screen.
Compress your images to improve loading time.
Mobile devices don't support Adobe Flash files, so you shouldn't use this software to create animations. Instead, try using HTML5.
Make sure your buttons are big enough for your users to click on them with their thumbs.
Use large and clear fonts.
Space out your links so that your visitors can comfortably click on them.

Don't forget to test your eCommerce website on both Android and iOS devices. You also can run Google's Mobile-Friendly test for free.

3. Reduce page loading time

A recent study by Portent showed that a site that loads in 1 second has an eCommerce conversion rate that is 2.5 times higher than a site that loads in 5 seconds.

Ideally, you want your website to load in 0-2 seconds, and to do so, try doing the following:

Compress and optimize your image files with lossy compression, lossless compression, or lazy loading.
Eliminate any unnecessary redirects.
Cache your web pages.
Enable browser caching.
Remove unnecessary plugins.

A page loading time is one of Google's ranking factors, so it doesn't just affect your website UX. It is also important for your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

If you find this part of UX website optimization too technical or too time-consuming, you can choose one of the best web design agencies from the DesignRush agency directory to help you improve your website performance.

4. Be transparent

As much as 16% of buyers will abandon their shopping carts if they can't see or calculate the total order cost upfront. To prevent this from happening, make sure you include the following information on your website:

Clear pricing – nobody wants to learn the total price when their package is already at their doorstep, so ensure you include any additional costs, such as packaging or transportation expenses.
Payment options – whatever payment methods your website supports, make sure that the customers can see them. If they have to search your website for this information, they are more likely to bounce off to your competitors.
Refund policy – make your refund policy clear, and explain it in steps, if you have to. This will help your customer feel more at ease when they buy from you.
Shipping details – provide a general timeline for deliveries. If you offer next-day delivery, be sure to clarify if this type of service comes with an additional fee.

You want your customers to trust you and be loyal to your business, and transparency is the way to go.

5. Use high-quality images and detailed product descriptions

High-quality images and detailed product descriptions should help you bridge the gap between the real-world and virtual shopping experience. Try doing the following:

Offer multi-angle photos of your products.
Allow your images to zoom in so that your users can see the texture close up.
Show the photos of your products being used
Cover details in your product description, such as the fabric type, colors, or sizing.

The more your customers know about your products before reaching their buying decision, the less likely they are to return them. In fact, 75% of online buyers rely on product images when deciding on a potential purchase.

6. Allow customer reviews on your product pages

A survey shows that 77% of people will always read product reviews before reaching their purchasing decision. Your job is to make it easy for your customers to leave reviews by simply asking them to do so on your checkout page or designing a pop-up specifically for this purpose.

Some benefits you can expect from allowing reviews on your website include increased sales and boosted engagement rates.

7. Simplify a checkout process

Research shows that 17% of people will abandon their carts if the checkout process is too complicated or too long.

So here is what you can do to make your checkout process as simple as possible and ensure your potential customers don't change their minds at the last minute:

Show item availability status before the user engages in the checkout process.
Simplify order modification.
Offer real-time support.
Make sure that the back button is functional.
Display a progress indicator.
Design a checkout interface free of clutter.
Make registration optimal and not mandatory.

The checkout stage is the last step standing between your visitor and the final purchase so make sure they can complete it fast and easily.

Key takeaways

To compete in eCommerce crowded market, you need a user-oriented website. Start with optimizing your search bar for user-friendliness and ensure your website offers the same functionalities on all screen sizes.

Be true to your customers and offer them high-quality images and detailed product descriptions and they will reward you with positive reviews.

Try to reduce page loading time to 0-2 seconds and allow your users to complete the checkout process smoothly.

We hope our article helped you realize the importance of optimizing your eCommerce website for UX and provided you with valuable tips on how to do it effectively.

Allow Comments on this Page

Make Comments Public

HTML Editor

[{:section_type=>"rich_text", :content=>"<img src=\"https://i.ibb.co/1nYTH2T/unnamed-2023-01-20-T033345-689.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"290\">\n[Source:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://pixabay.com/photos/ecommerce-selling-online-2140603/\">Pixabay</a>]\nLet me tell you a short story. A couple of years back, I was looking to buy gym shoes. I stumbled upon an online sports footwear store that offered an impressive selection of all kinds of shoes.&nbsp;\nWhen I finally found a perfect pair and wanted to choose my size before I added them to my cart, I realized that their size chart was in numbers I didn't understand.&nbsp;\nI didn't want to risk buying shoes that don't fit and then going through all the trouble of returning them, so I left that store and went looking elsewhere.&nbsp;\nWhat would be the narrative of this story? You can have the best products or services in the world, but if your website visitors have to jump over hurdles to complete their buying journey, you are missing out on many opportunities, and your business will suffer.\nHere are our top seven tips for optimizing your eCommerce store for UX that will help you create a website that meets all your customer needs and expectations:&nbsp;\n<ol>\n<li>Design a user-friendly search bar</li>\n<li>Optimize your website for all screen sizes</li>\n<li>Reduce page loading time</li>\n<li>Be transparent</li>\n<li>Use high-quality images and detailed product descriptions</li>\n<li>Allow customer reviews on your product pages</li>\n<li>Simplify a checkout process</li>\n</ol>\nLet's discuss these seven steps in more detail.\n<h2>1. Design a user-friendly search bar</h2>\nSome of your website users will know exactly what they are looking for, and they expect to find it by typing the desired product's name into your search bar.&nbsp;\nTo ensure your visitors always get what they want, follow these five tips for designing a user-friendly search bar:\n<ol>\n<li>Design the search bar to stand out graphically and is easy to spot.</li>\n<li>Incorporate helpful text like&nbsp;search for products, categories, or brands. Make sure that the text disappears when the user starts typing.</li>\n<li>It is a good idea to support typos in search queries so that your visitors get to the desired page even if they make typing mistakes.</li>\n<li>Offer auto-complete suggestions.</li>\n<li>Show similar products if there are no matching results to a search query.</li>\n</ol>\nYou should also make sure your search bar can adjust its size to support typing longer product names.&nbsp;\n<h2>2. Optimize your website for all screen sizes</h2>\nMore than half (<a href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/277125/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices/\">58.99%</a>&nbsp;to be exact) of global website traffic comes from mobile devices. This is why your eCommerce website should offer a seamless experience through all devices.&nbsp;\nHere is what you can do to ensure your mobile visitors leave your website satisfied:\n<ul>\n<li>Use a responsive layout that adjusts your website to the user's screen.</li>\n<li>Compress your images to improve loading time.</li>\n<li>Mobile devices don't support Adobe Flash files, so you shouldn't use this software to create animations. Instead, try using HTML5.&nbsp;</li>\n<li>Make sure your buttons are big enough for your users to click on them with their thumbs.</li>\n<li>Use large and clear fonts.</li>\n<li>Space out your links so that your visitors can comfortably click on them.</li>\n</ul>\nDon't forget to test your eCommerce website on both Android and iOS devices. You also can run&nbsp;<a href=\"https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly\">Google's Mobile-Friendly</a>&nbsp;test for free.&nbsp;\n<h2>3. Reduce page loading time</h2>\nA recent study by&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.portent.com/blog/analytics/research-site-speed-hurting-everyones-revenue.htm#:~:text=The%20first%205%20seconds%20of,(between%20seconds%200%2D5)\">Portent</a>&nbsp;showed that a site that loads in 1 second has an eCommerce conversion rate that is 2.5 times higher than a site that loads in 5 seconds.&nbsp;\nIdeally, you want your website to load in 0-2 seconds, and to do so, try doing the following:\n<ul>\n<li>Compress and optimize your image files with&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/photography/discover/lossy-vs-lossless.html\">lossy compression</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/photography/discover/lossy-vs-lossless.html\">lossless compression</a>, or&nbsp;<a href=\"https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Performance/Lazy_loading\">lazy loading</a>.&nbsp;</li>\n<li>Eliminate any unnecessary redirects.</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://wpbuffs.com/website-caching/\">Cache</a>&nbsp;your web pages.</li>\n<li>Enable&nbsp;<a href=\"https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.lightning.meta/lightning/perf_secure_browser_caching.htm\">browser caching</a>.</li>\n<li>Remove unnecessary plugins.</li>\n</ul>\nA page loading time is one of Google's ranking factors, so it doesn't just affect your website UX. It is also important for your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.&nbsp;\nIf you find this part of UX website optimization too technical or too time-consuming, you can choose one of the best web design agencies from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.designrush.com/agency/it-services/trends/erp-strategy\">DesignRush agency directory</a>&nbsp;to help you improve your website performance.&nbsp;\n<h2>4. Be transparent</h2>\nAs much as&nbsp;<a href=\"https://baymard.com/blog/ecommerce-checkout-usability-report-and-benchmark\">16% of buyers</a>&nbsp;will abandon their shopping carts if they can't see or calculate the total order cost upfront. To prevent this from happening, make sure you include the following information on your website:\n<ul>\n<li>Clear pricing&nbsp;– nobody wants to learn the total price when their package is already at their doorstep, so ensure you include any additional costs, such as packaging or transportation expenses.</li>\n<li>Payment options&nbsp;– whatever payment methods your website supports, make sure that the customers can see them. If they have to search your website for this information, they are more likely to bounce off to your competitors.</li>\n<li>Refund policy&nbsp;– make your refund policy clear, and explain it in steps, if you have to. This will help your customer feel more at ease when they buy from you.</li>\n<li>Shipping details&nbsp;– provide a general timeline for deliveries. If you offer next-day delivery, be sure to clarify if this type of service comes with an additional fee.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>\n</ul>\nYou want your customers to trust you and be loyal to your business, and transparency is the way to go.&nbsp;\n<h2>5. Use high-quality images and detailed product descriptions</h2>\nHigh-quality images and detailed product descriptions should help you bridge the gap between the real-world and virtual shopping experience. Try doing the following:\n<ul>\n<li>Offer multi-angle photos of your products.</li>\n<li>Allow your images to zoom in so that your users can see the texture close up.</li>\n<li>Show the photos of your products being used</li>\n<li>Cover details in your product description, such as the fabric type, colors, or sizing.</li>\n</ul>\nThe more your customers know about your products before reaching their buying decision, the less likely they are to return them. In fact,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.seattlewebdesign.com/blog/seattle-web-design-online-marketing-blog/post/three-huge-statistics-about-ecommerce-product-photography-and-what-to-do-about-them\">75% of online buyers</a>&nbsp;rely on product images when deciding on a potential purchase.&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<h2>6. Allow customer reviews on your product pages</h2>\nA survey shows that&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/?SSAID=314743&amp;SSCID=11k7_lieqc\">77% of people</a>&nbsp;will always read product reviews before reaching their purchasing decision. Your job is to make it easy for your customers to leave reviews by simply asking them to do so on your checkout page or designing a pop-up specifically for this purpose.&nbsp;&nbsp;\nSome benefits you can expect from allowing reviews on your website include increased sales and boosted engagement rates.\n<h2>7. Simplify a checkout process</h2>\nResearch shows that&nbsp;<a href=\"https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate\">17% of people</a>&nbsp;will abandon their carts if the checkout process is too complicated or too long.&nbsp;\nSo here is what you can do to make your checkout process as simple as possible and ensure your potential customers don't change their minds at the last minute:\n<ul>\n<li>Show item availability status before the user engages in the checkout process.</li>\n<li>Simplify order modification.</li>\n<li>Offer real-time support.</li>\n<li>Make sure that the&nbsp;back&nbsp;button is functional.</li>\n<li>Display a progress indicator.</li>\n<li>Design a checkout interface free of clutter.</li>\n<li>Make registration optimal and not mandatory.</li>\n</ul>\nThe checkout stage is the last step standing between your visitor and the final purchase so make sure they can complete it fast and easily.\n<h2>Key takeaways</h2>\nTo compete in eCommerce crowded market, you need a user-oriented website. Start with optimizing your search bar for user-friendliness and ensure your website offers the same functionalities on all screen sizes.&nbsp;\nBe true to your customers and offer them high-quality images and detailed product descriptions and they will reward you with positive reviews.\nTry to reduce page loading time to 0-2 seconds and allow your users to complete the checkout process smoothly.\nWe hope our article helped you realize the importance of optimizing your eCommerce website for UX and provided you with valuable tips on how to do it effectively.&nbsp;"}]

Rich Text Content

tor