How To Improve User Experience On Ecommerce Website

Some business owners tend to pay little to no attention to a customer’s user experience of an eCommerce website. Since the website is the bread and butter of an online business, it’s crucial to ensure that a customer is satisfied and make a purchase to boost conversions. A good user experience also helps to increase customer loyalty. If you’re wondering how to improve user experience on eCommerce websites, in this article, we explore deeper on the methods that are proven effective.

What is eCommerce user experience? 

eCommerce user experience stands for the overall experience of a user when they interact with an online store. Some of the aspects include successful checkout, navigation and how easily customers can look for their desired product. To achieve good user experience, it requires various optimization and strategies to ensure a customer is satisfied while browsing through the website. 

Why is eCommerce user experience important? 

Ensuring good eCommerce user experience is important as a poor one could cause you to lose customers. To ensure you increase conversion rates, having good user experience will help to encourage customers to make purchases and become recurring customers. Thus, increase overall revenue and customer base. 

A good user experience is also one of the factors that influence the website rankings on search engines. With a good user experience, the eCommerce websites can appear higher in search engines. 

How to improve user experience on eCommerce website?

There are many ways on how to improve user experience on eCommerce websites. Here are some of the common methods: 

1. Optimize the website loading speed

An crucial method on how to improve user experience on eCommerce website is to make sure that your loading speed is fast. Most customers aren’t patient enough to wait long for the website to load. They prefer a website which enables them to make purchases fast and easily. 

You can optimize your website loading speed through reducing the server response time or reduce the image file sizes. 

2. Optimize for mobile  

You should also ensure that the eCommerce website is mobile-friendly as most customers use mobile devices to search and make purchases. It’s also much faster to make purchases compared to using a laptop or desktop. 

Ensure your eCommerce website is responsive to all screen sizes without any issues. Do include mobile-friendly features as well to make it easier for customers to perform an action within small screen sizes. 

3. Create a seamless checkout process

One of the important methods on how to improve user experience on eCommerce website is to ensure the checkout process is simple and easy for customers. If your checkout process is too complicated or tedious, customers will abandon their carts and leave without purchasing anything as they get frustrated or impatient. 

The checkout process should include clear instructions and display the progress of checkout so that customers are aware which part of the checkout stage they are currently at. 

4. Enable the Search & Filters functionality

Most customers prefer to look for specific products as they already have a rough idea on what they want to purchase. Hence, having the search and filters functionality helps customers to quickly find what they’re looking for that matches their requirements and needs. 

For the filters, include categories such as size, colour, brand, or price. Include sorting functions as well such as from low to high price and most popular items. 

5. Use high-quality images

The main important aspect which influences a customer’s purchasing decision is the images. Customers usually will look at how the product looks like before buying them. Since customers can’t get a good look of the product like how they would in a physical store, images play an important role.

Consider taking photos from multiple angles of the products to give customers a comprehensive view of the product. Do include close-up photos of the products as well. Make sure the photos are high-quality to portray the true essence of the product. 

6. Include creative and user-centered content writing

Another one of the ways on how to improve user experience on eCommerce website would be to include easy-to-read content throughout your website. Customers wouldn’t want to scratch their head trying to read a sentence. 

For example, the product descriptions should explain the product and influence them to make a purchase. Furthermore, the descriptions all across the website should be clear and concise to provide the information that most customers are looking for. 

7. Provide various payment channels 

Every customer has their own preferred way of making payments. It would provide a better user experience if you provide all kinds of payment methods. Limiting payment methods might frustrate customers and lead to cart abandonment without making any purchases.

For instance, some of the major payment methods are credit or debit cards, QR pay, digital e-wallet, PayPal and bank transfers. 

8. Add customer reviews to the product pages 

To increase your conversion rates and improve user experience on eCommerce websites, adding customer reviews or testimonials is one of the best ways. It shows that your products are well-loved by customers and that you’re an authentic eCommerce store. 

You can either display the reviews on the homepage or on each product page. Consider responding to some of the reviews as well if you have the time as it creates a closer bond with your customers. 

9. Create useful call-to-actions (CTAs) 

Call-to-actions are one of the most powerful aspects of an eCommerce website as they can influence the customer’s purchasing decision. Therefore, making use of CTAs can greatly improve the user experience by encouraging customers to make smarter purchases while offering a seamless process right up to checkout. 

Some of the ways you can do so would be to include clear CTAs that are straightforward and make use of actionable text instead of buttons. Try not to overload the website pages with too many CTA buttons as it could be unattractive to a customer’s eyes. 

10. Include personalized product recommendations 

A customer requires guidance while purchasing products, much like how a sales assistant will help customers in a physical retail store. Hence, providing personalized product recommendations for customers on your eCommerce website helps the customers to make better decisions. 

You can include ‘people also buy’ at the checkout or product pages. Besides that, you could also include products that are similar to the ones the customers have bought previously on the homepage or throughout the product pages. 

11. Provide smooth navigation 

It should be a no-brainer when a user navigates through your website. If a user struggles to navigate your website, it’s a sign of a bad user experience. 

Organizing your website menu and structure makes it easy for users to find what they’re looking for. For instance, consider putting your top categories at the top menu or separating men and women into different menu categories. You can also separate the menu categories into different body sizes such as ‘plus size’. 

Conclusion 

Now that you’ve understood the importance of user experience and various ways to improve user experience on eCommerce websites, you can start to implement them on your websites. This will not only attract new customers but also encourage existing customers to make recurring purchases. If you’re still unsure how to improve your website’s user experiences, feel free to learn more about the importance of website design in digital marketing or contact us as our experts are ready to guide you further!