Why is UX Design Important For E-commerce Websites?

Have you ever been in a hurry but just couldn’t make it to that “Purchase Complete” screen on your phone? Have you ever searched for 5 minutes only to never find the promo code box to enter that 50% off coupon? Or even worse, have you had a cart full of items fail to save?

These are all common examples of poor user experience for e-commerce websites. Needless to say, good UX design is vitally important to the online retail shopping process. Good UX makes it easy for people to buy products efficiently and often. The fewer clicks it takes to get to that “Purchase Complete” screen, the less time your customers have to second-guess completing their purchase.

Here are some of our best tips for improving your e-commerce site's user experience:

1. Solid Organization & Information Architecture

By utilizing simple site navigation and logical hierarchy, your website will allow information to flow in a sensical structure for visitors.

Making customers dig through fewer pages or links means they can find the information they need in a shorter amount of time, allowing more time to be spent browsing for other items they’re also interested in buying.

To implement better information architecture on your website, consider researching how other major corporations organize their products on their navigational menus. The closer your categories are labeled and structured to what people are most familiar with, the easier this ultimately makes your products to find. For instance, if a customer is looking to buy women’s tank tops, having a clear flow of information from “Women’s Clothing” to “Tops” to “Tank Tops” makes the information intuitively easy to discover in a navigational menu. Meanwhile, providing comprehensive search and filtering options for each of your significant departments provides an alternative method for visitors to find the products they are looking for. The less mess, the less stress––so keep your website organized and structured.

2. Simple, Easy Transactions

Quick transactions and simple check-out interfaces allow customers to buy what they need in a matter of seconds. And when you make it easy for customers to navigate transactions, you also make it easier for them to buy things faster and more often.

Amazon Prime knew the value of fast checkouts when they created the “1-Click” purchase, allowing customers to simply hit one button and complete the entire checkout process in the blink of an eye. While the 1-Click purchase option may be too lightning-fast for some customers’ preferences, it still illustrates the value of accessible, efficient checkout processes. And even though the 1-Click purchase may not be perfect for every e-commerce store, adding functions like Apple or Google Pay can still be a great alternative to simplifying your checkout process.

3. Stored Site History

Investing in caching your users’ history can pay off huge dividends. Utilizing past views to recommend other products your user might be interested in creates an easier route to discovering new merchandise. Similarly, allowing users to store favorites, create lists, and save the items in their cart simplifies the buying experience and encourages future purchasing. And we all know how frustrating it can be when your cart fails to save the item you just spent 2 hours searching for.

4. Clear, Concise Language

Using clear, simple language that’s easy to understand for readers of all comprehension levels is essential to appealing to customers from all walks of life. The faster and easier it is for users to navigate to where they want to go, the better user retention rates you will begin to see for your e-commerce website. Plus, let’s face it, who really wants to read paragraphs of information to get to where they want to go? Less is more, especially in the world of retail advertising. So be smart and keep it simple.

5. Using Specific Calls to Action

In the land of retail shopping, using specific language that tells customers exactly what action(s) you want them to perform is essential. In marketing, this is referred to as a “call to action.” A call to action is simply how you communicate the end goal of your e-commerce webpage to your users.

It can be anything from a button that says “Buy Now” to a link that says “Sign Up Here.” When customers are given a specific action to perform, the chances are much higher that they will choose to do it, which it’s why it’s crucial to include a call to action on your website. For more information, you can click the link in our bio.

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Final Thoughts

When a customer can easily navigate a retail website, they can find what they need within a few seconds, making it easy to add more products to their shopping cart. Similarly, the quicker an online transaction can occur, the less time a user has to spend second-guessing their purchase.

To sum it up: Good UX design makes it easier for consumers to purchase your products more often. And isn’t that what all businesses want?

If you need help with your e-commerce website’s UX design and user pathways, we’d love to help. Feel free to get in touch.

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