Consumers make up their mind about your website and/or app in the first few seconds of a visit. This defines user experience and influences the way your customers will interact with your business.
Does it look trustworthy? Is it easy to navigate? What are they selling and is it relevant to me? These are the questions you should be asking to know why you should improve your UX.
Those precious few seconds are pivotal to pushing the user to explore further and ultimately engage and make a purchase. Yet, there’s more to it than judging on looks alone.
Sure, your website looks pretty, but does it function?
User Experience (UX) is about more than what just meets the eye. There’s substance involved. Plus, a tonne of research.
What does User Experience mean?
UX experience combines art and science. Creating an attractive website in itself is not enough. You need to think about how the customer uses your website and what they wish to get out of it. By focusing on your customers’ journey, you can guide them to making specific decisions at different points in the buying process.
Why is good UX important?
Great UX means you are committed to the customer. It’s beyond staring at a screen with thousands of products staring back at you. It is not the messy sale rack but a clean space with clearly labelled products. It’ the ‘can I help you?’ when you enter a brick and mortar store. It’s not ‘cash only’ but multiple payment methods and delivery options. You may not meet your customers face-to-face but the interactions and the service still need to be there.
Why and how can I improve my UX?
The goal for all eCommerce businesses is to boost their sales. That’s a given. UX enables businesses to boost conversions, customer retention and purchase frequency.
According to Forbes, if businesses improved their UX design, conversion rates could rise by up to 400%. It’s a proven exercise that has seen small businesses grow tenfold because their online presence is now a more reliable and attractive offering.
By improving functionality, you are solidifying the trust between customer and brand. Your website immediately seems more secure and your products more accessible. While the content you create should aim to draw your customers in before they even look at your merchandise.
Our Creative & Operations Director, Chris Baker, gives us his insight into why UX design and consumer research is instrumental in securing your customers’ trust.
Customers have never had more choice or higher expectations. Every element of your business that fails to meet or exceed expectations erodes engagement and trust, thus providing another reason to leave.
By taking a user-centric approach, we can:
- avoid the risk of building the wrong thing;
- meet and exceed user needs; and
- create something they’ll want to come back to time after time.
User research is flexible enough to fit most budgets. It’s also less expensive and risky than producing something based on assumptions or out-of-date data.
5 tips to improve your UX
In order to improve your website’s user experience, we’ve highlighted some tips below to enhance your eCommerce UX.
Call to Action
Introduce clear buttons with a good flow. Navigating your website should be easy. For each page, identify the main action you want your customers to take and then make sure your design compliments this action.
Speed
Don’t make your customers wait. A slow page load is a surefire way to send your customers to a competitor. An eCommerce agency can help find the source of your slow site speed and find a solution.
A/B Testing
Let your customers tell you what’s wrong. Conduct A/B testing of your pages and analyse their journey. Glew Analytics is a vital tool when it comes to understanding why and how your customers make the decisions they do.
Smooth Checkout
There’s nothing worse than losing a customer at the final hurdle. They’re ready to hit that purchase button but something is getting in the way. Is it the annoying pop-up about signing up for a newsletter? Or perhaps it’s the limited payment gateways available? Whatever it is, you need to simplify it. Make purchasing quick, clean and easy, and it will get done.
Clear Branding
What was the name of that brand again? Don’t let unclear branding and a bland website be your downfall to customer retention. Be memorable. Include beautiful, engaging imagery and high-quality product photographs. Looks may not be everything, but they can still be important.
If you’re ready to boost those conversions and get your customers back onside, our team specialise in great eCommerce UX. Get in touch today!
