Why is UX design essential in eCommerce?

What is eCommerce User Experience (UX)?

User Experience (UX) in eCommerce is all about providing a smooth and seamless online experience for site customers. It’s about providing a simple, intuitive and enjoyable shopping experience which can in turn help increase customer satisfaction and purchase rates.

When done right, user experience will enhance every touch point a user has with an online eCommerce site. At the end of the day, a positive onsite experience will lead to return customers and that’s what all retailers want, right?!

And not forgetting mobile…..mobile eCommerce UX is just as, if not more, important with the majority of online shopping being carried out on a mobile device.

So let’s look at the importance of UX in a little more detail and explore how exactly strong UX in eCommerce can benefit a site.

Good UX improves site usability

Online shoppers intuitively expect to see certain bits of information on an eCommerce site at certain times. By ensuring the user journey is clearly laid out and easy to use, customers have a much more positive experience. They are able to access their products more easily and continue through the purchase journey quickly.

It is also important to ensure any queries can be answered efficiently, so having features such as the Q&A section easily accessible can help with this.

A good UX design therefore helps users to make decisions and find certain bits of information without having to spend a lot of time looking for what they need.

Build customer loyalty and win back customers

High customer loyalty should be a top priority for any eCommerce business.

In order to build customer loyalty, you need to gain customer trust. A well designed site which provides a seamless user experience can help to speed up this process.

A well thought out eCommerce UX will consider any problems that users may encounter during the purchase journey. It will ensure these hurdles are removed with an end result of higher customer retention rate and increased loyalty.

Visually appealing

Visual aspects of a site can directly impact how a customer can feel about shopping with your brand. Design, colours and layout are just some examples of visual elements that brand’s should give strategic consideration to as they contribute towards creating a story that users can connect with. Interactive elements such as video and animation are a great way to create an onsite experience which can increase user engagement.

An over-crowded, cluttered visual with unclear and unclear CTA’s could cause confusion, frustration for example, leading to negative associations with a brand.

Strong UX improves Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) refers to a site’s ranking position within search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher a site ranks, the more users are likely to click through and visit the site. It is therefore in retailers interest to pay particular attention to making sure their website is SEO optimised. eCommerce UX elements can determine how well your website ranks on Google.

The reasons behind the importance of UX are endless. User-focused benefits, such as enhanced usability and engagement, increased customer loyalty and conversion rates, as well as improved SEO.

At 5874, our experienced eCommerce team can help take your website to the next level. We’re multi award-winning commerce specialists with over 10 years in the industry. Our UX team creates remarkable, best-in-class customer experiences, We use UX research to deliver human-centred experiences that support your business’s needs.

Get in touch with us today by emailing success@5874commerce.com or calling 0121 369 5874 to start the conversation!