A thirty-something Millennial is shopping for a cool running shoe she spotted on an Instagram sponsored post. She clicks through to the eCommerce site. The site takes forever to load on her mobile — she can’t buy the item without registering, nor can she find the return policy or contact info for customer service. She leaves faster than Usain Bolt can sprint 100 meters.
Even with worldwide eCommerce revenues scaling new heights to the tune of trillions of dollars every year, when it comes to eCommerce UX, shoppers still tend to be considered last. How many billions are lost due to shopping cart and checkout abandonment? Who hasn’t flown into a computer rage because an eCommerce site wouldn’t accept a credit card or a phone number?
Many eCommerce businesses are still focused on the numbers and are typically put together by engineering teams. Sadly, UX continues to be considered as something to be added later. Subsequently, many eCommerce companies with billions of dollars in annual revenue (including some big names) still don’t get the user experience right. If they committed to making their eCommerce user experience more seamless and pleasurable, these giant, billion-dollar names could add even more billions to their bottom line.
Nevertheless, there is light at the end of the eCommerce tunnel. Despite countless online merchants still not being on board with the idea that better UX results in higher revenues, almost three-quarters (74%) of businesses believe that user experience is important for improving sales.
Clearly, there’s much work to be done on the UX front. The executive suite, product management, and developers can be convinced of some eCommerce UX best practices. After all, building the near-perfect eCommerce store is not impossible. Savvy UX designers can align eCommerce site designs around well-researched and time-tested standards and conventions.
By 2020, user experience will replace price and product as the key brand differentiator. — Jonathan Beckman, Founder of Apptourage
Here are some vital eCommerce UX best practices that will elevate the user experience and in consequence give rise to improved sales.
