In this article, we share some of our thoughts on tips you can use to optimize the UX for your eCommerce store.
Tip #1: Browse Top eCommerce Websites for Inspiration
You already have a website and you’re looking for inspiration. The best way to make the right decisions in order to improve the UX on your website is to browse the most popular eCommerce websites on the internet.
The best way to do this is to visit MyIP.ms and do a search for Shopify’s IP address (23.227.38.0). With this, you can look at all of the most popular websites hosted on Shopify’s IP. These are all Shopify stores that are killing it in the eCommerce game thanks to their great UX.
Some popular examples include the following:
What elements of these websites can you implement on your own?
Tip #2: Use More Powerful Images and Words
If you view the websites above, you’ll notice that they all have a strong focus on powerful imagery. In a world where companies are fighting for customer attention online, long paragraphs and text have never been more out.
Put the time and effort to create a unique visual experience like the websites above offer up and your customers will be impressed.
Not only should your images be professional, high quality and very colorful, but they should also be interactive. According to a study done by UPS, only 70% of customers are satisfied with the ability to zoom in on product images.
Tip #3: Don’t Forget About Responsive Design
In a study, 48% of customers say they felt frustrated about websites that were poorly optimized for mobile. This is a big deal when 63.5% of eCommerce sales are made on a mobile device. That number is only going to go up.
Building a great user experience on a desktop is important, but putting time and effort into crafting a great experience that’s responsive for all display sizes is just as crucial.
Once your desktop store is ready, you need to test, test, and test your mobile version over and over. Go through every last inch of the website. Test all buttons, banners, images, and widgets.
You need to ensure that everything flows smoothly and make adjustments where things aren’t quite up to scratch.
Tip #4: Add Personalised Product Recommendations
Adding personalized product recommendations based on the items a customer is browsing can be a very powerful way to add a personal touch.
Personalized recommendations impress the customer and increase sales. 31% of sales on eCommerce websites are attributed to customized product recommendations, according to this study.
Tip #5: Give Customers Tools to Serve Themselves
A report states that more than 90% of customers prefer to go to a brand’s website and make informed purchases without the need for having to contact customer service in any way.
What does this mean for your eCommerce store? To start with, you should include an FAQ with all of the questions and answers anybody could ever need to know about your business. Standard questions like shipping times, returns, and refunds should be covered.
The FAQ should be accessible and easy for visitors to understand. If you are able, you should strive to provide more self-service features too, such as onsite order tracking or richer product details.
Tip #6: Ask for Customer Feedback or Opinions from Others
One set of eyes won’t be enough to solve all of the potential shortfalls of your website. Add a feedback option for visitors and customers to use so that they can give you their thoughts on their experience.
Not able to gather enough data from your customers? Ask your friends, your family, or other members working on your eCommerce store.
Ask for opinions on everything from website layout to selected images and colors. Ask people what they think should be changed.
You don’t have to make the changes that are suggested to you, but you should take note of them, regardless. The more information you gather, the more you can learn about what may or may not need changing.
Tip #7: Use a WordPress Page Builder
WordPress is no longer a tool for bloggers. Thanks to powerful WordPress page builders, it’s now very easy to create beautiful, responsive websites without any coding knowledge.
WordPress Page Builders make it easier to build your website from scratch. Page builders also make it convenient to stage changes, introduce new features, and update content across your entire website.
Collaboration is far easier because coding isn’t necessary, although if you do know CSS it can go a long way. With a good WordPress visual editor and CSS coding knowledge, your options are practically limitless. In fact, some WordPress hosting providers even come with page builders preinstalled.
Summary
That sums up our look at 7 tips for optimizing UX for your eCommerce store. We hope that this blog has been an interesting read. What are your thoughts on these suggestions?
About the Author
Michelle Deery is the content writer for for Heroic Search. She has been featured in publications such as Entrepreneur. She specializes in writing copy about eCommerce and marketing.
