User Experience / Is bad user experience killing your eCommerce site?

Is bad user experience killing your eCommerce site?

Andy Thorne
man on laptop with geometric shapes

There’s no secret to success in online retailing. It comes down to website performance, digital marketing and making sure that a bad user experience doesn’t kill your eCommerce venture. What does bad UX involve?

A shocking 90% of eCommerce businesses fail in their first 120 days, according to multiple sources including online news forums Forbes and the Huff Post.

This is not usually a product issue. In many cases, it’s due to simple and avoidable mistakes in how to design an eCommerce website and the level of customer service you provide.

When you’ve invested heavily in creating a strong product portfolio – and in active and far-reaching digital marketing – to still crash and burn is heartbreaking. Yet, this can be avoided if you understand the importance of User Experience (UX) in eCommerce.

The fact is, good SEO and paid for ad campaigns can only drive traffic to your website. Converting those leads into buoyant sales is down to the user experience.

But this isn’t an instant one-time fix. If you don’t continuous evaluate and update your UX, your lead conversion rate will take a serious dip, and you’re strangling your own sales.

One of the biggest pitfalls is putting faith in eCommerce website designers who create something that looks amazing, without the essential elements of good UX.

The best online shops match aesthetic appearance to being user-centric, delving into the psychology of consumer decision-making and behaviours. Let’s look in more detail at some of the UX fundamentals that could be killing your e-commerce site.

Lack of a responsive website

illustration of desk top and mobile website views

You could be cutting off half of your market if your website doesn’t perform well across devices.

Over 50% of eCommerce sales are now coming from mobile devices according to 2018 results. And that statistic is constantly rising. The reliance on wearable tech and voice-controlled devices is also affecting consumer buying behaviours.

So, if you don’t have a responsive website – optimised to perform well on any device and browser – you’re cutting off half of your market.

Customers visiting an eCommerce site on their mobile phone, who find it squished, distorted, bewildering, or clunky to navigate, won’t just click off. They won’t come back either.

Poor Navigation

illustration of laptop screen

Make sure your brand statements are loud and proud so users can move quickly and intuitively to what they want to buy.

The second a visitor arrives on your site, they should be able to see your brand statements loud and proud to assure them they you are the right company for them. Then, they should be able to move quickly and intuitively to what they want to buy.

The basics of eCommerce UX include well-categorised product pages, clear drop-down menus and a way to search for specific items.

With time spent on websites reducing, the slightest ambiguity in your site navigation could mean your visitor goes else where.

Let’s talk about forms

example of guest checkout email capture

Keep your payment system slick and efficient to avoid a massive pile of abandoned eCommerce carts.

The growing impatience of modern online consumers also creates an aversion to long-form fields. Including laborious eCommerce checkout systems.

One of the best ways to solve this is to add auto-fill to online shop payment pages, especially to duplicate delivery address and billing address automatically. It’s a simple, logical investment in good UX and an easy way to avoid bad user experience.

Also, letting people buy as ‘guests’ rather than demanding they always fill out registration forms could mean more of your site visitors turn in to paying customers. Keeping your payment system slick and efficient will avoid a massive pile of abandoned eCommerce carts.

Misunderstanding mobile user behaviour

female using mobile phone

Mobile users are ‘on the go’. They want to find, select and pay for items seamlessly and quickly.

This builds on some of the eCommerce UX pitfalls mentioned above. People shopping using mobile devices show variations in behaviour compared to desktop purchasers. They are ‘on the go’ and want to find, select and pay for items seamlessly and quickly.

Have you got an eCommerce website that makes mobile internet shopping painless and fast?

Slow website speed

loading graphic illustration example

Successful, unique eCommerce websites incorporate swift loading speeds.

It’s horrifying this is still an issue that kills off promising eCommerce ventures. It gives our creative and business-orientated website design team nightmares.

Yet, there are still online shop designs that take far too long to load up. Or, visitors are expected to patiently wait while new pages, payment forms and other features load. There are even sites where shopping baskets inexplicably empty, making the visitor start again.

It’s the best way to make your eCommerce venture bleed leads, instead of converting them.

Successful, unique eCommerce websites incorporate swift loading speeds. Achieved by such things as not adding unnecessary plugins or too many images, and by using industry-leading website architecture.

Banish bad user experience – the eCommerce killers

Yes, bad UX will kill your online shop.

However, the solution can be at your fingertips. Contact Factory Pattern to discuss the best eCommerce designs for UX, and make sure your venture is one of the success stories.