Year after year, a noticeable transformation happens in online customer behavior. For ecommerce platforms, understanding this evolving behavior and meeting the customer demands are key for a successful run. UX UI design is a discipline that focuses on user satisfaction and engagement; ecommerce platforms must leverage it extensively. Reports say that more than 75% of opinions about a website’s credibility depend on its design. That’s a significant number to look at!
There are several best practices to follow when designing ecommerce sites. In this article, we explore 7 of them. So, without further ado, let’s look at them individually.
1. Excellent category taxonomy
Since ecommerce sites are big, with lots of pages and content, category taxonomy is important to make the site usable. With the quintessential goal to help users find what they need easily and quickly, the site content must be classified, organized, labeled, and interlinked.
As a first rule, the number of categories and subcategories must be kept at a reasonable number that is easy to manage and scan. Too many choices can be overwhelming and confusing for users. Also, it's important to eliminate redundant or overlapping categories. Develop category taxonomy by ensuring that the structuring is logical and well-defined.
It's also not advised to keep shallow parent categories. The best practice is to create clickable, broad parent categories with hierarchical subcategories. This allows users to get an overview of the entire category before deciding on the appropriate subcategory.
2. Broader search terms
When people are searching for products, all of them won’t type in a universal search query. The query may be different depending on each person. Some may use abbreviations, while others may input their regional slang. If those searches give no results, users may assume that the site does not sell those products.
Using broader search terms is necessary to give users the best search experience. When creating product catalogs, the ecommerce site must ensure that they factor in all the possible scenarios like abbreviations and slang. To achieve this, search logs, customer conversations, support calls, etc. can be monitored and used.
3. Smart and fast loading
As Steve Krug says in his book, Don’t make me think, people, go online to save time, not to waste it. One of the biggest time wasters in ecommerce platforms is page loading. Proper design of product pages can save people time. Instead of using pagination or endless scrolling on product pages, using lazy loading can create a big difference. Not only does it save system resources and improve performance, but it also enhances the user experience.
4. Use product videos
Over the past two years, people have started consuming video content increasingly. Videos convey information more clearly and are a preferred means of acquiring knowledge. Using product videos can shoot up ecommerce sales as it helps people explore products in detail and learn about them quickly. In product pages, using product videos along with images and descriptions is an ecommerce design best practice.
Ecommerce platforms like Amazon have started integrating product videos into their site. The site reports significant improvement in sales for products that have videos, as it builds confidence in the product and puts the users at ease about making the purchasing decision.
5. Provide FAQs in the footer
Users are always in a rush to find answers to their enquiries quickly. Rarely do they have the time or patience to connect to a customer service executive via email or chat before making a purchase decision. And with each second that a user spends on a website without making any purchase, the chances of them converting get slimmer and slimmer. FAQs can provide an effective solution to this problem.
By providing a comprehensive FAQ section in the footer, where all the frequent questions are addressed, a common user pain point can be addressed easily. FAQs are proven to increase the conversion and engagement rate and are a great way to improve the user experience on websites.
6. Stay with conventions
Some websites play around with conventions in the name of creativity, which is not a recommended practice, particularly for ecommerce platforms. People are used to seeing specific elements placed at certain locations. For example, the cart icon on the top right corner, the menu icon on the top left corner, and so on are standards that users expect in every ecommerce site.
Diverting from these standards or not using them prominently can adversely impact the user experience and lead to difficulties for users in performing basic functionalities.
7. Leverage social media
Social media is an essential marketing channel today and where most of the target audience goes to know about products in detail before buying. Not only should every ecommerce platform have a presence on social media platforms, but the profiles should also be leveraged on the website for maximum effectiveness.
Before making a purchase decision, most people check out the products/services on social platforms to gain an idea about credibility and effectiveness. By prominently displaying the social profiles, it becomes easier for users to check them out and form a good impression about the ecommerce platform.
As customer expectations are rapidly evolving, adopting the best ecommerce practices has become necessary for businesses to stay competitive. The 7 best practices discussed in this article are high in relevance and importance in today’s times. As the field of ecommerce grows and competition increases, following the best practices will give you leverage while ensuring that you are meeting your customer needs efficiently.