When you visit any brick-and-mortar store, you are often greeted by salesmen who look into your query and suggest products accordingly, depending on your budget. In the end, you leave the store feeling confident and happy about your purchase. This interaction determines the experience you have with that brand during every step of your buying journey. With the world going increasingly online, eCommerce stores need to provide a similar user experience to attract and retain customers. For an eCommerce store visitor, the first impression is often the last, and brands have to strive to create a lasting memory in the first brief seconds.Better UI could raise your website’s conversion rate by 200%, and better UX design could yield conversion rates of up to 400%. – Forrester

The user experience of a website determines how a visitor feels after visiting the website and has a direct correlation to the purchase making decision. However, with rapidly changing digital trends your website may feel outdated and require changes to meet the new customer demand. In this article, we help you navigate improving the UX of your website to stay relevant to the current times:

1. Optimize your website

A well-optimized and designed website is more likely to retain its position and attract users. When people search for related products, your website must rank high to get the right set of eyeballs. Ranking high on search engines like Google and Bing means that you are on the right track. Having the right keywords and a good product description is essential in ensuring a well-optimized website. It is also vital to consider seamless navigation for your website for the ease of customers. 

2. Seamless navigation

73% of mobile internet users have come across slow-to-load websites. – Neil PatelSpeed is the topmost factor and the delay of even a few seconds can negatively affect a site’s UX. It should be seamless, enabling users to find products easily. The website should ideally place the most sought after products on the top where customers can find and shop easily. Keep concise and clear Call to Actions (CTAs) to convert incoming traffic to sales. An easy checkout process also aids customers in completing the process in a few easy clicks. Many buyers abandon a purchase owing to a lengthy checkout process, and this must be avoided.

3. Provide an omnichannel experience

If your customers are present across all channels on the internet, then you should be too. Delivering a successful omnichannel experience is crucial in ensuring a great user experience. It provides a unified and similar brand image to users across all platforms and channels. Omnichannel marketing can greatly improve conversions by engaging customers similarly across all channels of its operation. Incorporate live chat options in your website to interact with customers on a real-time basis. The adoption of chatbot services makes customer service available round the clock, thereby further elevating the user experience.

4. Delight and surprise your customers

Organizations that understand the importance of retaining customers take steps to delight them in every part of the customer journey. A few steps that you can take as an eCommerce store to surprise and engage customers include:

Emailing them a post-purchase thank you message. You can also include a short survey of their shopping experience.Provide reward or loyalty points that can be redeemed in their next purchase.Implement a referral program strategy to incentivize buyers to refer your site or products.Surprise buyers with free shipping options or incentives for completing their purchase to reduce cart abandonment.

5. Be creative 

Minimalism is the way forward for modern websites. If your website is cluttered, or filled with too much text, it will likely not sustain viewer attention resulting in loss of sales. Rather than having information spread all over, focus on key points and products that drive maximum revenue. Incorporate eye-catchy elements to capture audience attention to key messaging and products. Use eye-catchy elements like graphics, user-generated content, videos, etc. to bring home the sale. Use minimum content with bold and minimalistic typography for increased engagement.

6. Personalize the experience

The era of personalized emails is passe. You need to personalize the buyer’s journey based on their location, search history, previous purchases, preferences, etc. These recommended results compel buyers to buy from your site and don’t make them waste time looking for specific products. Use different categories like “Recommended for you”, “Based on your interests”, “Bestsellers” to suggest products and services that your customer might be interested in. Apart from this, your eCommerce store can also send messages or pop-ups for discounts, cart abandonment messages, sales or promotional stuff to incentivize purchase.53% of mobile site visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load.There is cut-throat competition in the world of eCommerce compelling store owners to up their ante by providing a superior user experience. To craft a compelling strategy, it is important to try out new ideas that can influence a positive user experience.