Many brands think that a good-looking website is synonymous with an excellent user experience. However, that’s not the case, since they are many good-looking websites that have a high bounce rate. In fact, a Forrester report1 states that a better User Interface (UI) can increase website conversion rates by 200%, and better User Experience (UX) can raise conversion rates by 400%.

?  Tip: Amp up your UX/UI strategies to boost your digital commerce journey 

In this blog, we shall discuss how merchants can focus on the UI/UX elements of their site and stay away from some of the common mistakes for higher conversion and lower bounce rates.

1 https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/ux-statistics/#gref

Common UX/UI Mistakes and their Solutions

Non-Responsive Site: A report by Statista2 says that in 2020, 90% of the global internet population used a mobile device to go online. Hence, having a mobile-friendly site is crucial. A responsive site that offers a device-specific eCommerce experience should be the objective. However, when you develop a site using Magento 2.0, ensure that you customize it as per business requirements. Magento supports headless architecture and then there are the PWAs, which can make building a responsive site far easier.

Pro Tip: Opening a policy-related document in a separate browser window is nice to have a feature for an uninterrupted shopping journey

2 https://www.statista.com/topics/779/mobile-internet/

Slow Loading Time: Despite being incredible, it’s true that 53% of mobile visitors3 leave a site if it takes over three seconds to load. A site with a longer load time may lose significant numbers of potential customers and, as a retailer, you cannot afford that. The solution is having a highly optimized site. Do not make your site too heavy with multiple images and videos. As far as the Magento eCommerce platform is concerned, only use images that satisfy the Magento requirements. Magento has the default capability to optimize your images and make them more presentable at the front-end. Similarly, videos make an eCommerce site heavier, impacting the load time. Hence, it’s better to have your site lightweight with the necessary elements alone.

3 https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/ux-statistics/#gref

Complex Navigation Path: A default feature of the Magento commerce cloud is to offer filter and sorting features. However, a common mistake that merchants make is adding too many elements. It is recommended to have a seamless and straightforward navigation path. If users need to pass through multiple steps to find their desired product, they might be turned off and leave the site mid-way. Instead, it’s better to have a user-friendly navigation path with dynamic filter and sorting options along with improved search features.

Weak and Absent CTAs: The goal of a retailer is to have more customers and the first step for that is to have users take the desired action. Many brands seem to understand it vaguely and end up with CTAs that are irrelevant or weak. However, if you are seeking higher conversions, you must have powerful and relevant CTAs so that customers do not wander away. For example, when a product is out of stock, a CTA should say, ‘NOTIFY ME’ against the product to avoid confusion and frustration among customers. These are small things but can take your digital commerce a long way.

Inadequate Product Description: Nowadays, customers are conscious buyers and they prefer having a thorough look at the components of a product before making a purchase. Hence, if you have meager product information or if your product description page opens in a separate tab, it can be cumbersome for users. It’s a better practice to have a detailed product description on the same page so that users can easily hover over the products and get their desired information. The rule of the thumb is to avoid customer disappointment.

?  The other side of the Coin: Do not overwhelm users with too much product information.

Confused Checkout Process: Shopping cart abandonment is pretty common, and it’s one of the biggest sources of income loss for eCommerce merchants. To avoid such instances, offer your customers with seamless shopping experience by limiting the number of steps that they need to undergo for completion. Also, don’t forget to include guest checkout because many users don’t have the time to log in and complete the purchase, while some of them aren’t comfortable sharing their personal information online.

Besides, it’s important that merchants offer a clear break-up of all the additional fees that would eventually add up to the money that the customer has to pay. Whether it is the shipping cost, rush-hour fee, or the local tax, each of them has to be mentioned outright on the checkout screen. Customers dislike surprises and if they discover some unexpected cost at the last moment, they may quickly abandon the cart.

Limited Payment Options: Every shopper differs from the other, and as a retailer, the last thing that you can assume is everyone will prefer similar paying options. That’s never the case. You should widen your horizon and include multiple payment options so that you don’t lose out on a single customer due to incompatible payment options. The same goes with the delivery timeline, so it’s better to include both standard and urgent delivery. It’s a trusted way to cater to a wider audience.

Key Takeaways

The scope of UX and UI is huge. But businesses need to understand what’s most important for their business and their target audience. It’s recommended to have not just the nice-to-have features but the ones that are necessary. Neither too much nor too less is good, tread on a path that’s apt for your business and give your UX a careful thought, put yourself in the shoes of your user to tell their problems, and once you know those, you have won half the battle. Last and not least, UX and UI investments not only increase sales, customer retention, ROI but also induce higher search results with reduced expenses.

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