Are you wondering if your eCommerce site is up to par with the latest industry standards? Do you know which factors truly drive conversions and customer satisfaction?
In case you’re unsure, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 user experience features that every eCommerce site should have to help you turn casual browsers into loyal shoppers.
From responsive design that ensures your site looks great on any device to lightning-fast load times that keep customers engaged, this guide will equip you with the knowledge to create an online shopping experience that stands out from the crowd. Stay tuned!
- Responsive Design and Mobile Compatibility
We live in a mobile-obsessed world.
People are constantly on their phones, checking emails, scrolling through social media, and, yes – shopping.
This means your eCommerce site has to be mobile-friendly first, so that your customers can easily find what they want and make a purchase.
Otherwise – off they go to a competitor who offers them a seamless mobile shopping experience. And you don’t want that, do you?
But it’s not just about mobile. Tablets and laptops are also significant players in the eCommerce game.
That’s why you need a responsive design and an intuitive dashboard: to ensure your site looks fantastic, functions flawlessly, and effortlessly delivers everything your customers crave, regardless of the device they’re using.
Remember, a happy customer is a loyal customer, and these are some of the first steps to building that loyalty.
- SEO Optimization Features
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization tools, are all about making your website visible to search engines like Google.
When people search for products related to your store, you want your website to pop up at the top of the results. To achieve this, you need to use keywords strategically.
Now, keywords are the words and phrases people type into search engines. For example, if you sell shoes, you might use keywords like “women’s sneakers,” “comfortable sandals,” or “best running shoes.”
The power of SEO tools is that they can help you identify the right ones for your eCommerce site.
After you find them, it’s all about creating high-quality content that’s relevant and engaging to your target audience. SEO tools can help you with that too by optimizing your product descriptions, blog posts, and other website content to attract more visitors.
But remember, SEO is an ongoing process – not an overnight thing.
It takes time to understand your customers, their needs, and the words they use when searching online. Of all the eCommerce website features, this is certainly one worth investing your time and effort into!
- Optimized In-Site Search and Filtering
Many customers find online shopping to be overwhelming.
With countless products just a click away, finding what they’re looking for can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.
But you can guide your customers and make purchasing decisions easier for them with a well-optimized search function. Here’s what we mean by that:
Imagine your customer typing “red dress” into a search bar. As they type, suggestions for “little red dress,” “red maxi dress,” or even “red dress with sleeves” pop up.
This is called predictive search, and it’s kinda like having a personal shopper who knows your style before you do.
Through customer behavior and search history, predictive search learns what people are looking for and suggests relevant options as they type. In the end, this saves customers time and frustration while providing your business with valuable insights into customer preferences and trends.
Another great way to optimize your search function is to make it more advanced.
See, customers want to be able to narrow down their search results based on specific criteria like size, color, price, brand, and material.
You can make this happen by introducing robust filtering systems that deliver both convenience and efficiency to your customers, which is bound to increase customer satisfaction and drive sales.
It’s a win-win for all!
- Live Chat with a Built-In Ticketing System
You know what’s a rare commodity nowadays? Patience.
Customers want answers to their questions – and they want them right now.
With a built-in live chat feature, you can assist your customers at a moment’s notice and deliver on this front, fostering a sense of immediacy and responsiveness that customers crave.
But now that you’ve introduced this feature to your eCommerce site, why not go a step further?
Introduce a system in place to manage those conversations effectively with the power of a built-in ticketing system for all your customer interactions.
For example, imagine a customer shopping for a new laptop. They ask about the processor speed through live chat, and you provide an answer. The next day, they have a question about the battery life.
With a ticketing system, they can easily reopen the previous chat instead of starting a new one, saving both their time and the customer service reps’.
Pretty useful, right?
- Free Shipping and Easy Returns
Free shipping and easy returns: these are the golden tickets to an online shopper’s heart.
Customers love the thrill of finding the perfect item, but the sting of unexpected shipping fees can quickly dampen their enthusiasm.
Still, for many businesses, the idea of absorbing shipping costs and dealing with returns can feel like a financial black hole.
The question is, how can you offer these two while still keeping your bottom line healthy?
Well, for one, you can build the cost into the product price. Instead of slapping on a hefty shipping fee, slightly adjust product prices to cover the shipping costs.
Another tactic is to offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount, which encourages customers to spend more to qualify for free shipping and increases your average order value.
Overall, free shipping and hassle-free returns are great ways to remove some hurdles in your checkout process and show your customers that you trust your products and value their satisfaction.
Making them a part of your eCommerce site and business policy can really be a game-changer!
- Product Reviews and Social Proof
Whenever we’re buying something online for the first time, we’re basically making a leap of faith, right?
We can’t touch the product or try it on; we can only rely on pictures and descriptions to make a decision.
So, how do you convince your customers, who are in this same position, to make those tough purchasing decisions?
Through product reviews and social proof, of course.
Show them that someone else has tried your products and deemed them amazing. Incorporate testimonials, reviews, and even influencer endorsements into your eCommerce site to build trust and credibility.
When your customers see multiple people raving about a product, they too will be more likely to take the plunge.
- Post-Purchase Plugins to Improve Average Order Value (AOV)
This is something that TEMU is doing great right now, and it works like this:
The customer just bought a couple of hairclips. As soon as they hit the “purchase” button, a pop-up appeared suggesting other accessories like earrings, necklaces, or even matching hair ties.
Suddenly, the customer is making a new order, and what makes it even better is that TEMU tells them, “Hey, if you make this purchase in the next x hours, we’ll add it to your previous order and ship it altogether!”
Genius, right?
It is because it capitalizes on the customer’s current shopping mindset. They’re already in “buy mode,” so they’re more receptive to additional offers.
Plus, it creates a sense of excitement and discovery, and who doesn’t love finding the perfect finishing touches for a look?
By offering relevant and complementary products, you too can effectively increase your average order value and build stronger customer relationships. Go give it a try!
- Omnichannel Options
Remember those days when shopping meant only physically going to a store? Well, those days are long gone.
Now, customers expect a seamless shopping experience that blends the best of both worlds: online and offline. So, you gotta give them just that!
Give your customers the flexibility to shop and interact with your brand across multiple channels. Whether they prefer browsing online, making a purchase in-store, or using a mobile app, the experience should be consistent and enjoyable.
For instance, one popular thing that many brands are doing right now is allowing their customers to order goods online and choose to pick them up at a nearby store for easy try-on. If they don’t fit, no problem! They can return them in-store without hassle.
If that’s an option for you too, you might wanna give it a chance.
This is a great way to show your customers that you value their time and convenience, which will ultimately give you a better chance to capture sales that might have been lost if you only offered one channel.
- Security Features (SSL, Secure Payment Gateway)
With online shopping also comes sharing some pretty sensitive information. From credit card numbers to personal addresses, there’s a lot at stake.
That’s why security is an absolute non-negotiable for any eCommerce site. It’s also why protecting customer data and ensuring secure transactions should be at the top of every online retailer’s priority list.
The first line of defense is, certainly, an SSL certificate. But security goes beyond just SSL. Offering secure payments with multiple options is equally important, if not more, in this time and age.
Why? Because this isn’t just about security; it’s also about easing any frustrations your customers might have, and having only one way to pay is certainly one of them since 20% of US consumers regularly use seven different payment methods.
Overall, when customers feel safe and secure, they’re more likely to become loyal repeat customers. Plus, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your business is protected from the potentially catastrophic consequences of a data breach.
- Website Performance Optimization Features
Speed is everything in the online world, so to provide a smooth and enjoyable shopping experience – you gotta have a fast-loading website.
That is, if you want higher customer satisfaction, increased sales, and improved search engine rankings for your eCommerce site.
A slow website can also lead to a high bounce rate, which means people leave your site quickly after landing on it. Essentially, if your pages take too long to load, customers will get impatient and go elsewhere.
Now, one of the biggest culprits of slow load times is image size, so get your hands on features that optimize your images without sacrificing quality first.
Apart from that, you’ll want features that compress code, minimize HTTP requests, and leverage browser caching to give your website that much-needed speed boost.
Conclusion
And that’s it, folks – the top 10 user experience features every eCommerce site should have.
From responsive design and intuitive dashboards to lightning-fast load times and ironclad security, these elements are the building blocks of every successful online store.
So, take these tips to heart, implement them on your website, and watch your business thrive.
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Eamon