5 Existential Features for Ecommerce in 2022!

We all use websites and apps every day and we get annoyed very quickly and leave when things are just not simple and straightforward enough (blame Apple for its operating system in iPhone). So, I thought I would bring to you five existential features to simplify your e-commerce website to deliver an experience that delights and as a result converts your visitors into customers?

So, let’s dive in:

1. Less is more (homepage): I am sure that we can all agree on it. So, the best place to start is your homepage. Focus on three elements: clear navigation, one product or subscription highlight and a clear call to action! A great example of it is Plink payment.

2. Refine product page: high-quality product photos and videos, short product description, product reviews with one-click purchase and add to basket CTAs’. Think about Apple: hyper-realistic, sensational images taken from quirky angles to promote their products. They provide incredibly high-quality images. In fact, sometimes Apple products look better online than they do in reality. So, if you are selling products online then you must ensure that you get the perfect angle with the perfect lighting for your products.

3. Navigation: as the name goes, navigating your visitors through the website is one of the most important factors of any e-commerce website. The navigation should be smooth, intuitive and logical. Most importantly it should cut down on the number of clicks that visitors or customers have to go through to make a purchase.?A good example is Made.com.

Expandable menus are becoming a standard among many e-commerce sites and fashion sites in particular. Your users will see the menu only when they need to leaving you the space to present your product on a full page. It also simplifies the experience for the end-user when engaging with your website.

There are several types of menus but the most popular ones used today are mega menus, dynamic menus and drop-down menus. I can’t predict or choose the best menu for your site but one thing you need to keep in mind is that mega menu is mainly for super large websites like Alibaba, Amazon and others while dynamic and drop-down menus work well on large fashion retail and other smaller e-commerce sites too. Again, this depends entirely on the size of your website and product categories.?

There are hundreds of good examples out there but the key thing you need to keep in mind is this one: challenge yourself or your team to help the user to get to where they want to get in one click! In another word, use a combination of dynamic or drop-down menus to achieve just that. Website in-depth have gone from five to three in the last ten years and now companies are aiming to go from two to a one-step/click before the user gets to what they are looking for.?

4. Customised call-to-actions: it is the critical element to get users smoothly through their shopping journey. They must be clearly highlighted thanks to a good combination of colours and fonts! The best way to find out is to practice testing two or three CTAs’ with different groups of customers to identify the best performing CTA. Also, as the saying goes: call-to-actions, simply use action phrases while using the first-person and creating a sense of urgency. One thing to keep in mind: this is a process that requires constant reiteration. Same here, there are hundreds of companies that make great use of CTAs but I have picked Airbnb.

5. An easy-to-use checkout: before I present any recommendations at this point, let’s not forget that the cart abandonment rate is about 69.89% (Baymard 2021)! Therefore, simplifying and making it easy for your users to buy from you is not just about providing a good experience but also increasing your sales!?

In other words, it can present significant damage to your online business. As result, simplifying and making it easy for your users to buy will help you to reduce your cart abandonment while keeping customers coming back to you.?

One of the best things you can do is to only ask for information you absolutely need from your customers e.g. credit card info, emails and address. Anything else always causes frustration.?

Also, do everything you can to enable a one-click purchase whether you are doing it through Amazon One-Click purchase, Apple, Paypal or Shopify.?

It is important that you provide a log-in using Apple, Google, Facebook and other social networking sites to make it easier for users to create accounts. Also, make checkout a seamless process by allowing customers to buy as guests too. You can always suggest that they create an account in your email information form too. A great example is Monki which is an H&M subsidiary brand.?

Final thought: simplifying your e-commerce sites is a constant reiteration process and it is not a one-off thing. So, whatever design solution you have identified for your website, don’t forget that this should be easy to navigate through.?

Also, creating your user personas for your websites will shed some light on the needs of your customers. If you want to learn more about it then check out my video on the state of the customer journey in 2021.?

What is the last change you made to simplify your website and what was the outcome?

If any of the above were useful to you then please comment, share and subscribe.?

Gracias!?