When you enter a cafe or a restaurant, what makes you stay? The ambiance, the aesthetics, the service, and of course…the food.
And if all these aspects tick the check box, that cafe or restaurant becomes the new buzz in the town.
This goes with your website/e-commerce platform as well.
Here the roles are played by the interface, the overall look and feel of the page, the color schemes and the pop-ups, the ease of navigation, the hassle-free check-out, etc.
All in all, it comes down to how ‘friendly’ your website is for a person to surf.
The market today has two kinds of websites – the first kind that is simply a face of the business on the internet, and the second kind is where the hits keep coming and users keep engaging.
What makes the user stay and visit again is the ease you deliver to them.
Imagine surfing for hours to find the perfect online store or product and then waiting for the billing process due to complicated checkout pages.
Nobody wants that, right? Just one of the many reasons why building a great user experience is necessary.
What is User Experience?
User experience is how your e-commerce platform treats the consumer once they visit your portal.
The key is to provide them with a simple, logical, and enjoyable shopping experience.
E-commerce user experience is all about taking care of the customer, getting into the user’s shoes, understanding their concerns, and delivering accordingly.
Providing the right information with all details, maintaining transparency by stating your policies clearly, etc are must-haves nowadays.
To put it simply, it should feel like a cakewalk from surfing to make payment.
Why is building a great User Experience necessary?
A bad user experience will not only reduce website traffic and conversion but will also have an adverse effect on the reputation of your online store.
Your e-commerce website serves as the bridge connecting the consumer and the company, and if that bridge is poorly designed, the customer will not bother using it.
This is why it’s important for e-commerce websites to focus on creating a user-friendly and accessible interface.
Approximately 38% of people leave the website if they find it unattractive and too cluttered. This is the main reason why businesses are striving hard to develop their user interface.
On the contrary, if your website is pleasing to the eye and easy to navigate and use, word of mouth will create the magic over and above the marketing strategy.
So, in order to make the consumer revisit your portal, your user experience should be pleasant.
How to serve with the best User Experience?
Thinking about what you need for creating the best User Experience and the growth of your platform?
Follow the Key Bring→Engage→Fulfill
Bringing the user to your website:
Now the question is how to make everyone aware of your presence.
Think like this: how does your brain register a new arrival in the market? Obviously, through the hoardings, the offers they provide, and the service.
Of course, you have to put it all on display. And that can be attained with advertising through various mediums and forms.
For Example – Google ads, leaflets, SEO listing word of mouth, and influencer marketing. Bringing a well-known personality on board and letting them be the face of your brand.
Engaging with the user:
A website’s main challenges are keeping the user connected with your page, letting them linger more, and being curious about your brand.
The user must feel welcome to your website at first glance. The time they are investing should be valued by your brand. How? By providing the right and more than sufficient information.
Remember: There is no such thing as information. So, always provide more than the user needs. Some gimmicks to keep in mind:
- Let your offers be on the landing page itself.
- The listing of your best-selling products and offers should be on the homepage.
- Provide some audio or video that talks about your product or give an insight into your product.
- Always ensure that the user is redirected to the exact page of the link they clicked, not the homepage.
Fulfilling the user’s request:
Any website that exists has one goal: to fulfill the user’s request. By highlighting it in FAQs, reveal additional information about the product you’re offering, and make it seem more fascinating.
This will make them associate with your brand easily. Make sure that the checkout procedure is effortless and that you keep them informed at every step about their shipping to delivery.
What you also need is to have 4 essential components in the design of your user interface.
Main components of a User Interface Design
1. Visual Design
As stated earlier, the visuals or aesthetics matter a lot. The user should feel welcomed when he/she visits your portal.
The visual design of your e-commerce website contributes to raising the value of your site, and it begins with carefully choosing its components, such as fonts, colors, images, and more.
Customers will always glance at your interface and design before even beginning to interact with the content and information.
Hence it is necessary to build a visual design of your website as it has the potential to attract more site visitors and persuade them to learn more about your company.
2. Quick Checkout
The main aspect that draws potential visitors to your website is its functionality.
Simplify your payment, and operational procedures while you work on the user experience. Your customers will benefit greatly from straightforward navigation.
With a clear call to action and multiple payment options, the consumers feel comfortable using your portal which may result in increased conversions.
An easy checkout process will lure the consumer toward your portal.
Pro tip: Suggesting add-ons at discounted rates while the customer is on the checkout page leads to a higher chance of increased sales. Firstly, the user on the checkout page is no longer browsing but has made up its mind to pay. Secondly, while already willing to pay for their chosen product, an ‘add-on’ is perceived to be a ‘steal deal’ because it is given at a greatly discounted rate and only for a limited time. The time stamp on the expiration of the steal deal leads to faster checkout.
3. Maintaining good customer service is crucial
Show your concern by overdoing it. Everyone likes to be treated special and a portal being considerate with its services creates a good impression on the consumer’s mind.
By showcasing the care, you open the gates to more traffic and conversions. Providing a good after-service also builds trust between the consumer and the brand.
For Example – Websites like Amazon, Myntra, Ajio, and Flipkart have easy exchange and return policies. This builds trust between the customer and the brand and is a relief, that also talks about the platform’s authenticity.
4. Make sure there’s no space for buffering
An easy-to-use, hassle-free, and fast website makes life easier. People are busy and expect a rapid response at least from technology.
Make sure the user can easily access your website not only from the desktop but also from their phones.
Therefore, if your website takes too long to upload, you will have to face the risk of losing customers.
Conclusion
Imagine walking in at a beautiful place that offers good warm food of great quality, serves the quickest service, has the best light and location, and plays good music.
You would definitely revisit the place. Why? Because of the way it made you feel. Your experience there was pleasant.
That’s how the consumer should feel once they visit your platform. Pleasing to the eyes, genuine with the information, easy to use, and quick in functioning.
