E-commerce is at its peak, and we can only expect the industry to grow bigger as digital technology becomes more sophisticated. Today, you can buy and sell almost anything online. In fact, more and more customers are starting to prefer online shopping instead of in-store purchases—even more so because of the pandemic.
However, ensuring great customer service is just as important online as it is in person. And to do that, your website must have a great user experience (UX) design—one without these certain bad practices:
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Low-quality images
Can make or break make or break a sale —scratch that, low-quality photos of anything on your website can make X out and find somewhere else to shop. Why? Because if you post photos that are not high-quality, what does that say about your products, services, and your company as a whole?
That said, investing in great product photos is one of the best practices in e-commerce. Professional photography is a great way to do this, but it is not always necessary. You can take high-quality photos of your products with a high-spec smartphone or a regular DSLR, along with some simple post-processing to make your photos presentable.
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Not using social media buttons
When people see something that they like online, they are inclined to share it with other people. For e-commerce websites that don’t integrate social media buttons on their content, this presents many missed opportunities. Any local search engine optimization (SEO) service provider will recommend that you put social media buttons next to your products, blogs, and other types of content for easy sharing. Not only will this make for a better UX design, but it is also an effective way to boost your web traffic and hence, sales.
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Listings that don’t open into new tabs
Customers don’t want to go back and forth when clicking on products for more information. Furthermore, they tend to open multiple products on different pages for easier comparison. If your website listings do not open into new tabs, you are simply making it harder for customers to view your products and may be inadvertently encouraging them to find somewhere else to shop.
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Out-of-stock listings
Another bad UX design practice that almost all users find annoying is an e-commerce website still including out-of-stock items in listings. Why would they want to see the products that they can’t buy? These out-of-stock listings are simply crowding up your website and making it look unnecessarily cluttered.
More than that, customers find it incredibly frustrating if they see a product they like only to find out that they can’t buy it. This often leads to them exiting the website right away and never coming back. It can also affect your bounce rate significantly, apart from the damage that your brand reputation experiences.
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Difficult check-out process
One of the most important UX design practices for e-commerce websites is to make the check-out process as easy as possible. Too many businesses make their check-out processes complicated and thus lose sales in the process. Examples of things that can make the check-out process difficult include too many required fields, requiring account creation, and having limited payment options.
Eliminating these barriers can reduce your cart abandonment rate and have customers leaving happy after they make their orders. People are used to having the convenience that big e-commerce stores like Amazon and Target provide, so it’s only right to provide them nearly the same level of convenience that they expect.
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Slow loading speed
Nothing can make a visitor exit out faster from an e-commerce page than a slow loading speed Keep in mind that modern customers expect pages to load within the first two to three seconds. Anything slower than that, and you will likely face a blown-up bounce rate and plenty of missed sales.
To improve loading speeds, there are several strategies that you can apply. Such strategies include reducing plugins, using website caching, decreasing the number of JavaScript and CSS files, using adaptive images, compressing content, and many more. Consult with a website development specialist to evaluate your website loading speed and determine the specific strategies that can work best for your website.
The quality of your e-commerce website’s UX design plays a huge role in the success of your business. If visitors find it easy to navigate your website, view your content, and compare your products, they are more likely to buy from you. However, if your website still uses the bad UX design practices mentioned above, then you may be missing out on a lot of opportunities.