The world of eCommerce is an extremely competitive cycle and competitors are never far away. Online shoppers generally lose patience easily and if they don’t like your site they will move swiftly on to another one with similar products.
This is why it is important to have your eCommerce website completely up to speed in terms of usability and the overall buying process. The more efficient your website is the more conversions you will make.
It’s that simple. Here are the 5 key elements that you need to make your eCommerce website more user-friendly for the customer.
One of the first things the customer will see when they land on your website is the navigation menu bar. This is a list of main category headings scrolled across the top of the homepage.
One of the main causes of a high bounce rate on an eCommerce website is down to poor navigational options. The headings on the menu should be clear and precise. All the links should be active to go straight to their relevant pages and a search bar should also be displayed alongside the menu bar.
“Check Out our Website Essentials Checklist”
A mega menu is a fly-out menu on the navigation bar that displays all the product options on one large panel. These options are broken down and grouped into specific categories so the buyer can hover over and find the exact product that they are looking for without the need to go searching through the website.
Mega menus are most effective on larger eCommerce websites with a vast amount of products although they work efficiently on smaller sites also. Smooth navigation is the key to any website and the easier it is for the customer to seek out what they’re looking for the more they will be encouraged to convert.
It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to implement an add-to-cart (basket) button on an eCommerce website. This button allows the customer to keep track of exactly what they have selected and the price of each item combined. The more visible the button the better in terms of attracting conversions.
The colours and styling of the button should also be taken into consideration. A/B tests should be conducted between a number of tests add-to-cart buttons to determine which button attracts the most clicks.
When the customer is finished selecting their items they can go straight to the checkout registration process.
“7 Tips For Improving Your Ecommerce Strategy”
When shoppers come to your website to make a purchase the last thing that they want is to be subjected to page after page of pointless registration forms. A prolonged registration process is one of the main reasons why many customers don’t follow through to the checkout.
So keep it simple, you don’t really need to know what their occupation is, their maiden name or what they had for breakfast etc. A simple email and password request, delivery address and one or two security questions will suffice. If it’s a returning customer then simply ask them to sign in with their existing email and password.
There should always be a guest checkout option also. Many people may be reluctant to register their details and if they feel that they’re being forced to do so then they will bounce straight back out of the website.
If you wish to request that the customer signs up for your company’s email newsletter then it’s important to leave a clear and visible opt-in/out box adjacent to the submit details button.
So you have provided a clear pathway from the main menu to the checkout process. So how do you ensure that the final conversion is made? The answer is simple. Trust.
Trust is one of the main things a company needs to build up with the customer when they arrive on your website.
After all, you’re trying to encourage the customer to give their personal credit card details. The least you can do is offer some assurances that their details are safe. By displaying an updated SSL security certificate, Verisign, and a privacy policy on your website you are delivering these assurances to the customer that all of their credit card and other data transfer details are secure from a third party.
eCommerce Website Design & Development
By Jeff Sheridan
By Conor McCaffrey