21 June 2018

Selected Mistakes In The E-Commerce UX Design


Do you want to increase revenue from your online shop? Or maybe you want to be a better UX designer? Well, these are just two of many reasons to be aware of the most common mistakes in e-commerce UX design. Eliminating them will eventually lead to increased sales statistics and higher customer satisfaction.

Descriptions are poorly written or don't exist at all

One of the main differences between traditional shops and online shops is that, in the first case, customers can take the product in their hands, feel it, smell it, look at it from every angle, unpack it and compare it to the other products available on-site. And this plays an essential role, especially in such industries as, e.g. clothing, shoes, jewellery,

What's the problem?

Descriptions look like they were written in hurry and sound like instructions from a technical manual. And that's frustrating for customers because they need specific information before making a buying decision. If they don't know what the size of the product is, how to use it, what additional features it has, they will either have to guess or look for another online shop.

How to fix it?

Write as detailed descriptions as possible. They should contain answers to all questions that the potential customer may have. Describe what benefits come with each feature, because customers often buy because of the emotions they have in the moment of making a decision.

And remember – write as you would write to a friend to describe and recommend a specific product for the customer. This will shorten the distance between your brand and customers.

Some contact information are missing

You may be surprised, but it doesn't matter whether you are an online retailer or the owner of a traditional shop. Detailed contact information builds trust in the eyes of customers. Even if it's just a phone number or e-mail address, they want to know that you are a real company that sells real products and that they can reach you quickly.

What's the problem?

The contact information is hidden or buried somewhere on the website.

How to fix it?

If you want to be seen as a reliable company, insert all crucial contact details in visible places on your website.

It's difficult to complete the checkout process or fill out forms

It is no exaggeration to say that this point may be the most significant destroyer of your conversion rate, even if it is the final stage of the purchase process. The customer is ready to buy, the products are waiting in the cart, the credit card is ready to be used, so what can go wrong, huh?

The longer it takes to pay for the order, the greater the possibility that the customer will abandon the cart. A complicated checkout process may discourage him or her from leaving money in your pocket.

What's the problem?

Unnecessary fields and multiple pages to fill out before you can provide your credit card data and finally buy what you want. It's surprising that some of the forms don't require your dog's name or your favourite movie.

How to fix it?

Try to place the full checkout process on a single page. If that's not possible, use a progress indicator above the form to inform the customer about the progress.

One more thing – don't make customers register an account before giving them the option to buy. Instead, allow them to choose the "guest checkout" option.

Design is focused on a single product

Let's say that you are an amateur runner, and you want to buy running shoes. You are used to using Google whenever you need something, and you have found some online shop that looks interesting because it has a comprehensive offer with fair prices. You came for the shoes, but you may also need a t-shirt, shorts and few pairs of socks, right?

What's the problem?

Despite the possibility that the customer (in this case – you) would like to add more products to the cart at the checkout point, he doesn't have the possibility of doing so quickly without leaving the checkout process. Because of this, some of the customers will just go through.

How to fix it?

You can learn a lot from McDonald's and their simple upselling method by asking "would you like fries with that?" If you are not selling fries (and you probably aren't), you can show the customer a list of recommended products which they can easily add to the cart before finishing the order.

Shipping rates are hidden or almost invisible

Don't say that you haven't been surprised by shipping rates at least once, because I won't believe it anyway. It can be annoying if you decide to buy a bunch of products, and then you find out that shipping rates are much higher than you expected.

What's the problem?

Hidden or almost impossible to find shipping rates, sometimes visible just during the checkout process.

How to fix it?

Remember about the "estimate shipping cost" option when building an online shop. It allows the customer to see the shipping cost right after adding products to the cart. What they have to do is enter their ZIP code if your shipping rates aren't fixed, because in the latter case, it's even easier to include such information on, i.e. the product page.

In-site search works in a way it shouldn't

Let me ask you: do you use the site search while browsing through different online shops to find what you are looking for? I guess that the answer in most cases will be "yes". Maybe it's because you have a favourite model marked with a specific number, and you don't want to waste your time by looking for the product manually. And maybe you have another reason but...

What's the problem?

You can't find your favourite model even though it's popular, and you are pretty sure that your chosen online shops also have it in stock.

How to fix it?

Make sure that the customer will be able to search by brand, category, product name, specific keywords, even if he misspells them. You can do this, i.e. by improving product descriptions.


Eliminating the mistakes mentioned above can lead you to increase your sales statistics drastically. Don't think that a difference of less than 1 per cent in conversion isn't that much, because if you have a lot of traffic and/or high-value products, it can make a significant difference.