Karolina Woźniak Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
E-commerce is a field that is growing rapidly both in Poland and around the world. Customers of online stores expect an upgraded shopping experience. E-businesses face increasing competition. In the light of these challenges, it is extremely important for e-commerce to respond to audience expectations and invest in improving UX, or user-oriented design. In this article, we will take a look at how this trend is affecting the world of e-commerce today, and how you can use it to promote your own online store. We will also point out what other important aspects you should pay attention to when running your own e-business.
User-oriented design – UX
User-oriented design is a long-term process. It involves creating products or services that are as responsive as possible to customers’ needs. To do this, their preferences and behaviors must be carefully analyzed in order to create interfaces and functionalities that are easy to use and satisfying to the users. It is advisable, therefore, to pursue making our site characterized by:
- Aesthetics;
- Intuitiveness;
- Consistent design;
- Simple user operation;
- Quality of execution.
What steps should you take to take advantage of the UX trend in your store?
- Take care of the quality of the published content – the appearance of the site is important, but the content on your site should not be forgotten. Above all, it should be SEO-optimized, contain truthful information about products or services, and be understandable to customers.
- Study customer needs and behaviour – try to make regular surveys, interviews or usability tests. This will help you understand the needs of your customers, as well as identify the problems they encounter when visiting your online store.
- Design a clear interface – the design of the site should be simple and intuitive to encourage users to make a purchase. Include top-quality product photos or videos to give customers a closer view of how the products look or work.
- Don’t forget about responsiveness – adapt your site to the formats of different devices. More and more people are shopping online using their cell phones. It will be a good idea to create, also a mobile application.
- Improve the shopping process – make the ordering process more convenient. Implement a shopping cart function, add an option for product recommendations and quick purchase. Take care of a fast and intuitive search engine for the articles.
Tools you should use to improve UX in your store
- Surveys and usability tests – allow you to gather user feedback so you can make improvements to the site.
- Heat maps – indicate the areas in the store that are most and least visited by users, which helps to improve site navigation.
- A/B testing – by testing different variations of the site, we can see which one is more attractive to visitors. It allows us to test different versions of the site, which enables to choose the one that is more effective and attractive to users.
- Data analysis – allows to check and evaluate the behavior of customers, such as their shopping preferences, cart abandonment.
- Surveys – ask users what they like about how the site works and what could be improved.
- Page loading speed – this is an important aspect in UX. It is important that the site loads quickly. Otherwise, many customers will lose patience and leave your online store.
- Personalization – use algorithms and customize your offer to a specific person.
What could be the benefits of using the UX trend in an online store?
- Better conversion rates and increased sales – a positive user experience can prompt users to make a purchase.
- Greater loyalty from customers who identify with a brand – good UX helps build relationships and strengthen user engagement.
- Building a positive image of the store or improving its reputation customers are more likely to recommend it to others, such as friends or family. Thanks to positive reviews,both the store’s image and its reputation improve.
- Better brand recognition in the market and increase brand reach – using the UX trend helps reach new customers.
- Costs reduction – by reducing the number of inquiries or service time, we pay less costs to operate the online store.
- Better understanding of customers’ needs and expectations – thanks to this, you can prepare a personalized offer and react faster to changing shopping preferences.
- Improved SEO results – Search engines appreciate content that features a good user experience. More often than not, such sites achieve the best SEO results.
UX and what else? What are other e-commerce trends?
In addition to the trends in the e-commerce industry indicated in the first and second parts of the article, it is worth paying more attention to a few issues. For example, environmental protection and adaptation of the site for mobile devices are gaining importance.
Optimizing e-commerce stores for mobile devices
Nowadays, the popularity of purchases made via mobile devices, primarily smartphones, is growing rapidly. According to the Gemius/PBI report – in 2021 about 59% of Poles preferred this form of purchasing goods online. In comparison, in 2017 – it was less than 37% of residents. This demonstrates the growing popularity of this sales channel. Optimization for mobile devices is, therefore, necessary to adapt to the expectations of a larger part of the society, which increasingly cares about convenient, hassle-free shopping.
Ecology plays more and more important role in e-commerce
We live in an era where environmental issues are becoming increasingly important. This translates, also, into the sustainability trend in online commerce. Customers are increasingly aware that their purchasing decisions affect the natural landscape. It’s worth deciding, therefore, on solutions that are both environmentally friendly and responsive to the needs of your audience. Minimalist packaging, biodegradable materials or recycled products are becoming increasingly popular. It is also worth including information on certificates attesting the high quality of the products you sell.
How to take advantage of sales trends in your store?
It is important to be able to take advantage of sales trends to operate your own online store. To summarize the 3 parts of the article, here are some tips on what actions you should take in this regard:
- Optimize mobile sales;
- Automate the processes;
- Personalize your offerings;
- Collaborate with influencers;
- Focus on customer experience (UX);
- Introduce omnichannel shopping options;
- Use artificial intelligence, such as chatbots;
- Tailor your offerings to your customers’ needs.
Summary
E-commerce is a dynamic field that continues to evolve with technological development. Customers are increasingly demanding a better shopping experience, and online stores are facing increasing competition. In the face of these challenges, it is important for e-commerce to respond to current trends. To do so, it is worth investing in user-centered design (UX). It plays a key role in creating products and services that meet customers’ needs. It focuses on analyzing their preferences and behaviors, and then creating interfaces and functionalities that are easy to use and satisfying to the viewer. Other e-commerce trends gaining importance are ecology and optimization. Since these are important trends in today’s world of online sales – it is worth implementing them in your online store.
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