Whether it’s a custom Shopify website or a site built on an alternative e-commerce platform, there are a few best practices to ensure a modern e-commerce website user experience (UX for short). To begin, UX is a method of website development and design that ensures websites:

·     Instantly generate trust and authority

·     Are branded and visually engaging

·     Are easy to navigate on all devices

·     Have a seamless checkout process

#1 I Clean, Crisp, and Branded Home Pages

On average, 46% of website visitors will leave a website if they can’t instantly determine what the company sells or does. Even if the site sells a range of products, the home page must instantly connect with its target demographic.

This can be achieved with:

·     A clean, crisp, and branded design

·     Short, sweet, and engaging text

·     Professional images and videos

·     Prominent promotions and calls to action

·     Engaging graphics and animations

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#2 I Social Proof

An excellent way to generate consumer trust is with social proof. This can help demonstrate trust and authority quickly and easily, and elevate and personalize your brand and products:

This can be achieved with:

·     Consumer testimonials

·     Individual product reviews

·     Third-party reviews from Google and others

·     Awards and accolades

·     Certifications and badges

·     User Generated Content such as social media reviews and consumer posts

·     Press releases

·     Trust Bar showing client or partner logos

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#3 I Easy Site Navigation

One of the many reasons to have a strategic, custom e-commerce website UX design is to improve the shopping experience. In addition to a clearly outlined navigation with shopping categories, your design should have any combination of:

·     A search bar in the top navigation

·     The ability to filter products by category, price, brand, color, size, and more

·     Product grids to compare similar products

·     Upsell suggestions such as related items or items commonly purchased together

·     The ability to order products in a subscription

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#4 I An Intuitive Shopping Cart

One of the top reasons for cart abandonment is a complex checkout process. Here are a few best practices to streamline and simplify your shopping cart:

·     Don’t force checkout when a customer adds an item to their cart because they may want to keep shopping

·     On the flip side, offer one-click checkout for returning shoppers

·     Offer guest checkout for shoppers who don’t want to create an account

·     Ensure the shopping cart is easily accessible in the site navigation

·     Allow shoppers to save multiple shipping addresses so they can ship to friends and family

·     Allow gift options such as electronic gift cards, gift wrapping, gift receipts, or shipping without an invoice so that the recipient doesn’t see how much their gift cost  

·     Request an email address to automate invoicing emails, order updates, shipping updates, follow-up updates, and more

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#5 I Easy Mobile Checkout

All modern websites must be mobile responsive. However, both mobile shopping and cart abandonment rates are higher than desktop abandonment rates. Sometimes shoppers will browse on a mobile device and complete their order on a laptop or desktop. Mobile cart abandonment may also mean that shoppers aren’t comfortable processing a mobile payment with your website.

Make sure your checkout process is easy and efficient for shoppers. Adding electronic payment processing such as PayPal, Amazon Pay, andGoogle Pay may make shoppers feel more secure.

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In the Market for Custom E-Commerce Website UX?

If your current e-commerce website isn’t as user-friendly as it needs to be, or you want to build your first website with the best practices above, we invite you to reach out to H1 Web Development. We specialize in custom Shopify website UX, but can build you a custom e-commerce website that converts at a higher rate and is more aligned with your brand and business objectives.