When an entrepreneur finally decides on an online business idea, he usually has a checklist of all the things needed to start a successful e-commerce website. The list usually includes business model, revenue model, logistic partner, partnering with a seller, etc.
But there’s one very important pointer and that most entrepreneurs tend to forget; checking the user experience design of the website. Overlooking UX design will result in a bad shopping experience, leading to financial losses and eventually, a failed business. So, it’s important to analyze website usability before actually launching an e-commerce website.
Consider a scenario: A customer visits your website looking for a specific product and has to go through a lot of trouble to find it. Making him feel like finding a needle in the haystack will only make him bounce right away and buy from your competitor.
Below we have mentioned how consulting a UX designer will be helpful in avoiding the above scenario and setting up a successful e-commerce website.
On The Hunt For Competitors
When a businessperson wants to learn what will work best in their market, analyzing what people are looking for and what they are receiving from your competitors is a great start. See what your direct competition is doing, why people prefer to shop from their website and then analyze how you can provide them with something better. The UX design of your top competitors is already working well for them. Adding a pinch of the latest trend which the UX designer can help you surpass your competitors.
Additional tip: Make sure you check the UX design and website of competitors who are in direct competition with you n terms of products, target audience, demographics, and geography.
Consultation For Your Business
A consultation session with the firm who is going to design your website will give you a fair idea of the competition before you jump into finalizing the design. It is also advisable to give them a starting point and what essential elements you require.
This is a crucial step as it takes a lot of discussions and idea exchanges to get the perfect product which suits your needs. After you discuss your idea, the UX designer will be able to help you with the latest trends and must-have features. Also, pay special attention to usability.
Additional Tip: When you are in the process of finalizing the website, make sure you ask the firm for the best websites they have delivered in the past. Checking these websites from the UX point of view will give you a clear idea of what you can get. Also, you can advise the designers regarding your requirement for the perfect website.
UX Advise For Targeted Geography
When an entrepreneur decides to launch an e-commerce website, they want to do business in the global market but forget to have a localized approach to the entire idea. For those who have already sold their products in different markets offline will understand how puzzling it is to cater to different shopping needs.
As the geography changes, so do the shopping habit of the customers. Designing the UX of the website depending upon the geography is a tricky task which needs careful analysis.
The obvious changes according to geography are localizing the language, currency, payment methods, and shipping options. What other design modifications can you think of? There are many other elements like color, layout, font, positioning, etc. that will affect the conversion of your website in different regions.
The second best way to get the best user experience for your customers all across the globe is either by deep analysis of every market and its trends. the best way is to consult a UX expert who already has client all across the globe.
Additional Tip: When your UX designer analyzes your target markets, make sure you understand the behavioral trend. Understanding the behavior and likings of people of different geography will help you in marketing your e-commerce business.
UX For Target Demography
For delivering the best UX to your customers, you need to analyze it according to the demography of your website. All the traffic that visits your website, everyone has different preferences and mindset when they shop. You need to specifically target those customers who have more chances of converting into customers.
You should be thoroughly aware of all the behavior traits of your target audience. This will help you in providing your customers with extensive personalization.
Additional Tip: Do not over analyze your audience because as deeper you go you will have more groups of people. You just need the majority of people who convert on your website. It is impossible to target every behavioral aspect of the people visiting your website. When you shortlist the majority audience, you will then have a common trait which you can use to trigger customers interest.
A/B Testing
The Best way to check whether your UX is designed for the particular geography or demography is by conducting split tests. Split testing or A/B testing does not require too much investment or time. To analyze which version would be preferred by the audience, you just have to create 2 versions of the website with different UX.
The visitors can be randomly redirected to both the version of your website. From here, you easily know which website version performs better with the help of a UX designer. It’s primarily done by checking the conversion rate, sales, brand identity, bounce rate, traffic, etc.
Additional Tip: Many entrepreneurs would just do split testing without consulting a UX expert. The benefit of consulting an expert is that they will perform the split testing by first analyzing the need of your business. After they analyze the requirement, they will derive an appropriate result from the testing. This result will help in tweaking the design of your website to requirement.
Mobile and Desktop
Long gone are the times when e-commerce solely meant a PC. Mobile commerce has been coming of the age since the time it was first introduced, and it’s time you focus on delivering a consistent shopping experience at every screen. Otherwise, you’d be just compromising user experience of the website, which is highly detrimental for business.
Mobile user experience should be optimized to have a lasting effect on visitors. Customers who prefer mobile e-commerce usually prefer quick shopping experience. This can be only done by an expert who has knowledge of mobile users and desktop users. If the customers are forced to take a lot of steps before making the final purchase, there is a high chance that the customer will bounce.
Additional Tip: Go gradual and analyze well before going mobile. If you do not have much traffic on your mobile device, then you should not put a lot of efforts in mobile website or app. Start by creating a responsive website then check how the customers are behaving. Expand accordingly and gradually.
Conclusion
Work on the above-mentioned points to launch a profitable and successful e-commerce website. There’s no need hurry, rather, take your time and consult a UX designer who will guide you what is the optimal level for UX design for your website. They will first analyze the business requirement and then work on those UX which will be fruitful for your business.
business team with the computer working late at the office– stock image
