Best Practices For E-Commerce UI Web Design

When you visualize shoppers moving through the e-commerce websites you build, you more or less expect them to follow this journey:

• Step 1: Enter on the homepage or a category page.

• Step 2: Use the navigational elements to orient themselves to the shop and zero in on the specific things they're trying to find.

• Step 3: Review the descriptions and other essential purchase details for the items that stimulate their interest.

• Step 4: Customize the item requirements (if possible), and after that add the items they want to their cart.

• Step 5: Check out.

There are discrepancies they might take along the way (like checking out associated products, browsing various classifications, and conserving items to a wishlist for a rainy day). For the most part, this is the leading pathway you develop out and it's the one that will be most greatly traveled.

That holding true, it's specifically crucial for designers to zero in on the user interface components that buyers encounter along this journey. If there's any friction within the UI, you won't just see a boost in unanticipated discrepancies from the course, however more bounces from the website, too.

So, that's what the following post is going to concentrate on: How to make sure that the UI along the purchaser's journey is attractive, intuitive, interesting, and friction-free.

Let's examine 3 parts of the UI that buyers will experience from the point of entry to checkout. I'll be using e-commerce sites constructed with Shopify to do this:

1. Produce A Multifaceted Navigation That Follows Shoppers Around #

There once was a time when e-commerce websites had mega menus that buyers needed to arrange through to discover their preferred item classifications, sub-categories and sub-sub-categories. While you might still face them nowadays, the better choice is a navigation that adjusts to the consumer's journey.

THE MAIN MENU #

The very first thing to do is to simplify the main menu so that it has only one level underneath the primary classification headers. For example, this is how United By Blue does it:

The item classifications under "Shop" are all neatly arranged below headers like "Womens" and "Mens".

The only exceptions are the categories for "New Arrivals" and "Masks & Face Coverings" that are accompanied by images. It's the very same reason "Gifts" remains in a lighter blue font style and "Sale" remains in a red font in the primary menu. These are super prompt and appropriate categories for United By Blue's shoppers, so they are worthy of to be highlighted (without being too disruptive).

Going back to the site, let's take a look at how the designer was able to keep the mobile site organized:

Rather than shrink down the desktop menu to one that consumers would need to pinch-and-zoom in on here, we see a menu that's adjusted to the mobile screen.

It requires a few more clicks than the desktop website, but shoppers should not have an issue with that since the menu does not go too deep (again, this is why we can't use mega menus any longer).

ON THE PRODUCT RESULTS PAGE #

If you're building an e-commerce site for a customer with a complex inventory (i.e. lots of items and layers of categories), the item results page is going to require its own navigation system.

To help consumers limit the number of items they see at a time, you can include these 2 elements in the style of this page:

1. Filters to limit the outcomes by product specification.

2. Sorting to buy the items based upon consumers' top priorities.

I've highlighted them on this item results page on the Horne website:

While you could keep your filters in a left sidebar, the horizontally-aligned style above the results is a much better choice.

This space-saving design allows you to reveal more products at the same time and is likewise a more mobile-friendly choice:

Consistency in UI style is important to consumers, specifically as more of them take an omnichannel approach to directory shopping. By presenting the filters/sorting choices consistently from gadget to device, you'll produce a more predictable and comfy experience for them at the same time.

BREADCRUMBS & SEARCH #

As buyers move deeper into an e-commerce site, they still might require navigational help. There are two UI navigation elements that will help them out.

The first is a breadcrumb trail in the top-left corner of the product pages, comparable to how tentree does:

This is best utilized on sites with categories that have sub-categories upon sub-categories. The additional and additional consumers move away from the product results page and the convenience of the filters and arranging, the more vital breadcrumbs will be.

The search bar, on the other hand, is a navigation component that ought to constantly be readily available, regardless of which point in the journey buyers are at. This goes for shops of all sizes, too.

Now, a search bar will definitely assist shoppers who are short on time, can't discover what they need or just want a faster way to an item they already understand exists. An AI-powered search bar that can actively forecast what the buyer is looking for is a smarter option.

Here's how that works on the Horne website:

Even if the shopper hasn't finished inputting their search phrase, this search bar starts serving up suggestions. On the left are matching keywords and on the right are top matching products. The ultimate objective is to speed up shoppers' search and reduce any stress, pressure or disappointment they may otherwise be feeling.

2. Show The Most Pertinent Details At Once On Product Pages #

Vitaly Friedman recently shared this suggestion on LinkedIn:

He's right. The more time visitors have to invest digging around for pertinent details about a product, the higher the chance they'll simply give up and attempt another shop.

Delivering alone is a substantial sticking point for numerous consumers and, regrettably, too many e-commerce sites wait up until checkout to let them understand about shipping expenses and hold-ups.

Due to the fact that of this, 63% of digital shoppers wind up deserting their online carts due to the fact that of shipping costs and 36% do so since of for how long it requires to get their orders.

Those aren't the only information digital buyers need to know about ahead of time. They likewise want to know about:

• The returns and refund policy,

• The regards to usage and privacy policy,

• The payment alternatives offered,

• Omnichannel purchase-and-pickup alternatives offered,

• And so on.

How are you anticipated to fit this all in within the first screenful?

PRESENT THE 30-SECOND PITCH ABOVE THE FOLD #

This is what Vitaly was talking about. You don't need to squeeze every detail about a product above the fold. The store needs to be able to sell the product with just what's in that area.

Bluebella, for example, has a space-saving design that doesn't jeopardize on readability:

With the image gallery relegated to the left side of the page, the rest can be dedicated to the item summary. Because of the differing size of the header font styles as well as the hierarchical structure of the page, it's easy to follow.

Based upon how this is developed, you can tell that the most essential information are:

• Product name;

• Product price;

• Product size selector;

• Add-to-bag and wishlist buttons;

• Delivery and returns info (which neatly appears on one line).

The remainder of the product details are able to fit above the fold thanks to the accordions utilized to collapse and broaden them.

If there are other crucial details shoppers may need to comprise their minds-- like product evaluations or a sizing guide-- build links into the above-the-fold that move them to the pertinent areas lower on the page.

Quick Note: This design will not be possible on mobile for obvious factors. The item images will get leading billing while the 30-second pitch appears simply listed below the fold.

MAKE EXTRA UI ELEMENTS SMALL #

Even if you're able to concisely provide the item's description, additional sales and marketing elements like pop-ups, chat widgets and more can become simply as annoying as lengthy item pages.

So, make sure you have them stored out of the method as Partake does:

The red symbol you see in the bottom left enables consumers to manage the ease of access functions of the site. The "Rewards" button in the bottom-right is really a pop-up that's styled like a chat widget. When opened, it invites consumers to sign up with the commitment program.

Both of these widgets open only when clicked.

Allbirds is another one that consists of extra components, but keeps them out of the way:

In this case, it consists of a self-service chat widget in the bottom-right that needs to be clicked in order to open. It also places information about its current returns policy in a sticky bar at the top, freeing up the item pages to strictly concentrate on product details.

3. Make Product Variants As Easy To Select As Possible #

For some items, there is no decision that buyers need to make other than: "Do I wish to add this product to my cart or not?"

For other products, shoppers have to specify product variations before