More than 50% e-commerce traffic now comes from mobile users as opposed to desktops. Are you keeping up though?
Consumers are now in an ‘Always-On Shopping mode”. They browse products on the go, buy on impulse, even reject quickly. A neat and crisp UX can make sure the rejections are kept to a minimum.
The driving factor behind users choosing to buy on their phones is convenience and immediacy – it’s definitely quicker than having to turn on the desktop. Therefore, it’s crucial that ecommerce sites understand this urgency and deliver pleasant, more focused, and personalized experiences. A good UX must keep them clicking on to get closer to the checkout button instead of getting them confused, going back and forth between cluttered screens and scrolling frantically to find what they need. Time to beef up your mobile shopping efforts!
Below are some basic steps that we believe will help you in delivering an efficient mobile shopping experience that will make your shoppers decide to purchase – for sure.
First off, pledge to the ‘5 second rule’
Loading time is a huge determinant in mobile commerce. If your page doesn’t load up quickly, the customer will move on to a faster website. Upon loading, it must answer the key questions within 5 seconds:
- who you are,
- what you offer,
- and why they should choose you?
Don’t force the login
Do not force a visitor to log-in, sign-up or provide vital information right upon arrival. Let them look around first. Most people are put off by being forced to log-in to see your products when all they want to do is explore your site first – without any restrictions. Yes, personalization is key – especially on mobile, but rather than making users give you all their details upfront, use implicit data like geo-location, time, device type, or the referring site to create a personalized site experience.
Declutter your interface
Keep your pages clean, with big, clear photos, easy to find buttons and a simple interface, without excessive information or promotion. This allows the user to focus on what you’d probably want them to do – shop and explore your site and offerings without any obstacles or interferences.
Facilitate easy searching, finding and choosing
Some shoppers might arrive at your store with their minds made up about what they want. To make things smoother and quicker for them, have a prominent search box, preferably with predictive search functionalities clearly visible at the top.
On the other hand, a large portion of shoppers is not familiar with your assortment and products. The use of appealing, fun and inviting interactive product selectors makes it easier for these mobile shoppers to explore your assortment and discover products that meet their needs. You’ll win by delivering an experience that is more customer-oriented and personalized.
Acknowledge actions
Every time the buyer takes an action, like adding a product to cart or saving to favourites, acknowledge it with a subtle notification. It’s bewildering to click something and not know if it went through. Once they know a product’s been added to cart, they can shop more or checkout.
On that note, make sure that when a buyer clicks “Buy Now”, the product is added to cart quietly, allowing further shopping without any roadblocks or unnecessary distractions. The buyer shouldn’t be taken back and forth between the cart and the product page (Believe it or not, some sites still do that!)
Display related products in a suggestive panel at the bottom as soon as a product was added to the cart. Use this to entice the shoppers and keep them discovering great products based on their preferences. Personalize on the go. Predict what the buyer likes and provide suggestions upfront.
Keep the checkout simple
This is very important. According to a Baynard study 68.73% of shopping carts are abandoned, and a complicated checkout is a major culprit here. Your job is to make it easy for the buyer to check out whenever they have done what you want them to do: decide to purchase something. Provide multiple payment methods to suit individual preferences and display a clear overview of the items’ details, such as prices, sizes, quantities, discounts, shipping costs etc.
To sum it up, smartphones have upped the game for ecommerce and smarter solutions for mobile devices must be employed to help turning the casual browser into a loyal customer. Mobile shoppers have a myriad of options. Moving on to another seller is easier than ever, keeping them though, is a challenge. Delivering a flawless shopping experience will help your customers dump their doubts and click on the ‘Buy Now’ button sooner.
