5 Tips on How to Increase Online Store Usability

Before we give you any tips on how to increase your store usability to get more visitors, we need to answer the question: What is website usability?

Website Usability can be defined as a level of simplicity, automation, easy content exploration of the website, and overall positive perception from it by a user. In simple words, it is about how your store is user-friendly.

For sure, each website differs with its unique story, functionality, and design. Now there are lots of techniques and standards for increasing store’s usability such as redesign, adding new functionality, pages optimization even A/B testing. However, paying attention to the most common mistakes, you can perform small improvements and achieve lower costs on the website support.

That’s why we’ve prepared five common issues and solutions to them for improving the store usability.

Issue №1: Complex Navigation

This is a common situation. When a store has lots of categories and products, it is hard to place them tight and save some space for other parts of the page. This leads to the website abandonment by customers because of the complex navigation.

Mostly this happens in the mobile version. Then a customer gets frustrated because they are unable to reach an appropriate category and spend more time on a search of the desired product. The main task here is to let a user find relevant information on the website quicker.

The solution lies in creating a Side menu. Please keep in mind that buttons should be accessible to press them on mobile as well as the availability of the dropdown.

How to do it? Look at Stromberg’s mobile site version.

You can go to each category by clicking the button on the main page. Dropdown menu saves the space and is simple to tap on the desired section.

Other improvements to consider:

• Add site search;
• Don’t forget about simply written breadcrumbs.

Issue №2: Inconvenient Product Filtering

Let’s say that a customer stayed on a website, and tried to find some product using filters on the product listing page. However, it happens that filters have a dropdown with too many categories. The second case is when a customer selects some parameters and gets inappropriate results with out-of-stock items or the same page without applied changes.

Filters help to narrow a search to a specific product; still, many brands neglect the optimization of such a feature. According to the Baymard Institute, only 16% of websites provide a good filtering experience, with sufficient filtering types, a balanced filtering design and a logic that aligns well with user expectations.

After the user couldn’t get a narrow result, they tend to leave the website. That’s why you need not only make a wide range of options but think of the whole logic and possible user’s behavior.

How to Do It?

First things first, look at the great example of 6 PM website. They have one of the most detailed filtering options as well as appropriate work for any variation of parameters that user can choose.

Some improvements to consider for better filtering:

• Place filters on the left side of the page;
• Check the appropriate presentation of results;
• Add all range of parameters that suits your amount of products and their characteristics;
• In the mobile version name the filter’s button, so a customer can easily find it.

Issue №3 Wrong Placement of Accents on the Page

Here we are talking about clickable elements on the product page. If you want to highlight them, you can use appropriate styles and colors so that a user won’t get distracted by similar buttons.

How to Do It?

Check the example of ASOS product page. All buttons and links are accessible, and a user can easily understand the purpose of each element.

To sum up, here are the improvements to consider:

• Work with a contrast and elements’ form;
• Use different styles for clickable elements;
• Consider different colors and fonts for links.

Issue №4: Poor Quality of the Content Visuals

Visual content style plays a crucial role in the process of customers’ decision making.

Sometimes replacement of the standard interface elements can lead to the interaction issues. For example, if you or a designer change the cart icon or add to favorites icon, some users might get confused and won’t be able to proceed order or some other actions and leave the site.

How to Do It?

Look at simple and common options. If you don’t want to overload your website with unknown icons, write sections in words. Manolo Blahnik UK has a successful implementation of such a design.

Here is the range of options to consider:

Use qualitative images, convenient product slider, product video, and detailed product description to each item in your store.
Consider adding a section for reviews or some widget, for example, Trustpilot reviews. Customers can leave their comments on a separate website, and you’ll get them on each product page, which was reviewed and rated by a customer.

Issue №5: Lack of Quick Order Features

This is true, customers want to proceed order quickly, but in reality, they need to fill out 2-3 pages of the contact information, and this leads to the abandoned carts. To minimize cart abandonment, consider cutting off most of the forms and steps and making the order placement in one step.

How to Do It?

Gymshark uses side pop-up when you add products to cart, and also shows you which products will match with your previously added items.

To decrease cart abandonment and simplify the process of the order placement:

• Use one or two-step checkout.
• Make an instant pop-up after the user adds a product to cart, and then lead them to only 1 page to fill out the customer’s data and completing the order.

In the end, let’s sum up all the solutions collected to increase your website usability:

• Make mobile-friendly and straightforward navigation by using a side menu with accessible buttons for the user to click on them;
• Diversify your filtering options with an appropriate logic for choice (for example if a product is out-of-stock or lacking sizes, it won’t be shown by such parameters)
• Use familiar icons for an account, bag, shopping cart and right colors for main buttons and links on the product and checkout page (no aggressive) and different styles for clickable elements;
• Make your products visible and present them in different ways (photo, video, customers’ live photo, etc.);
• Use one-step checkout to simplify order placement for a customer and let them repurchase more products.

By following such tips, you will solve the users’ retention problem, increase conversion rates, and overall website usability and make your clients loyal to your brand.

Summary

We’ve considered some simple, but necessary solutions to the issues that may arise when you are trying to make your website user-friendly. Making improvements isn’t a short time goal; however, once you invest in the necessary improvements, you see the results that drive your business to the new stage of success.

If you still have questions regarding your website optimization, redesign, or even migration to specific eCommerce platforms, such as Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, or Drupal, our team is ready to assist you. Please feel free to contact us, and we’ll take care of your eCommerce project.