September 2021

22 W ith sites like Amazon dominating the online shopping industry, how can you compete with your e-commerce site? To answer that, you’ll need to know what online shoppers want in their experience to tailor your site to their needs. Site Usability A good user interface (UI) leads to custom- ers navigating your site more easily. Custom- ers are quick to go elsewhere if a website isn’t intuitive, so improving your UI is often the difference between making or losing a sale. When designing your website, think about what you look for in an online store (in fact, go shopping on Amazon to get ideas). Where is the cart icon? Is it easy to see related prod- ucts? When your site is simpler to navigate, customers can visit more pages in less time. Review Transparency Online shoppers rarely trust sites that don’t post (or don’t have) reviews from other cus- tomers. Having a section on a product page that showcases positive and negative reviews is a smart way to build trust in your new customers. Peoplealsoliketoseehigh-qualityimagesoftheitems they’ll be receiving along with detailed product de- scriptions. Do everything you can to show shoppers that the products they’re paying for are high-qual- ity and you have nothing to hide about them. Free Shipping and Deals No one likes to see an extra $20 tacked onto their total on the shipping page. Offering free or low- cost shipping will drastically reduce cart aban- donment on your website, as 77 percent of online shoppers have pointed to shipping and other fees being the reasons for leaving their cart behind. Offering coupon codes and other deals is another great way to keep customers en- gaged on your site (and seasonal deals will have shoppers coming back year-round). Security Customers want to feel safe in their online ex- periences, especially when giving over their credit card information. Consider investing in a third-party online security team to get you set up, as they’ll know the ins and outs of the business better than anyone. Learn more about online security before making any deci- sions and find out how it will protect your site. So, what do online shoppers want in their ex- perience? The simple answer is: the same thing you want in yours. Build the website you want to see, and your customers will thank you for it! What Do Online Shoppers Want In Their Experience? by | Mallory Knee