10 user experience tips for online retailers (part two)
In part one of this article, we looked at five tips including the importance of analysis and innovation for online retailers in improving user experience. Here is the second part of that feature with a further five tips for retailers.
- Use social media: use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Pinterest, Flickr or any other social media that might enhance your promotional effort. Customers will already be using these sites; their friends and colleagues will also be on there. If they see favourable comments from people they know and trust it will aid your selling momentum considerably.
- Virtual try-on: this is a great idea and though not many sites are currently deploying it I believe it will take off very soon and be a huge success. The basic principle is that users can virtually try the product for size and look via an augmented reality programme. So, if it is a piece of clothing you can see what it looks like on via your PC webcam. It could also be used for furniture, décor, carpeting and so on; a powerful tool in enhancing user experience if the technology is engineered and used properly. (Have a look at the Zugara shopping app demo on YouTube to get an idea of how it works.)
- Use price alerts: most people shopping online will buy on price and will browse through sites to find the best deals. It makes sense then to let your potential customers know when you have special offers, price drops or any other sort of promotions on products they are interested in. Get interested visitors to your site to opt-in for this and you have their email address as well so you win all round.
- Be creative: don’t be afraid to try new things and be edgy and innovative with your concepts to improve user experience. Even if some of them don’t work you will almost certainly find some that do. And coming up with your own innovations gives you the edge over the competition as, by definition, they won’t have the features on their sites. You will know if you’re getting it right if they start copying your ideas. The more you can do this and try things out, the more creative you will become; and customer feedback and data analysis could point you in directions you hadn’t even thought about, so pushing your boundaries even further.
- Beware of these pitfalls: small, illegible, disconnected product descriptions don’t help users to make buying decisions; neither do badly-designed, archaic customer service or checkout areas. Don’t get so caught up with innovation or whizzy tech features that you forget the basics. You still need to service the customer, make user experience positive – and close the sale. Don’t lose sight of the final objective.
This is a continually developing area so we might return to it in future blogs. But if you want to keep up with all the latest developments, particularly toward conversion optimisation and make sure your retail site is at the leading edge of competitive innovation, why not give us a call free on 0800 0246 247 or drop us an email at hello@ux247.com.
