5 Basic Rules to Improve the UX of Your E-Commerce
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2025 4:29 am
If it was already showing promise, online shopping has represented one of the most incredible growth trends in recent months due to the crisis caused by the coronavirus.
Since the lockdown began, more out of necessity than choice, users have turned to e-commerce as their sole source of supplies and entertainment. For many businesses, this has led to an increase in online sales of over 30%. Even so, a difference of just 0.5% in conversions represents thousands of euros in profits at the end of the year. For this reason, the experience you offer users, along with your audience knowledge, increasingly has a direct impact on your profits.
And with thousands of options to choose from and more time than ever to spend browsing pages, users either feel comfortable in your environment or they'll leave without a second thought. This is why the design of your landing page, its ease of navigation, and the uruguay mobile database added value you provide are the basic formula for converting and retaining them. But how can we ensure we're doing it right? Read on!
Rule #1 — Easy-to-understand categories
Easy navigation is essential to ensure users feel comfortable in our e-commerce. Users want to find the things they're looking for quickly and easily. Intuitive category navigation is a must to encourage them to continue exploring products in our store.
All categories should be accessible from the main navigation menu. That said, remember that having too many categories impacts readability and, therefore, leads to low conversion rates as users feel confused by so much information. Instead of an endless main menu, try creating a few main categories and placing the rest in subcategories that are also easily accessible to users.
One way to make sure you're doing it right is to test your navigation with real users.
Pro Tips for Creating Categories:
If a product can be found in multiple categories, include it in all of them so that it can be found with confidence.
Make sure you design your product categories with your users' mental models in mind when searching.
Category names should reflect how users think, not your business divisions.
If you have many categories, divide them into subcategories within the main categories.
Rule #2 — Internal Search Bar
Users who use the search bar know what they're looking for, and it's vitally important to incorporate this feature into your ecommerce site, as these users don't want to waste time browsing. They know what they want, and if they find it, they're much more likely to buy it. Are you going to let them go? Your search bar needs to be visible and easy to find on every one of your pages.
Pro Tips for Search Bars:
The bar must be accessible on each page.
It needs to incorporate dynamic search, where it suggests results based on what the user is typing.
Program the bar to display similar products relevant to the user's search.
Users make mistakes when typing. Create a smart toolbar that can interpret these errors.
Integrates different variants of names that can be used for the same product
Rule #3 — Useful Filters
Some online stores have thousands of products, which complicates navigation for users, and this confusion can lead them to abandon your store. To avoid this, search filters are very helpful as long as they are designed to reflect the way users search for your products.
When designing them, it's not just the order that counts, but also the format. For example, whether it's a slider bar or a text link. The more precise the search information, the more important it is to present filters in text format rather than slider bars.
Pro Tips to Keep in Mind for Design:
You can choose between dynamic or manual filters. With dynamic filters, the products displayed change immediately after clicking on the filter. With manual filters, the user must first confirm their selection, and the products are then displayed.
When considering what type of filter to use, you should consider both the number of products in your store and whether the technical aspects of your store allow you to incorporate these types of filters. Another aspect to consider is how users use filters. Do they use more than one at a time? For example, imagine you're searching for a coat and you're only interested in seeing brown and black coats. You'll probably lose patience if the store keeps refreshing its content every time you select a color. But what if you were searching for the best tickets to Ibiza? In this case, you'd appreciate having the ticket prices refreshed each time based on your selection.
Since the lockdown began, more out of necessity than choice, users have turned to e-commerce as their sole source of supplies and entertainment. For many businesses, this has led to an increase in online sales of over 30%. Even so, a difference of just 0.5% in conversions represents thousands of euros in profits at the end of the year. For this reason, the experience you offer users, along with your audience knowledge, increasingly has a direct impact on your profits.
And with thousands of options to choose from and more time than ever to spend browsing pages, users either feel comfortable in your environment or they'll leave without a second thought. This is why the design of your landing page, its ease of navigation, and the uruguay mobile database added value you provide are the basic formula for converting and retaining them. But how can we ensure we're doing it right? Read on!
Rule #1 — Easy-to-understand categories
Easy navigation is essential to ensure users feel comfortable in our e-commerce. Users want to find the things they're looking for quickly and easily. Intuitive category navigation is a must to encourage them to continue exploring products in our store.
All categories should be accessible from the main navigation menu. That said, remember that having too many categories impacts readability and, therefore, leads to low conversion rates as users feel confused by so much information. Instead of an endless main menu, try creating a few main categories and placing the rest in subcategories that are also easily accessible to users.
One way to make sure you're doing it right is to test your navigation with real users.
Pro Tips for Creating Categories:
If a product can be found in multiple categories, include it in all of them so that it can be found with confidence.
Make sure you design your product categories with your users' mental models in mind when searching.
Category names should reflect how users think, not your business divisions.
If you have many categories, divide them into subcategories within the main categories.
Rule #2 — Internal Search Bar
Users who use the search bar know what they're looking for, and it's vitally important to incorporate this feature into your ecommerce site, as these users don't want to waste time browsing. They know what they want, and if they find it, they're much more likely to buy it. Are you going to let them go? Your search bar needs to be visible and easy to find on every one of your pages.
Pro Tips for Search Bars:
The bar must be accessible on each page.
It needs to incorporate dynamic search, where it suggests results based on what the user is typing.
Program the bar to display similar products relevant to the user's search.
Users make mistakes when typing. Create a smart toolbar that can interpret these errors.
Integrates different variants of names that can be used for the same product
Rule #3 — Useful Filters
Some online stores have thousands of products, which complicates navigation for users, and this confusion can lead them to abandon your store. To avoid this, search filters are very helpful as long as they are designed to reflect the way users search for your products.
When designing them, it's not just the order that counts, but also the format. For example, whether it's a slider bar or a text link. The more precise the search information, the more important it is to present filters in text format rather than slider bars.
Pro Tips to Keep in Mind for Design:
You can choose between dynamic or manual filters. With dynamic filters, the products displayed change immediately after clicking on the filter. With manual filters, the user must first confirm their selection, and the products are then displayed.
When considering what type of filter to use, you should consider both the number of products in your store and whether the technical aspects of your store allow you to incorporate these types of filters. Another aspect to consider is how users use filters. Do they use more than one at a time? For example, imagine you're searching for a coat and you're only interested in seeing brown and black coats. You'll probably lose patience if the store keeps refreshing its content every time you select a color. But what if you were searching for the best tickets to Ibiza? In this case, you'd appreciate having the ticket prices refreshed each time based on your selection.