Aman
Usability is key in ecommerce, especially with the rising number of shoppers using mobile devices. If your online store delivers anything less than a smooth user experience, you can expect shoppers to try their luck with a competitor’s site. The pillars to a stellar ecommerce user experience boil down to speed, ease, design and comprehension. Visitors should be able to find what they need at a glance and accomplish their desired actions with a few clicks. Roadblocks will hinder conversion rates.
If you’re seeing high bounce rates and above-average shopping cart abandonment, consider these four reasons customers leave ecommerce websites.
The Site Takes Too Long to Load
We live in an era where long website loading times are more than just an annoyance; they propel users to exit your site on the spot. Just how fast do users expect a website to load? According to Kissmetrics, nearly half of people expect a site to load in two seconds or less. A loading time of three seconds or more can cause many to exit. Users also tend to remember less-than-functional websites, which hurts your chance of earning back their business.
It’s worthwhile to spend time and resources optimizing your website for fast loading, both on desktop and mobile devices. You may need to compress images, take advantage of a scalable cloud-based platform or reconfigure your site architecture. But the result will be a lower bounce rate, which gives your store a fighting chance to stay competitive.
Website Fails to Meet User Expectations
If you sell electronics, make sure your ads and social media posts clearly convey the fact. Furthermore, make sure content you create targets keywords relevant to what you sell. Put it this way: There’s no use in attracting people to your website who are searching for the newest iPhone accessories if you only sell Android products. Sure, you’ll drive traffic and people will notice your brand name for a split second, but they’ll ultimately be disappointed when they arrive on your site and see a product selection outside the realm of what they’re seeking.
Be truthful about what you offer and target keywords that match your inventory and services; that way, you’ll attract the right kind of traffic and reduce wasted marketing spend. You’ll also maintain your integrity in the eyes of the customer.
Forward and Backward Navigation is Clunky
Shoppers like to explore ecommerce websites, especially on their first visit. Forward and backward navigation is their friend—unless it’s so glitch-prone or difficult to find that it makes smooth navigation impossible. Then it simply holds users back from finding what they truly want.
Build your site architecture to promote easy navigation. A visitor should be able to backtrack smoothly and pursue a different navigation path with little effort besides clicking the arrow. Keep in mind you want to funnel users from broad to specific when you’re setting up your website. The best way to help people get their bearings is to feature a prominent navigation bar with clear labels and simple drop-down menus.
Cybersecurity Seems Lax/Untrustworthy
From the moment shoppers land on your electronics ecommerce home page, they’re assessing trustworthiness. As they move through the funnel toward making a purchase, their vigilance increases. If they’re going to hand over their personal and financial information, they want proof your website is safe and legitimate. Third-party validation in the form of trust seals can help here. It’s also important to offer a secure payment portal, accessible customer service and background information on your store to ease customers’ minds.
Customers have many reasons for leaving ecommerce websites—sometimes they’re just browsing or get distracted on their end—but paying special attention to these four will help you avoid losing out on business.
