Beautiful, seamless experiences that drive conversions – these are some of the key principles to use for user-friendly design in e-commerce apps
Want to engage, convert and retain more customers?
Your value offerings, features and back-end tech can only get you so far. When it comes to how you deliver to your users, design and especially your UI play a very big part.
We know that emotions greatly impact user experience (UX), a powerful driver of loyalty and growth in the retail sector. But how can you ensure that you systematically develop a user-centric UI that you continue to improve on over time?
We’ve put together a list of 7 principles for user-friendly design in e-commerce apps…
A successful e-commerce app offers users more than products – it creates an intuitive, visually appealing, and responsive environment that keeps users engaged, much like a brick-and-mortar store creates a pleasant experience that makes people want to be there.
A poorly designed app is like a broken, rundown shop; it can frustrate users and drive them away. Here are some key reasons why user-friendly design in e-commerce apps is essential:
In short, investing in user-friendly design in e-commerce apps is essential for maximising conversions and retaining loyal customers.
Now, how do you do it?
Effective user-friendly design in e-commerce apps begins with intuitive navigation. Users should never feel lost or confused about where to go next, so ensure that your app features familiar icons, clear labels, and a user-friendly structure that guides shoppers naturally.
Incorporate elements such as product categories, search bars, and filters to help users quickly find what they’re looking for.
For mobile users, prioritising thumb-friendly zones is crucial. Place important elements like the menu, cart, and call-to-action buttons within easy reach of the thumb to enhance comfort and reduce friction.
By streamlining your app’s navigation, you’ll create a more enjoyable and efficient shopping experience.
Learn to anticipate user needs with customer journey mapping and analytics, and then see the best tools for creating user-friendly e-commerce experiences.
The easier it is to find things and make decisions for themselves, the more “in control” and “at home” users feel with your product.
A clear visual hierarchy helps users quickly identify important elements, such as product listings and checkout buttons. In user-friendly design for e-commerce apps, this principle is essential for reducing cognitive load and helping users make decisions more easily.
Organise your layout to lead users through a logical flow, starting with basics such as categories, subcategories, product listings, etc.
Ensure that your visual elements – like fonts, colours, and buttons – are consistent and aligned with your brand identity. For instance, making key actions like the “Buy Now” button large and visually distinct can increase conversions and reduce abandonment.
For a great example of how to execute this, see our guide on how to design an app.
Let’s face it: your users are here to shop. That’s why a clean, minimal interface keeps users focused on what matters most – finding and purchasing products.
Avoid overwhelming users with too many elements or excessive text.
Strive for a consistent look and feel across all pages of the app, ensuring that users can easily navigate from one section to another without encountering design inconsistencies. Simplifying your interface also reduces the development timeline and cost, allowing you to bring your app to market faster.
One core approach is to use design thinking for your UX, which entails creating retail MVPs from your ideas and feedback that you test on users, to see which retail app features you need.
With smartphone adoption and thus mobile shopping on the rise, mobile optimisation is critical for creating a user-friendly design in e-commerce apps.
Ensure that your app is fully responsive and adapts to different screen sizes without compromising usability. Fast load times are also essential – 53% of mobile users will abandon a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
In addition to optimising for speed, make sure your app supports touch gestures and large buttons that are easy to tap. Pay close attention to accessibility features, such as accommodating users who speak different languages by using clear visuals to convey messaging, if not offering your service in numerous languages.
See what usually causes low app engagement, how to use analytics to start improving it, what it takes to create a successful mobile app in Africa and then see these 27 tools and platforms for creating user-friendly e-commerce products.
The best experiences are built by understanding your users’ needs.
Incorporate features that provide feedback to users after every interaction – whether it’s a confirmation message after adding a product to their cart or a visual cue when an item is favourited.
Additionally, allowing users to undo actions or return to previous pages with ease creates a safer and more welcoming environment.
Furthermore, track these engagements and build in ways for users to give your tech team(s) direct feedback – quick polls, surveys, etc. This helps keep you in touch with their requirements and guides your product teams on how to continually improve your experience.
See which customer feedback platforms to use, how to do customer interviews, as well as what questions to ask during those interviews and how to do deep customer feedback analysis.
One of the most important principles in user-friendly design for e-commerce apps is optimising the checkout experience. The faster and more secure, the better.
If possible, allow users to log in with a single step – such as through Google or social media accounts, so they can get to checkout as fast as possible.
It’s also good practice to display the total purchase amount throughout the checkout process (so there are no surprises towards the end) and offer multiple payment options to help ensure a smoother, faster checkout experience.
Some brands take this a step further by gamifying their checkout drive. What you do is, as soon as someone has dropped an item in their cart (or shown some level of interest), instantly offer them a discount if they check out within a certain timeframe. This turns it into a mini game to see how fast they can complete the purchase.
The best way to ensure you have a top-tier app is to have it built by professional software developers, so see what you need to know before you start developing an app, all about app design, how long it takes and how to get the best deal on app design costs.
User-friendly design in e-commerce apps is an ongoing process.
After your app is live, regularly review user feedback and analytics to identify areas for improvement. Small tweaks, such as optimising the placement of a checkout button or improving loading times on product pages, can have a big impact on user satisfaction.
By embracing iteration and continual improvement, you can stay ahead of user expectations and industry trends.
See the Top 27 tools and platforms for user-friendly e-commerce experiences.
Need help optimising your e-commerce experience?
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