Published: August 28, 2018
The importance of e-commerce can be seen in much of our lives — from your Amazon order at your doorstep to the groceries you ordered, to the all-popular Cyber Monday. E-commerce eliminates the limitations of time and geographical distance, streamlines operations and lowers costs in a shopping experience. With our fast-paced culture, every second on a site counts.
We believe the following are crucial to a great e-commerce user experience (UX):
Using Personas to Guide the Way
We use personas to guide our partners’ digital strategies, and they are equally important to consider for an e-commerce site. Personas are an essential guide to understanding your customers’ desired shopping experience. Customized experiences are especially important in the digital world. Six years ago, we helped pioneer the concept of stored filters, where you can find parts and products based on each user’s needs. We helped Gear Up 2 Go improve their UTV and ATV accessories shopping experience by storing a user’s model information. So if they owned a Honda UTV, they could set their filters (known as a garage) to display only products that work for that model. Today, while your customers are flooded with information that ultimately gets ignored, personalized content speaks directly to your personas.
Seamless Shopping
Mapping and designing a website with the user experience in mind starts with outlining the functions of your product, the price, and the reasons why a customer should make a purchase. E-commerce isn’t just about outlining what products are available; it’s about communicating why your product is a good value. This is especially true when your prices differ from that of competitors. This rang true for Split Second Log Splitter. By conducting interviews with prospective buyers at trade shows, we gathered insights that helped us create videos and infographics that spoke to their interests and overcoming objections about pricing and value. Gathering information such as this can help you create content that explains why your product is the best value.
Vetting Options
Finding the right platform for your e-commerce site can be a daunting task. When we vet e-commerce platforms, we compile a report showing all the different options, and the pros and cons of each, such as when Vermeer asked us what e-commerce platforms were best suited for their site. Outlining the pros and cons can help steer you in the right direction.
When it comes to helping our partners with e-commerce, our role at Envano is to understand their business objectives, their customer’s needs and how to best meet both of them through the use of technology. This could be software packages for a store itself or inventory management. Our secret weapon is discovering problems and figuring out the best solutions. As CMO Jonathan Midenhall of Airbnb said, “Amazing things happen when you listen to the consumer.”
Want help with your e-commerce UX? Fill out our contact form, and let’s chat!
By Bill Zoelle, Chief Creative Officer
