Designing a Modern User Experience to Maximize Conversions for Your BigCommerce Store
Welcome to the third installment of our content series, Innovate and Elevate: A Guide to Growing Your BigCommerce Store with a Site Redesign. Be sure to check out Installment 1: Thinking About Redesigning Your BigCommerce Store? and Installment 2: Content and Data Essentials of our series in case you missed them.
Maintaining the status quo can be the fast track to falling behind when it comes to growing online sales. For BigCommerce merchants, this often means embracing a strategic website redesign that enhances user experience, modernizes functionality, and aligns your online presence with your evolving business goals.
In this four-part content series, our team of BigCommerce experts guides you through the essentials of a successful redesign—from planning to launch—ensuring your store is not only up-to-date but ahead of the curve. Whether you’ve already committed to a site redesign or just exploring the idea, this series will equip you with the knowledge, strategies, and best practices you need to make informed decisions and drive meaningful results.
Introduction
Today, ecommerce isn’t just about selling products online; it’s about crafting a user experience that resonates with every visitor. And for good reason—it’s estimated that every $1 invested in user experience (UX) results in a return of $100 (9,900% ROI). Excelling in this modern environment demands the ideal blend of cutting-edge technology with a deep understanding of user needs.
Redesign clients often aim to accomplish two major goals for their BigCommerce store: resolve current UX challenges and create a platform primed for the evolving expectations of future users.
Read on to learn more about how to determine the most impactful UX changes, the process to follow, and how to get started with your own UX-centric BigCommerce revamp.
The Importance of Investing in User Experience
Stop and think about your favorite store for a moment. What makes it stand out in your mind and compels you to keep coming back? Maybe it’s the welcoming atmosphere, how products are easy to find, or the hassle-free checkout process. Now, imagine designing your digital space so you have that same impressive experience. That’s the power of outstanding UX, and precisely what we’ll explore in this article.
The ecommerce user experience encompasses the totality of feelings, perceptions, and reactions a visitor has when navigating your site. These could range from the thrill of discovering a sought-after product to the frustration of a complicated checkout process.
Consider these tips for improving the user experience for your BigCommerce store:
- Keep Navigation Simple. A clear and intuitive navigation helps users find what they need quickly and satisfies the needs of search engines. More on this in the next section.
- Streamline the Checkout Process. A straightforward checkout process helps reduce cart abandonment in the final (arguably the most crucial) step of the online experience. Take time to understand and prioritize the checkout features that matter to your customers.
- Focus on Site Speed. Users don’t hesitate to abandon sites that take more than a few seconds to load. Regularly test and optimize your site’s speed to ensure quick load times.
- Highlight Reviews and Social Proof. Building trust with your brand is essential for a positive user experience. Include elements that make customers confident they’re dealing with a reputable business.
Investing in user experience isn’t just beneficial; it’s essential for modern success. UX done right can be the primary driver of conversions.– Lu Cordero, Senior Frontend Web Developer, IntuitSolutions
What Moves the Needle for Your Business? Prioritizing Your UX Redesign Goals
When it comes to redesigning your BigCommerce store, it’s easy to get swept up in the tide of endless design options, shiny new features you saw on another site, or other short-lived trends that catch your attention. But remember—the purpose of your redesign is to introduce and enhance what will fundamentally drive results for your business.
Follow these tips to help your business focus on areas that will make the biggest impact for your online store:
- Solve for Known UX Issues. Start by fixing what you know is broken. Whether it’s a cluttered product page or a confusing category structure, pinpoint the areas that are known challenges and make a plan to resolve those first.
- Analyze Customer Feedback. Customer feedback is invaluable; after all, they’re the users you need to impress. Sift through the comments you’ve received—both positive and negative—to understand what resonates with your buyers and what’s missing the mark.
- Leverage What’s Working Well. Not every part of your site will need to be removed or repurposed—focus on improving what already works. For example, let’s say the how-to video section of your site gets a lot of traffic. Spend time making that section even more engaging and helpful for shoppers.
- Explore Your Competitors’ Websites. Identify any distinctive elements or unique functionality that sets competitors apart from other businesses in your industry. Could adopting similar features resonate with your customers and improve their shopping experience on your site?
Get a Complimentary Site Consultation
Let our BigCommerce experts guide you on the design enhancements that will move the needle for your business goals.
Enhancing User Experience by Improving Navigation and Information Architecture
Two elements that significantly impact the user experience are Navigation and Information Architecture.
Navigation consists of the elements that organize and highlight the importance/relevance of a website’s links and pages. Effective navigation is driven by intuitive and user-friendly menu structure and design elements that guide users to find what they’re looking for with minimal effort.
Information Architecture (IA) is the structural design of the site’s content, ensuring that information is organized, categorized, and presented in a way that is logical and accessible.
Clear navigation and effective information architecture (IA) are key to helping users find their way and boosting your site’s SEO performance.
Best Practices for Navigation and Information Architecture (IA)
- Site Hierarchy: Design a logical hierarchy based on user needs and behavior.
- Layout Consistency: Maintain a uniform layout across all pages, so users know where to click to find what they need.
- Mobile-First Design: Implement responsive design for device-adaptable layouts, use easy-to-tap menu structures, and prioritize key content for mobile screens.
- Breadcrumbs: Use breadcrumb navigation for better user orientation.
- Descriptive Labels: Use clear and descriptive labels for all menu items to guide users effectively.
The Importance of Mobile-first Navigation
Mentioned in the list above, mobile-first design has never been more important for ecommerce stores. Results from a recent consumer survey shows that more than 60% of ecommerce sales occur on a mobile phone.
Our BigCommerce web design team recommends the following best practices to ensure effective mobile navigation for your BigCommerce store:
- Use responsive design to adapt your website layout to various screen sizes.
- Prioritize essential content and products to feature prominently on mobile screens.
- Implement clear and intuitive menu structures with easy-to-tap buttons.
- Optimize page load times to prevent user frustration.
- Enable search functionality with predictive text to help users find products quickly.
- Implement mobile-friendly filters and sorting options for product listings.
- Ensure a secure and straightforward checkout processes for mobile users
Popular User Experience Upgrades for BigCommerce
Now that we’ve emphasized the importance of user experience, let’s dive into some popular functionality to enhance it for your online store. Consider if these popular UX enhancements will resonate with your shoppers.
"Save for Later" Feature
The “Save for Later” functionality is a popular choice in ecommerce stores for a reason. It gives customers the flexibility to save items they’re interested in but aren’t ready to purchase just yet, making it easier for them to complete their order at a later time.
Here’s how it works:
- When logged in, customers can simply click the “Save for Later” button to set aside items from their cart for a future purchase.
- Returning shoppers can access their saved items on the Cart page or in their account’s Wish Lists.
- Shoppers can quickly complete their purchase.
For businesses with large catalogs or recurring customers, the “Save for Later” feature can be a great way to deliver a more convenient shopping experience, which is key to retaining loyal customers.
BigCommerce Add-Ons
With more than 30 BigCommerce add-ons and plugins to choose from, merchants have their pick of easy-to-implement features that will make a big difference to their site’s user experience. Some of our most popular UX-boosting add-ons include:
- Frequently Bought Together: Display a carousel of related or bundled products beneath the main product detail.
- Add to Cart Upsell: Showcase related items when a customer adds a product to their cart.
- Cart Page Upsell: Offer related Products before checkout with an upsell carousel on the Cart page.
- Custom Mega Menu: Highlight all of your store’s categories and subcategories–with images and other media (if desired) with a more intuitive menu design.
- Brand Page Search Filter: Help customers find popular brands faster without the need to search your entire site.
- Quick Order Page: Give customers a faster way to find products by name or SKU and add them directly to the cart.
- Product Option Tooltips: Implement a hover-activated tooltip to clarify details for product options.
Ebizio Checkout
One of the most critical aspects of the user experience is the checkout process. A smooth, efficient checkout can make the difference between a completed sale and an abandoned cart. This is where Ebizio Checkout has helped merchants deliver better UX and more conversions.
With 15 customizable modules, Ebizio Checkout allows businesses to tailor their checkout flow to meet specific customer needs—whether it’s simplifying B2B transactions, adding fees, or offering flexible payment options.
Below are some popular modules to consider:
- Ship on Account: Allows customers to use their existing shipping provider accounts, streamlining the process for frequent shoppers or B2B buyers.
- Purchase Order: Simplifies B2B purchasing by enabling customers to submit Purchase Orders at checkout.
- Product Fees Manager: Gives merchants the flexibility to add optional product fees, such as express delivery, handling expenses, and many more.
- Document Uploads: Enables customers to upload important files during the checkout process, supporting documentation for payments, shipping, or compliance needs.
- Shopper Donations: Gives customers the option to donate at checkout, whether through round-ups, fixed amounts, or recurring donations.
- Customer Group Payment Rules & Shipping Rules: Lets merchants tailor the checkout experience by offering hidden payment or shipping methods to specific customer groups.
In addition to the versatile modules offered by Ebizio Checkout, we also provide fully custom checkout solutions. Whether you require advanced functionality or specialized integrations, our team can help you build a checkout experience with your unique business needs top of mind.
Iterative Changes to Improve User Experience
While a BigCommerce redesign targets primary pain points to improve the user experience, the work is never “once and done.” Your redesign project will allow you to focus on the most impactful improvements, then gradually plan for more changes in the future.
User experience requires diligent upkeep post-redesign. With search engine algorithms and user behaviors in a constant state of flux, it’s paramount to periodically assess and update your site for Technical SEO health. This includes:
- Regular Site Health Audits: It’s important to regularly audit the overall health of your website and flag any technical issues that could negatively impact your User Experience and SEO. Common issues include broken links, redirect chains, and missing or duplicate meta content.
- Checking Core Web Vitals: Using the Core Web Vitals Tool in Google Search Console, you can assess page load performance, responsiveness, and visual stability—three key metrics Google uses to measure a site’s user experience.
- Web Analytics and Reporting: Use webmaster tools such as GA4 to leverage data-driven insights. For example, event tracking can provide a clearer picture of how users interact with certain pages on your site and help you make informed decisions on future UX enhancements.
Our team offers BigCommerce Site Optimization and Support Services to continue the forward momentum after a site redesign. An ongoing relationship with our team ensures your online business capitalizes on the best opportunities to stay visible in search, gain an edge over competitors, and generate more revenue.
Key Takeaways: Invest in UX for the Long-Run
The most profitable online stores are more than just transactional interfaces; they’re dynamic environments that maintain a focus on constant innovation and a willingness to adapt.
As we learned in this post, the most successful BigCommerce stores prioritize user experience, leveraging creative ways to keep their audience interested while investing in the areas that drive the most impactful results for their business. They also continue enhancing UX in the long-run by investing in ongoing site optimization.
Up Next
In our next installment, we dive deeper into the testing and launch process for a BigCommerce redesign. If you missed them, catch up on our previous installments, where we outline how to get started with a BigCommerce redesign and data and content management essentials.
