Getting a ‘UX audit’ for your online store means systematically evaluating how users perceive your eCommerce website and brand.
An audit of your site’s user experience (UX) will help you identify all the usability issues potentially hampering user satisfaction.
In this article, we’ll explain UX audits’ subtle but critical role in making eCommerce websites successful.
Ecommerce UX in 2024
Approximately 2.71 billion people have shopped online in 2024:
- Most of these sales have been recorded on major sites like Amazon and Alibaba
- That means if you have an eCommerce website, you are competing with those giants, and with over 26 million smaller eCommerce websites
How do you attract customers and secure a healthy conversion rate amongst so much competition? It is certainly not going to be easy:
- The average conversion rate on eCommerce sites is 1.88%
- The average cart abandonment rate is 70%!
Thankfully, there is one sure-shot way to make sure your eCommerce website has an above-average conversion rate and a below-average cart abandonment rate – good UX:
- If 10 out of 10 shoppers (with purchase intention) who visit your site every day have great experiences, 7 out of 10 won’t abandon their carts
- That’s why, investing in your sites usability, functionality, and overall ability to deliver amazing user experiences (UX) is so crucial
How do you start investing in your eCommerce website’s UX? By getting a UX audit.
Ecommerce UX Audits
- Getting a UX audit is an efficient way to quickly uncover all the usability issues, accessibility barriers, and poor design practices hampering your eCommerce website
- UX auditors assess how users interact with the website and highlight all the pain points that are potentially hindering their shopping experiences
- The audit lists all problems users encounter while trying to complete critical tasks (like looking up products, checking out, etc.) on the site
- The audit ranks these problems based on how important they are to the shopping experience
- It also provides actionable recommendations for eliminating all usability issues and enhancing the user experience
- These suggestions can include design changes, layout changes, content updates, navigation changes, and more
Why Get an eCommerce UX Audit?
- The primary goal of an eCommerce UX audit is to improve the overall user experience on an online store
- By systematically identifying and addressing issues, businesses can enhance usability, increase customer retention, and ultimately boost conversion rates
Conducting a UX audit is particularly beneficial when:
- Your site needs to improve with low conversion rates or high bounce rates.
- Users are frequently abandoning their shopping carts at above-average rates (<70%)
- You are planning to get a redesign and you need expert recommendations to improve the site’s usability
The audit will help you align all stakeholders site designers, developers, and marketers – around a shared, data-based understanding of the website’s strengths and weaknesses.
Together, your team can implement the recommendations of the UX audit and rid your site of all major usability flaws.
Following the Recommendations of an eCommerce UX Audit
Here’s what you can expect to happen to your eCommerce website after you implement the recommendations shared in a professional-grade UX audit:
Improved UX
- A professional UX audit begins with heuristic evaluations
- This involves assessing the website against established usability standards that are observed by all leading eCommerce sites
- The audit systematically identifies all areas of the site where users struggle
- It explains why users struggle by explaining deeper issues like unclear navigation or cluttered mobile layouts
- The audit may also share examples of other eCommerce sites that deal well with these issues
- An eCommerce UX audit may also involve usability testing
- This form of testing further illuminates all usability problems on the site
- The final report contains specific instructions like – making product page CTAs bigger or reducing cognitive load in the checkout pages
- If you implement all the details mentioned in your UX audit report, your site’s UX will improve drastically
Improved Accessibility
Heuristic evaluations are a key part of eCommerce UX audits. During these evaluations, auditors check if your site has
- Visibility of system status, i.e., whether users are aware of what is happening on the site at all times with the help of design elements like loading indicators during checkout processes
- Error Prevention strategies; auditors identify areas where users might make errors (e.g., form submissions) and check if users receive clear error messages to guide them on how to correct their mistakes
- Navigability; auditors may recommend restructuring menus or changing how you categorize products
- Accessibility; they may discover that certain buttons lack sufficient contrast for visually impaired users or that navigation is not intuitive for those using screen readers
By identifying these glaring design gaps during the evaluation process, UX auditors set your site up to be more accessible to all users.
Increased Conversion Rates
- By observing real users as they interact with the site, auditors can identify friction points that lead to cart abandonment or drop-offs during checkout
- The insights gained from usability testing enable you to create a smoother shopping experience
- This may include simplifying the checkout flows, simplifying product categorization, or removing other barriers in the user journey from product selection to final sale
- Optimizing your site’s design based on audit findings directly and positively impacts conversion rates
Enhanced User Loyalty
- A thorough UX audit not only identifies usability issues but also focuses on creating positive user interactions throughout the shopping journey
- The audit may ask you to improve the site’s search functionality or add more images to the homepage
- Such efforts foster more satisfaction and reliability on your website
- Satisfied customers are more likely to return for repeat purchases
- Return buyers generate more positive word-of-mouth referrals
Technical Overhaul
- The auditors analyze your site’s load times on different devices, identify all broken links, review its code, and more
- They use tools like Google Analytics or Crazy Egg to uncover all technical obstacles that are hindering user interaction on your site
- The audit also provides actionable insights for addressing these technical issues
- Once your designers and developers make all necessary technical adjustments, the site’s overall performance will improve significantly
Mobile Experience
- Identifying shortcomings in your site’s mobile experience is a major part of the UX audit
- Auditors test your site on all popular smartphone screen sizes (4.7-6.5 inches)
- They evaluate if your site has the right mobile-specific functionalities like large, tapable buttons, quick view options, swipe gestures, etc.
- 63.38% of all web traffic comes from mobile phones
- By prioritizing your site’s mobile UX, the audit attempts to make it as inviting as possible to the major share of your target audience
- Once you implement these findings, mobile users enjoy the same level of usability and satisfaction on your site as desktop users
Conclusion
All of these potential benefits have probably made you want to work with a professional UX audit agency. Here’s how these agencies operate:
- They learn about your business goals during the first consultation (usually for free)
- After the consultation and your agreement, UX research will begin
- They research your users’, investigate your product, and identify the user flows
- Gather analytical data from your site using tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, Kissmetrics, etc.
- They conduct heuristic evaluations, usability tests, and more
- Finally, they compile their findings and make evidence-based recommendations
Ready for eCommerce success? Start preparing for an audit, now!
