E-COMMERCE: HOW TO STAND OUT FROM THE COMPETITION WITH SMOOTH USER PATHS?

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    3 Minutes Read

    Offering quality products and/or services is good, but it is not enough. Today's consumers are looking for a positive online and offline customer experience that is adapted to their needs and requirements. Hence the importance of developing an adequate user experience. 

    A user journey is a set of steps that a user goes through on your site to get from point A to point B. When a consumer arrives on your site, he will perform several actions, such as searching for a product, adding it to the cart, continuing his navigation, consulting information, until finally proceeding to payment. But the user journey also includes post-purchase steps, such as customer service, returns, product evaluation, etc. 

    And there you have two options: either you leave them to fend for themselves, with the risk that it will take them too long or that they will not find the answer to their need, in which case they may get discouraged and leave. Or you implement a fluid and efficient process to satisfy them as much as possible. 

    Rely on the UX methodology 

    If you want to stand out from your competitors, you need to work on the user experience. UX consists in developing and designing your web or mobile application based on your end-users, in order to offer them an optimized and intuitive navigation and to make their experience as satisfying as engaging. A user who finds what he is looking for in a few clicks is more likely to linger on a site and come back later. 

    A good UX methodology relies above all on an exploration phase, which consists of analyzing the behavior of users and thus better understanding their personalities, their desires and their habits in order to create a path that corresponds to them. 

    Not to mention that the UX methodology has a positive impact on natural referencing. A site will be more easily visible in the first Google search results if its user experience is adapted and optimized. 

    UX methodology

    Adopt omnichannelity

    Consumers are no longer satisfied with a single channel in their buying journey. They want to be able to interact with companies quickly and at any time. They want to be able to go through social networks, use their phones or computers to access a site, go to points of sale. All these channels, linked together, can optimize the customer journey, especially if each element is fluid. 

    According to an LSA/HiPay study, companies with omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89% of their customers, while 69% of consumers are willing to switch brands if they don't offer an omnichannel journey. So it's in your best interest to invest in omnichannel and unify the customer experience to deliver a quality offering to your consumers across all channels. 

    Eradicate bugs 

    E-commerce sites can lose a lot because of bugs. According to a survey conducted by Mr Suricate with 14,800 Internet users, 86% of French people admit that they give up a purchase because of a bug and 70% go to buy on another site. It is therefore essential to hunt for bugs to offer the most satisfactory customer experience possible, and this by multiplying functional tests. These tests allow you to verify that all the functionalities of the web or mobile interface behave according to the requirements established in the specifications.

    For example, a customer of Mr Suricate customer from the retail sector (clothing) had many anomalies reported that were related to the service providers working on the platform, such as error messages when redirecting to the payment service provider, or a 500 error due to a problem with the advertising service provider. The bug alerts as well as the qualification and criticality level sent instantly by a single tool allowed the client to restore the site's technical errors in a short period of time (Time to Market). And the resolution of the bugs allowed the optimization of the user experience, thus preserving the brand image of the company. 

    Bugs on e-commerce sites

    The most recurring functional tests can be automated so that they can be done more regularly, more quickly and in greater quantity. But implementing an automation strategy can be complex and time consuming. The solution? Opt for an outsourcing solution like Mr Suricatethat does it for you, allowing you to focus on high value-added developments. 

     

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