In a recent Baymard study, they found that 73% of users shop online because it is more convenient than shopping in-person. While that’s hardly new information, it is an important reminder that convenience and ease of use are major drivers of user behavior. When conducting conversion rate optimization (CRO) or usability audits, these are some of the first things we check on e-commerce sites, product marketing sites, sign up flows, and SaaS onboarding funnels. Addressing these items are great quick wins to lift conversion rates and improve overall user engagement with your site or app experience.
- Clear primary CTAs - Customers who have to search for the next step in the onboarding or shopping process are less likely to convert. Tell your customers what they should do next and place the call-to-action, or CTA, in a prominent spot. Customers naturally look for primary CTAs in the top or bottom right of the page or at a natural point in the flow of information, such as at the bottom of a form.
- Reducing clicks to end goal - As we mentioned previously, convenience is the name of the game. We want users to have the simplest and easiest time possible in order to reduce page and cart abandonment. The less clicks and decisions they have to make, the better. We work with SaaS product and e-commerce companies to best streamline their UX to reduce any friction customers might encounter. An example of this is analyzing a SaaS onboarding flow to identify questions or form steps that could be removed, made optional, or moved to later in the onboarding experience. For SaaS onboarding flows, our goal is to get the user to their first moment of success or completion of a key task as quickly as possible so they see clear value in the product. Similarly, when analyzing e-commerce sites we look for ways to reduce the number of steps or click required to get from a product they want to completing their purchase. For example, if a customer knows what they are looking for and searches for a product, is there a buy now button on the results page or product page that lets them bypass the cart and go straight to the checkout page.
- Anticipating and answering questions in the flow - Customers shouldn’t be confused when navigating your platform or e-commerce site. As UX designers, we try to anticipate any questions that might arise while customers are going through the sales funnel or onboarding funnel and answer those questions natively in the design. Where do I checkout? Right here! How do I return this if needed? Here’s our return policy. For SaaS products, this often looks like automating the customer onboarding and training process within the app through improved usability, embedded help and guidance, and other UX techniques that reduce operational costs of supporting customers so company can scale.
- Improved visuals - In the same Baymard study that we referenced earlier, they found that 56% of users immediately began exploring product images after arriving on an e-commerce page. Blurry, pixelated product images can hinder potential customers and create feelings of distrust. Customers are unlikely to purchase something that they cannot see clearly. In SaaS products, improved visuals can be used to explain the products value, what to expect in the app, and provide cues of what to do next to enhance usability. While well-placed instructional copy and tooltips can also improve usability, it’s important to consider whether the user experience is intuitive without reading anything.
- Mobile optimization - “By 2025, Statista forecasts that m-commerce sales will make up over 10% of all US retail sales”. It is such a large percentage of sales that mobile optimization cannot be ignored. Most of our e-commerce clients see over 50% of their traffic coming from mobile devices. When working with e-commerce sites that have customizable products and online design tool experiences, we work to ensure that that experience is mobile optimized so a site visitor coming from a search results or ad can start exploring and designing immediately vs. planning to come back later on their laptop and then forgetting about the site altogether. For B2B SaaS products, there is sometimes a primary focus on desktop users because the product is meant to be used during the work day. However, ensuring that quick tasks like checking an invoice or sharing a report can be done on the go using a mobile device can be a huge competitive edge for sales as well as customer retention.
