Ecommerce Web Design: UI Tactics That Drive Engagement and Conversion

If you want to design a web browsing experience that drives engagement and conversions, optimizing for UX is non-negotiable. After all, internet users don’t want to deal with clunky, buggy websites that make it challenging to discover, evaluate, or purchase solutions. Instead, they want an enjoyable, aesthetically pleasing, and seamless shopping journey that makes solving their pain points a breeze.

In fact, if you look at the scientific research on the relationship between web design and consumers’ purchase intent, you’ll find that good UI and UX design significantly enhance people’s willingness to convert.

But while it’s easy to say that investing in UI design pays off, identifying the areas of your site that will have the most significant impact on user experience can be hard to do. So, if you want to take your ecommerce website to the next level, here are the UI tactics you need to implement to drive engagement and conversions.

Top 8 UI tactics for engagement and conversion boosting

Without further ado, let’s go through the best 8 UI tactics to drive engagement and conversion in a snap. Considering any of them to leverage your e-commerce website design

#1. Shorten the Route to Conversions

The buyer’s journey is complex and time-consuming — especially for big-ticket purchases. Research shows that the average buyer spends several hours researching potential solutions to their pain points, which takes significantly longer when conducted online vs. offline.

Now, you can’t do much to speed up the pace at which your target audience identifies their pain points, evaluates solutions, and goes through with their purchases. Nonetheless, you can make it easy for them to convert once they’re ready to buy.

Do you want to enhance website conversions without positioning your ecommerce brand as a profit-first organization? In that case, you’ll need to strike a balance between encouraging purchases and letting web visitors move at their own pace. The solution may be to invest in website design and effective UI tactics.

You see, great UI design and UI tactics doesn’t push consumers to purchase. Instead, it helps them collect relevant information about possible solutions to their pain points. It empowers them with insights and information. Plus, it makes it easy for them to complete their journey once they feel ready.

Several UI tactics can facilitate this process.

For example, when designing web pages for people in the mid-to-low stages of the sales funnel — such as product collection pages — you can include “Add to Cart” buttons that enable instant purchases.

Moto Machines does this on its GB Racing page, with buy buttons that allow web visitors to quickly select the ideal product for their needs.

Source: motomachines.com

UI design complexity can decrease conversion rates: 26% of people abandon their carts because a site requires them to create an account to check out. Knowing this, consider enabling guest checkout in your ecommerce store, , as part of effective UI tactics to streamline the process.

Arket allows shoppers full control over how they complete their purchases — allowing them to log into their accounts, create a profile on its ecommerce store, or choose an “Express Checkout” option that skips both of these steps, demonstrating smart UI tactics in action.

Source: arket.com

Another excellent strategy to shorten the route to conversion is to show a persistent cart summary during visitors’ entire browsing journey. This way, customers get better control over how much they’re spending (and on what). And the always-visible checkout button continues to remind them that there’s still a step left to complete their purchase. Implementing such UI tactics can greatly enhance the user experience.

Greetabl does something similar to this on its Build page, where shoppers choose items to add to their gift bags, while the sticky header section shows the cart’s contents, and the “Next” button encourages them to move on to the checkout process – showcasing effective UI tactics.

Source: greetabl.com

#2. Highlight Star-Ratings Wherever You Display Product Links

Most people (99.75%, to be precise) check reviews and ratings when shopping online. Even more importantly, 45% of consumers won’t purchase a product without ratings or reviews that support its effectiveness.

So, if you’re looking to use UI tactics that can drive engagement and conversions, it’s a great idea to highlight star ratings (or any sort of social proof) wherever you display product links.

Check out how Transparent Labs does it on its ProteinSeries collection page. Knowing that product ratings significantly impact consumers’ purchase intention, this brand makes star ratings highly visible during product selection. Moreover, by including a “Bestseller” badge next to some of its items, the brand further emphasizes brand and product credibility, effectively utilizing these UI tactics to boost conversions.

Source: transparentlabs.com

#3. Use Relevant and Purchase-Intent Enhancing Trust Signals

While traditional social proof does a great job of enhancing conversions, it’s not always the best way to communicate brand credibility and authority.

Considering how essential brand trust is to today’s consumers, the easy UI tactics you can use on your site to inspire conversions is to display relevant trust signals that align with your target audience’s wants, needs, and values.

These elements can include anything. You can design custom badges advertising free shipping and returns. Make it easy for web visitors to notice quality and satisfaction guarantees. Or, highlight third-party awards and media mentions, which is what Blix does on the Vika+ Flex product page, effectively employing these UI tactics to build trust and drive sales.

Source: blixbike.com

#4. Enable Visual Product Comparisons

What type of shopping experiences do online buyers want brands to provide? Research suggests that, in addition to value, today’s consumers appreciate convenience, simplicity, efficiency, and personalization.

With this in mind, it’s a great idea to employ UI tactics to make your web visitors’ buying journey more streamlined and enjoyable.

One method to achieve this outcome is to focus on the product evaluation stage of the sales funnel. As mentioned above, product research takes up a significant amount of time for most shoppers. While the best way to nudge consumers toward a purchase is to empower them with information, a more direct way to shorten the sales cycle is to simplify the mechanics of product research.

If a shopper has to click between product pages to compare the look of one item to another, the overall experience is cumbersome. By utilizing alternative view images on product collection pages, you can simplify the comparison process and help your audience identify items that match their criteria on more than just a single view.

Chisos does this splendidly on its Ostrich Boots page. This brand shows its boots against a standardized white background. Moreover, it uses UI design to allow a second-angle view on mouse-hover (the same for all products). By doing this, Chisos helps shoppers quickly pinpoint the boots that match their tastes. Moreover, it reduces unnecessary navigation interactions that don’t result in conversions.

Source: chisos.com

#5. Welcome Human Sales Interactions

In the age of AI chatbots and digital communication, providing shoppers with assistance is easier than ever. And going above and beyond in this regard pays off — particularly if you want to maximize engagement and conversion rates.

Just look at some of the latest research on customer experience. You’ll find that customer-centric support — helpful, insightful, personalized, relationship-building, and value-adding — plays a significant role in delighting and converting prospects into loyal buyers.

But, while chatbots and self-service resources can assist web visitors during their buying journey, they can never feel as exclusive (or be as convincing) as human sales interactions.

So, if you want to engage web visitors and enhance your chances of earning their trust, consider prioritizing human interactions. Especially if you’re selling big-ticket items that people won’t buy impulsively.

For example, check out how Pergola Kits USA does it on the products listed in their Cedar collections page. This business understands that spending north of $4,000 is not something many people will do lightly. So on each product page it uses UI design to present shoppers with several CTAs inviting human interaction. These include the “Call Us” buttons in the top right and bottom left corners of the page. 

Furthermore, the bottom of the page features a Live Chat button for those shoppers who prefer not to speak on the phone. There’s even a button right below the “Add to Cart” CTA, inviting web visitors to reach out to a project advisor. That’s another excellent addition to the page, seeing how purchasing this type of structure necessitates some level of architectural planning.

Source: pergolakitsusa.com

#6. Design for Mobile Shopping and Browsing

When it comes to easy ways to enhance web visitors’ browsing experience, one tactic you can implement is to design for mobile shopping.

Statistical data suggests that over 54% of all global traffic comes from mobile devices, while 76% of US adults use their smartphones to make online purchases (compared to 69% who use their computers and 28% who shop on their tablets).

Best of all, with mobile UI design best practices, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Sticking to the basics — like simplifying navigation menus, designing for one-handed use, optimizing for speed, implementing visual hierarchy, and streamlining the checkout process — will be more than enough to engage web visitors and compel them to buy.

A great example of a site that does all this comes from Lush. The user interface makes product discovery easy and intuitive, while the use of negative space further enhances the browsing experience. Shoppers still receive all the functionality of the desktop site, including quick add-to-cart options for a more streamlined shopping experience.

Source: lush.com

#7. Create User-Friendly Search Functionality

Another excellent way to use online consumer behavior tendencies to enhance your site’s ability to engage and convert customers is to optimize search functionalities with user-centric design.

Data from various UX studies reveals that a majority of consumers go straight to the search bar when landing on a site. Even more importantly, a user-friendly search function could contribute to boosting conversion rates and customer retention. Yet, despite the importance of search functionality for elevating conversions, most sites aren’t up to par when creating a positive user experience.

A study by Nosto discovered that consumers want brands to improve the search experience with error tolerance, personalization, recommended alternative products, autocomplete, content results, and advanced filters.

So, if you’re aiming to employ UI design tactics to encourage purchases, perhaps it’s a good idea to see which of these features you can add to your site. 

Skate Hut does a pretty good job of easing product discovery, thanks to smart product and category recommendations. Moreover, the brand displays star ratings right in the search results section of the site, which is another conversion-inspiring touch that makes it easier for consumers to find the ideal item for their needs.

Source: skatehut.co.uk

#8. Trigger Content Reveal on Scroll

Lastly, don’t forget that today’s internet users have very short attention spans.

Research suggests that the average human remains focused for only 8.25 seconds (shorter than a goldfish). 

So, while a highly functional and straightforward browsing experience can help with engagement rates and encourage conversions, it’s a good idea to explore additional tactics to ensure your potential customers remain alert while browsing your offer.

One easy way to do this is to add a touch of interactivity to your website. 

By using scrolling triggers to reveal content animations, for example, you can inject a dose of much-needed excitement into your ecommerce content. You’ll make product images and descriptions much more exciting to buyers in the evaluation stage of the customer journey. That’s what Apple did in the example below:

Source: apple.com

Wrapping Up

Creating a website with exceptional UI tatics design may not always be an easy thing to do. But regardless of whether you want to engage your audience, boost conversions, or maximize customer retention, investing in this aspect of your site is more than worth the effort. So, try the tactics outlined in this article, and see how they work for your brand. You might find that a small change makes a big impact.