Usability of an online store | Basic requirements for standard pages

Conversion rates for an online store are influenced by a whole group of factors, among which usability can be called one of the main. Even when developing, the usability of an online store should be paid close attention to, and if the store is already working, then it is necessary to check its usability for compliance with some basic parameters.

When analyzing the usability of an online store, it is usually required to carefully study a lot of different characteristics for literally every page, because there simply can’t be any little things in terms of increasing conversion. First of all, a check should be carried out for several standard pages – catalog pages, product pages, and cart pages.

Usability Directory Pages.

A catalog is the “heart” of any online store, on how well the catalog is thought out and how convenient it depends on whether potential buyers can find the right products and place an order. In each individual case, the type and structure of the catalog will, of course, depend on the goods sold, but here are the basic usability requirements for the catalog pages that are common:

all products must have the correct name, preview photo;
All products must be correctly filtered and sorted;
each product must be available for adding to the basket, with the exception of those that are not in stock;
goods not in stock must have a corresponding mark distinguishing them from other goods;
goods participating in promotions or goods with a discount must have appropriate marks distinguishing them from other goods;
when adding goods to the basket from the catalog page there should be visual confirmation of the action.

Usability Product Pages.

Perhaps the most stringent requirements are placed on the pages of goods in online stores (“product cards”): these pages must be attractive and adapted for promotion, and convenient for potential buyers. So even if we mention only the most important usability parameters of such pages, the list will still be very impressive:

.The page title should contain the name of the product;
.The page should contain correct and sufficient information about the product;
.Product photos should be displayed on the page correctly;
.The page should display a Buy button or similar, by clicking on which the product is added to the basket;
.If the purchase of goods involves the selection of some additional parameters, all the switches and checkboxes on the page should work correctly;
.When adding goods to the basket, a visual confirmation of this action should be displayed;
.If the product is not in stock, it cannot be added to the basket;
.If the product has special purchase conditions (promotions, discounts), they must be displayed correctly on the page;
.From the product page you can return to the list of goods;
.Additional blocks for up-selling or cross-selling work correctly on the page.

Usability basket page.

The cart page in the online store is almost the last link in the purchase chain. And if this page suddenly turns out to be inconvenient, the risk is high that the potential buyer will drop the basket and not complete the order. Of course, it will not be possible to completely avoid abandoned baskets but to make the usability of the basket page high is quite possible. To do this, pay attention to the following basic requirements:

.Basket page forms should work correctly;
.All products added to the basket should be displayed correctly;
.The quantity of each product must be displayed in accordance with the selected quantity on the product page or must be manually changed in the appropriate field (manual entry of numbers, buttons “add” and “decrease”);
.The total amount of the order must be calculated correctly, must take into account all applied discounts and coupons, commissions, if any;
.When changing the number of goods in the basket or changing the composition of the order, the total amount should be correctly recalculated immediately, without reloading the page;
.There should be a link on the cart page leading back to the product catalog;
.There should be a link on the basket page leading to the checkout page;
.There should be buttons or links on the cart page to delete products;
.Products from the cart page must be deleted without reloading the page.
The listed usability requirements of the online store, of course, are the most common and take into account the behavior of only a few main pages. But there are also informational pages, pages for placing and confirming orders, internal search pages, and other pages, the usability of which also requires careful study. As a result, the analysis of usability and the subsequent optimization of the online store to increase this indicator is better to entrust to specialists of a professional web studio.