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How to Fix Abandoned Carts, Low Orders, and Reduce Bounce Rate with Better UX

Resolve business challenges or prepare for a digital transformation with this UX guide

Katrin Shabina

Chief Design Officer

Eva Petritski

Content Manager

July 10, 2024

Intro Before you begin If customers bounce too soon If customers don’t add products to their carts If customers abandon carts Key takeaways

Sometimes, business owners and top managers see that their apps or websites are not meeting their desired conversion levels. To fix it, they start investing in influencer marketing, reviewing their business or marketing strategy, or even fully transforming their digital platform.

Some of these solutions may actually work, but without checking and fixing the root of the problem—the user experience on the app or website, this business investment can go to waste.

To make sure it doesn’t happen, use this quick guide. It offers ready-made solutions for the three most common business problems caused by bad UX and helps to improve all the key areas for an efficient digital channel.

Before you begin

Study your app or website data. This will help you determine whether the problem is really with your UX and not with marketing, brand image, or product quality. See how users behave on your platform and, most importantly, when they bounce.

Here’s what to check:

Conversion rate of orders, filled requests, checkout completion
User segmentation: age, gender, language, location, time on site, preferences
User reviews and platform ratings in app stores or on the Internet
Type of device and operational system
Click heatmap

“Pro Tip: ask people who resemble your target audience to go through your platform and complete the target action. Note where they pause, lose interest, or have questions. These will be your key areas to inspect.”

Katrin

Chief Design Officer at HeyInnovations

Single out the possible bottlenecks and steps where most visitors leave your platform and read how to fix them with UX.

If customers bounce too soon

First, ensure you don’t have technical issues: you attract the right traffic and audience, the website or app loads fast and shows no errors.

If everything is great in this department, then the problem might be with your main page—specifically, that the main page does not convey enough value. Here’s how to improve it.

#1 Show your value on the main page

The main page of your website should reflect your brand and appeal to your target audience. Marketing and web design elements are important to catch users’ attention and convey your message, but so is relevant offering. Without it, users will not understand why they need to stay on your site.

To capture users’ interest, list what you offer on the main page. This way, your customers will see the value they can get on your digital platform and want to experience more. Try not to put out too much ad content so that your visitors do not lose their focus and feel aggressive promotion. Rather, direct their attention to the products which they can buy.

#2 Design a useful home screen

The rules for mobile apps are virtually the same. First, check if your app has no technical issues, such as a long download, wrong language, or too many ad banners and notifications. Then, inspect the UX design hindrances.

A good strategy is to not ask users to register upon the first visit. Instead, show the offering first. This way, your customers will see the value behind the product, develop interest, and readily leave their data rather than closing your app forever.

You have split seconds to make people resonate with your platform. To do it, it is better to show them its value first

If customers don’t add products to their carts

Then, they might have difficulties finding the right items in the catalog, applying filters to get more precise results, or simply using the search on your platform. Such hindrances slow your customers’ search process and frustrate them, especially those visitors who came ready to purchase something specific.

Simplifying the search experience is crucial to help users shop your catalog, and here’s how to do it.

#1 Declutter the catalog

One issue with many catalogs is that they are too cluttered. Low-quality product photos, big ad banners, small CTA buttons, and lots of redundant content disorient the user rather than promote sales. An uninformative and not user-friendly catalog can become the reason why your customers bounce to shop somewhere else.

To make your catalog excel at its job, use big, high-definition product photos and display only shopping-relevant product information. The content should be enough to make your customer click on an item but not too dizzying to make them lose interest. You can always use your product card to convey all the product details.

Make the key CTA buttons clear and visible so that users can easily add new items to their carts and avoid going overboard with banners and ad content.

Another good practice is to indicate right in the catalog that an item is out of stock. This way, a user can pre-order a missing item or add it to their waitlist rather than find out the sad news in the cart and feel disappointed in their experience. Adding user ratings and reviews also helps—your catalog will look more credible, and your brand trust will grow.

#2 Add product-specific filters

Without fast search and handy filters, it becomes more difficult for users to understand and find what they seek. As a result, your visitors can spend more time scrolling through the catalog, get frustrated with their experience, and leave for a more convenient app or website.

To improve the search, break your offering into categories and display them right on the main page. Then, add filters to each category based on the real qualities of the product. Consider special requirements, such as item type, price, ingredients, or delivery time. This way, you will help your customers make purchases faster and develop loyalty to your business.

Product-relevant filters can help customers find their perfect match faster, which leaves them more satisfied with their shopping experience on your app or website. They can also be useful for visitors who don’t know what they want and need to narrow their choices for a more personalized selection.

Get more ready-made UX solutions for free

Download our free UX Audit Workbook for Executives.  It details how to solve 13 most common business challenges caused by bad UX, and shows best revenue-driving UX practices from Uber, Klarna, and other tech companies.

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If customers abandon carts

The problem might be a long checkout process or unclear price and delivery information. Optimizing these steps is easy — show all information upfront and make your customer fill out as little information as possible.

#1 Simplify cart and checkout

Allow users to add or delete items, change delivery info or payment method right in the cart without going to profile or settings. To improve sales, you can try upselling relevant items or services. This way, you will help users make sure they didn’t forget anything important and do extra marketing: once again promote extra services that they might not know about.

In your checkout form, try to have up to four lines and offer the option of saving the information. This way, the user won’t have to enter it again when they make their next purchase.

A good rule of thumb is to reduce and automate the steps that require too much manual input. Offer express authorization and checkout, and, as always, ask for minimum information. The smoother and easier the checkout experience is, the more customers will finish their orders.

#2 Give clear payment and delivery information

It is important to clearly display the total price, including extra services, discounts, and special offers. Thus, your customers will know exactly how much they are going to pay.

To help people make bigger purchases easier, add a BNPL service and give information on the ongoing discounts and sales. Display all the possible payment options that you have, as well as the opportunity to use gift cards and promo codes.

Give customers value even after they check out. Clearly indicate and update the current order status—the best way is to visualize it with progress bars. Show delivery date and time, and keep support contacts nearby, in case your customers have urgent questions.

All these steps are about giving value and care to your customers. Such convenience helps bolster their loyalty and make them more willing to choose your business over competitors.

Key takeaways

Before spending money on any solution, check user experience on your website or mobile app first. Make sure that the main page, catalog, search, cart, and checkout on your digital platform all work together to lead your customer toward the target action.

If you want to inspect and improve your platform’s UX further on your own, take a look at our UX Audit Workbook for Executives. It details 13 UX strategies which Klarna, Uber, and other tech companies use to make users stick to their platforms and buy more.

And if you need UX ideas to prepare for your next pivot, give us a shout. We can chat about your business goals and think about solutions our design team can suggest.

last update

July 10, 2024

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How to Fix Abandoned Carts, Low Orders, and Reduce Bounce Rate with Better UX

Before you begin