“Dear online retailer, from a very loyal shopper” — Why you absolutely need to improve your shopping app experience.

If you too are an impulsive online shopper like me, then you my friend are doomed. Undeniably online shopping is a slippery slope and we have all miserably gone down that path . Some of us more than others.

We are practically shopping for everything ONLINE! Whether it’s our groceries, our underwear or our sanity. Pun intended.

But I’m not here to make a shopaholic’s confession or rant about how these retailers are ripping me off on a daily basis (well,which they are).

Rather I’m here to talk about how smartly they’ve taken over our inhibitions and tricked us into checking out that “cart” and swiftly taking that hard earned money out of our credit cards.

To be clear again, I’m not complaining!

Don’t we all just love that rush we get after making an online purchase? In fact 3–4 business days to delivery gives us a whole reason to live, a reason to look forward to something. Psst. C’mon I know you agree to disagree.

Online shopping changed the game. More than that the expectations and experiences around shopping completely changed.

I remember when I was a teenager, I used to look forward to shopping days out with my mother, she would hand pick a few outfits and I would be done with my shopping allowance for a couple of months at least. Now just the thought of that sounds dreadful.

And you know why?

Not very long ago, a digital revolution took place.

I noticed that every time I used my laptop, my phone or even glanced up at infomercials on TV, I was naturally drawn to shopping. Every site or app that I opened was mocking me, and not only the ones meant for shopping. Be it sponsored posts on Instagram, Facebook keeping track of what I’ve been looking at or even a random website I open, would haunt me until I bought the whole cart.

At first I was shocked and did not understand the math behind it, then I started working for a digital agency and came across things like SEO’s, emphasis on UI/UX and smart content strategy which evolved e-commerce completely. It was like BANG on!

Every major retailer was coming up with a mobile app after online shopping cart abandonment started taking place. There were many reasons for it but ultimately only one- A bad user experience altogether!

Honestly how many times have we loved the products on a website but still had the most horrific experience using their website/app? Sadly some don’t even have an app or the resources to scale one.

Yes, such online retailers still exist. What they don’t understand is that investing in a shopping app of their own will not only give their brand credibility but also enhance customer experience, eventually leading to greater customer satisfaction and increased sales.

Being a committed online shopper, the ease of use be it a website or an app is really one of the most important factors while choosing where I shop from the most often.

If I don’t have a seamless experience from start to end, I will most definitely switch to another retailer.

Here’s what I think shopping apps need to take care of , to increase their brand likability and preference over competitors.

• Create awareness about the app on your website- 53% of smartphone user’s don’t have their favourite brands app installed. Most don’t even know they have an app.
• Never have a lengthy sign up process. It really puts off users.
• Less is more when it comes to content on shopping apps- Excessive images or videos, can quickly clutter the customer’s screen and hinder their overall experience.
• Easy navigation that is not clouded.
• A design that is in sync with your company’s identity.
• Refine search results from keywords. Some of the world’s best shopping apps are the ones that show results for exactly what the customer may be looking for. eg: Amazon, Asos etc.
• Stop trying to paginate your product listings. Users just hit “view all” anyway.
• Real customer reviews with photos. Brands like Shein are a great example of this.
• Being able to start shopping from where you left — Remember the scroll position of the user. Believe it or not, it’s one of the most important features your app needs.
• Always offer an option on your site to allow shipping to an address that is different from billing.
• Live chats or a direct customer service numbers to connect with.
• Easy checkout with short forms. Collect only important information.

Mobile site that’s slow or hard to navigate impacts a person’s perception of a brand. More than half of people say they look poorly on brands with mobile sites that are not designed for use on a smartphone.With over 40% of online transactions happening on mobile today, it’s easy to see why creating a friction-free mobile shopping experience across apps and mobile sites is key to not put off shoppers like me and many others.