What do online shoppers want: 6 elements that can make or break the UX
Before Amazon came to India in 2012, it was impossible to imagine our bargaining-obsessed nation purchasing anything online. With an acquired taste of digitisation and convenience, Indian consumers’ buying behaviour have changed dramatically in the last decade so much so, 300 million users are expected to be shopping online by 2025. The arrival of Covid-19 has led to accelerated penetration of the internet in our country making us one of the biggest markets to watch for.
In this article, we highlight 6 key elements that can make or break the user experience on e-commerce platforms for Indian consumers:
- Show, don’t tell. Human brain processes imagery more efficiently than texts, as proven by cognitive research. Online shopping is no different; pictorial representations are better received than textual descriptions by all kinds of users irrespective of language proficiency. In one example, Flipkart adopted photo-realistic categories on its homepage for people to easily navigate through relieving the pressure to understand the text. We too found that websites like Urban Ladder that use infographics on their landing page had a much higher success rate to find the products of interest.
“I feel a lot comfortable searching for things here. Because once I scrolled down, the photos were there and I did not have to go anywhere” — A male furniture shopper searching for a study table
2. Filters: More is not always merrier. E-commerce platforms have moved past the times when only a few primal filters would narrow down the search results. Unique filters like occasion, sustainability, and wash care have made their way into the ‘Filters’ section for the ease of the searching. But, as it has happened, too many specific filters leads to confusion and leaves a consumer feeling overwhelmed especially when they are new to online shopping.
“Typing the price within the price filter will be better. There are so many options for fabric, it is confusing” — A male apparel shopper trying to filter his search
3. Sorting keeps us from FOMO. Many Indians do not have a strict budget when it comes to big one time kind of purchases- we do not mind shelling out a few bucks over the budget if we find the perfect product match. This Fear of Missing Out of their dream product aka FOMO has made Sorting based on price, one of the favourite elements of most online shoppers. We identified one downside of sorting though: navigating through products can become tiresome if there are too many items on display before users reach their intended price range.
“I have to scroll a lot after sorting the price from lowest to highest but I am getting a lot more options to choose from than just filtering the price, so I do not mind that” — A female furniture shopper looking at table options
4. Return policies are risk mitigators. More and more people now know about the return policies of e-commerce websites which builds their confidence about the website. Indian market being price sensitive, Return policies are overtly checked when people are either investing a significant amount of money on items like Furniture or it is a brand/website new to them. On the other hand, frequently used items are seldom checked for return policies as now a general awareness of such policies exist between consumers.
“This is the first time I am purchasing from them. What if the product is damaged? Furniture is a big purchase. I would look at the return policy before purchasing” — A male furniture shopper checking out return policies
5. What do others think of this product? aka Social Proof: This question is a critical determinant when making purchase decisions. Others’ experiences and opinions about an item in the shape of reviews and ratings is progressively facilitating people (who are not always trusting, btw!) to make informed choices before purchasing. They are compelled to believe that products with ample positive reviews are superior in quality and won’t dampen their experiences. Platforms like Ajio who lack these features struggle to gain conviction from users.
“I am disappointed. Lack of reviews makes me believe that this is a bad purchase and I would be hesitant to purchase from Ajio” — A male apparel shopper trying to shop from Ajio for the first time
6. Surprises are welcome, surprise charges are not. Hidden charges and costs are one of the most painful pain points that users encounter on e-commerce. User dropout rates are higher at the checkout page when the indicated prices do not match with the promised prices on the product page. The exact amount (or a possible surge for that matter) is factored in while shortlisting products, before reaching the purchase.
“After adding the product in the cart, they have added delivery cost (increased charge), they are also charging for assembling. IKEA is lacking in their services” — A male furniture shopper making his first IKEA purchase
To conclude..
An influx of users on platforms has led to a change in the online shopping landscape in India. Increased awareness and willingness to experiment has led to companies investing in understanding users’ needs, innovating new ways of decluttering users’ experience with the hope of retaining their users. While familiarity with the bigger end-to-end journey easily meets the users expectations, innovation helps them stand out. We’d like to hear your stories of companies that hit the sweet spot between familiarity and novelty, or when it went completely south (definitely that).
