This is one of the most comprehensive checklists of actions you can take to improve the user experience in your online store.

Table of Contents

1. Optimise your webshop for mobile devices

Responsive design is not just about SEO: 91% of shoppers buy on mobile. At the same time, cart abandonment rates are higher on mobile devices than on desktop, and poor mobile user experience is clearly to blame.

So how can you ensure your webshop is intuitive and easy to use on mobile as well?

My key recommendations:

  • Integrate mobile payment solutions to make checkout easier.
  • Support mobile gestures (double tap, pinch, etc.).
  • Make sure labels and CTAs are appropriately sized for mobile use.
  • Offer support for voice search.
  • Test your webshop’s responsiveness across different mobile devices and screen resolutions.
  • Automatically synchronise cart contents across devices.

2. Optimise your page loading speed

In addition to responsiveness, loading time is one of the most important factors for user experience (UX). Continuously test the loading time of your webshop pages. I recommend using the free tools Google PageSpeed Insights (https://pagespeed.web.dev/) and GTmetrix (https://gtmetrix.com/).

If your speed test scores are poor, you have several options to improve performance.

My key recommendations:

  • Optimise multimedia content. Webshops are packed with images and videos, and these have the largest file sizes, so they have the biggest impact on loading times. By compressing them, you can achieve significant speed improvements.
  • Switch hosting providers if necessary. Hosting that delivers better site speed is usually more expensive, but it’s worth the investment.
  • Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN). A CDN stores copies of your webshop across multiple data centres around the world. When a user wants to access the site, the CDN serves the copy closest to them, reducing loading time.
  • Enable browser caching. With browser caching, returning visitors don’t have to wait for the whole site to download again, as part of it is already stored locally in their browser.

3. Use a consistent visual identity in your web design

A web design that follows your brand’s visual identity builds trust in an online store. The logo, colours, fonts, language and tone used in the webshop should all reflect your brand. This consistency helps customers quickly recognise the company behind the webshop, which speeds up trust in the purchasing process.

Tools for consistent web design:

  • Logo: make sure it is large and recognisable enough – this is the most important branding element.
  • Colour scheme: use a consistent colour palette across the entire webshop. This reinforces the visual connection with the brand. For example, if your main brand colours are blue and yellow, make sure these dominate in the webshop.
  • Typography: use a limited number of fonts, ideally those defined in your brand guidelines. Consistent typography looks professional and makes the content easier to read.
  • Language and tone: use a consistent tone of voice in product descriptions, blog posts and customer communication. Whether your brand is casual and friendly or formal and authoritative, consistency will help build a strong brand identity.

4. Prioritise function over design

The truth is that there is rarely a clear correlation between webshop design and conversion rate. In fact, unconventional and unusual design elements can confuse visitors, distract them from their goal and harm the user experience. Not to mention that unconventional visual solutions can increase loading times due to their size or cause compatibility issues on older devices.

It’s worth looking at the design of one of the busiest online stores in the world, Amazon (amazon.com), which practically has “no design”. There are no videos, animations, sliders, ornate backgrounds – nothing that would even slightly distract visitors from the products and the act of purchasing. It is extremely minimalistic and that is exactly why it’s so effective.

My key recommendations:

  • Use your company logo and brand colours in your webshop design.
  • Let design play a supporting role in showcasing the products.
  • Avoid groundbreaking visual and functional solutions.
  • Don’t implement solutions you haven’t seen work elsewhere.
  • Avoid heavy use of animations, sliders or too many videos.

5. Sell benefits, not features

Listing product features is only effective if you explain what benefits these features bring to your customers’ lives. Instead of simply listing features, explain how they solve a specific situation or problem.

For example, a good skincare product may contain retinol – but the real benefit is clearer skin. A supplement may contain protein – but the benefit is faster muscle growth. A lipstick may have a matte texture – but the benefit is that it stays on your lips all day without reapplying.

My suggestions:

  • Try to associate a clear benefit with each product feature.
  • Use customer stories in blog and video format to show how a product helped and improved someone’s life.
  • Put the problem your product solves front and centre and highlight it every time the product appears.

6. Remove distracting elements

Less is more – this is one of the most important design lessons to keep in mind when creating a webshop. A cluttered, overloaded layout is dangerous because it distracts visitors from their goal. And since the goal of an online store is to sell products, you risk harming sales and revenue if you overcomplicate the interface.

How can you identify which elements are distracting and pulling users away from their goal? Here are 5 useful tips:

  • Take inventory of each page and define the user’s goal on that page. Then remove everything that doesn’t serve that goal.
  • Use negative space (whitespace) on the page. Every webshop element should have enough surrounding space to be clearly separated visually from other elements.
  • Review your colour palette. Use a maximum of 3 different colours across the webshop (black, grey and white don’t count as they are neutral colours).
  • Arrange page elements by importance. The most important elements and CTAs should be the largest.
  • Where necessary, complement text and buttons with icons.

7. Make navigation simple and intuitive

Designing simple navigation is not an easy task when your webshop contains thousands of products.

The navigation checklist below will help you test the most critical areas from a navigation perspective:

  • The main menu should be detailed and hierarchical.
  • Use a mega menu instead of a simple dropdown.
  • Complement the main menu with breadcrumb navigation.
  • Menu items should have clear and meaningful labels.
  • Users should be able to reach their goals in as few clicks as possible.
  • Products should be organised into a clear hierarchy of categories.
  • List or catalogue pages should have multiple filtering options, and product previews should contain all essential information.
  • Pages with information on returns, refunds, shipping policies, payment methods and delivery options should be easy to find.

8. Add search with autocomplete

In very small stores that sell only a handful of products there’s no real need for a search function. But as soon as your catalogue grows, search becomes one of the most important ways to help users find products.

A search bar placed in a consistent, clearly visible location on every page is the best solution. On payment and checkout pages, however, it’s a good idea to remove it so it doesn’t distract users and hurt conversions.

Many visitors know exactly what product they’re looking for and don’t want to drill down through the menu and categories. For them, a well-functioning search is the most useful tool. But if search doesn’t deliver, they’ll leave – which is why it’s so important to get it right.

Here are 5 UX tips to improve search:

  • Make the search bar easy to spot on every page (and don’t hide it behind an icon).
  • Place the search bar at the top of the page – that’s where most visitors expect to find it.
  • Use autocomplete and suggestions to speed up searching.
  • Allow filtering of search results by multiple parameters: price, category, size, colour, etc.
  • Allow users to search within a specific product category.

9. Clean up your product categories

If there are too many options within a single product category, visitors can easily get lost and lose patience. But if they see too few products in a category or subcategory, that can be frustrating as well.

  • Split your product categories and subcategories into chunks that are easy for users to handle. The aim is to have at least 10 products in the deepest category level.
  • Avoid duplicate or overlapping categories. They confuse users and create a negative user experience.
  • Remove redundancy in categories, especially if you are using a combination of your own and third-party imported categorisation.
  • Consider adding a “Best Sellers” category. New visitors often start by browsing the most popular products. A “Best Sellers” category can provide a quick way to relevant products and serve as a strong entry point to exploring the site.
  • Add an “Accessories” subcategory where appropriate. If you have enough complementary items, include an Accessories subcategory under the relevant product categories and provide tools to filter these items. Where possible, avoid showing accessories in the main category product list.
  • Clearly display the total number of products in a list, both above and below the product listing. The size, position and styling should make this number easy to see.

10. Make calls-to-action (CTAs) clearly visible

Every page serves a purpose: it guides visitors in a certain direction or towards a specific action. One of the core UX principles in e-commerce is that every page should contain at least one clearly visible CTA. This helps structure your marketing funnel and leads customers towards the desired action.

A call-to-action is exactly what its name suggests: it calls the user to do something specific. A well-crafted CTA can significantly increase conversion rates and improve user experience.

My key recommendations:

  • Avoid using pushy sales CTAs on every surface, as this can feel intrusive to users.
  • Make sure every CTA is clickable and actually performs the intended action – for example, sending an email or opening a new page.
  • Don’t forget to use CTAs in other online marketing channels as well, such as emails and social media.
  • Different CTA types serve different purposes. There are primary, secondary and tertiary (fallback) CTAs – and they shouldn’t all look the same. Primary CTAs encourage the preferred action, secondary CTAs are for hesitant users, and tertiary CTAs target those who aren’t interested in the primary offer.
  • A good rule of thumb: primary CTAs should be more prominent than secondary CTAs, which in turn should stand out more than tertiary ones.

11. Present the product in enough detail

A product page should give users all the information they need to make a decision. But if you provide too much information, you risk overwhelming and discouraging them.

To find the balance between too little and too much information, review your product pages based on the following key points:

  • Treat the above-the-fold area as a priority. (Above the fold is the part of the page users see immediately without scrolling.) Only the most important information should appear here – typically product rating, price, availability, variations, a short description and product images.
  • Product photos must appear above the fold and be large enough to be enjoyable to view.
  • Make sure photos are high quality, taken from different angles and include close-ups of key features. Allow users to zoom in, and consider adding 360-degree or 3D product views.
  • Describe product features and specifications in detail, beneath the fold. Highlight the most important features with icons, larger font size and primary brand colour. Break product information into clearly structured sections for easy scanning.
  • Use descriptive product names. Creative names might work well in campaigns, but overly clever or overly technical names can confuse visitors. Shoppers need context to make informed decisions. Make sure product names are either familiar to them or contain enough information to distinguish them from similar items.

12. Highlight the key product benefits and features

This is one of the most important UX tips for product pages: visitors should be able to see the most important product features as quickly as possible. Ideally, you should highlight them above the fold, as many users won’t scroll down at all.

Avoid marketing jargon and focus on sharing factual information about the product. Answer basic questions – what is it, what does it do, who is it for – using digestible bullet points and clear, simple language.

How to highlight core product features – a few UX tips:

  • Present key features in bullet point lists.
  • Use concise, plain language.
  • Emphasise the value the product provides.
  • Consider using larger font size, colour accents or icons to draw attention to highlighted features.

13. Use high-quality, large product images

With counterfeit products that look almost identical to the originals becoming more common, shoppers have an even stronger need to see clearly what they’re about to buy. They want to see product details and how the item looks in their hand, in their home or in use. That’s why high-quality, large images are critical. They’re not just visually appealing – they also significantly improve the user experience.

My key recommendations:

  • Create at least five images for each product and show the product in different usage scenarios.
  • Where possible, include user-generated images (if their quality is good enough) as social proof and authentic perspectives.
  • Use professional cameras and lighting when shooting product photos and videos.

14. Use product videos

High-quality product images are an important part of showcasing a product, but in many cases static images alone are not enough to convey functionality.

Product videos often allow you to present features, functionality and use cases much more effectively, so they’re worth incorporating.

The extra trust and higher conversion generated by videos usually pay back the investment quickly. Plus, customers will know exactly what they’re getting, which reduces complaints and the time and effort needed to handle them. And on some platforms, such as TikTok, you can only appear effectively with video content anyway.

Additional suggestions:

  • Create product videos using professional equipment to get the best possible results.
  • If you can involve well-known content creators in these videos, that will further increase trust and willingness to buy.

15. Display product reviews

Product reviews serve as independent proof and play a huge role in convincing visitors. In some industries, such as restaurants or accommodation, ratings and reviews are among the most important decision factors for customers.

Displaying product reviews in various forms and locations throughout the webshop helps dispel doubts and steadily builds the level of trust needed for purchase.

My key recommendations:

  • Make reviews and testimonials clearly visible throughout the webshop and display detailed written reviews on product pages.
  • Offer discounts or free shipping to encourage customers to leave reviews.
  • List your business on third-party review platforms such as Google Reviews to improve your reputation across all channels.
  • Respond not only to positive but also to negative feedback – the latter with an apology and a description of how you’ll do better in the future.
  • Always show the average rating and the number of reviews on product pages.
  • Make sure star ratings are clearly visible on both desktop and mobile.
  • Ideally show both numeric values (e.g. “4.9”) and a graphical star representation of the average rating.

16. Build trust with badges

Various seals and badges increase your webshop’s credibility in the eyes of visitors. These elements can refer to site security, payment processing or refund policies, to name just a few. Depending on the type, you can display them on the homepage, checkout page, login/registration page, etc.

Here are some popular badges worth using in your webshop:

  • 256-bit SSL encryption
  • Money-back guarantee
  • PCI-compliant payment processing
  • Best-price guarantee
  • Logos of accepted payment methods (PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, etc.)
  • Secure webshop
  • Free shipping and free returns

17. Allow guest checkout

Allowing users to check out as guests is one of the biggest UX improvements you can make in the checkout process. Forcing customers to create an account introduces unnecessary friction into the purchase flow. This reduces the likelihood that they’ll complete their order: one in four shoppers say they abandon their cart if they are forced to register.

Offering optional registration during checkout simplifies the process. Instead of forcing unwanted sign-ups, encourage users to create an account only if they feel the need. At the same time, you reduce the number of form fields they have to complete before buying.

18. Use a simple and transparent checkout page

The checkout page is one of the most critical screens in webshop UX. It’s the final step in the purchase process, so it’s crucial that it provides the best possible user experience.

The Baymard Institute found that 50% of online shoppers abandon their cart once they realise they’ll have to pay additional fees such as shipping or tax on top of the product price. Another 28% abandon their cart because they are forced to create an account.

By prioritising clear communication and a simple checkout process, you can significantly improve conversion rates and customer satisfaction – and ultimately reduce cart abandonment.

My key recommendations:

  • If checkout is a multi-step process, use a progress indicator showing how many steps remain and where the user is at a given moment.
  • Use the shortest possible forms and clearly distinguish optional from required fields.
  • Ask only for information that is strictly necessary; avoid requesting things like title, middle name, telephone number, etc., unless absolutely needed.
  • If you must request extra information, place an “i” (info) icon next to the field to explain why it’s required.
  • Pre-fill fields where possible with information provided during registration to speed up the process and reduce errors.
  • Allow users to save their data during checkout so they don’t have to re-enter it next time.
  • Offer multiple payment options, as you don’t know in advance which method a given customer prefers.
  • Payment methods that don’t require entering card details (e.g. PayPal) can also speed up the process and are very popular with many shoppers.
  • Shipping costs are one of the main reasons for checkout abandonment, so inform users about them as early as possible.

19. Use effective error handling and feedback

Effective error handling can prevent user frustration and improve overall user experience. Clear error messages and instructions help users quickly identify and fix problems.

Feedback options also allow users to report issues or make suggestions for improvements.

Place your feedback form in an easily accessible location – for example in the footer or the user account area.

Ask for customer feedback regularly – you’ll gain valuable insights to continually improve your webshop.

Additional suggestions:

  • Inline validation: provide real-time feedback on form fields. This is one of the most effective ways to highlight issues while the user is filling in a form.
  • Informative error messages: use friendly language and, where possible, offer multiple ways to solve the problem. If a visitor enters an incorrect email format, explain the correct format and show an example.

20. Order summary page

Transparency is a key element of a webshop’s user interface. Before placing their order, customers need to be fully aware of what they are buying.

The order summary page should list all the fees and costs they will have to pay. It should also allow them to review previously entered shipping, payment and billing details. This way, users can submit their order with peace of mind, without fearing any last-minute surprises or hidden costs.

My key recommendations:

  • The order summary page should clearly display information on returns.
  • All costs associated with the purchase should be communicated from the beginning, not just at the final step before payment – otherwise customers will feel misled and leave.
  • At any point in the process, clicking on the cart icon should give users access to their current order summary.
  • If the user is logged in, there should be a menu item where they can view their previous orders.

21. Display your shipping and returns policy

Easy-to-find and clearly written shipping and returns information builds trust and makes people more willing to buy.

Provide clear and concise answers to common questions about returns and display them in a place and format that’s easy to access. It’s important that the wording is understandable for everyone.

If returns are free, make it absolutely clear that the webshop will cover these costs.

My key recommendations:

  • Make it easy for customers to contact you if they have questions about shipping or returns.
  • Upload your general terms and conditions and write them in plain language so they are understandable to all visitors.

22. Send an order confirmation

The customer journey doesn’t end at checkout – although many businesses seem to forget this. After an order is placed, it’s essential to make the next steps clear. If you don’t proactively answer the questions that arise here, customers will feel uncertain, which leads to a loss of trust in your webshop and your company.

My key recommendations:

  • Display a clear (and ideally personalised) confirmation/thank-you message after a purchase. The goal is for the customer to be 100% sure that their order has gone through successfully.
  • Inform them about the next steps after placing the order.
  • Send a confirmation email as well. It should include all important details related to the purchase: products, customer information, payment method, delivery method, shipping address, etc.
  • Include the expected delivery date and the shipping address in the confirmation email.
  • Include customer service contact details in the confirmation email so that buyers know where to turn if they have any questions or problems.