⚡ 028 Understanding Friction in E-Commerce

In e-commerce, even the tiniest friction points can result in lost sales.

Friction means any element of your website or checkout process that causes frustration or inconvenience for your (potential) customers.

In today’s issue, we’ll dive into common examples of friction and how they can impact your conversion rates.

Let’s dive right in!

1. Size Selection

In too many online stores you see that the size selection is a dropdown. Picture this, you have find the right product, go to the product detail page, select the dropdown to find the right size.

Size not available

Frustrating right?

You can fix this by showing all sizes in boxes or radio buttons, and grey-out the sizes that are not on stock. You still won’t sell the sizes that are not available, but at least you take away a bit of friction.

2. User Input

Entering numbers on a QWERTY keypad involves loads of friction. Let’s take a look at the picture below. Which one is easier to use when you need to fill in your phone number?

One simple way to reduce friction is to tailor the user input to the specific devices.

3. Payment Methods

Not offering local payment methods is a major roadblock for international customers. Find out what the preferred payment method of your geo-targeted customers is, and pre-select it.

You want your customers to complete the purchase with the minimal effort needed. Pre-selecting preferred payment method helps.

4. Keep Users Logged In

Logging in is a notorious friction-heavy task. You need to fill in your email address, remember your password (which you don’t) and you have to click a button.

Keeping users logged in, and pre-select previous used payment and shipping methods, helps you reduce friction.

5. Autoplay Videos

While videos can be a powerful tool for showcasing your products, autoplay videos with sound can be is(!) annoying for users.

It won’t be the first time I slam my laptop shut because a heavy metal soundtrack is blasting through my speakers for no apparent reason.

Auto-Play: Sure
Sound: No.

6. Guest Checkout

Forcing customers to create an account before making a purchase is a major turn-off and conversion killer.

Offer a guest checkout option that allows customers to complete their purchase without creating an account.

This simple change will increase your conversion rates. Significantly.

Fixing the Leaks: 3 steps to success

There’s a simple 3 step process to reduce friction on your webshop.

1. Conduct User Testing

Put yourself in your customers' shoes and test your website's usability. Identify any areas that cause frustration or confusion and make necessary improvements. User testing provide valuable insights into the friction points that may be kiilling conversions.

2. Backlog Friction Points

All friction points discovered in user testing, backlog them in one system (Google Sheets, Notion, whatever). Prioritize them based on:

• Impact

• Effort

3. Fix them

Build 2 week sprints with your developers to fix all items in your Backlog List.

During these sprints, keep going back to step 1 to find new points of friction.

Optimizing is a continuously ongoing loop. Small incremental changes lead to huge wins.

Have a great Sunday!
Erik

Whenever you’re ready, there are a few ways I can help you.

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