A look under the hood of profitable e-commerce websites

Tools are only effective if they are simple and straightforward because today’s customers

Steve Jobs put it well when he said, “Simple can be harder than complex…but it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

This mantra has worked for Apple for decades, and it certainly holds true for digital design as well. Particularly when you’re talking about e-commerce websites. Simplicity has been proven to routinely yield higher conversion rates, deliver a more positive experience, and even build trust among visitors. Why? In short, calls to action become more prominent, users aren’t overwhelmed or frustrated, and there are often fewer site issues.

We’re logging more hours online than ever before, so naturally, we crave digital experiences that are intuitive, visually calming and straightforward. But creating simplicity on the frontend doesn’t necessarily mean the backend infrastructure of the website is uncomplicated. Simplicity often requires greater behind-the-scenes complexity.

The devil’s in the details and so is simplicity.

If your website isn’t clear cut and easy to navigate, there’s not enough attention to detail going on behind the scenes. The road to attaining a minimalistic website that delivers a streamlined user experience is paved with important design considerations.

First impressions are just as important on the web

The reality facing any website owner is they have less than 15 seconds to capture the attention of a visitor –– and that’s being generous. Your website’s bounce rate is contingent on how your website looks to the visitor. According to The State of Content report conducted by Adobe, 38% of people[pdf] will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.

Unsurprisingly, 94% of negative website feedback can be attributed to bad design. But the key to successful web design is still all about paying close attention to detail and ensuring your visitors not only have the information they need but that it’s easy and quick to access.

Clutter does not spark joy

Eye-tracking technologies are already highlighting how digital distractions and clutter can dramatically affect the conversion rates of website users. Tobii Pro, a Swedish company that develops and sells products for eye control and eye tracking, turned this challenge into an opportunity by using eye tracking to help KLM Royal Dutch Airlines redesign their online travel ticket system. By tracking overall flow through the buying process and comprehension of the individual steps, they were able to design a ticket-buying tool around behavior and user need that increased conversions by 30%.

Clutter also directly impacts loading times, which is extremely important when it comes to the user experience. In fact, according to the aforementioned Adobe report, 39% of people will stop engaging with a website if the images won’t load or take too long to load. Which seems par for the course when considering 53% of mobile users will leave any web page that takes longer than three seconds to load.

Slow load times are a direct result of having too much on one page and are one of the key indicators of bad decision making and sloppy backend work.