Why Friction Kills Sales: The Importance of a Seamless eCommerce Experience

Marketing today isn’t as simple as launching ads and waiting for the conversions to roll in. Users are engaging with your brand across multiple touchpoints – social media, emails, ads, and more. But once they land on your website, that’s where the magic either happens or falters.

How often do you review the full user journey on your website? Have you examined your site with fresh eyes to spot potential friction points?

It’s important to note that there is a key difference between a bug and friction. While bugs can be disruptive, friction often goes unnoticed but can have a significant impact on user experience. 

A bug is a technical issue that causes something to break—for example, a checkout button that doesn’t work as expected. On the other hand, friction refers to design or usability issues that make it difficult for users to complete their goals, even though everything might technically be functioning. Friction might not “break” anything, but it slows users down, frustrates them, or even drives them away from completing their purchase.

Both are frustrating, but friction is often overlooked. That’s why regularly reviewing and optimising your user journey is critical.

A “seamless experience” isn’t a buzzword – it’s a must-have. If your website isn’t easy to navigate, loads slowly, or creates unnecessary barriers to purchase, you risk losing those precious conversions.

To avoid this, consider a full UX audit. Take time to test your website, run A/B tests, and continuously optimise. Make sure that users can move from one step to the next without roadblocks.

UX: Front Seat or Middle Seat - But Never the Backseat

Let’s face it: Not everyone has the budget for a complete website redesign. But the good news is that regular, small optimisations can often deliver just as much impact - if not more.

Here are some areas to focus on that can directly improve conversions:

  1. Page Load Speed: Every second counts. A delay of just one second can lead to a 7% drop in conversions. Speed isn’t just a technical issue - it’s a user experience issue. Users expect your site to load quickly, and if it doesn’t, they’ll go elsewhere.
  2. Mobile-First Design: A significant portion of web traffic - around 70% now comes from mobile devices. Whether or not your users complete the purchase on mobile, your mobile experience should be flawless. No one likes to pinch and zoom to find information or struggle with a poorly optimised mobile checkout. A mobile-first mindset should be a given. 
  3. Streamlining Checkout: The checkout process is where many sales are lost. Reduce friction by:
    • Cutting unnecessary steps and fields.
    • Prefilling information where possible (e.g., address or shipping info).
    • Offering multiple payment options including BNPL options (Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit cards, Afterpay).

If you're capturing leads instead of direct sales, make sure the form is easy - auto-fill information, limit fields, and make the CTA stand out. The goal is to make the experience so seamless that users can’t help but convert.

These simple but impactful changes are crucial, especially if you're working with a limited budget.

 

Mobile Experience

Retention, Loyalty, and Experience as a Competitive Advantage

A great user experience isn't just about converting new visitors - it’s about creating loyal customers who come back time and time again.

To create this kind of loyalty, you need to deeply understand your customer’s needs. If you can tailor your website’s UX to meet those needs in a thoughtful, intuitive way, you’ll create a unique competitive advantage. In fact, your best customers are often the ones who had the best user experiences with your website.

Loyal customers are more likely to return, make repeat purchases, and even spend more with your brand. This results in higher lifetime value (LTV) and a more sustainable revenue model, especially when you can't keep pumping more budget into ads.

This is such a vital concept that it’s worth an entire post in itself - so stay tuned for our next blog about customer loyalty, retention, and leveraging UX for long-term growth.

The Unsung Hero of Conversion

As you push for more traffic and sales, don’t forget about the unsung hero of conversions: your website’s user experience. Great UX doesn’t just make your website look nice – it’s the key to making your traffic convert into real sales.

In a world where marketing dollars are precious and competition is fierce, making sure your website is optimised for a seamless, user-centric experience can be the difference between a one-time visitor and a loyal customer.

Remember, good UX doesn’t just reduce friction; it builds trust, improves retention, and ultimately boosts your bottom line. So, stop wasting budget on top-of-funnel ads and make your website work harder – just as hard as your ad campaigns do. After all, good UX equals good sales.