3: Easy to Use Navigation and Product Search

The navigation should be well thought out, so less than 8 seconds after entering your website the customer should know where to go (don't make them think). Use a navigation that makes product selection easy for the customer. Think about:

• Horizontal vs. Vertical navigation or both, this depends on the products you are selling and is usually a personal preference of the designer. In our opinion, the option should be in the best interest of the customers and making life easy for them. If you are selling lots of different products then perhaps a combination of both makes sense, if on the other hand you are selling a small number of products with few options then horizontal navigation may work best. There are no set rules just make sure the navigation is simple and easy to use.
• Category flyout navigation vs. refine by navigation as a way of finding a product or narrowing down choices. Both of these options can be used on a website but keep in mind the generate principal of navigation design, simple and easy to use. The flyout navigation has been around for long time while the refine by navigation is the latest one, fast becoming an expected feature for e-commerce websites. Large retailers like John Lewis uses both of these because of the number of products and options available on their site.
• Depending on your products and options, it may be advantageous to provide a detailed product search as the first call to action upon entering the website. As a guideline, imagine if your e-store was a high street store. If most of your customers need help in order to make a purchase then seriously consider introducing a detailed product search from the home page. Now I know a lot of e-stores include a detailed product search if you look in the right place but in this case, we are talking about using is it as a main starting point for your customers for the purpose of increasing sales. As customers don’t necessarily land on the home page, include it on other relevant pages as well.
• If a large percentage of your customers are new each month and it is unlikely they may have purchased your type of product before, maybe a dedicated application or product wizard would help them. This is an application that replaces you or your sales staff and is a useful customer service tool. The product selection wizard takes customers through a series of questions and, depending on their answers, will recommend a certain product to them. It can be as simple as asking 4 or 5 questions on a web page.
• Additional options can be offered on the vertical navigation to make it easier for the customer to find what they are looking to purchase. Considering offering Browse by Price, Browse by Style, Browse by Manufacturers etc.
• Make sure customers know where they are on your site at all times, a frustrated customer spends their money elsewhere. Breadcrumbs are the most used and popular way to help customers navigate your website and this is usually located below the horizontal navigation or page header and above the product description and product images. Breadcrumbs are actual links that takes the customer back to where they were or at least a logical step backwards.

Back to 7 Tips - Previous Tip - Next Tip