These 7 trends may be the key to e-commerce user experience design in 2017!

Immersive experience, virtual assistants, personalized shopping experience, these are the evolutionary directions of future shopping methods. The factors affecting user purchases are more complex, and big data can help e-commerce practitioners predict user behavior and tastes at different stages. All of these factors are related to user experience, and they also mean that the e-commerce industry has a long way to go.

The express deliveries for Double Eleven should have been received by now. The embarrassing thing is that Double Twelve is coming, followed by Christmas, New Year's Day and Spring Festival. Various e-commerce activities will continue to empty our wallets. For us today, e-commerce has become an inseparable part of our lives. Whether for e-commerce practitioners or ourselves, this is the worst time and the best time.

In short, we enter 2017 amidst our hesitation in buying things and our impulse to buy more. For e-commerce design, this simply means that a new battle is about to begin. So, in today’s article, let’s talk about the UX design trends in e-commerce. Although China's e-commerce design has obvious regional characteristics, the major design trends are still consistent with the world.

1. High-definition images and videos everywhere

When you see a picture of a sexy red backless maxi dress on a website, would you consider buying one before Valentine's Day? Large, high-definition images from multiple angles, or even all-round video displays, will allow users to see more clearly and make it easier for them to make a purchase decision. More and more e-commerce and online shopping websites are beginning to introduce high-definition images and video backgrounds to bring higher transaction rates with engaging experiences. Not only the homepage of the website, but also the product details page will have more high-definition pictures and videos.

2. Smaller screens, longer pages

Infinite scrolling, or long scrolling pages, have become a favorite of e-commerce designers. Mobile devices have become the main channel for users to browse and obtain information, and long scrolling pages have become the best way to display large amounts of content. Since finger touch is the main way of interaction on mobile devices, you will see more gesture operations added on mobile devices. In long scrolling pages, users can better control the scrolling speed through sliding interactions.

Sliding interactions are also more suitable for telling stories. In the e-commerce field, long scrolling pages will become a trend leader.

When long scrolling pages and stories come together, parallax and motion can naturally be integrated into it. It will make the experience more attractive. They will make long scrolling pages more visually expressive and help users consume more content in a short period of time.

3. Multi-channel presentation, but mobile first

More people are using smartphones for consumption and shopping rather than computers. More and more brands are beginning to adopt a mobile-first strategy. You don’t have to worry about mobile apps filling up users’ phones. Responsive design of popular Web apps will reduce the pressure on mobile devices. The mobile-first strategy allows users to get information on mobile devices first. Responsive design allows the content you design to adapt seamlessly to the big screen. The hamburger icon is now well known to everyone, so when users see the common hamburger icon on mobile devices on a large screen, they will also realize that this is a menu.

4. E-commerce virtual assistant similar to SIRI

In 2016, many e-commerce websites popularized the use of dynamic search engines based on JavaScript and Ajax. This technology allows users to locate the products they want more quickly. Users no longer need to flip through pages one by one, nor do they need to search one by one in fixed search result pages.

In addition to dynamic search gaining more recognition from users, voice search and digital assistants like SIRI are also becoming more and more common. Many companies are trying to provide services to users in more innovative ways, and voice services can break the fortress built by visual interfaces.

Uber has already started using Facebook Massenger bots to allow users to quickly call a car. Virtual assistants like this will appear more and more frequently in users' shopping scenarios, providing users with a more interactive and personalized experience. In addition to providing customer support before and after sales, these virtual assistants can help customers with common issues.

5. Interactive shopping = Material design + card-style design + motion effects

Material Design proposed by Google organizes all elements of Android into a system. The eye-catching colors, subtle shadows, and realistic motion effects are all materials worth learning from in e-commerce. In 2017, you will see more card-style interactions and animations on major e-commerce websites. Card-style interactions simplify navigation and make it easier for users to notice product and category lists.

The biggest challenge on e-commerce websites and apps is how to keep users engaged and connected to your platform. So, in the new year, you should see a lot of motion and innovative designs that make it easier for users to browse content and switch between pages and products.

In the coming 2017, you will see more interesting and cool interactions:

• Rotatable interactive buttons, rotating icons, more interesting loading progress bars, more interactive notifications and ubiquitous motion effects
• Buttons activated during scrolling, more visually guided navigation design
• Hover to enlarge the product image
• Add to cart buttons with clear status

6. Predictive analysis of user purchasing behavior based on big data

The term big data has transformed almost every industry. Since the e-commerce industry is closely related to users' shopping patterns and product models, big data has great potential in this area. In the future, with the support of big data, every e-commerce website and APP should be able to be optimized according to user preferences. Google Analytics will complete real-time data analysis of e-commerce websites in 2017. At that time, e-commerce websites can combine these data to make targeted adjustments to the pricing of their own products.

7. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Augmented reality has entered the e-commerce industry, and virtual fitting rooms have appeared, where users can use cameras to quickly see how clothes and accessories will look on them. VR brings a more immersive experience. Stores with specific themes will use VR glasses to help users experience an immersive shopping experience.

At that time, users will be able to upgrade directly from the visual experience brought by traditional videos and pictures to the immersive shopping experience brought by virtual stores. As a new shopping channel, it conforms to the omni-channel promotion model and can also strengthen the connection between products, brands and users.

The future of shopping

Immersive experience, virtual assistants, personalized shopping experience, these are the evolutionary directions of future shopping methods. The factors affecting user purchases are more complex, and big data can help e-commerce practitioners predict user behavior and tastes at different stages. All of these factors are related to user experience, and they also mean that the e-commerce industry has a long way to go.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

This article was compiled and published by @陈子木 ( Qinggua Media ). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!