Shopify Store UX Update
Frame That is a company specialising in customisable wall decor. They sell a wide range of products, each made to order, with multiple customisation options. The website is built on the Shopify platform and has been operating for a number of years.
Following a change of ownership for the business, it became apparent that the experience for visitors to the Frame That website could be improved. After reviewing the website analytics, it was identified that the majority of visitors were not spending enough time on the site to actually complete a purchase. This lead to a review of the site design and identified a number of elements which could be contributing to this data:
- Products were positioned in all categories, without any clear consideration of relevance. This meant users who were browsing for a purchase relevant product category (e.g. wedding gifts) were confronted with multiple pages and many irrelevant options (e.g. birthday and christening gifts).
- All products with customisation options had a single variation on the product page. Additional product variations were included in the description of the product with the instruction to add a note or send an email indicating preference. The text field used for notes was also used for indicating personalised messages available on some products. This meant that users were required to accurately specify the product variation or continue the transaction after payment had been completed. It also meant that the the number of available characters for personalised messages was greatly reduced.
- The site design did not adapt well when browsing across multiple devices, with navigation a particular problem on handheld screens.
In order to maximise profits, the budget for the UX project was kept low. This meant that all work would need to be completed in house without the option to outsource. It was decided to use a free theme available from Shopify and adapt the design using liquid to include the required product personalisation options.
A recategroisation of all the products was undertaken to ensure they only appeared in purchase relevant categories. Aiming to reduce the time needed by the Frame That team to clarify orders before production when users had not supplied the required information. Products were then imported into the site with the addition of multiple variation options. Separate personalisation fields were added for products requiring personalised user information and a dedicated template was created for bespoke products. This gives users a simple way to select customisation options without any additional effort at or after purchase.