Ecommerce Desktop UX – Tips For Improving Performance

Things You Might Want To Know 😲

Before we go into some tips for improving your ecommerce desktop performance, here is a small reality check for all ecommerce website owners.

• – The average desktop e-commerce website is rated as “mediocre” in terms of UX performance based on the Baymard Institute’s independent and unbiased auditing of over 50,000 websites.
• – 67% of desktop sites perform “mediocre” or worse, with significant room for improvement.
• – Common pitfalls include poor navigation, inadequate product information, inaccurate filtering, and unclear shipping policies
• – The good news is that there is only 7% of the websites audited that were classed as ‘poor.’
• – Site speed is critical – conversion rates can be 3x higher for sites that load in 1 second

Introduction

While we have moved to a world of mobile first indexing for SEO, users are glued to their phone for extended periods of times, and generations of users have become comfortable making ecommerce purchases from mobile devices and even social media ecommerce stores. Yet that being said many people will still shop t work or on their home desktop devices, so providing an exceptional user experience (UX) on desktop e-commerce sites isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential for driving sales growth and fostering customer loyalty. Despite this, many e-commerce websites continue to struggle with fundamental UX principles, resulting in mediocre user experiences that hamper your conversion rates, customer satisfaction and overall performance.

This article explores the current state of desktop UX, highlighting the most common pitfalls that plague e-commerce sites and providing actionable best practices to enhance your site’s usability and performance.

The Current State of Desktop UX

According to Baymard’s 2025 Desktop Web UX benchmark, which includes over 50,000 UX performance scores across 130 leading e-commerce sites in the US and Europe, the outlook is concerning. The analysis reveals that the average desktop e-commerce site is rated as merely “mediocre” overall, with none achieving a “good” rating. This indicates substantial room for improvement in the desktop UX landscape.

As we mentioned previously this benchmarking reveals some striking statistics:

– 67% of desktop sites perform “mediocre” or worse
– Only 7% of sites have performances that are downright “poor”
– All guidelines referenced in this article are violated by at least 63% of sites

These figures highlight a significant opportunity for e-commerce businesses to gain a competitive edge by addressing these common UX issues.

Common Desktop UX Pitfalls and Best Practices

1. Homepage & Category Navigation: Lack of thought behind Category Pages and Category Heirarchy

The Issue
Many sites fail to provide clear navigation and categorisation, leading to user confusion and frustration. When users can’t easily find what they’re looking for, they’re likely to abandon your site altogether.

Best Practice
Ensure that category pages are well-organised and easy to navigate. Implement a logical hierarchy with clear labels and consider using breadcrumbs to help users understand their location within your site structure. Additionally is you use a specific product image as a thumbnail on a category page (as shown on maybe your desktop homepage), then make sure that product is shown within the results on the category page.

2. Product Lists & Filtering: List Item Thumbnails

The Issue
Poorly designed product lists with small, low-quality thumbnails can overwhelm users and make it difficult to distinguish between products. Especially if many are of the same product in different variations or are similar in many ways.

Best Practice
Use high-quality, appropriately sized thumbnails that showcase your products effectively. Ensure consistency in thumbnail size and quality across your product listings, and consider implementing hover effects that show alternative views. Additionally consider the number of rows and thumbnail sizes on desktop ecommerce UX. How many rows and how large the images should be for the optimal customer experience.

3. Product Listing Pages (Category Pages) and Product Information

The Issue
Insufficient product information in list views can lead to high bounce rates as users struggle to determine if a product meets their needs without clicking through.

Best Practice
Provide detailed but concise product information in an easily readable format. Include essential details such as price, key features, availability, ribbons or stickers for ‘most popular’ and ratings at a glance to help users make informed decisions quickly. Quick info lightboxes are also an option for users on desktop to view if you cannot fit the right information within the PLP’s (product list pages) as this still avoids another page load to go into the product and another page load to go back to the category (PLP) page. Additionally allowing users to view more images within the PLP pages also reduces the need for clicking – Example: Item of Clothing – Show the item on white background clearly, and allow a user to hover over with their mouse cursor to show an image with it on a model.

4. Filtering: Filtering Scope & Logic

The Issue
Inconsistent filtering logic and overly complex filtering options can frustrate users and make finding specific products unnecessarily difficult. On the other end of the scale basic ecommerce filtering options such as size and colour are the only options, yet most users need to filter based on options that are not present. Additionally filtering can often result in the wrong results being presented if the wrong attributes are not properly set at a product level. So make sure you aren’t accidentally including or removing relevant products from your filtering.

Best Practice
Implement logical and consistent filtering options that aligns with how users think about your products. Use faceted navigation that allows users to apply multiple filters simultaneously, and ensure filters update dynamically to prevent zero-result scenarios. Typical desktop ecommerce filtering layout is with filtering options found to the left of the product listings. It has been proven in many cases to perform better than filtering above the products.

5. Shipping, Returns, and Gifting

The Issue
Lack of clear shipping and return information can create uncertainty and deter purchases, especially for first-time customers. Especially when free delivery is not an option. Gifting is often an overlooked option for many ecommerce websites outside of gifting retailers. However many users buy all sorts of products as gifts for loved ones. Here’s some data you might find interesting:

• – The average e-commerce return rate was 16.9% in 2024, with some retailers experiencing rates up to 30% product type dependant.
• – 60% of sites don’t explain available gifting features in detail
• – 68% don’t allow users to designate gifts in the cart
• – Consumer expectations are rising, with demands for sustainable packaging (75%), flexible delivery times (69%), and real-time tracking (71%) on ecommerce shipping all being a factor.
• Best Practice
• Clearly display shipping and return policies directly on product pages. Include estimated delivery dates, shipping costs, and return conditions. For gifting options, make these prominent during relevant seasons to encourage additional purchases and ensure gifting is clearly marked in the checkout process.

6. Product Page: User Reviews

The Issue
Inadequate or hidden user review sections can undermine trust and prevent customers from getting the social proof they need to make a purchase decision. There is an alarming number of ecommerce websites that have product pages with reviews feature that has no reviews or poor reviews that have been ignored. Alternatively review placement can have a big impact on desktop UX.

• – 15% of users don’t trust businesses without reviews.
• – Only 1 to 2% of consumers post online reviews after purchasing an item from Amazon1. This low review rate indicates that many e-commerce websites, even major platforms like Amazon, struggle with getting customers to leave reviews.
• – 86% of consumers would consider writing a review for a business, and 77% of users would leave a review if asked in the right way at the right time.

Best Practice
Display user reviews prominently and ensure they are easily accessible. Include a summary of ratings alongside detailed reviews, and allow interaction with multiple reviews based on relevance, recency, or rating to help users find the most helpful information. On desktop devices if possible and relevant bring reviews into filtering or PLP pages.

7. Cart & Checkout

The Issue
Complicated checkout processes that require excessive information input can lead to cart abandonment. Some ecommerce websites are losing sales because they have lost customers at the final hurdle! Unclear order review and confirmation steps can cause confusion and uncertainty about whether an order has been successfully placed.

• – Optimized checkouts can achieve up to 35% higher conversion rates than non-optimized ones
• – The average e-commerce conversion rate across industries is between 2% to 4%, with top-performing Shopify stores achieving rates of 3.2% to 4.7%
• – Cart abandonment rates average around 70.19% in the retail industry
  – 40% of customers may abandon carts when their preferred payment method isn’t available

Best Practice
Simplify the checkout process by pre-filling user information where possible. Implement address validation to reduce errors, and make sure you are specific with why the error occured. Generic error messages can lead to confusion in the user. Ensure form fields are clearly labelled and easily accessible. Implement inline validation that provides immediate feedback, use appropriate input types for different information (e.g., numerical keyboards for phone numbers), and highlight errors clearly with suggestions for correction.

Offer guest checkout options, and only request information that’s absolutely necessary to complete the purchase. Ensure you provide progress on the steps that is clear and easy to understand. Provide a clear and concise order review process that summarises all the relevant information including products, quantities, pricing, shipping details, discounts applied and payment method. Follow up with a comprehensive confirmation page and email. Ensure you provide flexibiltiy in payment options – card, apple pay, Google pay, PayPal, or BNPL (buy now pay later) options such as Klarna and Clearpay

Additional Insights for Improving Desktop UX

Speed is Critical

Site speed remains one of the most crucial factors in user experience. Slow-loading sites don’t just frustrate users—they actively deter customers and directly impact revenue. Research shows that conversion rates are three times higher for e-commerce sites that load in just one second compared to slower alternatives.

• – A 1-second delay in page load time can result in up to a 7% reduction in conversions!
  • – Sites loading in 1 second have conversion rates x5 times higher than those loading in 10 seconds
  • – 40% of shoppers abandon sites that take more than 3 seconds to load

Optimising images, implementing efficient code, removing unused jacascript and CVV and leveraging browser caching are just a few strategies to improve load times and enhance the overall user experience.

Personalisation Drives Performance

Over 60% of online shoppers prefer brands that offer personalised shopping experiences. Ecommerce websites investing in personalisation often see higher conversion rates and improved customer retention. Implementing features such as recommended products based on browsing history, personalised emails, and targeted promotions can significantly enhance the user experience and drive sales.

Converted Summary

The current state of desktop UX in e-commerce reveals significant opportunities for improvement. By addressing these common pitfalls we have outlined in this article and implementing the recommended best practices, e-commerce businesses can attract more customers and convert more into meaningful results!

Remember that UX improvement is an ongoing process rather than a one-time fix. Regularly testing your site with real users, analysing performance metrics, and staying abreast of evolving UX trends will ensure your desktop experience remains competitive and effective. If you would like to know more about our experimentation and CRO Services or would like help with your ecommerce marketing, then get in touch for a chat!

Sources

[1] Baymard Institute, “2025 Desktop Web UX Benchmark”
[2] Various e-commerce performance studies