Baymard Institute reports that 46% of American online stores provide incomplete or mismatched information on product lists. This most often results in frustration for users who are forced to balance between product lists in search of data they are interested in. In order to ensure the best possible comfort of browsing through the product listings, it is necessary to place appropriate categories in the online store so that the buyer can easily compare the assortment and assess whether it corresponds to their personal needs.

So what information should be placed in the product list? After all, what is relevant for one item will not necessarily be relevant for the others. However, there is a group of information that must be communicated to the customer. This is a set of basic categories, without which it will not be possible to assess the usefulness of a product and distinguish it from the others. These include: price, name, photo thumbnail, available options and user ratings.

Price

The key information needed to make a purchase is undoubtedly the price. It should be constantly visible to the customer to facilitate the comparison of similar products and the first selection of interesting items on the list. When specifying it, particular attention should be paid to goods available in larger quantities. It is then necessary to define precisely what number of products the given price includes, how much is the total cost and how much is the unit cost. This will allow the user to easily estimate which of the given prices is the most beneficial for him.

Thumbnails

Customers browsing through product lists attach great importance to thumbnail images of articles, which are often the first information about the product appearance. Therefore it is important to make sure that the thumbnail has the right size and presents the product in a favourable light. It is also worth to place an additional photo showing the physical properties of the product. For example, for makeup products such as lipsticks, eye shadows, you can additionally place a picture of how the selected color actually looks on the skin in the thumbnail. The importance of the thumbnails can be proved by the fact that products without a picture displayed on the product list are usually omitted and considered incomplete.

Name or product type

The product name is the basis for identifying articles, especially when browsing search results and when the customer is dealing with an illegible thumbnail. Usually, their descriptive names are sufficient to understand what type of product the customer is dealing with. However, in some online stores, especially those belonging to manufacturers, the ways of naming products may be completely inadequate for their type. This can make it very difficult for the user to find and define what they are looking for. Therefore, it is a good solution to place both the name given by the manufacturer and to specify what type of product it is. Example: the IKEA product range includes unconventional titles for furniture such as KIVIK sofa or POÄNG rocking chair. The name itself without adding the type could be misleading for the customer.

Different product versions available

When a given product has more than one variant of color, size or material, it is worth placing such information directly next to the thumbnail. Thanks to this, customers won’t have to waste time on searching for the model they need. When browsing through the list of products, the products that could be of interest to the customer but have no other variants available are often eliminated. Having known about the existing alternatives, the customer is more likely to make a purchase.

User ratings

The ranking is particularly important for customers buying a product for the first time. It is also important for those who do not have enough knowledge in a given field and want to choose the best option. Relying on the impressions of those who have already decided to buy a given product, it is easier for the user to browse the product list. The customer can only focus on those items that have sufficiently good reviews. It is important to remember to place both the average rating received from users and the number of people voting for a given product. This will give the buyer reliable information and make the decision about the product choice much easier.

Categories in an online store are important

Displaying insufficient information or inadequate categories in the product list view often involves the customer leaving the online store. This is because users preselect the items in the product list based on the information that was made available to them in the thumbnails. Whether a buyer decides to place an item in the shopping cart depends largely on the quantity and quality of data provided.

When browsing through the product list in search of the right one, the user would like to quickly compare the items without going into the product cards each time.  A customer who does not find the data he is interested in most often completely resigns from shopping in a given store.  Therefore, basic information about the assortment, as well as appropriate categories in the online store should be a priority when creating product lists.

If you do not know how to adjust the store to the latest trends, write to us, we will advise you what to do.

 

Sources:

https://baymard.com/blog/product-listing-information

https://baymard.com/blog/list-item-design-ecommerce

https://baymard.com/blog/secondary-hover-information