Why Good UX Design Is an Essential Driver of Business Growth
Even in disruptive times, it’s generally poor user experience rather than prices or products that deters online shoppers from completing a purchase. All the more reason, then, to remind ourselves of the importance of good UX design.
First impressions count when it comes to good user experience
Trust has become today’s rarest commodity, making it more important than ever to deliver an excellent user experience (UX). After all, a website’s UX influences how much potential buyers trust a brand – within a matter of seconds.
According to the Nielsen Norman Group, 94 percent of first impressions of a website are based solely on its design. Even before the first click, users decide whether or not they trust a brand. And that has a huge impact on sales. Back in the early 2000s, Amazon discovered that a loading time delay of 100 milliseconds reduces sales by about 1 percent.
In other words, website UX plays just as big a role in all-important brand authority as high-quality content, expertise, SEO, GEO and social proof. While decision-makers at many German SMEs continue to debate whether investing in the UX optimization of their websites is worthwhile, they’re losing millions due to avoidable friction in the customer journey.
Conversion is the most truthful KPI
According to analysis by software development company Emperor Brains, good user experience design increases conversion rates by up to 400 percent. The findings were based on a variety of A/B tests, session recordings and usability studies. An average online store with a conversion rate of 2 percent could boost that to 8 percent through rigorous UX optimization. And back in 2016, Forrester Research established that there is clear ROI from UX optimization, concluding that every euro invested in user experience generates between 10 and 100 euros in return. That’s the kind of ROI you’d normally only hear venture capitalists talking about.
Dr. Oliver Bohl from Triplesense Reply, a member of the E-Commerce Initiative at the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW), gets to the heart of why UX is so important:
“Good UX design is the best shortcut to conversion: less friction, more clarity, higher sales. Excellent UX is achieved when product, content and service work together seamlessly. AI opens up enormous possibilities on this front – from personalized content to faster optimizations along the customer journey. Brands that make a concerted effort to accommodate user needs increase trust, dwell time, conversion and repeat purchases.”
Abandoned shopping carts and poor accessibility
After comparing 50 different studies, the Baymard Institute concluded that the average shopping cart abandonment rate is around 70 percent. The reasons carts are abandoned are as diverse as they are predictable: Sometimes it’s because there are too many required fields to fill out, sometimes it’s because shipping costs are only revealed at the very last moment, and often it’s because there’s no quick checkout option.
That’s why successful product teams like Google’s always put user experience front and center in their work. Through targeted design thinking, user research and iterative prototyping, Google has optimized checkout processes – for the Google Play Store, for example – and significantly reduced the abandonment rate.
Another vital aspect of UX optimization is accessibility. According to market and social research company Ipsos, 71 percent of users immediately leave websites that aren’t accessible. So, if you don’t want to lose potential customers, you’d be wise to opt for inclusive UX designs. Sales potential is high: After all, according to the World Bank Group, around 16 percent of people worldwide live with a disability.
User-centered design: 7 UX optimization requirements
While many companies only pay superficial attention to good UX practices, industry leaders invest in extensive, user-centered design.
The following seven fundamental UX design requirements must be diligently implemented:
- Automation for convenience: Systems that handle frequent tasks, from providing personalized recommendations to storing payment details.
- Error prevention and security: Well-thought-out UX design minimizes operating errors. Clearer checkout communication prevents surprises that lead to cart abandonment.
- Support and intuitiveness: A good product is intuitively designed and easy to use, without requiring instruction.
- Customization: UX optimization options range from contrasting colors for visually impaired users to personalized product recommendations.
- Control and transparency: Users need to understand what’s happening. A good shopping cart system displays real-time updates.
- Reduction to the essentials: Less is more. Cluttered interfaces cause frustration and lead to higher bounce rates.
- Reality-based design language: Symbols and functions should be recognizable from the real world.
Mobile first and performance: today’s norms
Back in 2016, Google found that 53 percent of mobile visitors would leave a website that took longer than three seconds to load. While long loading times tend to be viewed with suspicion, many users interpret speed as a sign of trustworthiness.
Especially in this new era of AI, where trust in brands is once again in the spotlight, this means that good mobile performance is a key part of UX strategy, not simply a nice-to-have. Zalando, AboutYou and Otto – the leading companies in Germany’s e-commerce market – know this very well. They’ve long since stopped thinking “desktop first, then mobile.” Their approach is now “mobile first; everything else is secondary.”
Takeaway: Good UX design is more important than ever
Sometimes the really important things get lost in plain sight – lots of users pick a certain brand not because of an expensive marketing campaign, but because the online store provides a good user experience. What this means for e-commerce in 2026 is that companies must make UX their focus again. They need to give it a budget, take user research seriously and invest in how well their websites perform. Brands that take these steps won’t just see better conversion rates in 2026 – they’ll stay more relevant in the long term. That’s because these brands will have figured out what the market already knows: Trust is built on experience, not mere promises.
