How Ecommerce Website Animations Can Improve Customer Experience [8 Examples]

Explore some of the micro-interactions, effects and ecommerce website animations that some retailers use to improve the user experience and add more appeal to their sites and ecommerce products pages.

Micro animations, animation effects and similar elements can help to improve the user experience, and can draw attention to areas of a page where you’d like visitors to focus.

They can help users to navigate around a site, display products more effectively, or provide useful visual feedback.

We’ve explored and presented how successful brands use Website Animation in order to do this, and what this might mean for the future of how we shop online to answer the question: Are animated web pages the way forward?

What Is Website Animation?

Before we learn how to utilise this tactic, we’re going to look into what website animation is. Website animation (which can also be referred to as onsite animation or interactive sites), can be described as the moving or interactive elements on a web page. This can include:

• An animation 
• A GIF
• Moneauvours e.g. scrolling or swiping 
• A change in state e.g. colours or shapes 

Or anything that can be used to draw attention to an element, demonstrate a product, or highlight something on the page in an entertaining and interactive way.

Why Use Online Shopping Animation On Ecommerce Sites?

Adding moving elements to a webpage may seem like a small detail when making creative decisions about your site – so why do we use animation? And can animated web pages really improve and increase online engagement? 

When we take into consideration standard customer behaviour prediction, we can recognise the potential impact that simple animations can make. 

On a general human level, we are more likely to react to an element which is moving as this catches our attention, overall increasing user engagement – compared to a static webpage, in this case. Once that attention is locked onto your website, the ability to be able to communicate effectively or display an item (thanks to the strategic placement of an animation) should therefore grow.

Website animation can be used to support and enhance the ecommerce customer journey when they’re visiting your brand. Creating a positive and memorable experience is also key to any website design to get customers to return to your site – so every little (animation) helps. 

The Pros And Cons Of Ecommerce Website Animation

We’re already aware that ecommerce customer retention is key to any business, and using techniques such as animation is used to achieve just that. Your site could seem more exciting, dynamic and modern, and looking at some examples later on in this article – can even expand customer’s options when choosing an item. 

However, some of the disadvantages of animation could result in potential customers leaving your site due to one huge retention killer – a slow webpage. 

The size of animated files, such as GIF files, can be too large for your site to be able to function smoothly. Visual elements such as pixelation and opacity levels on the web page can be badly affected, and could overall make your visitors assume that the page is not fully functioning or old. To help prevent this, it’s important to research which animations work best for your website across different browsers to ensure that page speed and quality is not harmed. When making any changes to a website, it’s a great idea to utilise A/B Testing best practices  to gauge how your visitors are responding to the new elements.

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8 Examples of Ecommerce Website Animation

 

Le Cafe Noir

This animation appears when shoppers add an item to their basket.
It’s fun, but also provides feedback that the item has been successfully added to their shopping basket.

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Nixon

This is a ‘’mouseover’’ effect which Nixon shows on its category pages. It allows shoppers to quickly view the different colour and design combinations without going to the product page, encouraging them to stay on the page – increasing customer service and customer retention levels to overall boost important conversion rates.

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53

53 sells styluses for touch screen devices, and uses this scrolling effect to demonstrate the product’s features. The pencil comes apart as you scroll down, to demonstrate the inner workings and explain its key selling points. This is a great way to demonstrate a product without over complicating its definition or filling up the page with too many images.

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Nike

Similar to the Nixon example, this effect allows people to see the different colour options from category pages. If your brand includes varieties of the same item, this is a great way to display the customers options and overall simplify (and improve) their browsing experience

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BMW

As you choose from a selection of alloy wheels for your car, the wheels spin to show how they look on the move. This looks and feels extremely modern and forward-thinking, and helps people to visualise the different styles to be able to come to a decision.

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Chopard

Cinemagraphs are images with just one or two moving elements. They don’t look overly complicated but help to catch the visitor’s attention. Chopard uses a cinemagraph here to show its luxury watches, and to display a certain ‘lifestyle’ or brand presence it wants to associate with the name.

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Simply Chocolate

Here’s another scrolling-style animated page – this one is used to show what the food product looks like without its packaging or wrapper. The animation itself looks very dynamic and impressive, but also conveys the ingredients and nutritional information effectively.

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The Cool Club

This is an example of another animation which provides feedback, confirming that the item has been added to the shopping cart. Customers want to feel assured that their actions are being carried out efficiently when shopping online, so this erases any confusion.

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