PacSun, short for Pacific Sunwear, is a popular American retail brand specializing in youth-oriented fashion, offering a wide range of apparel, footwear, and accessories that reflect the laid-back California lifestyle. Known for its trendy and casual styles, PacSun is a go-to destination for teens and young adults seeking the latest in streetwear and surf-inspired fashion.
UX/UI Design
Web Design
User Testing
Market and Landscape Research
Information Architecture
Introduction
Revamping our checkout experience was a three-month UX design project that I had the privilege of working on as the UX/UI Designer at PacSun. As a the UX/UI Designer, I was responsible for research, ideation, prototyping, and user testing. This project allowed me to leverage my skills in user research, information architecture, interaction design, user experience and interface design. Collaboration within different teams of the business was pivotal in achieving our objectives. In this case study, you'll gain insights into our creative process, design iterations, and the ideation of our checkout process. I'll lead you through the process of improving our checkout experience and creating a user-centered solution that has helped in our efforts to reduce cart abandonment.
Challenge
The challenge we set out to address was reducing cart abandonment throughout our digital platforms. Cart abandonment is a pervasive concern in the e-commerce industry, and PacSun is no stranger to it. Within this landscape, the checkout process holds a pivotal role, but it often serves as the point of departure for users, resulting in lost sales opportunities. From a user-centric perspective, this challenge illuminated the fact that our users encountered sufficient obstacles during their shopping journey, deterring them from completing their purchases. Addressing this issue was not only about improving the overall user experience but also about ensuring a seamless conclusion to their shopping interactions with us.
Design Process
We initiated the process by gathering insights through user interviews and surveys to understand their pain points. Internally, we dissected the user journey to identify potential exit points for customers, investigating whether these contributed to the increased cart abandonment following our comprehensive redesign and platform migration. Additionally, we conducted a thorough examination of competitor and e-commerce checkout flows to identify prevailing trends, best practices, and opportunities.
Informed by our research and interviews, several key issues came to light. The first pertained to information architecture. Users expressed concern when the initial checkout step requested their email and phone number, which are typically standard requests in any e-commerce experience. The problem, however, was in the way we presented this information, often paired with promotional messaging, which led to uncertainty and a loss of trust in completing the purchase. Two other significant pain points revolved around the inability to input promo codes and use express checkout methods at the checkout level. While these options were available at different stages of the shopping journey, they were absent during the checkout process. Users either abandoned their purchases or retraced their steps to execute these actions. Surprisingly, this backtracking within our user journey directly affected our cart abandonment metrics, despite some users eventually completing their purchases through alternative routes.
To address these challenges, our cross-functional team brainstormed solutions. We realized that, despite our promotional approach, user privacy was important. Subsequently, I translated our ideas into initial sketches and wireframes to visualize the layout and information architecture. Our design concepts underwent continuous refinement through iterative cycles based on team feedback and usability tests.
Testing and Validation
User feedback was integral at every stage of the process, commencing with the initial testing phase and persisting through post-implementation adjustments. These ongoing refinements were instrumental in addressing issues that might have otherwise gone unnoticed, ultimately resulting in a final design that adeptly met our users' needs and successfully contributed to the reduction of cart abandonment. The following is an illustration of how we harnessed our partnership with UserTesting to conduct user testing on the experiences we crafted.
Solution
Transforming our checkout process had a primary objective: reduce customer pain points at the checkout level in order to have them complete their purchase. After conducting comprehensive research and strategic planning, we devised a solution that established a cleaner checkout process that best serves our customers. This translated into a lift in our conversion metrics.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the redesign of PacSun's checkout process to reduce cart abandonment has proven to be a success. Through a holistic approach that prioritized user needs and transparency, we achieved a reduction in cart abandonment rates while enhancing the overall shopping experience. The streamlined checkout flow made the purchasing journey smoother and more convenient for our users. Dialing back our promotional agenda instilled a sense of trust and confidence in our customers, ensuring they felt comfortable in fulfilling their purchases.
Continuous monitoring and feedback-driven improvements have been instrumental in maintaining the effectiveness of these changes, demonstrating the importance of an iterative approach in UX design. The success of this project not only resulted in higher completion rates at the checkout but also boosted user satisfaction, solidifying our users' trust in the PacSun brand. By addressing cart abandonment through a user-centered and transparent approach, we have not only improved our bottom line but also strengthened our relationship with our valued customers.