Ecommerce. It’s the lifeblood of online business, isn’t it? A smooth, user-friendly checkout can make or break your sales. But what happens when your product is a bit… complicated? When you’re selling online courses with strict regulations, accreditation fees, and flexible payment options? That’s the challenge we faced at ICS Learn. We weren’t just building an ecommerce flow; we were building a bespoke beast. And it was a proper adventure.
Situation – The Ecommerce Conundrum
Adding ecommerce to ICS Learn wasn’t as simple as slapping a ‘Buy Now’ button on our course pages. We had to navigate a minefield of awarding body regulations, accreditation fees, and our existing payment options. We needed to allow users to pay in full or monthly, with a deposit, and handle accreditation fees seamlessly. And to top it all off, some courses required a pre-purchase consultation, while others were auto-enrol. It was a proper puzzle, and we needed to find the right pieces.
Task – The Bespoke Ecommerce Mission
My task was to research, plan, and build an ecommerce flow that could handle all these complexities. We needed to create a user-friendly experience that was both compliant and convenient. It was about creating something unique, something that no one else had done before. It was a bit like building a custom car, tailored to our specific needs.
Action – The Ecommerce Deep Dive
We started by researching existing ecommerce flows. But we quickly realised that none of them could handle our complex requirements. Most sites offered simple pay-in-full options or used third-party services like Klarna for monthly payments. We wanted to offer monthly payments directly within our flow, with the option to pay a deposit. It was uncharted territory.
We focused on clear and transparent pricing, allowing users to easily understand their payment options. We also had to handle courses with different purchase rules, some allowing multiple purchases, others only one.
We incorporated a pre-purchase consultation step for certain courses, ensuring compliance with awarding body regulations. And for auto-enrol courses, we streamlined the process, allowing users to enrol and pay immediately.
We tested our designs with real users, running them through various scenarios. We paid close attention to their feedback, iterating and refining our designs until they were clear and intuitive. It was a bit like user-testing a prototype, ensuring it worked before mass production.
We worked closely with the developers, ensuring the designs were implemented correctly. And before launch, we conducted thorough testing on the live site, ensuring a smooth and seamless user experience.
We also made sure to clearly explain the deposit and monthly payment options, avoiding any confusion at checkout.
Result – The Ecommerce Triumph
We launched the new ecommerce flow, unsure of how it would be received. But the results were astounding. In the first month alone, 75% of all sales came through the new flow. It was a proper triumph, a testament to the power of user-centered design.
Ecommerce Design
Users loved the convenience and security of the online checkout. They preferred it to giving their details over the phone. And in a subsequent survey, 95% of users reported being very happy with the experience.
It was a reminder that even complex challenges can be overcome with a bit of creativity and a lot of hard work. And that sometimes, building something from scratch is the only way to get it right.
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