{"id":13807,"date":"2020-07-29T15:46:27","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T20:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/?p=13807"},"modified":"2020-07-29T15:46:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T20:46:27","slug":"infinite-scrolling-on-ecommerce-is-it-for-every-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/infinite-scrolling-on-ecommerce-is-it-for-every-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Infinite Scrolling on eCommerce: Is it for every website?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 9<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

This was the hypothesis used by the <\/span>Etsy<\/span><\/a> team when they were building an infinite scrolling feature on their website:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Changing the pagination to \u2018infinite scroll\u2019 on the search results page, will increase items viewed and eventually purchases, as this is easier for the user.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But after running the <\/span>A\/B test<\/span><\/a>, the results surprised the team to the extent that they thought there was a bug or something. After doing some quality assurance, they were horrified to realize that the results were valid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of increasing conversions and enhancing customer experience, the test showed negative results. <\/span><\/p>\n

The number of favorited items decreased, the conversion rate<\/a> dropped by 22% and users stopped using the search box to find items. Users were viewing and not acting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Infinite scrolling on Etsy’s website had failed in every major way. Without further ado, they had to revert back to their default design technique: pagination.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although infinite scrolling failed for Etsy, there are some eCommerce websites that find this design pattern more beneficial to their bottom line. If you love digging around as much as I do, you will bump into eCommerce sites that do an interesting job with infinite scrolling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So what does this entail? Does it mean that infinite scrolling is not for every e-commerce website? How do you know if it\u2019s best or bad for your eCommerce website? Why do other eCommerce websites prefer not to use the infinite scrolling technique? Is it because it has too many setbacks that outweigh the benefits?<\/span><\/p>\n

Continue reading this article to learn more about the definition of infinite scrolling, the pros and cons of this design pattern, and when you should consider implementing it on eCommerce sites.<\/span><\/p>\n

A brief discussion around Infinite Scrolling<\/b><\/h3>\n

When we talk about ways to boost visitors\u2019 session duration, engagement, page views, usability <\/span>(fewer clicks typically means better usability)<\/span> on an eCommerce website<\/a>, how many of you think of implementing the infinite scrolling technique?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m pretty sure that only a handful of people would think of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not so long ago, users had no choice but to reload pages to progress from one piece of content to the next. The UX design best practices did not encourage creating a site with information appearing <\/span>below the fold <\/span><\/i>\u2013 the section of the page underneath what is displayed on the screen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s all changed now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today everyone is scrolling. If you\u2019ve used Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram, you have an idea of what infinite scrolling is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some UX designers refer to it as endless scrolling or continuous scrolling because it is exactly that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

The working principle of this technique is to vertically scroll through a massive chunk of content with no sight of the website\u2019s footer tab. The content continuously loads as the user keeps on scrolling down the page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps due to the wider adoption of mobile phones and tablets, the infinite scrolling trend has become more popular and many web companies are using it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This design pattern makes it easy for both mobile and desktop users who are in the mood for browsing and exploration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, just like any other UX design patterns, infinite scrolling has its strengths and weaknesses, so before you decide to implement infinite scrolling on your eCommerce site, you need to make sure that the benefits outweigh the setbacks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having said that, here\u2019s are the pros and cons of infinite scrolling: <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pros<\/strong><\/h4>\n