eCommerce Navigation Best Practices For 2025

In 2025, shoppers won’t tolerate anything less than a smooth, intuitive experience that gets them to what they want—fast. 

Think of your website as a digital store layout: if customers can’t find what they need within seconds, they’ll wander off to the next shop down the street (or in this case, browser tab). 

The good news? 

You can fix this with a few key tweaks to your navigation that’ll have shoppers checking out quickly. 

Here’s how to design navigation that keeps customers coming back for more.

16 key ideas to take your navigation to the next level in 2025

1. Use predictive analytics 

Your customers don’t have time for slow, clunky search bars. 

They want answers now—and predictive search features are here to deliver. 

A whooping 91% consumers say that they prefer a brand that remembers their preferences and provides relevant recommendations.

Hence, implement autosuggestions that pop up as soon as they start typing, based on their behavior or past searches. 

And when those results start rolling in, don’t just list plain text—show relevant product images directly in the search results, like Bombas does:

Other ways to elevate predictive analytics for navigation’s sake:

✔ Display categories based on user preferences: what they’ve browsed before, what they’ve shown interest in during sale events and where they’ve hunted gifts from. 

✔ Define the order of products based on segmentation: based on whether they’ve made impulse purchases from you or bought from social promotional ads or they belong to your loyalty program.

✔ Hide / show categories based on current context: Apart from tapping into the current session with AI personalization, you can also fall back on factors like traffic referral source and geolocation to alter the hierarchy in the main menu. 

Further Reading: eCommerce site search: 18 improvements that prevent drop-offs (+ actual examples)

2. Add essential information to your header

Whatever is most important to you and your customers—ideally backed by data—should be in the header. 

Alongside the usual suspects, consider the following too:

• If a lot of them are looking for your store locations, add that to the header.
• Are customers saying it’s hard to reach your business? Make the live chat widget appear here. 
• A link to your reviews page with microcopy like “<xxxxx> reviews” by highlighting star ratings
• Highlight categories you want to send audiences towards (like an ongoing “SALE”)

Adding the essentials will help your users find information fast–and that’s our goal.

Women’s fashion brand Boohoo features a header that’s likely to attract attention from various audience segments:

3. Find ways to ease product discovery

Text-heavy menus are so 2010. 

To keep things engaging and intuitive, pair your navigation categories with icons or images that immediately grab attention. 

This isn’t just for looks—it’s about reducing cognitive load and making it instantly obvious what each category holds. 

Other ways to help shoppers buy from the navigation menu:

✔ Highlight the most bought products right under the featured categories: This of course works mainly for a lean menu, which isn’t more than a layer deep, like the one on Milk Bar:

✔ Feature available offers for every category: This way, visitors get an extra bit of impetus to look around that category, just like fashion brand Boohoo does:

✔ Highlight the category that you currently want to draw attention: Is a “Sale” going on or a “New Collection” that’s just dropped? Color code them differently. 

Further Reading: 33 Scientific Ways To Improve eCommerce Product Discovery

4. Add a “Recently Viewed” section 

Your customers have short attention spans. So why not make it easy for them to pick up right where they left off? 

Add a “Recently Viewed” section on your homepage or sidebar so users can quickly jump back to those items they were eyeing five minutes ago. 

Consider placing it at the top of the sidebar or near the search bar. This ensures it’s accessible no matter where they are on the site.

You can also enhance the experience by incorporating filters or categories within this section, allowing customers to easily refine their view. 

Pro Tip: Instead of just showing "recently viewed items," break it down into “Recently Viewed: Apparel” or “Recently Viewed: Sale Items” to make it even more tailored to their browsing habits. Just make sure it’s updated and shows what’s fresh in real-time. 

5. Help shoppers add multiple filters at the same time

If your customers are trying to narrow down their choices, don’t make them wait five seconds for results. Speed is key here—filters should update in real-time as soon as a selection is made. 

Go one step further and allow multi-select filtering, so users can pick several options at once, like “Under $50” and “Best Sellers” at the same time. 

It gives them more control over their shopping experience, which means they’ll spend more time exploring your products and less time feeling frustrated.

Alongside the ability to pick multiple filters at the same time, here’s what else you can offer:

✔ A pop-up that shows 3 categories based on behavior & preferences: Feature this as soon as a visitor lands on your site—in fact, this can be the first step to helping shoppers choose multiple filters. 

✔ Social-proof specific filters: While most brands will feature “frequently bought together” and “customers also viewed” as separate sections, especially on product pages, you can feature them as filters. 

Caveat: Unless you have at least 15 to 20 products in a category, introducing filters would be a confusing & annoying experience for shoppers. 

6. Add "quick view" for hassle-free exploration 

A customer’s time is precious, so why make them click into every product page to get a glimpse of what they’re buying? 

Implement quick-view modal expansions that allow users to see product details instantly, without leaving the page they’re on. 

A little hover-over or click-and-pop feature lets them peek at images, sizes, colors, and essential product details—no full-page load required. 

It’s like giving them a sneak peek without the commitment.

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To make your “quick view” or “quick look” feature drive more conversions:

✔ Mention which variants are on sale or are limited edition: This is a great nudge to lead shoppers to the product page as well to check on the product description & other details.

✔ Feature a “Notify Me” CTA additionally on out of stock products: But feature the prompt only when shoppers click on “quick view”—ensure it’s working and when clicked, shows them a way to enter their email address for back-in stock notifications. 

Further Reading: 33 eCommerce Product Page Optimization Hacks (+ Examples)

7. Use mega menus for complex categories

When your categories start to get a little too complex for a standard drop-down, it's time to break out the mega menu. 

To make them shopper-friendly, follow a simple checklist:

✔ Organize logically: Place broader categories as highlighted ones and make sure you group similar products together.

✔ Add visual cues: Include icons, thumbnails, subtle dividers to make scanning effortless.

✔ Prioritize hierarchy: Keep your bestsellers or seasonal offers at the top while less critical links go toward the bottom.

✔ Keep it balanced: Avoid stuffing too much into one column—stick to neat grids that don’t overwhelm.

Apparel brand Faherty uses minimal design on their mega menus while adding visuals if they want to draw additional attention to a certain section within the stated category:

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 Pro Tip: If you want to feature a first order offer or email sign-up discount, place it as a clickable band at the bottom of the mega menu. 

8. Simplify checkout UX

In 2025, simplifying checkout navigation is about refining the micro-experiences, not just removing roadblocks. Here’s how to optimize for efficiency without sacrificing sophistication:

✔ Feature live chat: Ask even the most low intent shopper and they’ll tell you hitting the back button to ask questions is an immediate turn-off. 

✔ Show the order summary in the first fold: You want to make it easier for shoppers to naturally their eyes to the thumbnail images and the quantity count for a final check. 

✔ Use a single page checkout: Multi-page contact, shipping and billing forms are unnecessary most of the time—limiting the form fields per section helps achieve this the fastest. 

✔ Let them check / uncheck shipping protection: Don’t keep it turned on and charge an additional feel without the permission of the shopper, because it’s not just poor navigation, it’s poor CX!

✔ Show the express checkout option first: You can either dynamically personalize the option that the shopper is most likely to use (works only for repeat shoppers) or feature up to 3 options to target multiple segments. 

Further Reading: Why Are Shoppers Dropping Off My Checkout Flow?

9. Tweak navigation based on user behavior

In the run up to 2025, it’s become clear that navigation can’t look the same for every user. 

And that means just one thing: you’ll have to personalize based on each one’s behavior. 

Here are a few tactics we’ve been applying across businesses:

✔ Feature in-category results along with image thumbnails: Prioritize showing these before other suggestions, especially from categories the shopper has already visited or is likely to visit. 

✔ Use a navigation reminder pop-up for visitors who come back: Greeting someone with a “Wanna pick up where you left off? <And feature three of the top categories they browsed last>” always works. 

✔ Showcase bestsellers in line with shopper’s preferences: This increases the chance of clicks to explore individual product pages and in the best case scenario, add-to-cart straight from the recommendation. 

This is exactly what skincare brand Selfmade does to reduce navigation effort for shoppers:

Further Reading: 16 Behavioral Targeting Ideas for 2025 (eCommerce)

10. Optimize for seasonality 

Seasonal promotions are gold mines for driving sales, but only if they’re spotlighted effectively. 

When you’re trying to optimize eCommerce navigation for peak season, remember to: 

✔ Create a  dedicated “Seasonal Deals” tab: Customers love a one-stop-shop for time-sensitive offers. 

✔ Use a dynamic banner that updates with current promotions: A “Holiday Sale” or “Spring Flash Deals” can feature on the notification bar as well as on the category page banner. 

✔ Optimize subcategory names for seasonal keywords: While in other seasons “Outerwear” may still receive clicks, for peak holiday season, reconsider breaking it down to terms shoppers actually use, like “cozy winter jackets” and “stocking stuffers”.

✔ Highlight labels & microcopy wherever necessary: Is a particular sub-category “Limited Edition”? Are you featuring a free gift over $X of spend on a specific category? Microcopy & labels together can make these critical pieces of info jump out. 

11. Use micro animations as navigation cues

For instance, adding a subtle slide-in animation when a menu expands or a gentle color change when a user hovers over a product link can be a game-changer. 

These animations help users understand that a menu is opening or that something is clickable, making the experience more interactive. 

Take, for example, the way Apple uses a smooth fade when hovering over navigation options. It’s not in-your-face, but it’s enough to clearly show what’s clickable. 

Without distracting shoppers, here are some subtle navigation cues you can use:

✔ Automatic zoom upon hovering over menu images: This is especially helpful if you have products featured in the images, and shoppers would like to take a closer look before clicking. 

✔ Highlight category sections in different colors: If you have a separate mega menu for every category, it helps to color block each one differently, so that transitions between them are clear and direct. 

eCommerce flower shop Bloom & Wild does this while being on-brand in terms of design:

12. A/B test & reorganize your menus

Your navigation should never be static. 

Use A/B testing data to continuously refine it, based on actual user behavior. 

By analyzing navigation clicks and engagement, you can spot which categories, products, or links are getting the most attention, and adjust your layout accordingly. 

Here are a few tactics you can try out before settling on a winning variation:

✔ A/B test between product-based categorization & use case categorization: While the former is a more brand-centric approach, the latter is more user-centric and gives you key clues on actual shopper preferences. 

✔ Create quick links based on what’s accessed the most: Most established eCommerce brands test between their most high-traffic categories and also take frequent search terms into consideration. 

✔ Test a multi-variant “Shop by…” scenario: This can be especially beneficial during peak season selling when shoppers are looking to find products by a number of means like “shop by occasion,” “shop by mood” and most importantly, “shop by gifts”.

Pro tip: Keep an eye on heatmaps to see where users are clicking most often. This visual tool helps you make informed decisions about your navigation layout, so it’s always aligned with user behavior.

Further Reading: 153 A/B Testing Ideas for eCommerce (Homepage, PDP, Cart, Checkout)

13. Streamline mobile menus

Let’s face it—most people shop with one hand on their phones while the other holds coffee, a toddler, or a subway pole. 

✔ Place your main menu (hamburger or otherwise) at the top-left corner: And get rid of the items your desktop otherwise features. 

✔ Prioritize your transactional categories: Think “Shop All,” “New Arrivals,” or “Sale”—at the very top of the list. These are your money-makers, so don’t make users hunt for them. 

✔ Organize populated categories through dropdowns: These should expand only when clicked, keeping the interface clean but functional.

👉 Secondary options like FAQs, “About Us,” or “Contact” can live in a footer or separate utility menu. 

Pro tip: Test your navigation with real shoppers, not just your dev team. Watch where they fumble, then fix it. Smooth navigation makes for smoother sales.

Further Reading: 30 Mobile Optimization Tips For eCommerce (+ Examples)

14. Design for voice search

Voice search is no longer just a cool feature—it’s becoming essential for user experience. 

To keep up, make sure your site is optimized for voice commands. 

This means enabling voice search not only for product lookups but also for category navigation. 

Imagine a customer saying, “Find summer dresses” and being taken directly to the right category, without needing to type a thing. 

For mobile users, voice navigation can be a game changer—simple phrases like “Show me the best sellers” or “Go to the new arrivals” can streamline the shopping experience, especially on the go.

But don’t just stop at search—integrate voice commands for browsing through products or even checking out. 

Adding voice-assisted shopping carts or saying “Buy now” could take convenience to a whole new level. 

Just be sure to test voice interactions regularly to ensure smooth operation and intuitive navigation for your customers.

15. Incorporate location-based navigation

By adjusting categories and products based on the user's location, you can offer a more personalized, streamlined experience. 

Show local favorites, region-specific products, or even adjust availability based on the customer's area.

Don't forget about location-specific details like currency, shipping options and taxes. 

If a customer is in another country, they shouldn’t have to manually adjust their location settings to see their local currency or shipping costs. 

Pro tip: It’s important that shoppers know you’re serving up location-based navigation—so the moment they land up, a non-intrusive pop-up talking about the location, whether free shipping applies and if there are any special offers available, can be helpful. 

16. Re-work your footer

In 2025, footer will no longer be the junk drawer of your website, —it’s a strategic navigation hub. 

Here’s how to make it work smarter:

✔ Mini search bar: Add a search bar in the footer for shoppers to access products, FAQs, policies etc. without having to scroll back to the top

‍✔ Newsletter sign-up field: Offer footer-exclusive sign-ups for value driven content (like offers, guides etc.

‍✔ Footer as a resource hub: Transform your footer into a resource center that includes blogs, tutorials, customer stories that add to the shopping experience of your customers

‍✔ Certificates and commitments: Highlight your sustainability efforts and any certificates that you have earned that present you as brand that works for conscious consumerism

Better eCommerce navigation UX means better conversions!

98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything.

Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.

And this is the problem Convertcart solves.

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.

How we can help you:

Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.