UI/UX Strategies For E-Commerce Portals Based On The Chinese Consumer Behavior

E-commerce portals are enablers in the context of the digital cross border economy and have progressively become a critical sales channel for companies that seek for online customers regardless of their location.The impact of these touch points in companies,retailers specially,has triggered a change of paradigm as skills related to User Interface and User Experience are highly required to build,tailor and continuously enhance the e-commerce platforms.Even though,e-commerce platforms allow companies to sell abroad,markets have different specificities influenced by culture that impact the way users purchase online.Given this context,this piece of work analyzes existing studies about e-commerce in China,most of them provide insights about the adoption of these services.It also explores the cultural aspect of the consumers behavior and explain the adoption from different perspectives.Aiming to explore the consumer behavior,a survey about the use of e-commerce in China took place in China and Europe finding the most important user experience aspects within the customer journey.We contrasted the opinions of 3 different groups:the first,Chinese students and young professionals living in China,A second group of graduates from the faculty of Oriental Studies of two Italian Universities and the last group young students and professionals from different countries living in China.One of the main takeaways of these preliminary research was finding out that social interaction is key one building an e-commerce site for the Chinese market.This trend is strongly present in the next generations and for this reason adapting to it is essential to ensure the creation of valuable portals for Chinese customers.The insight retrieved in the survey and the opinion of experienced professionals on the subj ect provided the necessary information to design a Usability Test of a design framework that aims to consider the social interaction as the center of the user experience and finally apply those results into an analysis on the experiences that western e-commerce offers to the Chinese market.A usability test took place in London with a group of Asian students that provide a very interesting point of view as they are familiar with both paradigms of portals(Western and Chinese).The approach of this study is highly practical and provides instant hands on tools of analysis to implement usability tests to ensure cultural localization and the satisfaction of the future users of this market,being an inspiration for future research on the topic.User Experience professionals,web designers,Business Analysts,Product Managers/Owners,can benefit from this piece of work as it provides an example of a user centered research.Therefore,this study highlights the impact of collectivism in portals adapted for Chinese users and providing a comprehensive set of features or expected behaviors to be considered when an e-commerce is developed for the Chinese Market.Notwithstanding the feasibility of its optimal implementation will not only rely on the use of innovative designs combined as additionally the social interaction can impact the recommendation algorithms towards a higher probability of conversion.