Holiday Readiness Checklist: UX Fixes for Beauty Websites

Ahead of the holiday season, beauty brands tend to increase their advertising and digital marketing efforts. But beauty shoppers are discovering brands through TikTok, Instagram, or mobile ads, and they’re browsing on their phones. Nothing drives a shopper away from your website faster than a mobile experience that is slow, broken, or clunky.

In fact, a Semrush study showed that mobile users bounce more often than desktop users. Mobile bounce rates ranged from 58.45% to 60.19%. Desktop bounce rates varied between 48.38% and 50.33%, consistently lower than mobile.

So, once your holiday ad converts, the next step is to deliver a seamless mobile shopping experience. A poor mobile site can lead to both a waste of ad spend and missed revenue opportunity.

Shoppers often complain that product descriptions on beauty websites can seem confusing, and it’s often hard to distinguish genuine reviews from incentivized ones. These kinds of issues can quietly kill conversions, especially in beauty, where trust is everything. Good UX is about incorporating design choices that make your customer feel like you get them.

You want your product pages to be clear and engaging, with the benefit-driven product descriptions, detailed ingredient lists, and easy-to-filter reviews. Use impactful visuals and language that connect with your customer, while staying true to your brand voice. The goal here is to help shoppers understand how a product fits into their routine.

One of the top frustrations shoppers have with beauty websites? Broken search and confusing navigation. When someone types something into your search bar and ends up with totally unrelated results —or can’t filter by things that matter to them, like skin type or concern — they’re going to abandon your website.

Think of it this way: your navigation should feel like it’s built around how your customers think, not just how your inventory is organized. Use filters and categories that match the way people actually shop for beauty, whether they’re looking for “hydrating skincare under $30” or “matte lipsticks in berry shades.” Small updates here can make a big difference in keeping shoppers engaged and guiding them toward checkout.

Beauty sites are image-heavy by nature because you want to include a lot of product images and videos. But that doesn’t mean your site can or should be slow. If your site is slow to load, glitches on scroll, or refreshes at the wrong time, customers will quickly abandon your site. So make sure to test and optimize your beauty website’s speed, performance, and usability.

Keep your cart and checkout flow very intuitive. You don’t want to lose a sale because your cart doesn’t show free shipping or levies surprise fees, a discount code won’t apply, or payment options are limited. Complicated checkout forms and forced account creation also cause friction that can lead to drop-offs, especially during the holiday season when shoppers are in a rush. Delivering a smooth and transparent checkout experience will ensure shoppers complete their purchases and return for more.