Frictionless Commerce: The Key to Unlocking Online Growth

Imagine a world where online shoppers effortlessly find exactly what they need, adding items to their cart with a single glance. This isn’t a futuristic fantasy, it’s the power of frictionless commerce – and it’s within your grasp.

After 26+ years immersed in the dynamic world of digital commerce, including 17 transformative years at Unilever, I’ve learned a fundamental truth: the path to online growth lies in eliminating friction.

My definition of friction is simple: “The relative difficulty a person experiences whilst trying to complete what they set out to do.”

In the context of online shopping, friction is that nagging frustration, that moment of hesitation, that ultimately leads to abandoned carts and lost revenue. 

This understanding led to the development of Unilever’s mobile-ready hero images, in collaboration with Dr Sam Waller and Michael Bradley at Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering. Our core question was: “How might we make digital commerce primary images low friction and more inclusive?” The answer lies in understanding the online grocery shopper’s primary goal: to “Find the right product quickly with as little effort as possible.” 

Shoppers want to recognise what they are looking for by scanning images alone…and here’s the kicker… without having to decipher cluttered titles or read product descriptions. They need to quickly identify four key elements: 

• Product Type (Format): e.g., “Liquid Detergent” 

• Brand: e.g., “Persil” 

• Variant / Variety: e.g., “Wonderwash short cycle Ultra Care” 

• Size / Count: e.g., “55 washes” 

Here’s a GS1-compliant mobile-ready hero image that helps with these 4W’s: 

This led to the development of GS1-compliant mobile-ready hero images and the 2022 guidelines. These images address common sources of friction: 

• Packs appearing too small in thumbnails. 

• Too much text on the front of pack to be legible. 

• The text on the Front of Pack is too small to read. 

• Text weight too light. 

• Text contrast vs. background poor. 

• Impossible to read size on tall, thin packs / bottles. 

 Our solution involved: 

• Declutter & simplify front of pack to only message brand-format-variant-size 

• Zoom and crop the most recognisable part of tall thin packs (not needed on all packs) 

• Test critical text contrast. Fix the contrast to pass APCA at Lc >45 

• Improve font weight and size to pass Cambridge Visual Clarity at AA accessibility 

• Increase brand lock-up size. Unmissable distinctive brand assets reduce cognitive load & increase brand power. People pay more for brands over commoditised products. 

Sticky is not good for Replenishment missions.
Longer dwell times means something has gone horribly wrong. 

We know from Kantar that for online shopping speed = spend, so the longer a shopper takes to find and visually confirm to themselves that they have found the right product, the less is added to the basket overall. 

Consider these examples. Which image allows you to quickly identify the “no white marks” Dove antiperspirant?  

Or which Persil banner ad provides enough information (size and number of washes) to make an informed purchase decision?

The key takeaway? Frictionless experiences are unnoticeable experiences. They “just work,” allowing shoppers to effortlessly find what they need. 

Stop thinking about what you want to tell your customers and start thinking about what your customers are trying to do. 

Ready to unlock the power of frictionless commerce and transform your digital shelf? Visit Neem’s Digital Commerce offerings to learn how we can help you create seamless, intuitive experiences that drive conversions and build lasting customer loyalty.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

abdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456789

Oliver Bradley is a seasoned eCommerce leader and Digital Commerce Strategy & Operations Director at Neem, with 17+ years of expertise in digital commerce, content strategy, and accessibility.

Previously, as Director of Content at Unilever, he pioneered the Content as a Service (CaaS) programme, driving €1.9M in savings in 2023 through modular creative, GenAI, and offshore production. Under his leadership, Unilever was named the No.1 most admired brand in eCommerce and No.1 for Digital Shelf Optimisation (DCG Award). A recognised thought leader in UX and accessibility, Oliver co-authored the GS1 eCommerce Industry Standards and led enterprise-wide adoption of visual GenAI, saving >$600K in 2024. Passionate about shopper-first, data-driven solutions, he delivers superior digital shelf performance and measurable eCommerce growth.