30/10/2025 • Andrew Lowdon
Stop Overloading Your Customers: How to Simplify and Sell More Online
CRO & UX Article
Introduction
Online shoppers move fast. They already know what they want and expect your page to make buying easy. But when too much information competes for attention, it slows them down. What should feel effortless turns into hesitation, and hesitation kills conversion.
To optimise conversion, your content must do less but do better. We’ll demonstrate below how simplifying product pages drives faster and more confident purchases.
Share it with friends
Overloading Customers Harms Sales
Many product pages are packed with technical details and long explanations. But instead of helping, they make it harder for customers to decide.
As our Strategy Director, Andrew Lowdon, puts it,
“Shoppers, when they come to your website, they're not really looking to learn. In Q4, I want to buy. So if we then send them to a page where we flood them with really detailed specs and information, you create what we call decision paralysis.”
Decision paralysis happens when too much information makes it impossible to choose confidently. The human brain struggles to weigh every variable, so it defaults to inaction.
An Accenture survey confirms how common this is. Out of 19,000 consumers worldwide, 74% said they had abandoned an online shopping cart because they felt bombarded by content. Even everyday purchases were affected, with 79% of clothing shoppers and 70% of snack buyers walking away for the same reason.
This isn’t just a design issue. It shows how cognitive overload directly impacts conversion and revenue. The more effort it takes to understand what you sell, the less likely a customer is to complete their purchase.
How to Simplify Website Copy for Faster Decisions
Start by reducing cognitive load. Keep sentences short and focused, and avoid unnecessary jargon. Break long paragraphs into smaller sections and use white space to make your page easy to scan. When your layout feels open and readable, visitors stay longer and engage more deeply.
According to a Nielsen Norman Group study, users read 25% slower online than they do on paper, and most will leave a page within 10 to 20 seconds if it appears dense or difficult to scan. If a shopper can process information quickly, they are far more likely to stay, click, and buy.
Next, prioritise what matters most. Every product page should answer three questions in seconds: What is it? Why should I care? How do I get it? Put your strongest points first, such as price, main benefit, and a clear call to action. Keep supporting details, like product size or materials, lower on the page or inside expandable sections.
Language also plays a powerful role. Replace technical phrases with benefit-focused statements that highlight real outcomes. Instead of saying “Features advanced lithium-ion battery technology,” say “Charges once and lasts all day.” The message is simpler, but it delivers what matters most to the customer.
When we applied this approach to Pagabo Group’s campaigns, refining ad copy and landing pages to match customer intent, their cost per click fell by 14%, click-through rates rose by 20%, and conversions improved by 89%. Clearer language led to clearer intent and stronger results.
Consistency in tone builds familiarity and trust. Shoppers read your words as though you’re speaking directly to them. When your tone is natural, simple, and positive, people respond more quickly.
Focus on Outcomes, Not Just Features
Once your copy is clear and easy to read, the next step is making it meaningful. Features tell. Outcomes sell. Too many brands describe what a product is instead of what it helps the customer achieve.
To connect with intent, translate every feature into a direct benefit.
- Four-way stretch becomes “Moves with your body and never loses its shape.”
- Smart temperature sensors become “Adjusts automatically for perfect comfort in every room.”
- Ergonomic design becomes “Feels natural in your hand from the first use.”
1. Guide the shopper, don’t make them guess
Each page should lead visitors to one clear next step. Keep your primary call to action visible and consistent throughout. If your page has multiple buttons competing for attention, you create hesitation instead of action. A single, clear direction builds confidence and moves shoppers forward with purpose.
Apple does this well by keeping the focus on one clear action, the “Add to Bag” button with a distinct color, along with an option if you are going to pay it in full or by instalment. This keeps the flow simple and predictable. In contrast, some retailers often overload a page with banners, newsletter pop-ups, and competing CTAs that distract visitors before they can make a decision.
2. Choose visuals that sell the story
Images should show benefits, not just products. A jacket shown in the rain communicates “keeps you dry” far faster than a flat lay ever could. Avoid cluttered galleries or stock-style photos that dilute credibility. Every image should make the offer feel more tangible and trustworthy, the kind of product shoppers can imagine using in their own lives.
Patagonia often shows real people using its gear in nature, thereby reinforcing its functionality and authenticity. A poor example is a generic online store that fills its pages with perfect studio shots but never shows the product in action, leaving shoppers unsure of how it performs in real life.
3. Organise your information like a conversation
Group related details in a way that mirrors how people naturally think. Overview first, then specifics. Tabs or accordions for specifications, reviews, or FAQs help readers explore content without feeling overwhelmed.
Amazon structures its product pages this way, giving a quick summary at the top and letting shoppers dig into details when they choose. Many smaller brands, however, list all information in one long scroll, forcing users to hunt for key details and breaking the natural flow of discovery.
4. Use design to make decisions easier
Bullet points, icons, and concise headings turn dense text into scannable insight. Replace long product paragraphs with short, visual sections. Design should not just decorate the page; it should guide the eye toward action.
IKEA’s online store shows how a clear visual hierarchy makes complex information easier to digest. Their approach helps shoppers compare measurements, colours, and features at a glance. On the other hand, imagine a site where every detail sits in one long block of text. Features, specifications, and reviews all blend together with no spacing or headings. The price sits near the footer, and on mobile, it takes several scrolls to find the “Add to Bag” button. Shoppers facing that level of confusion often leave, even when the product is exactly what they wanted.
5. Test for simplicity, not just style
Most A/B tests focus on button colours or fonts, yet copy weight and layout usually matter more. Try testing your current product page against a simplified version with shorter copy and a cleaner structure. Track which version gets shoppers to click faster and check out with fewer hesitations. The data will show that clarity consistently outperforms cosmetic tweaks.
Booking.com runs constant experiments that test how information is ordered and phrased. For example, they adjust the order of room options, highlight key reassurance messages such as “Free cancellation”, or simplify pricing layouts to help users make quicker choices. Many brands waste time changing colours or button shapes and ignore messy copy and poor structure that confuse buyers long before they click.
6. Do a ten-second clarity check
Ask someone outside your team to look at a product page for ten seconds, then describe what the product does and why it matters. If they hesitate or misinterpret it, the page still carries friction. This quick test reveals blind spots that analytics can’t, helping you see your site the way real customers do.
ASOS often passes this test because its product pages make the essentials clear right away. Each page shows large, high-quality photos from different angles, a short but clear title describing the product, and a brief bullet list highlighting fit, material, and key features.
The price and size selector are visible above the fold, and delivery information appears just below, so shoppers understand what they’re buying without scrolling or guessing. Others fail when jargon, vague taglines, or cluttered layouts leave users unsure what’s being sold or why it’s worth their attention.
Every clear headline, clean image, and short paragraph removes friction from the buying journey. Over time, those small changes compound into measurable revenue. That’s what real conversion optimisation looks like, not gimmicks, but clarity that earns trust and action.
Cut the Noise and Let Clarity Sell!
Shoppers want confidence to make the right choice. Headlines, images, and buttons should help them reach that point faster. Simplifying your product pages is not about removing information; it’s about focusing on what truly drives action.
At 43CN, we help brands refine content and structure so every page guides users with ease and purpose. When your site is easier to understand, customers buy faster and with more trust.
Start building revenue growth today. If you want expert support to make your site easier to buy from and scale conversions with confidence, get in touch with us.
