When you need numbers, when you need to understand “why,” and how to combine them
UX research in e-commerce can be divided into two main types: quantitative and qualitative. Both are necessary, but they answer different questions inside an online store.
Quantitative research
Quantitative research is anything that can be measured numerically. It helps us understand what is happening in an online store.
For example: how many people clicked here, what percentage of users reached the product page, how many added a product to cart, where users drop off most often, or which page version performed better.
This type of research is important when you need to see the scale of a problem, find a weak point in the funnel, and understand statistical patterns.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research helps us understand why people behave the way they do. This is what numbers alone cannot explain. It usually includes interviews, observation, conversations, comments, and user responses.
This type of research helps answer questions like: why people do not notice an important block, why the product value is not clear, why the offer does not feel convincing, what creates distrust, what distracts attention, and what prevents a purchase decision.
Simply put, quant answers “what is happening,” and qual answers “why it is happening.” In e-commerce, these two approaches work best together.
First, numbers show where the problem is in the online store, and then qualitative research helps explain the cause. Or the other way around: interviews suggest a hypothesis first, and then quantitative data helps validate it. For example, analytics may show that many users visit a product page, but very few add the product to cart. That is a quantitative signal. But it does not explain the reason.
Then qualitative research comes in: interviews, usability testing, and observation. This is where you may discover that users do not understand the difference between product variants, do not trust the description, do not see shipping terms, or perceive the price as too high because the value is presented weakly.
That is why UX for online stores should not rely only on numbers or only on conversations. Numbers without “why” give you dry statistics without a cause. “Why” without numbers gives you useful observations, but no sense of scale.
Together, they create a practical foundation for decisions that improve UX, strengthen the shopping flow, and increase conversion.
Kate Kolody
Senior / Lead Digital Product Designer · E-commerce / DTC / Growth · Subscription / Shopify / Conversion
