How Baidu Optimized Its Gold Purchase Flow: Design Strategies and UI Overhaul

Preface

In 2022 Baidu e‑commerce entered a rapid growth phase and launched the independent brand “Baidu Preferred”, focusing on the gold‑purchase chain experience, improving efficiency across the entire buying process, and shaping Baidu’s e‑commerce mindset.

Design Strategy

The goal was to drive business conversion by unifying the purchase‑chain framework, simplifying the flow, and optimizing pages within Baidu App’s complex, multi‑scenario environment, while continuously accumulating design experience.

Unified Framework Across Scenarios

Five major domains and 13 sub‑domains in Baidu App’s purchase chain were consolidated into two shopping scenarios, each using a specific product‑detail page layout:

Half‑screen lightweight framework: applied to “content‑immersive browsing” such as live‑shopping rooms and short‑video commerce, allowing purchase without interrupting content consumption.

Full‑screen immersive framework: applied to “entry‑driven navigation” such as the mall, search results, or feed, opening a new page that provides abundant decision‑making information.

Order‑Flow Consolidation by Traffic Type

Competitors often require a single step, but Baidu’s flow includes three steps: product detail → specifications → order submission → payment. Experiments showed different consolidation needs for natural versus ad traffic.

Natural traffic: merged order submission and payment (product detail → specifications → submit & pay). This kept “choose specifications” as a separate step, allowing users to browse while selecting, improving efficiency.

Ad traffic: merged specifications and order submission (product detail → specifications & submit → payment), shortening the pre‑payment steps for ad‑driven users.

Multi‑Dimensional UI Upgrades

1. Information‑Structure Integration

The product‑detail page, as the entry point, must quickly convey key product information and drive purchase. The layout follows the consumer’s visual journey: cover image → selling points → detailed specs → user reviews, guiding users step‑by‑step while reducing navigation cost.

2. Optimizing First‑Screen Decision Efficiency

The first screen is crucial for retaining users and driving conversion. Different framework types allocate image‑text ratios accordingly:

Half‑screen framework: suits a 4:3 narrow image container, exposing more product details on the first screen.

Full‑screen framework: suits a 1:1 large image container, offering a broader view of product details.

3. Enriching Decision Information to Boost Conversion

Beyond lightweight information transmission, Baidu enriches product value perception by emphasizing strong price, service, reputation, and marketing cues, making key messages stand out.

4. Tailored Specification Presentation

Product‑detail page: early selection shows detailed spec images (“what you see is what you get”), speeding decisions.

Specification page: deeper selection provides additional decision points—different styles, prices, bundles—enabling one‑click decisions.

Conclusion

The gold‑purchase flow upgrade succeeded, delivering a notable conversion lift. However, it marks only a milestone, not the endpoint. In Baidu App’s comprehensive ecosystem, continuous refinement of the end‑to‑end e‑commerce experience remains a fresh challenge, prompting ongoing multi‑scenario enhancements.