It may seem surreal, but 26% of the 7.8 billion people in the world shop online, which means you need eCommerce website design. There are so many potential customers for your business that it would almost be a crime if you didn’t do everything to take advantage. Even if we were to narrow it down, 25% of US adults purchase something online at least once a month.
Without a doubt, eCommerce is growing at a rapid pace, and if you want to keep up, the most important thing you need to take care of is your eCommerce website design. Your eCommerce website is your avenue, and the only place your customers get a view of your business. It could make or break your business.
In this guide, we’ll look at some of the most critical eCommerce website features that will undoubtedly engage your customers and make shopping easy for them.
1. Streamlined Navigation
If there’s one feature you must ensure on your eCommerce website design, it’s streamlined navigation.
You see, your customers will have to navigate all parts of your website when shopping, from the home page to the product categories and shopping cart. Everything needs to be well organized and streamlined; otherwise, they will leave the money they set eyes on your cluttered website.
It’s just like walking into a store and finding cluttered shelves. Would you waste time going through everything else to find what you want, or would you leave and find a better-organized store where you only need to pick what you need? If there’s no semblance of order, you would definitely leave.
That would be an awful shopping experience, and it’s exactly what your eCommerce shoppers will feel once they find your website with poor navigation.
Your home page must be well designed and help clear a path for shoppers to find the products they’re looking for. Have a well-organized and tiered structure with main categories that drop down to reveal more sub-categories.
It’s critical to have a search feature with filters that allows customers to search for what they want. Customers appreciate this because it eliminates the need to scroll through multiple items before locating what they want.
2. Strong and Epic Product Photography
The most important part of shopping online is having the ability to see what exactly you’re purchasing.
If your customers have to go through blurry or dull pictures of the products, they won’t be very enthusiastic about making the purchases. This is the one place most eCommerce stores struggle to compete with brick and mortar stores because they offer real-time experience.
In physical stores, customers get to see, touch, and try on products. They get to make side-by-side comparisons and make easier decisions that way. However, there’s no way to do this online, and the best way to compensate is by offering crisp, professional photos for all your products.
If possible, you can go the extra mile and add some videos of the most popular products as well. All photos and videos should be user-friendly. Provide pictures of the products in use so your customers can envision themselves using them.
3. A Live Chat Feature
A live chat feature is like a friendly employee welcoming your customers to the store. This is retail etiquette 101.
With so many scams online, it’s expected that some customers are doubtful when shopping online. A live chat can act as the reassuring feature that your eCommerce website is legitimate and that there is someone willing to guide the customers through their shopping journey.
When your customers have queries or technical issues, this is the first place they will ask for immediate assistance before they can finally contact you. Customers value instant feedback, so you have to ensure there is always a representative waiting to help.
If you are truly serious about growing your e-commerce website, you should look into digital marketing tools to help sales progress. Have a look at this article where these SEO Experts share their favorite tools for traffic growth.
4. A Safe and Easy Check-out
With identity theft and fraud being so rampant, it’s imperative that customers feel safe when entering their credit card information on your eCommerce website. The internet has become quite a scary place, and people who want to take advantage of others. You need to separate yourself and show your customers that you’re trustworthy by making your website safe.
You can opt for a hosted check-out where you outsource a hosted check-out service to handle transactions for you. Make sure you secure check-out badges and feature it next to your calls-to-action. Ensure your eCommerce website is safe and offers a secure user experience at all times.
5. Offer Social Proof
Customers today rely on online reviews and recommendations before making purchases. They need social proof to know that an online store can be trusted, so you need to provide it on your website. One of the worst things about online purchases is that returns are always so much trouble, and most customers never want to go through them.
For this reason, they need to make sure they are confident about their purchases. Reading reviews and testimonials on your website will reassure them.
Make it easy for your customers to find the reviews, like pairing them with the products reviewed, so shoppers learn more without having to leave the product page. Understand that online reviews will build comfort and confidence in your shoppers.
6. A Responsive Design
A responsive design feature is the way of the future, and for so many reasons. The thing is, responsive websites work on any device, which means you will have catered not just for desktop shoppers, but mobile device shoppers as well.
With a responsive eCommerce website design, user experience will be consistent across the board. Whether they use a laptop of a tablet, the website orientation, design, and platforms will be the same.
The Most Important eCommerce Website Design Features
These are some of the most important eCommerce website design features that you need to incorporate in your website. There is so much more you must do to ensure that your website design is up to par with what shoppers need, but this is a good start. All this may sound overwhelming for you, which it is, so why not hire professionals, web designers to do it for you?
At Cowlick Studios, we have website design professionals that will enhance your online presence with a premium eCommerce website design and provide you with the best branding and marketing services on this side of the world. Please book a time to chat with us, and we’ll be more than glad to discuss more!
