We’re a long way from the day that brick and mortar shops disappear, and few people want this to happen. But more people are shopping online today, and giving customers the option to purchase goods and services electronically is one of the best ways to boost your bottom line results.
Whether you sell exclusively online or are making this a part of your overall business, the quality of your eCommerce website is going to play a large role in your success. If you’re getting ready for new eCommerce website development or overhaul the one you currently have, here are some of the fundamentals for best eCommerce website design.
1. Simple Navigation
No consumer wants to have to work too hard to give you their money. If you’re forcing them to click through 20 options before getting to the checkout page, you’re going to lose sales.
The more complex your navigation is, the more your conversions will suffer. Instead, make your navigation and menus intuitive and simple. Use simple UX with one and two-word labels that tell people where they will go next to stand a chance to improve conversion rates. So, it’s important to keep in mind simple website navigation when you’re planning to create your multi-vendor website.
2. Build Trust
Unfortunately, some eCommerce websites are nothing more than scams meant to steal the hard-earned cash of unwitting consumers. Your job is to convince the visitors to your site that you’re not one of these bad guys by instilling confidence and building trust.
You can do this in several ways:
- Work on building your brand so that customers recognize your name and logo
- Use a reliable eCommerce software solution such as CS-Cart
- Incorporate security measures into your website, such as SSL certificate protection
- Clearly state your contact information, privacy policy, and return policy
3. Reliable Web Hosting
One of the best things you can do for your customers and your business is to get the most reliable web hosting possible for your eCommerce website. Not only do you want to prevent unintended downtime of your site but also ensure that your page load speed is as fast as possible.
Statistics show that 20% of web users will abandon your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. If visitors are using a mobile device, they might be more patient since they’ll blame some of the lag on their mobile provider. But anything longer than 10 seconds, and you are liable to lose a customer for good.
Uptime and page load speed is vital with today’s websites. Google uses this as a ranking factor, and your conversion rates can plummet as much as seven percent for every one-second increase in page load speed.
4. Responsive Design
Believe it or not, a majority of people that will access your eCommerce site won’t do so from a desktop or laptop computer. Instead, roughly 52% of all web traffic now comes from mobile devices.
If your eCommerce site is not set up to serve those mobile clients, you’re likely to lose a large percentage of your business to a competitor that has planned accordingly.
When you create your eCommerce website, thoroughly test it using different mobile devices. If it’s not working smoothly or you find some frustrations, fix these issues before they impact your conversions.
5. Product Reviews
Now more than ever, consumers want to know what others think about a product before they hand over their money (thanks, Amazon). According to one study, 95% of consumers are now reading online reviews before making a purchase.
Fortunately, many popular eCommerce shopping cart packages allow you to add this feature to your website, and it’s one that we recommend. Not only does it provide word of mouth advertising for your products but also customer engagement that can help boost your website rankings.
6. Visually Appealing
You can check all of the boxes that we’ve listed, but if your site isn’t visually appealing, most customers will take their business somewhere else. Visitors make snap decisions about your website within a few seconds, so the quality of your design and the images used matters.
Your eCommerce site should look and feel like a storefront, and there are several proven tricks you can use to make products more appealing. First, display your items against a white background. This appeals to a larger group of people and makes it easier to distinguish the details of the item.
Another tip is to use lifestyle photos to show your product being used (or worn) in everyday life. This provides a different perspective of the item and allows the customer to visualize themselves using or wearing it.
Conclusions
When it comes to eCommerce websites, the quality of the customer experience is essential to improve your revenue. Fortunately, you can achieve this goal by paying close attention to the fundamentals of clean and intuitive website design, reliable web hosting, and the right eCommerce software.
Jason Chow is an Outreach Manager and marketer for Webrevenue.io, where we provide content and marketing for startups and online businesses. |