Introduction
The e-commerce website is the business card of your product, and the profits directly depend on how user-friendly it is. To raise the website to the top, you need to constantly improve it, relying on the latest trends. Website design is one of the most important factors to focus on.
E-commerce design is the appearance of your website, which creates the first impression for customers and directly affects conversion. Today, website visitors pay attention not to delivery convenience and goods prices but to the page appearance. Therefore, brand trust depends on the adequacy and comprehensibility of the website design, and the elaborated details directly affect the customers’ time on the website.
The design of an e-commerce website is not only a great user interface (UI), but also a good user experience (UX) that includes business goals and also increased user satisfaction – how much your customers like to interact with the website. So, the main UX designer’s goal is to create a color composition, font, and the right context to lead users to purchase.
Keep reading the article to find out how to achieve this goal and what features should be paid attention to in website design.Â
What Features To Pay Attention To When Designing an E-Commerce Website
Of course, every e-commerce store wants to increase traffic to its website – they put all their efforts into marketing strategy, advertising, and search engine optimization. All of these aspects are important but let’s not forget about the friendly user interface and flawless website experience.
We prepared the top 5 features that you should include in your website design to gain loyal customers and get maximum benefits from your e-commerce business.
Feature 1: Responsive Design
According to statistics, 52% of Internet surfers use their mobile phones to view online shopping stores. However, most e-commerce platform development is based on a desktop and needs to be optimized for mobile viewing. And as a result, they lose a lot of sales. Did you know that smartphone conversion rates increased by 64% compared to desktop conversion rates? In addition, 57% of Internet users will not recommend a website with a poorly designed mobile website. And 61% of mobile users won’t return to a website if they have trouble accessing it, while 40% will want to go to a competitor’s website.
That is why website design and its elements must be displayed correctly on all devices: desktops, mobile phones, and tablets. The website should be clear and functional. This means a quick introduction to the content, the absence of small clickable elements, and viewing pictures in normal size. These are the main parameters thanks to which the number of customers increases.
How to make your e-commerce website mobile friendly?
- Port your existing website to mobile. Transfer your static e-commerce store to the mobile version. This will require a lot of extra coding in UI design.
- Build your mobile website first and then migrate it to the desktop version. This is suitable for beginners who want to develop their websites.
- Develop each website separately. Create websites for mobile devices and computers separately and host them on different domains and subdomains. This option is suitable for both new and old entrepreneurs with existing websites.
Feature 2: Intuitive Navigation
No matter which section of the website the users are in, they should clearly understand how to get from there to another place they need. Your task is to provide customers with the opportunity to find what they are looking for in just a few seconds. If users can’t find it, they’re more likely to leave a website no matter how good it looks.
Make your website easy to navigate with well-organized lists. Use categories, tabs, and a search bar so that visitors can quickly find the product they want without having to click through many pages. Even if you have a good internal search, according to research, 70% of users will first open the menu and navigate through the sections of the website. The menu should also be visible – place all important information, the website logo, and the main navigation on the left in F-format.
Feature 3: High-Quality Product Images and Descriptions
Good and high-quality images attract the attention of users. In a clear shot, it is possible to see the details: the fabric and seams’ texture, the material’s quality, etc. Try to use original photos, but if you don’t have professional shots, you can use stock images (only in high resolution). Also, 3D models of products can be used for visualization: the good can be scrolled 360 degrees to see how it fits.
Don’t forget to add descriptions. Analyzing them the users will learn about the advantages of the product and decide on making a purchase faster.
Feature 4: Secure Payment Options
The purchase process should be as simple as possible – automatic filling of data and convenient payment by card or cash. By adding purchase options, you get loyal customers.
If you have complex delivery conditions or many payment methods, then it is worth implementing the “Shipping” and “Payment” pages separately from each other. So the pages will not be overloaded, which will allow the users to quickly find the information they need.
Users may have different payment system preferences and many of them want to know about available payment methods before they start searching. Therefore, it is worth indicating the available options with all the details.
Show your trust security indicators when paying online – these are the trust stamps that you need to display in your online store. They demonstrate the security and protection of financial transactions. These trust metrics are especially useful when your e-commerce store is new and you don’t have a customer base yet.
Feature 5: Customer Reviews and Ratings
More than 90% of users look for and study other customer reviews before going to a shopping cart. A large number of positive reviews has a direct impact on the success of an e-commerce store. In addition, adding customer ratings provides social proof that makes any product description more compelling. But if a website does not allow customers to leave reviews, it gives the impression of unconfidence in the products.
That is why it is important to include customer reviews and ratings by inviting people to leave a thought about the product. It is especially important for young e-commerce stores entering the market to increase the number of responses from customers. In such a way they can gain trust.
Conclusion
To sum up, the website design should be minimalist, simple, clear, and most importantly, focused on the needs of the customers. Consider the features listed above to develop your e-commerce store. We also advise you to track trends, analyze their impact on conversion rates, and then choose the feature that will suit you best.
Looking for an e-commerce platform development partner that offers a broad range of dependable and adaptable custom UX/UI design and other services to meet your specific needs? Lean on Soft Industry – a 23-year experienced e-commerce partner – to provide you with a full product development cycle in a cost-compressed and investment-worthy manner. Just drop us a line and we’ll send an estimate.