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They all need solid plans, good management, and hard work. Your business can benefit from e-commerce. E-commerce is fast, cheap, and flexible. This also poses some unique challenges. You must commit yourself to creating a great site and a strong online presence. You must be responsive to your business's needs and those of your potential customers. You must keep up with the wide variety of the latest Internet marketing trends.
The design of a website can either make or break a customer's experience. 38% of users would abandon a website because it was unattractive. Over 48% of respondents rated website design as the most important factor in determining a company's credibility.
E-Commerce Benefits
It's not surprising that Amazon and other online vendors choose to operate. This gives them unique advantages over competitors who have stores. Low costs, flexibility, speed and high data levels are the biggest advantages.
Low Costs
It is costly to open a shop. Rent, equipment, furniture and hiring employees are all part of the cost. Total dollar costs will vary depending on the size of your space and where you plan to open. However, you can expect to pay at least a couple thousand dollars for rent and other ongoing expenses.
Online business is cheaper. You'll likely pay several thousand dollars to code and build a website if you have an existing customer base. You can initiate with a "hosted solution" if you are just getting started. This means that the website's ecommerce features are already in place, and you only have to customize them. Shopify, for example, charges between $30 and $180 per month for hosting your online store.
Flexibility and Speed
It takes time to open a brick-and-mortar store. It takes time to open a brick-and-mortar store. You need to find the right space, go through the commercial lease process, and then set it up. This may include construction time or decorating and preparing your space. A hosted solution can have your e-commerce site up and running within a matter of days. Custom-built websites will, of course, take longer.
You can update your marketing materials, product display and offerings almost instantly on an ecommerce site. You'll need to physically move items around in a brick-and-mortar store. This takes more time. A flexible e-commerce website allows you to adapt to changing needs and demands in the business world and your customers. You can work from any place you like with an Internet connection. You can run your business from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
Data
The websites that we use each day collect a lot of data to understand how we browse the Internet, which sites we visit and what we buy. You can collect data if you run an ecommerce site. This includes how long customers spend on the site, what pages they visit, and how purchases are made. This gives you a direct view of what makes them click on "Buy" or what stops them.
This information can be used to enhance the customer experience on your website and increase the chances that visitors will become customers. In a physical store, it's harder to obtain this information. No record exists of what each customer looked at or how much time they spent looking at a product before purchasing it.
Best Practices in eCommerce Website Design
Responsive Design
It is important that your eCommerce site be accessible on all devices, including mobile and tablet devices. Your website can adjust to the device from which it is being accessed. The website's elements, whether they are images, videos, or text, will be aligned in a manner that doesn't affect the customer experience. SEO is also a factor to consider when it comes to responsive design. Having a responsive eCommerce website will allow you to provide a great customer experience.
Homepage Design
Your eCommerce website's homepage is essentially your shopfront. The homepage of your eCommerce website is basically the shop front. Consider it in the same manner as you would a physical shop. You'd be more likely to enter a store with a well-designed, inviting front. If the shopfront was dirty, untidy, or broken, you would stay away.
The following is what makes a great homepage design:
- A first impression that catches the attention and interest of your audience. This can be achieved by using a strong message, a stunning banner image or a background video. Your homepage must hold the audience's attention in less than one second. This is especially important as consumer attention spans continue to shrink.
- Communication is a prime key to building trust with your target audience. Your homepage should instantly convey credibility and authority in your field, as well as tell a compelling story that resonates among your customers.
Product Pages
An eCommerce website's main objective is to sell goods or services. The pages where products are displayed have a huge impact on whether a product is purchased. It is the art of designing high-quality pages for products. You must also include the elements that make them wonderful. These elements include:
Product Image: To display a product effectively, you must take great pictures of it! Professional product photography will help you showcase your product. Add the best images of your products to impress visitors. Product videos can be used on some eCommerce websites to bring your products to life. Choose between images and videos depending on the budget.
Product Description: After your visitors have seen your product images and are enthralled, they'll want to learn more by reading the product descriptions. Make sure your product description includes the benefits of the product, not just a list of features. Create an emotional connection between your product description and your customers.
Customer Reviews: No matter how good your product images or descriptions are, the customer reviews will win your customers' confidence and encourage them to do business with you. By sharing the opinions of other customers, they provide much-needed assurance to your website visitors.
Call To Action Buttons: Your buttons should include simple text and colors to encourage the user to take the desired action. Make them customer-focused and action-oriented, not sales,' otherwise, you may scare away your customers.
Shopper Cart Page Design
The shopping cart is always accessible on the ecommerce website. The 'View Cart' button should be available on every website, no matter where a visitor is in the purchasing journey. It is important to remember that a website shopping cart should let visitors do everything a real shopping cart allows them to do! It should allow visitors to do everything that a real shopping cart would!
You should track customers who abandon the cart page or leave the eCommerce site without purchasing. You should follow up on them by sending them an email or ad to remind them of their unfinished order.
Search Functionality
Search functionality is one of the biggest differences between online shopping and physical stores. Customers may not always be able to locate what they are looking for instantly when shopping offline. Online shopping allows customers to search for products using the search bar.
It's important to make sure that the search bar is always visible and well-positioned on your eCommerce site. Amazon is doing a good job here. When searching for Christmas Lights on their homepage, they display a variety of products along with a banner image with a theme of Christmas, while the search bar remains visible, accessible and ready to operate.
When you type in the word "Christmas", the search bar will automatically suggest searches. Amazon is very concerned about its customers' experience. The search bar was designed to make it as easy as possible for them to find the product they are looking for.
Checkout Page Design
Checkout is the last page a customer sees before making a purchase. The checkout page is crucial because it can either encourage customers to complete their purchases or turn them away. The checkout page should provide payment options and not allow the customer to complete the purchase without filling out all required fields. It is important to prevent situations where customers make a purchase but forget to include their delivery address.
It is important to remember that customers should be prompted to fill out all the necessary fields. However, they shouldn't be asked to delete any information that has already been entered. This could frustrate them and make them work harder than necessary in order to complete a purchase. All colors on this page are designed to help the customer make the purchase they desire as quickly and easily as possible.
Items That Are Out Of Stock
Integrating your inventory management software with your eCommerce site will allow you to track any items that may be low in stock or on the verge of going out of stock. You should mark any items about to run out of stock on your product pages so that both your customers and your inventory specialists are informed.
Mark items as "out of stock" if they are likely to go out of supply due to high demand. You can also offer a notification option to customers by asking them to enter their email addresses. Communication is the key to design! Informing your users if you have any products in stock is a key part of communication.
Branding
It is important to create a visual appeal for your brand. Colors, language, images, videos, navigation, etc., all speak for your brand. It is important to ensure that your visual appeal is consistent across all marketing channels. Many brands create a color or design palette that specifies the colors and shades used to avoid confusion with web designers and designers.
When you think of Apple, you may think of the white Apple logo on a black background. If you think of Mcdonald's, you might think of a yellow "M" against a background of red. These color combinations are stored in your customers' minds without them knowing. This is a kind of subconscious expectation related to branding, so you should meet it.
Social Media
eCommerce website design is closely linked to social media. Online shopping can be just as social as offline shopping if you encourage your customers to share, discuss, and show off their purchases. It's important to give customers the option to connect to their friends by including social sharing buttons on product pages and checkout pages.
This encourages them to share their shopping experiences. Likes, comments and shares on social media apps like Instagram, enhance the eCommerce customer experience and create a certain "virality" around the product.
Building Trust Through Certifications
Badges and certifications are another design element that gives your eCommerce site more credibility. They also immediately build trust with customers. By using industry-approved certifications and badges, you can show your customers how serious you are about your eCommerce business and that it is a long-term endeavor.
As an example, you can show customers SSL certificates that demonstrate their transaction is safe and secure. Their payment information will not be compromised. Use badges and certificates to give your customers more assurance about the quality of your products.
Colors
Colors give your design soul. Colors give life to the design layout and elements. Your call-to-action buttons are influenced by the color you choose. Colors that are dominant, such as red or black, can make a good choice for buttons with call-to-action since they have a more energetic feel for consumers. Green represents nature, health, or organic products, while blue represents professionalism, trust and authenticity. Choose colors that reflect your brand personality and create the right perception in customers.
Navigation
The best website navigation is one that doesn't require customers to think too hard while navigating. The navigation of your website should be intuitive and natural for users. Apple has mastered the art of creating intuitive user experiences. They believe in simplicity, and even a 10-year-old can figure out where to click on a page to reach their destination.
The design of eCommerce user experiences is no different. It requires a high level of empathy and a thorough understanding of the customers. Wireframes and user research are recommended to give you a better idea of the steady flow and feel of your site.
Read More: A Guide to Starting an E-Commerce Business
Why Should You Follow These Best Practices?
We have gathered a few best practices for your eCommerce site since design is a key ingredient. What makes these procedures crucial for your eCommerce site:
- To Give the Best Possible Customer Experience: A good customer experience means making it easy for your customers to purchase products on your website. It should also be a pleasant experience for them. These practices will allow you to create a website that your customers will enjoy.
- Boost Sales by Optimizing Conversion Rates: A great design will convert more visitors to your website into paying customers. This will boost sales and improve business performance. In order to build a profitable online platform that will increase sales and conversions, it is critical to incorporate best practices into website design and development.
- Improve Customer Retention: You do not want your customers or website visitors to buy the same products from another website. Great design will encourage customers to stay loyal and attract more visitors to your website.
- Reinforce Your Brand with an Amazing Design: Great design will speak volumes about you, your company, and how you want to be seen, so use it to strengthen your image. Design is all about communication.
- Building Customer Relationships: People tend to trust well-designed websites and will engage with them more. It helps to build great and quick customer relationships based on trust.
Features To Consider While Building Your Website
You never get a second chance to make a great initial impression. As an online seller, your website is the face of your business. Your website is how customers will learn about your brand and product, and it's also where you collect payments and make e-commerce sales. Websites are not the only thing brick-and-mortar shops have. They also have physical stores to support them. Your website will be your only online presence if you choose to go that route.
Your visitors won't stay if your website is slow, unattractive, poorly designed, or does not work correctly. A strong website is essential for an e-commerce company. Consider these factors to make your website work in your favor and not against it:
Navigation
You wish to provide a great experience for all your visitors. This includes easy navigation. If customers can't use your website or locate what they're looking for, you've lost sales. Consider the layout of your ecommerce website and how you organize your products. It should be relatively easier for users to find the appropriate information they are looking for.
Simplicity
Keep it simple if you want to make your website clear and easy to use. Your customers will complete a purchase if they have to click fewer times rather than a long process.
Stability
Stability means that your site should not crash or take forever for it to load. Your site should be technically sound to avoid your customers hitting a brick wall. Make sure your payment and cart sections are working smoothly and flawlessly. If your cart crashes or your customers can't enter payment information, you can't sell anything.
Security
Hacking and data breaches have been in the news quite a bit lately. Look at what happened with Target. Doing business online means that you may be hacked. Customers want to know that they are safe when making an online purchase. They want assurances that their financial data will not be compromised or shared.
Post a privacy statement that explains who can access your customers' information on your website. Follow through. Protect customer data and information. This includes changing your passwords regularly on your website to discourage breaches and closely monitoring all reports and data in order to identify security risks. You can protect your website by being vigilant and proactive. This will protect your customers and build trust and loyalty.
You may need to hire an external company or a webmaster to maintain the security of your custom website. It costs money, but a security breach could cost your entire business. Stay in touch with your hosting provider if you use a hosted solution to discuss any security concerns.
Credibility
Business is all about relationships and people, no matter what your industry or market. In the world of e-commerce, it can be harder to build relationships because there are no face-to-face interactions. Your business website and your online marketing efforts are the best ways to create relationships, unlike a Main Street vendor. Your website and powerful marketing tools should reflect professionalism and credibility.
Try to get essential customer testimonials so that customers can identify with other people and their experiences. Respond immediately to any emails from customers. Join an organization that promotes best practices. Display this badge on your site. You need to stand out from the crowd when you're selling online.
Your Shoppers Are Mobile
We are always on the move. Mobile access is now more popular than desktop computers. You need to make it possible for your customers to browse and purchase from their mobile phones. Your site must be optimized for mobile devices.
You'll want to keep this in mind as you build your first e-commerce site. Make sure that your web developer knows that you need your site to be mobile-friendly if you are using a custom build. If you are using a hosted solution, make sure the host is able to support mobile sites. Customers are often on the move and have limited attention spans. Your website must be able to provide the information that they require as quickly as you can. Your site's mobile version must work perfectly, or you will lose sales.
How To Attract Online Customers?
Local customers are more likely to frequent brick-and-mortar shops. The locals know the stores in their area and where to go for what they need. The Internet is not local. Even if you have the most impressive e-commerce website and best products, it won't matter if nobody knows about your company.
There are many businesses and customers to compete with, making online marketing difficult. How do you make your website stand out? Ask yourself these three simple, yet important questions:
- Who is your target customer? Describe the customer's life (or their business).
- What are they after?
- What are the needs of your clients that you don't meet?
These questions will help you understand not only your customers' demographics but also their lifestyles. This way, you can tailor your products to them. You need to know how to reach your customers now that you've identified them.
Start With SEO
Search engine optimization is a way to achieve this. SEO is a way to make sure your business appears first when customers are searching for your products online. How often do your search results go beyond the first page? You're not the only one who doesn't often look past the first page of search results. You can do SEO yourself. You can find many tutorials on the Internet from sites to help you get started with your SEO efforts. You can also hire a third-party SEO agency to handle it for you.
Social Media Strategy
Chances are that your customers will be using social media platforms. Your social media strategy will be important in locating customers. Create and maintain profiles on the social media sites you choose, like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Ensure that the information in each profile is consistent and complete.
Customers will use social media to find products, read reviews, and learn more about companies. Make your business page engaging and attractive, and put all relevant information in the center so that your customers can easily shop and connect. Engage back with visitors who engage your profile! Answer their questions and requests as soon as possible. You may have to put in some effort, but your customers will see that you are concerned about their business and them.
It is important to spread the word about your company and products. One of the benefits of ecommerce is the ability to react quickly to changes in the business world. Change your marketing strategy if something isn't going well. Take advantage of any opportunity to promote your business!
Digital Sales, Real Products
You already have a mobile-friendly site. You've got your digital marketing plan. You must now manage the logistics for the actual sales. In a physical shop, customers come in, pay, and leave with their products. This is not the case in e-commerce. You will have to learn how to manage inventory and deliver your products to customers. It means dealing with shipping companies and shipping costs to ensure that people get their orders when they are supposed to. You'll also need to be very good at giving high-quality customer service for satisfied customers.
A sale in a physical shop is just a sale. In ecommerce, the actual sale is only half of the battle. You'll lose customers if you don't deliver. You can manage orders if you are creating something manually or at home. You'll have to ensure that your product is being produced somewhere else and that you get the correct inventory.
E-Commerce Disadvantages
E-commerce isn't perfect. Since everything is done online, customers cannot touch or feel your products or try them on before purchasing. Online transactions can feel less personal. This makes it difficult to build a relationship with customers and keep them coming back. The lack of brick-and-mortar stores, the challenges of mobile shopping and the difficulty of marketing online limit e-commerce. The transition from ecommerce to physical goods is also difficult to manage.
Wrapping it Up
You can create an incredible eCommerce experience by following best practices for website design. A/B testing is a great way to test the results of your ecommerce website design. You can test two or more versions for the same website/webpage to determine which version gets better results. Heat maps allow you to see where your customers spend most of their time on your site and what they are interacting with. This allows you to focus on the things that work and eliminate everything else.
