Your website allows possible customers to window shop without any real commitment, and you can take this a step further with eCommerce websites.
Online shopping is on the rise, as it’s straightforward for the customer.
The majority of people don’t shop in physical stores anymore, consumers value convenience.
This is why having an eCommerce site is important; your site must be well-designed and fully functional.
So, what makes an eCommerce site effective?
Clear and Intuitive Navigation
User experience (UX) is everything, if using your site is at all complicated or unpleasant for the customer, they likely won’t make a sale, and won’t consider using your site again in the future.
All listed products must be clearly categorised, so they can find the exact product or type of product they desire.
It’s also important to establish a hierarchy in the website structure, such as main categories of products, and then more specific subcategories for the variations.
You should also ensure you have an effective search function so that products can be easily found.
Responsive and Mobile-Friendly Design
You want to provide a seamless experience across devices for the user when they are using your eCommerce site, which is why responsiveness is important.
Nowadays, using mobile for online shopping is the standard, so a website that is ineffective on mobile will lose you many sales.
Many eCommerce web designers will take a mobile-first approach to design, this incorporates touch-friendly design interfaces, resizing, and design that is optimised for mobile.
High-Quality Product Imagery
When online shopping, seeing the products is one of the most important aspects.
A description can only tell you so much, so high-quality imagery must be available, so users know what the product looks like.
Visual content will have a massive influence on customer perception and their trust in your business and products.
It’s also important that high-quality imagery can be seen from different angles, either with multiple images or you can implement zoom and 360-degree product view for the user, which can also assist with customer engagement.
Streamlined Checkout Process
Abandoned carts are a hindrance for anyone with an eCommerce site, and ensuring a smooth checkout experience can help you avoid this.
You should always offer an account checkout option, so details can be saved, and you need a guest checkout option to reduce barriers for the user.
Secure payments and checkout are also important for the customer’s trust in you.
There is a large range of payment options you can offer, such as card, apple/Samsung pay, PayPal, and more; the more options you have the more people you will appeal to.
To assure the user that the payment is safe, you need to be aware of SSL certificates, encryption, and overall data security.
Trust Signals and Social Proof
You need your customers to have trust in your products and services, but you need to prove to them that you can be trusted.
Some good methods of proving your reliability include customer reviews and ratings, testimonials, trust badges, certificates, and social proof.
Users will trust previous customers more than they will trust your word, which is why you should encourage reviews and ratings on purchases for your products, as well as reviews of your business as a whole.
Social proof is also key, a good way of getting this is by encouraging customers to interact/post about your product online, many businesses do this through partnerships, where they will send free products to influencers for review.
More trust leads to more conversions.
Effective Call-to-Action (CTA) Buttons
If you think of your eCommerce site as a sales funnel, the CTA is the final level.
Your website should lead users to a CTA, and the CTA should encourage either a sale, getting in contact, or any action you want the user to take.
An effective CTA button should be prominent, visually appealing and persuasive.
The copy in a CTA is also important, you should use action words, and the copy needs to be clear, actionable, and convincing.
Conclusion
There are plenty of methods and actions you can take to ensure your eCommerce website is effective:
You must always prioritise user experience and website functionality, as this will drive sales and a positive reputation.
Implementing these elements to your eCommerce site is certainly our recommendation, but doing this alone or without a managed website provider can be tough.
If you need help building and maintaining a bespoke, user-friendly, and functional eCommerce site, we are the right option for you!
Contact our team and let us help you start your journey.
