You’ve got fantastic products, decided on affordable rates, and even begun developing a brand-new website to display your products and boost online sales. But nothing appears to be standing in your way of quick success, is that right?
Whether you’re selling sneakers, fancy crockery, or something else, if you have a website with an appealing design, you can expand your brand effectively. With many other benefits, an e-commerce site can help you attract more customers, increase sales, and shine out in the crowd.
But how to design e-commerce website or how must it look? Well, we know that it is a concern of many of you! Therefore, this e-commerce design guide will take you on the journey of creating the best website for your business.
Let’s start!
Why a Thoughtful E-Commerce Design is Essential?
We all know that a poorly designed website can make visitors leave your site right away! Thus, having a thoughtful design for your e-commerce site is essential for many reasons.
In the previous years, a lot has happened in the e-commerce industry. First off, the volume of transactions conducted online has skyrocketed. Retail e-commerce sales globally increased from 4.1 trillion dollars in 2019 to 5.7 trillion dollars in 2022, and now, in 2023, they are expected to go to 6.3 trillion dollars. This has sparked an unavoidable competition for the best UX. So, you shouldn’t be lagging behind in this congested environment.
When you design an e-commerce website, it’s crucial to remember that it directly affects the user experience, which in turn influences a conversion rate and overall success. Visitors may effortlessly explore the website, identify the products they’re interested in, and complete purchases due to a well-designed e-commerce platform.
A well-thought-out design with accessibility, loading time, and mobile responsiveness can also improve branding, enhancing the website’s ability to stand out and attract repeat visitors. Moreover, such e-commerce sites with intriguing designs help the company succeed in the cutthroat online market by promoting strong customer interactions in addition to sales.
An Era Before E-Commerce
Let’s draw a comparison to the real world to grasp the significance of excellent e-commerce design better.
Do you remember when Apple opened its first store in the early 2000s? As consumers, it dramatically changed the way we purchase. It did so as a result of two significant upgrades to conventional shopping experiences:
- The Apple Stores are gorgeous from the start. Even if you don’t plan to buy anything (though you might someday), their vibrant colors, modern designs, and spacious venues make them somewhere you want to hang out.
- They developed into an essential stop on any trip to the mall. To improve the customer experience, add multiple features, like comfortable product testing rooms, the Genius Bar, a team of tech-savvy workers who are always on duty, etc. It was an entirely new sight that wasn’t experienced before.
These stores’ significant influence on the retail industry isn’t emphasized enough. Next time you’re in a shopping center, thoroughly look around. Every store has elements of an Apple Store, such as vibrant colors, tasteful design, and open areas that allow for natural ventilation.
If a great shopping experience is now essential to the success of brick-and-mortar stores, the same holds for the digital areas. Engaging customers is what you want from your e-commerce website. Completing this mission successfully depends significantly on a compelling design.
User Engagement
An e-commerce website is mainly created for users to make purchases. It should be a seamless experience for them! If you aim to increase sales, one of the considerable e-commerce website design elements is to make it easy to use and simple.
When building your website, there are a few factors you should always keep in mind if you want to achieve next-level user engagement.
· Coherence
Your design should have a general aesthetic consistent with the products you offer. If you approach this correctly, your chances of connecting with a customer base interested in your items will be better.
Everything should match, including fonts, colors, and graphics. You must first understand both your target audience and your product.
· Simplicity
The question “Okay, what’s the next step?” should never need to be asked by a user visiting your website for the first time. A confusing UI is your worst enemy!
In this article, we’ll look at how you can improve every stage of the purchasing process for customers later.
· Transparency
People learning about your company will soon be curious about who you are and how you do things. Make sure it’s simple to find the contact information and the shipping and return policies. Remember, this is one of the basic factors for making an e-commerce site memorable.
· Trustworthiness
Potential customers need to feel trusted when visiting your website. When a user reaches the checkout process, a professional design will promptly dispel most of their uncertainties. Consider your client’s perspective: Would they provide personal and financial information to a dubious-looking website? Most likely not!
· Mobile-Friendly
It goes without saying that your e-commerce website MUST be responsive. Many people purchase on their phones, which is a wonderful incentive in and of itself to create a mobile-friendly shopping UX.
But since Google has implemented mobile-first indexing, you must also be aware that a responsive website is one of the vital ranking signals in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Any effective e-commerce website must be responsive because SEO is important for attracting new customers.
· Optimizing Your Sales Funnel
A top-notch online store should enable you to get a brand-new customer who knows nothing about you through the purchasing process.
A typical online store infrastructure is shown here:
Each step brings your customer one step nearer to conversion, which in this case refers to the act of making a purchase. As a business owner, minimizing the psychological barriers between each process is your job. An easier transition from one step to the next is what you want. If you feel stuck during the process or find it hard to initiate, you can always go for professional UI/UX design services.
Site-Wide Design Tips
Further, we will walk through the e-commerce sales funnel that shows how your design should guide the customers.
It’s crucial to remember that there isn’t just one perfect technique to create an effective e-commerce website. We have explained some consideration factors and elements when building an e-commerce site. Go nuts with it and incorporate these components however you like! Use your imagination to develop a unique experience that fits your brand.
Depending on whether you’re selling a single product or a variety of products, some of the following factors will change. The architectures in the two scenarios differ slightly. A site with thousands of pages will have very different processes in place than a site with a few pages to maintain consistency and organization. However, the following ideas apply to all companies.
· Navigation
The first step to a pleasant buying experience is simple navigation. Keep the necessary information close to hand and keep it simple to find things for the visitor.
· Menus
Depending on how many various kinds of things you sell, use drop-downs with sub-menu items. Use broad phrases to categorize the product products for clarity.
· Visible Search Bar on Every Page
Here’s a case of something that only applies if your website sells a lot of = goods. If not, it is just noise. However, it will, where appropriate, make it easier for consumers to find what they’re looking for. Both general and specialized product categories should be available for them to peruse.
· Cart Icon
The indicator should not only be visible from every page on your website but also display the number of items that are being added. Users can access checkout and return to the cart by clicking the icon. By permitting a cart preview when a user hovers over the symbol, you may even take it a step further. You could also want to repeat your call to action on each website page for a single product, or at least on most of them.
· Building Confidence
Building confidence is one of the e-commerce website design factors that has other crucial elements, including:
· Show Known and Trusted Logos
Again, this isn’t always the case, but if your website sells products from well-known brands, you should, whenever possible, provide that information. Using these logos will enhance Your company’s credibility because of your affiliation with top companies. Additionally, it activates the crucial user engagement signal of trust.
· Customer Testimonials
Humans naturally look for social validation. It’s an idea with notable strength in e-commerce. You don’t need to wait for a user to arrive on a product page to display customer reviews of your offerings. Customer reviews are typically featured in the footer of most pages to not distract from the main content.
· Contact And Necessary Business Info
Any information required to address the key users’ questions can be located in the footer of every page on your website. Your contact information should be made very apparent in the first place. Customers must believe that it is simple to contact you and that your communication channels are open and honest. You should also think about including the following links in your footer:
Give your consumers more information about your company and your team in the “about us” section. In this digital age, making personal connections is always a smart move.
- Policy on privacy
- Return policy
- Delivery information
· Make Checkout A Breeze
Clunky product pages can affect sales more quickly than anything else! You will lose customers if your checkout procedure is hectic. So, make the purchasing procedure as effortless and clear-cut as possible if you want customers to buy from you.
Give your customers the choice of logging in or using the guest login option for placing order on your website. Mention every step of the procedure, such as the information you need to process the order, various shipping options available and their associated costs, and what to do if there is a problem with their order or if they need to make a return.
Moreover, remember to show the confirmation page after the transaction is done so the customers will know that everything went smoothly.
The best design for an e-commerce website ensures the checkout process should be as simple as possible to provide an exceptional shopping experience to the customers.
· Keep It Simple
These days, accessibility is all the rage—and for good reason. Create a web where everybody can navigate without restrictions. Reduce the number of fields and procedures needed to complete the purchase. Ideally, create a single-page checkout where customers can view their cart and submit delivery and payment information.
The First Impression – Homepage Design
Like a first blind date, the homepage is your chance to make a good impression—so it must entice the eye, and don’t blow it! It is where you may introduce your brand. These new visitors must be able to grasp the essence of your company quickly.
However, you don’t want to fling them into a product frenzy too early. Make this a general prohibition. Don’t use your homepage as a product listing!
Wondering what it must include?
· Eye-Catching Title
The ability to capture users’ attention with a concise word that summarizes the essence of your products or services can be quite effective. Additionally, it is where you can advertise any sales or promotions and educate your audience strategically.
· A Clear Call-To-Action
A call to action (CTA) that is pertinent to the product(s) you sell should come after your title. Choose a design that closely resembles your brand’s personality. Any CTAs that are overly generic or dull should be ignored. Your CTA should encourage your audience to take action.
· Images of Your Products in Use
Design elements for e-commerce websites also include high-quality images that convey professionalism and foster viewers’ trust. Given that online buyers rarely have the time to read a thousand words, use lots of visuals to convey your message.
· List Bestsellers of Featured Product
While your homepage shouldn’t be a catalog of your products, you can nonetheless highlight some of your standout offerings there. Consider this: If you had a physical store, what things would you like to display? They may be top sellers or highlighted items for particular occasions, seasons, or events.
Shopping Time: Listing Page Design
Usually, users access a listing (or catalog) page by entering a keyword or choosing a product category from the menu. It also implies that kids are beginning to become curious! They can get a list of every item linked with the category closest to their current requirement.
Of course, categorizing your products may not be necessary if you just sell a small number of them. If so, every item you sell will be listed on the listing page.
You can incorporate the following design tips in these types of pages:
· Introduction To the Category
Customers might be able to determine right away if they are at the appropriate place to get what they are looking for with the help of a brief introduction on your catalog page. Being explicit and transparent in your category introduction will prevent them from wasting the searching time, something you can’t afford to do.
· Enable The Sorting and Filtering Features
Again, the main objective is to make customers’ lives easier when seeking a particular product. It is advisable to enable filtering and sorting, even within a single category. This factor becomes more significant the more products that are offered. Add as many sorting factors as you like, such as colors, price ranges, sizes, and more.
In UX development, a phrase goes, “More options, more problems.” So, there is a balance to be hit between using too many and not using enough filters. Remember that while filters might be helpful, a page doesn’t necessarily need to rely on them. Additionally, don’t merely display a blank page to users with the “Sorry” if the filters applied have produced no results.
Keep the customer on the website and try something new to capitalize on this chance.
· Highlight Best Sellers and Reviews
Here is another chance to show off your best products, so take it! Highlight the products you think customers will love, or you can draw attention to them by giving them their featured space. Why not display the number of product reviews next to each item on your catalog page? When it comes to online purchases, social proof is a powerful force, and this is your chance to enhance your business, so take it!
· Show Stock Availability
This one is more of an avoidance tactic! You don’t want customers to learn that an item is out of stock at the last minute or during checkout. By displaying them right away on the listing page, you can avoid future client annoyance. Additionally, it might be a great incentive to buy right away when there are limited releases or quantities.
When creating your listing page, consider this additional question: “Should I list my products in list view or grid view?” You should know that there is no simple solution, and both have advantages and disadvantages.
A list view is more appropriate for products requiring lengthy descriptions and comprehensive information. On the contrary, a grid format is a fantastic choice for products that need a more visual display and little to no description. Additionally, this format enables easy side-by-side product comparisons.
Final Takeaway!
Online customers need a seamless experience at all times. Creating an online shopping experience that will turn inactive users into serious buyers is an essential aspect of designing an e-commerce website, yet it is challenging, too.
However, now that you know how to design an e-commerce website, you can create one that looks fantastic and converts like crazy.
Furthermore, if you need a result-driven website, you can also opt for e-commerce website development services from the renowned platform Codment. The professional experts of the platform ensure high-quality web and app solutions with intriguing UI to provide the best user experience to your customers. Connect now!
