6 Traits of Effective E-Commerce Website Designs
Running an effective and profitable e-commerce business means paying attention to the fine details. As the owner of an e-commerce business, you are responsible for inventory, web design, development and all other aspects that come with running your own online business. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with all of the different hats that business owners are forced to wear. One of the most critical elements of any successful online e-commerce business is the design that they present to their users. A great e-commerce design should clearly present your products and walk your customers through the process of ordering with little to no distractions. Take the following traits into account as you consider a new design for your e-commerce business.
Simplify Navigation
Perhaps the most important aspect of any successful e-commerce design is the navigation of the website. You want to make sure that your prospective and current customers are able to easily find any product on your website with minimal effort. This means that the top-level navigational categories need to be chosen wisely, and any sub-navigation should have a lot of thought put into it as well. As a general rule of thumb, no page on your website should require more than two clicks to get there, with three being the absolutely maximum. Although this might not always be possible for e-commerce sites that offer hundreds of products, it is a great starting point for simplifying your navigation.
Give Customers Options on Checkout Pages
Customers like to feel that they are in control of the entire checkout process from beginning to end. By giving them the ability to customize their order in some way, you are giving them that power. Additionally, allowing them to customize their results on other pages, like a product listings page, through filtering options can help them to make better use of the search tools you give them and allow them to quickly find the product that they are looking for.
Make Search Bars Accessible
A search bar should be accessible on every page of your website aside from ordering and checkout pages, where you want to minimize distractions and keep their focus on completing the transactions. Use analytics to determine just how important your search bar is for the navigation of your website. How often are your customers using it? Are there any changes that could be made to improve its function?
Make Fees and Charges Clear
Having the price change right before hitting the “submit” button due to fees, charges and upsells is aggravating for customers. Include any and all fees (including shipping fees) in the customers total as early in the process as you possibly can. This makes the transaction clear in the eyes of the user and will decrease cart abandonment for any Ecommerce business.
Use White Space to Eliminate Distractions
Use white space to elminate distractions, particularly on shopping cart and product pages. Although traditional design philosophy will tell you to use all the screen real estate you can, design trends have been moving in the opposite way. Instead of trying to throw as much as you can in front of the visitor, try to draw attention to the more important aspects of their interaction with your company.
Make Finding Support Easy
Make sure that your customers feel welcome to ask questions or learn more about your products should the need strike them. Many e-commerce companies will opt for adding live chat functionality so that they can easily connect with their visitors and answer any questions they may have right away.
If you would like to learn more about how your e-commerce business could improve the design of your website, please contact us today to schedule your initial consultation with our e-commerce experts.
