In recent years, online shopping sites have proliferated alongside many other improvements, such as more advanced end-user mobile devices, increased integration with social media, and (in many areas) faster shipping options. The industry may be booming, but you’re also faced with a lot of competition; here are some best practices to make your ecommerce website stand out.
Photos
Despite the growth in popularity of online shopping over recent years, many people continue to visit and buy from brick-and-mortar stores. One key reason why, as any retail store manager will tell you, is that you get to physically interact with the product and go through the brand’s intended experience.
Ecommerce websites may never offer such functionality, but photography is the next best option you have to approximate this experience. Superior photography begins with the actual shot, nailing the lighting and staging with the right equipment. From there, professional product photo editing takes over and optimizes the image for the web.
When you present your photos on the website, you want to grab the customer’s attention, but full-size images can cause the entire page to load slowly. Many sites solve this dilemma by presenting an array of thumbnails that link to high-quality photos with different angles and levels of zoom and focus.
Simplicity
Shopping on a website is different from the retail experience, as far as a customer is concerned – but as a business owner, you also want to gear your efforts towards maximizing their impulse to buy deliberately. In this regard, nothing is more effective than having a clear website hierarchy.
Remove the clutter so that what matters is in focus – the fantastic images of your product, elements which define or are associated with your brand, and one or two highlighted features of the product (with a link to expandable text or a new page that contains more detailed information).
Simplicity is the key to making your site easy to parse and navigate. Remember that web design is a visually dominant medium; if you can visually direct the customer’s attention towards the critical information, and nudge them with a great call to action, that’s better than posting a series of instructions on what to do or how to use the page.
Functionality
Getting your customers to scan and navigate your site quickly will lead them to spend less time shopping overall, which means fewer opportunities to reconsider their impulse purchases, and translates to more conversions. But improved functionality isn’t just about smooth user experience; it also reflects your level of professionalism and trustworthiness.
A one-page checkout process, for instance, shouldn’t just make it easier to accept your customer’s payment; you can have quick links to the shipping and returns policy, or address any concerns about the security of your payment processing, among other FAQs. Customers can also be presented with optional forms to fill out their details and subscribe to your mailing list, and read or post social media reviews and testimonials. Yes, page loading times and overall ease-of-use matter, but don’t forget to give each customer the option to find out more, and choose how much they want to be further involved with your content.
By this point, websites have had decades to evolve and arrive at the current trends. While you’ll find many other aspects of your online store, which can be tinkered with for improvement, focusing on these basics will always serve you well and give your customers great online shopping experience.
