Building an eCommerce store with a great design is essential. If you have a range of useful products but your website is not optimized for use, it will not lead to conversions. A lot of websites fail because they are not user-friendly and not easy to navigate. That is why we have come up with a list of important features your website should have. While the overall presentation, look, and feel of your website is important, it should also be useful for your visitors. A website is the first point of communication between your company and the visitor and therefore you should aim to make it as easy for the customer as possible.
Before we begin, I suggest you read this blog on the importance of website design.
Essential features for an eCommerce website:
User-friendly:
Your website should be as user-friendly as it can. It should be easy to use. Your customer should have a great first impression. If this is not ensured, your visitors are more likely to bounce. The layout of your website needs to be ideal, you need to showcase your products and services properly, and provide valuable information to your customers. Additionally, there should also be a Call To Action (CTA) so that your visitors know what they need to do next.
Mobile-friendly:
Around 85% of adults think that a website when viewed on mobile should be as good or better than the desktop website. Most of your audience is using a mobile device to browse through your website.
If your website is not optimized for different user devices, your reach will take a hit. Your website should look like it is meant to – on ALL kinds of user screens.
Also Read: Best WordPress Affiliate Plugins
High-quality content and media:
It takes about 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website. The content on your website can be in the form of blogs, images, videos, gifs, and so on. Audiences prefer visual mediums and therefore you should use high-quality and relevant images on your website. If you have to provide more information, you can integrate blogs on your website. They should provide value to your visitor.
Reviews and testimonials:
Reviews tend to give authenticity to your website and helps foster trust. When you add testimonials from your past customers, your visitors become more likely to do business with you. If your page does not have any customer reviews or testimonials, audiences will end up perceiving the website as not genuine.
Related items:
A lot of customers like it when you show them additional products based on what they have already purchased from you. When you show them related products in the form of ‘you may also like’ or ‘frequently bought together’, you are giving them a personalized experience by understanding their needs. Additionally, this works out perfectly for your sales as a customer ends up buying due to such suggestions anyway.
FAQ:
A lot of times your customers may have questions regarding a particular product or service. Here, you can have an entire section dedicated to Frequently Asked Questions. This can answer basic questions that a visitor might have.
Linking to social media accounts:
Social media is yet another way to engage and communicate with your audiences. When you build an online presence on social media, your audience begins to trust you. You can keep in touch with your customers using different mediums such as Facebook and Instagram. If needed, you can also have a community.
Shipping and other charges:
Customers like to have accurate information about the whole process. They demand transparency. When you add shipping charges and taxes, they prefer having a break-up of the same. If you add such charges at the end, customers will not trust your brand and bounce.
Return policy:
Every customer wants a return policy on the products they are buying. Your conditions when it comes to returns and refunds should be clear and mentioned on your page. When you make the return process simpler for customers, they are more likely to buy from you in the future.
Live chat feature:
More and more websites are introducing the live-chat feature as it makes it easier to communicate with customers and respond to their frequently asked questions.
Contact information:
You need to provide your address, email address, and phone numbers in case your customer wants to contact you. This is yet another factor that adds to the authenticity of your website.
Search bar:
Lastly, your website should have a search bar. In today’s world, there is not a lot of time and customers prefer to just search for the product or service they want, instead of scrolling all the way down. Having a search bar makes things simpler for your customers and take away a positive navigational experience from your website.
Based on different kinds of studies, here are some other great pointers for a good eCommerce website:
- You should display your loyalty programs on the home page.
- Visitors like to see personalized products based on their browser history.
- Filtering and sorting are one of the most important features.
- Having a wishlist and comparison of features between two or more products are preferred by customers.
- Blogs help in the search visibility of your website.
- Fast loading and responsive design lead to lower bounce rates.
You can also read this helpful article on how to keep visitors hooked to your website. It has a detailed analysis of what works for your visitors.
Conclusion:
So, there you go! This is the formula for a great website. An important thing to remember is that you constantly have to understand your audience and provide them with what they want. Your customer is the most important aspect of your business and you should provide them with a positive experience when they visit your website. We hope this article has been helpful to you. Stay safe and all the best for your website. Thank you for taking out the time to read this article.
Interesting Read:
How to Establish Trust in your Marketplace Community?
Free Ways to Gain Instant Website Traffic
Factors to Consider Before Hiring a Web Development Firm for an Ecommerce Venture
