Some online retailers mistake eCommerce web design as just for the sake of looking pretty, hence the lack of attention that they give to it. What those e-tailers don't know is that a good design can quickly and concretely improve your business by increasing sales and encouraging repeat business. So what exactly makes a design 'good'? Here are a few things you'll want to consider.
Quick Searching
One of the things you have to deal with in eCommerce web development is the sheer amount of items and stocks that the system has to handle. This is one problem that, unfortunately, grows with your website and can quickly become a hassle for customers.
Naturally, customers will want to find what they're looking for as quickly as possible. If you're new to the world of eCommerce web design, you'd think that a search box would be enough to solve the problem. But you also have to consider that there are various types of search boxes, and that not every customer knows exactly what they're looking for.
Most of the big online retailers use an eCommerce solution that combines the specificity of a search box and the structure of a site map. By giving customers the option to browse your site by category or department, you let them find what they want on their own. And should they know the precise item they want, they can just go use the search box.
A Little Something Extra
Supermarkets and department stores usually put little trinkets and knickknacks near their checkout counters as one last temptation for you to buy something else from them. While not directly usable online, the model can be very effective when you're doing eCommerce web development and page design.
While you're obviously required to display information about your items, showing just that leaves a lot of blank space on your pages. Most established online retailers tend to fill up that extra space with promotions, other offers and similar products. Even if a customer is looking at just one product page, he or she ends up seeing several other products and offers besides.
Look into other options for employing a similar strategy. Remember, the whole point of your putting so much effort into your eCommerce website design is to generate more sales. This nifty on-page advertising trick does just that.
View, Don't Read
An error that many a new eCommerce company makes is going heavy on the text. Your customers are on your site to look for items, not read. Avoid taking the all-text route and pump up your site with images and photos instead. No matter how eloquently your copy writer might describe something, nothing beats a photo of the item itself.
In the same vein, photos and images appeal to the subconscious and emotional sides of a person. Text and words, on the other hand, stimulate reason and logic. Marketing wisdom dictates that you work with the former – the less logical side – because that's the one that usually results in a sale for you.
As you may have noticed, much of what was discussed above was little details that you probably wouldn't notice at first glance. When it comes to eCommerce web development and creating the optimum customer experience, you should think and rethink about all the aspects of your site several times over to ensure that you've got everything covered.
Sometimes it's the little details that have the biggest impact on the performance of your site. Jelecos.com offers comprehensive eCommerce web design services with our team of resident experts. We look at every detail, big or small, to create the best possible experience for your customers.
