Whatever’s in store for ecommerce in the near future, one thing is for certain – already empowered by carefully devised strategies for both customer delight and higher conversion rates, the industry will only continue to grow. According to Internet Retailer, online spending in U.S. is predicted to exceed $400 billion per year by the end of 2017, which means that the time has never been more opportune for cementing an ecommerce store of your own.
Still, not every virtual store provides the high-end shopping experience that customers expect, and what separates influential online sellers from unsuccessful ones is a website. From landing page to guest checkout, everything an e-commerce site has to offer needs to resemble the quality of service, thrill and convenience of traditional brick and mortar shops.
Here’s what elements you’ll need to pay close attention to – taken together, they are what makes or breaks an aspiring ecommerce business.
- Engaging Design
- Seamless Navigation
Once attracted by the mere beauty of your ecommerce store, visitors will leave all their resistance aside and search on for something to indulge their shopping itch. However engrossed they might be, your job is not even nearly done – if it’s long and full of stumbling blocks, the pathway to checkout is one of the main reasons potential customers choose to retreat.
Instead, their shopping path needs to be as smooth and pleasurable as possible. Whether you ultimately choose to squeeze your main categories to the top or hide them beneath a hamburger menu for a cleaner look, beware of how you solve your ecommerce navigation conundrum. Clever solutions are what every WordPress web design agency strives for, and are arguably the most important part of your online store, the one that will directly influence your customers’ purchasing decisions.
- Mobile Responsiveness
Both stylishness and ease of navigation are in vain if not optimized for different screen sizes. Modern customers like their convenience and ability to shop on-the-go, which makes mobile responsiveness a priority for clever ecommerce entrepreneurs.
Already far from being optional, RWD (responsive web design) now spurs trends of its own. Among those, m-commerce (native mobile apps) is of huge benefit to the industry, since it truly takes online selling to another level. As long as your ecommerce website remains functional and easy to navigate through regardless of device used, you can feel free to choose one of these solutions.
- Effective Product Descriptions
And now for the main part – the products you sell are why potential customers visit your ecommerce store in the first place, and presenting them in the shiniest light possible will encourage their shopping urges more than anything else.
Your store’s design is only a build-up for the irresistible offer you’re making there, but it should still be perfectly aligned with the products themselves. Together, these elements should tell a story and round up the brand experience, which is why this section of your website needs to be the focal point of the whole venture.
The first rule of selling is a simple one – never allow your customers to hesitate! And, since they won’t be able to touch, smell or feel your products, you should depict them as accurately and palpably as you can. Provide an in-detail description, clearly explain their benefits and leave no room for doubts.
Also, remember that, sometimes, shoppers don’t exactly know what they are looking for, so make your main offers, related products, daily deals, hot sellers and new arrivals apparent and neatly categorized. The goal here is to lay out your offer cleverly, so that your customers don’t have to search long for what they want, even if they have no idea what that is.
- Alluring Imagery
While product descriptions have a strong appeal to a customer’s reason, product photos awaken their shopping impulses. Together, the two make an offer that even the smartest of buyers can’t refuse. After all, if the unique selling proposition of your blanket collection is their lavish softness, stunning imagery is the only possible way of presenting that to your online buyers.
The unfortunate lack of tangibility is a great challenge for even the most successful of ecommerce brands. Informative, yet delightfully made photos and videos of products can help you overcome that. Never post amateur versions, and always make them as creative and accurate as needed. If simultaneously presentable and artsy, ecommerce imagery can take your branding strategies farther than you ever thought possible.
- Impeccable Checkout Page
If clever navigation paves the road that leads straight to the purchase and product descriptions make that road smoother, the checkout page itself is what closes the deal. Most commonly, these three elements play crucial roles on the ecommerce stage, thus making your website applause-worthy.
There’s a number of elements that make an effective checkout page. Everything begins with a call-to-action button – if a product plays the lead role, the CTA should be its subtle, yet unmissable sidekick. Opt for straightforwardness and your customers will be unlikely change their mind.
Beyond CTA, a progress bar should offer simplicity, so avoid adding unnecessary steps. Cross-selling and upselling suggestions are more potent when placed before the final payment, but even then, relevance is paramount. Be sure to include a customer service contact info in case something goes wrong, offer a cart saving option and multiple paying protocols for customer convenience and close with a clear security seal to nudge their trust.
Closing the ecommerce selling deal is a touchy task, which is why every step should be carefully premeditated, calculated and executed with the utmost understanding of online customer behaviour. If insecure about even the tiniest of details, consider consulting an ecommerce web design specialist. Hopefully, the advice you get will ensure your online store’s effectiveness and guarantee its success. 
