Advancements in technology have made internet not just the best provider of all kinds of information but also the place where people gather for buying and selling of products and services. Online shopping has turned out to be the most favorite option for many and as such, businesses operating online realize the importance of having well- designed and developed e-commerce websites. The ecommerce websites can indeed be the primary source of increased sales and enhanced brand image of a business.

Let it be a Blend of Appearance and Functionality

In this highly- competitive market scenario, making a website stand out among others is essential. The bottom-line is that the website must strike at the right blend of visual appeal and functionality. Visitors should enjoy visiting your website, get impressed by the usability quotient of the site and be interested to an extent of turning into potential customers. Here are few tactics that you must apply to create effective sites.

Easy Navigation is Must

To begin with, let your ecommerce website have an impressive search facility, which makes it easily navigable. Use breadcrumbs to create a smooth train and enable the users to enjoy their search at the same time. Make sure not to add images, large enough to add to the loading time of the web pages. Continuous use of the statistics to adhere to the customer’s patterns is a welcome idea.

Precise but Factual Content

Although you do not need to incorporate too much of catchy or attractive content into an ecommerce website, just make sure that whatever is written or asserted is actually practiced. If your website promises to deliver certain products or services within an hour, don’t let it extend up to even 3 hours in reality. Let all the products be featured on the websites for the benefit of the site traffic.

Optimization for Visibility

Search engine optimization, which is so very important for any kind of websites, should be done for not just the home page of the ecommerce site but also each of the product pages. There is perhaps no better way of directing prospective customers to your website and generating sales than by getting the various pages come within the top 10 search result of Google.

Enhance Usability

Ensure that the visitors are able to add items to the shopping cart and also abandon the carts as and when necessary. Provisions for gift certificates etc is also beneficial for the ultimate aim of the ecommerce websites is to draw and traffic and convert them into long- term customers.

Having a good online store in place, with  24/7 access, simple shopping features and easy payment options, can make your profits soar. However, not all ecommerce sites are designed keeping shoppers in mind. Are you sure that your shopping cart solutions provider is the right choice for designing your store?

There are a number of shopping cart service providers who promise to the best services. Don’t get carried away by just what they say. Research and find out yourself what is best for you. This post will highlight some of the mistakes in ecommerce web design.

A Badly Designed Shopping Cart

A cart that is disorganized, has limited products, and lacks transparency will not be liked by your customers. You have to hire a programmer who’s professional to get the best results. Getting it designed by an amateur will not give you the desired outcome.

Focus on navigation. The easier it is to find your products on your site, the better it is for customers. You wouldn’t want to enter a clamped up store with products arranged in a way that makes it difficult for you to find them. Expect the same from your customers.

Organize your site and keep drop-down menus to the minimum. Highlight your links (a different color for links once visited is a good idea). Allow opening pages in a new tab/window. This way, customers won’t have to keep going back to the previous page, nor right-click to open in new tab/window.

Dearth of Product Details

This is a frequently committed mistake that designers overlook. Your online store might have several products to display, but may lack in product details. In such a case, users will not feel confident to buy from you.

When you visit a departmental store to buy products, don’t you look for information on the labels? The same rule holds true for your cartproducts. If the products you are selling lack specifications or details, buyers will move to some other site.

Perplexing Checkout Procedure

This is the greatest blunder a designer can commit. Why do shoppers shop online? It is to experience simple and hassle-free shopping. If your buyers find it difficult to provide their credit card details or the steps required to complete a purchase too lengthy, they will simply leave your site.

An ideal checkout process should enable users to verify the order, provide the billing and shipping details, and hit order. Anything more is a waste, and a barrier to a successful checkout process.

No one likes waiting in a long queue to make payments. A long check-out process is equally frustrating!

Limited Payment Options

There are some sites that offer shoppers with limited payment options, i.e. either PayPal or Visa/MasterCard. What if a buyer doesn’t have a PayPal account or wants to pay directly using his bank account? Offering limited options thus, will force a shopper to quit your site.

Provide customers with all the necessary options to make their purchase easy, simple and fast. Offer credit, debit, and cash-on-delivery or cheque-on-delivery options. A first-time online shopper will be apprehensive to pay online. A cash-on-delivery will help you get orders from such customers.

Poor and Insignificant Images

When customers are purchasing online, they do not get the opportunity to touch and feel the products. As a result, they expect to see bright and large images to understand product attributes. If your images are small and of poor resolution, it creates a negative impression.

A product image should ideally include views of the front, sides and back, including detailed views of some of its specific features.

No Company Information

There are some sites that conceal their contact details. When shoppers are divulging their credit card information, they expect to see the name and contact details of the company they are purchasing from. If these details are missing, consumers will not trust your site.

Additionally, make sure to include specific details on shipping and delivery. And answer the phone or email of a desperate and interested client, when you receive one. A bad customer-service amounts to an unreliable team of professionals. Hence, company.

Do you have some more points to share? Feel free to comment.

Setting up a business requires commitment, research, patience, and effort. This is especially true for small business owners. To increase awareness about their services, owners of small ecommerce businesses have to put in greater effort. And the difficult part is that small business owners have to compete against big companies, who already have a stronger team and powerful clientele. In such a situation, the temptation to copy and implement successful strategies of big companies can be powerful.

It is natural to think that big companies have earned trust of people by implementing these techniques. Therefore, it is obvious to assume that you can also opt for these strategies and become successful in your ecommerce solutions business. However, copying marketing strategies of big companies may not be a good idea in every situation. We highlight the strategies you should not copy and explain the reasons.

Mistake 1- Asking Customers to Register for Buying a Product

Most people prefer online shopping because it saves time. If you ask them to fill up a lengthy registration form for buying something, it is obvious that they will not like it. They will consider it as wastage of time.

Big companies also ask clients to register. People accept it because they trust them and know that the investment of time will be worth it. Additionally, big companies offer products at low prices. Clients accept the necessary procedures to enjoy quality products at low rates.

However, when it comes to small companies, people may not have the same amount of trust. Small companies also cannot afford to offer products at low prices. Therefore, owners of small companies should avoid asking people to register for buying products.

Mistake 2- Offering Low Prices / Stepping out of Your Comfort Zone

Big companies offer low prices because they have greater sales volume and can afford to offer products at discounted prices. However, for owners of small businesses, this cannot be a practical solution. If you offer clients products at low prices, there are high chances that you would suffer huge losses.

Most of the big companies offer a wide range of products. This may tempt small business owners to think that they can increase their conversation rate by offering various products. Unfortunately, this may not be a great idea.

People usually visit websites of small companies for buying certain specific products. They are yet to trust you and may not feel interested to buy various products.

The best strategy for small business owners is to opt for niche marketing. Devote your attention in marketing specific products. Once you earn the faith of customers, you can extend your range of products.

Mistake 3- Ignoring the Trust Factor

When it comes to business, trust is an important factor. People will not buy your products, unless they are sure that the product quality is good. Big companies have flourished because they have managed to earn the trust of people successfully.

Small companies are relatively unknown and therefore, have to invest extra effort to convince the people. In such a situation, you can offer clients trust marks to prove that you are a reliable company. This will also help you to extend your client base.

Researching about the marketing strategies of big companies is a good idea. They can teach you various things. However, if you own a small company, remember that you may not be in a position to implement them yet. Good luck!

The basic purpose of an ecommerce website is to make an online visitor buy products and services from the site. A professional web designer needs to integrate a host of online selling strategies while planning an ecommerce website design. This article will explore the main design elements that a successful ecommerce website must have.

Design an easy navigable path: As a designer, you must design a website that lures your visitors to make online purchases. In your ecommerce website, place your products and services in a manner so that they are best visible to your visitors. You should remember that placing your products on the web is easier but how you place them is all that matters to initiate the sales. The apt placement of your products and services calls for professional and technical knowledge in designing an ecommerce website.

Leading the visitor to the right page: You must be able to guide the visitor to the order page in a single click or two. A smart web designer must be able to incorporate all details of the products in a few lines so the user has the choice to click on the order form at the earliest. It is possible that a visitor is not convinced just by reading those few lines. In such a scenario, it’s the designer’s creative skills that make an ecommerce website saleable.

Layout: An ecommerce website becomes successful if it has a proper layout. Professional designers do a lot of research and development on the topic. It has been found that that the middle left section has the maximum visitors which is followed by the centre of the webpage. An intelligent web designer employs these tactics of ‘navigable path’ to lure the visitor to make him purchase online.

Application of personalization technologies: It is true that more number of products makes a website more complicated. Use of personalization technologies helps offer the best of products to the online visitors. It must be noted that personalization technologies has greater impact on the design. Modern ecommerce websites predicts what products to offer the visitor on his first visit.

Before launching an ecommerce website, be very sure of the features of web designing for online sales. It is advised that you have a word with an experienced web designer who has designed ecommerce websites before.