It’s been a long time since anyone talked about the benefits of online shopping – everyone knows you can’t do without it. E-commerce fights relentlessly for every customer, offering something for everyone. Experience shows, however, that it is not enough just to have quality products, a shopping cart and the ability to pay – there are a number of other factors that either boost or hinder sales. Next to a good marketing strategy, the most important is the design and functionality of the website.
Good search
Around a third of all online shoppers use the search box to find the product they want. Either they already know what they want to buy and want to get to the right item quickly so they can check the price and quality one last time before buying, or they have a vague idea of what they are looking for and hope the search result will point them in the right direction.
To make sure your e-commerce search delivers the best possible results, start by thinking carefully about the whole e-commerce process: who your customer is, what their expectations and needs are, and how wide your product range is. For example, make your search filterable – by brand, colour, price and other factors – or use a ‘smart search’ that starts returning answers as soon as you enter the first three characters.
Visual product sheets
Before hitting the big, shiny “Buy” button, people hesitate for a long time – “Is this product exactly what I want?”, “Is it good quality?”. The comprehensive information on the page seems to be all there, but since it is in our nature to see, touch and try on a product before we buy, a simple choice of colours and sizes and a sloppy picture is not enough in today’s e-shop.
Your competitive advantage comes from using modern technologies such as virtual reality, 3D imaging, augmented reality – in other words, bring the customer closer to the physical store experience through visualisation technologies and thereby alleviate their hesitation before buying.
Recommendations
Let your shoppers write product reviews, answer their questions and comments. This builds trust in you and your products and helps them make more informed buying decisions. Other customers’ comments come across as impartial evaluations, and are therefore more trustworthy than a seller’s overblown platitudes. Add social media buttons like Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to your e-commerce pages. This way, consumers can share and comment on the content of your page faster.
Blogging also increases your credibility, transparency and adds value for your customers. This way you can keep them informed about new products and special offers. You can also give advice, introduce your team and invite interesting co-authors to blog. A blog is a never-ending well of content for your e-commerce site.
Also recommend products that might be of interest to your customers. Cross-selling can help you increase the total size of your shopping basket and sell more products. On the e-shop page, you can either add similar products to a product or, for example, send a customer a personalised email with a similar product range at a later date.
“Add to cart” button
The “add to cart” button is the largest callto action on any e-commerce page. Make this button large and place it away from other distracting elements on the page. It should be easy to find, easy to use and why not in a distinctive colour. According to various studies, red works best because it creates a sense of urgency and urgency to buy.
Button “Simplified checkout”
More than half of shoppers abandon their shopping cart before the transaction is completed because it takes too long. Buying must be simple, easy and convenient. Don’t ask the customer to log in or create a new account to make a purchase, and don’t require them to enter huge amounts of information about themselves before the final stage of the purchase. The best solution is to create a single-page checkout with a very simple design and a one-click checkout.
Offering your customers different payment methods makes the user experience that much better. For example, Estonians always prefer to pay by bank transfer. Don’t deny them that. Most online shops accept Visa and MasterCard, but if your goods are bought from outside Estonia, you should also consider PayPal or American Express.
Button “Return conditions”
The basis of the return policy must be quickly and clearly visible on the e-commerce site, as every other potential buyer will visit the site before making a purchase. Please don’t hide this information, but make it more prominent, and be sure to include important contacts for quick contact if necessary. Customers thank you!
Button “Customer service”
Although building a website seems a breeze these days, and new e-shops are springing up like mushrooms after the rain, for many people shopping online is still a daunting prospect. You can’t see the seller, you can’t ask questions and returns information is hard to find. Everything is too anonymous. Add a social plug-in or chatbot to your site and you have an instant, always-on customer service representative. Problem solved.
The e-shop could certainly also have a “YOU” page. There you can present your brand: what you offer and why, what your advantages and strengths are, how you stand out from your competitors. You can include pictures and videos of your staff and positive feedback from your customers.
We should not forget the technical aspects that need to work properly to ensure a positive customer experience. Speed, mobility and security are the most important:
1. Speed
Before people can buy anything, they have to come to your page. If your page doesn’t open or takes longer than 2-3 seconds to load, nearly 50% of visitors will give up and move on to the next online shop. Search engines like Google will relentlessly push you down in search results due to slow load times, and your page views will drop even further.
2. Mobility
Mobile first! If you want your online shop to be profitable, it’s essential to optimise it for both mobile and tablet. This way, you can be sure that your website will work well and look good, no matter what device your customers are using.
3. Security
Potential data leakage is another reason why people are staying away from e-shops. They are afraid that their credit card details, personal information and other sensitive information will be stolen if they enter their details on your e-commerce site when they make a purchase. That’s why you should always use an SSL certificate on your site and maintain your site regularly If you want more ideas on how to build, design or update your e-shop to generate more profit for your business, contact the Web Systems team for a free consultation.
