Experts’ Advice on eCommerce Website Design

E-commerce came along with the advent of the internet as marketers soon found the secrets of marketing using digital adoption platforms. The E-commerce industry never looked back and is bestowing companies with huge profit growths that use e-commerce websites for their business.

It also means that competition is tougher than ever. If you run an e-commerce website or are thinking about starting one, you should know the ingredients of a successful online presence.

One of the most important ingredients in the recipe for e-commerce success is website design.

Do you know that 78% of customers want e-commerce stores to add more pictures to their product pages? 

Shoppers prefer user-friendly and attractive websites with neat and detailed product pages along with clear images of the products. 

We researched what web design experts recommend for e-commerce websites and created this piece. Without further ado, let's start learning e-commerce web design together.

Expert Tips to Design A Successful E-commerce Website?

1- Use the Magic of Simplicity

Designers often love to include numerous engaging features or visual aspects to a website. But these may overwhelm the visitors and repel them.

Simplicity is the key to any website design, especially for e-commerce. Put yourself in your customers' shoes and think about how you would like your website to look and feel.

As everybody is busy these days, you want to reach your desired product ideally in one or two clicks. Too many buttons, menus, and content on the homepage might feel mind-boggling to you.

Similarly, you would love to have a proper navigation menu on the website from which you are shopping to ensure seamless navigation. And surely, you would hate annoying pop-ups appearing on your face now and then.

Though your marketing team may tell you these pop-ups are necessary, it’s your duty to keep your site’s design clutter-free and viewer-oriented. Neglect of this can result in abandoned carts and loss of revenue.

Aspects of Neat Web Design

• Readable and unpretentious fonts
• Scimmable content
• Use of complementing colors
• Easily visible navigation elements
• Seamless navigation of product categories

2- Let Pictures Convert Visitors

Any website design is incomplete without a color palette and images. But only a few web designers know how to leverage them to impress visitors and turn them into customers.

We are going to teach you how to do that. Firstly, adorn your site with top-quality large pictures of products to let them do the job of the sales guys.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and you will notice it's true in web design too. Need proof? Images boost conversions by up to 40%.

A 360 product view allows shoppers to move the product around using their mouse. Shoot your products’ images with a white backdrop to increase clarity or use a remove background API to easily and quickly remove image backgrounds from photos in just one click. Include products clicked from various angles with closeups to help the visitor get a near-physical experience. 

3- Choose The Color Scheme Wisely

Customers can’t touch, feel or view the product online like they can in physical stores. Thus, you should try to make up for that live experience using color psychology.

Believe it or not, colors can increase your conversion rate. For example, your CTA button’s color should be high-contrast with other colors on the page.

A case study conducted by Dmix showed that a red-colored CTA button can boost click-through rates by as much as 34%.

Pick colors that are in line with the taste of your target audience. People in some countries believe blue invokes trust, while some think red indicates passion, danger, and energy. 

Sit with your team and set your brand’s tone if you don't already. The colors in your website design should represent your brand tone which can be serious, eccentric, or playful. 

Also, you should align your site’s color palette with your brand value. If you sell high-end items, you might want to use gleamy golden or shiny black colors to indicate luxury. 

You may use hues to offer futuristic or classic vibes to convey your brand voice. These points may seem minor, but they can make a huge difference in inspiring consumers to take action. 

4- Optimize E-commerce Website Design for Mobile

Most people nowadays use the internet on their smartphones, so a website that functions disastrously on mobile devices can take a toll on your sales.

Generation Z and millennials, especially, shop using their mobile devices and want lightning bolt speed of websites. Not convinced? A study suggests that a website loses 25% of visitors within 4 seconds of load time.

Many people browse the internet exclusively on their mobile devices as they don't own laptops or computers. If you want to retain your target customers among those people, ensure your site is mobile-responsive.

Your website should fit all sizes of mobile screens instantly, and pictures should look as clean as they do on desktops. Check if the buttons and menus are working fine, and as effortlessly as they do on laptops, especially on the checkout page.

How do we achieve this responsiveness? Say no to maximal web design and add each element thoughtfully. Images should be in file formats that contain as fewer data as possible.

We recommend using JPG format and avoiding enormous PNG files as they increase loading time. 

4- Design The Checkout Page for Simplicity and Smoothness

Have you ever visited an e-commerce website where you reached the checkout page to buy something and found a long data form?

How did you feel at that time? You might feel agitated as nobody has time to fill numerous information fields when they ditch physical shopping only to save time and retain their peace of mind.

It is how your customers will feel if you don't optimize your checkout page’s design. If you are anything like us, you might not want to create an account when you try to purchase a product from a platform for the first time.

Many potential customers abandon their carts if they can’t checkout as a guest, and the business loses a first-time potential customer. Ask your designers to add as few information fields as possible to the checkout form and clearly label them. Don’t forget to implement a one-click checkout option for returning customers. 

Also, the design should include a product preview with a description in the cart, so buyers can recheck what is in their cart.

Mention the shipping options, their fees, delivery, or other charges above the fold to build trust. Also, keep the link to your return and refund policy at the top so that shoppers know if and when they can return an item, whether they get a refund, and in what conditions.

Bottom Line

You see that designing your e-commerce site to win is not at all difficult. You only need to apply a few simple tips to outperform your competitors.

Keep in mind that you still need to keep testing multiple variants of designs and improving according to customer feedback. You must monitor your website with software testing metrics to keep improving it. Your e-commerce store should look tidy and simple yet alluring to catch visitors’ attention. Functionality is the most essential aspect of e-commerce websites, and design plays a big role here.

A well-thought-out design can incite emotions in the viewers and compel them to hit the buy button. Intelligent web design can elevate user experience, increasing sales and conversions.

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash