A successful website design has a big impact on bringing potential customers to the site and retaining them. But not every website design will be able to attract customers. There are certain features and characteristics a website should have to become appealing to new customers.
There are so many e-commerce websites available online so you have a lot of competition to contend with. Something that is very important when it comes to e-commerce website design is the ability to navigate the site easily. While having a unique e-commerce site is a good thing, you need to make sure it is still simple enough for new users to navigate and find what they are looking for. You have to prioritise user experience and ensure they have an easier time getting where they want on your website. You can look at popular e-commerce sites such as Amazon to see how they have made things simpler for users. The important elements of the website should be in plain view and these include the search bar, settings, cart, account, information, location of the visitor etc.
You can use a simple structure and make a few changes to it that will improve the performance of your site. Going with a layout that customers are already familiar with is a good idea unless you have a reason to creating something unique. But remember this will always have a learning curve for anyone visiting the site. Many people search for products and services on their mobile devices as they are constantly connected to the internet. So you have to focus on mobile e-commerce sales as well. There are more purchases being made through a mobile device when compared to a desktop or laptop. This requires your website to be mobile friendly. This means the website has to be easily viewed on a smaller screen. And the site still has to retain visibility and coherence when it comes to text and graphics. You also need to have detailed shipping and return information so a customer will not get confused about your specific policies. You can provide this information on the products so they are informed before proceeding to checkout.
Even with a simplified layout, customers will still have certain questions so there has to be a customer support feature that is responsive. When you answer customer queries quickly, it will alleviate their concerns about the product or service making it more likely for them to select your company. Another element that has to be optimized is your checkout process. Even if a customer has put items in the cart and proceeded to checkout, if there are technical issues or a long winded process to get to the end, there is a high chance for the customer to abandon their cart. So you need to rectify any issues related to checkout immediately. One of the things that can retain a customer is keeping an updated cart across many visits to the site so they don’t have to add things to the cart again. You also need to provide a variety of payment methods making the process easier for the customer.