Do you wish to create an online store for your business? These practices will help you create a fantastic design for your online store.
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to uncertain conditions for various stores, encouraging businesses to shift online. Plus, since the world has been evolving technologically over the past few years, people all over the world prefer to shop online. Global retail eCommerce sales are forecasted to reach 8.1 trillion dollars by 2026.
No doubt, eCommerce holds the power to help businesses move to another level with additional revenue streams. However, the competition has increased a lot, so you will have to develop a thoughtful user experience design that provides customers with a friction-free experience.
Let’s look at the different practices that can help you make an outstanding design.
Eight practices for designing your online store
Below are some practices that may help you create an online store that stands out among others.
- Consistent branding and strong visual appeal:
Making and maintaining a loyal customer base requires consistency, not only in the product quality but also in the service delivery and visual appeal of the branding and messaging.
Building a brand website isn’t difficult, and a basic website may even fulfill the primary purpose without any issues. However, building a visually appealing website that communicates your brand as a desirable one to the audience is quite difficult.
Adding lifestyle and product shots to your online store is essential if you’re selling products. Lifestyle shots will help customers see what they would look like when they use your product, and product shots will showcase the details of your product.
- Ensure a seamless mobile experience:
Many eCommerce platforms offer a range of themes or templates that help entrepreneurs create professional online stores by themselves. Since designing websites on a computer has become common, we tend to forget consumers’ expectations regarding a fluid mobile experience.
Mobiles feature a small screen which means less space. So, testing that your web pages expand and contract appropriately on smartphones and tablets is essential to ensure a seamless experience. Make sure to prioritize what you want your customers to see before they scroll down.
- High-quality images:
As far as the world of web design is concerned, it is a fact that images increase conversions, especially when it comes to eCommerce. Nobody would want to purchase a product without seeing it, right?
So, if you want people to show interest in your product, you must show them what they’re buying by adding high-quality product images. Using a hero image creator to make an eye-catching hero image of your product can also do wonders for you.
Getting professional images of all your products is essential and goes a long way toward building confidence and trust in your customers. Hence, it would be best if you considered professional sites like PosterMyWall to develop a good product mockup.
- Create a seamless checkout experience:
Nothing kills a sale faster than slow and outdated product pages, right? You might not know it, but a clunky checkout is a close second. A complicated checkout process is a major turnoff for customers and may be one of the top reasons behind cart abandonment.
If you design a website with a complex checkout process, know that you’ll lose customers. So, to make more people purchase from your website, you will be required to ensure a few things.
Make sure that the process of buying is pain-free, straightforward, and simple. Your customers should have the option to register and make an account on your website, but an alternative of checking out as a guest should also be available.
- Clear call-to-action:
Ensuring good navigation also means that you will have to add a clear call to action (CTA) for the users. A CTA is essential as it gives potential customers reasons to click, buy, or sign up. Not only should it stand out from the usual CTAs, but it should also be intuitive and frictionless to increase conversions.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all color scheme for the CTA buttons. However, popular choices do include red and orange and are often said to be quite effective. You should also note that the CTA button should pop out from the page and be able to catch the user’s eye.
- Make content that tells your brand story:
Creating content that communicates the unique aspects of your brand and tells your story is a great way to connect with existing customers and drive new traffic to your online store.
Blogs are one of the organic ways to contextualize your product or personify your brand. When planning content, consider your brand’s values, vision, and mission, as this helps your brand achieve a lot more.
Writing and promoting blogs using social media channels can not only increase your digital footprint but also help in improving the search engine optimization for your website.
- Add a reviews or testimonials section:
You might not know this, but approximately 61% of online shoppers read customer reviews before purchasing a product. It means that if your website has some positive reviews, the chances of a confirmed sale will boost significantly.
To add a reviews or testimonials section, you have two choices. Either you can dedicate a separate page for reviews, or you can add the reviews section under products as well.
- Easy-to-navigate categories:
If your potential customers have to click on several different menus and navigate several pages before they can finally find what they’re looking for, they will be frustrated. Not just that, but there are high chances they will hightail it out of there fast and click their way right to a competitor’s site.
Nobody wishes to send their customers to their competitors, right? So, making your product categories and pages easy to navigate is essential. Your ultimate goal should be to develop a website that enables customers to filter the products according to different categories. After all, the easier it is for them to look up their favorite product, the easier it will be for them to confirm a purchase.
Summing up:
No doubt, a well-thought, and well-designed online store can take your business to the next level. Understandably, designing an online store can be tricky, but with our strategies, you can develop a site that looks amazing and converts like crazy too.
So, what are you waiting for? Use the right tools, follow the strategies properly and boost your sales chart significantly.
