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Mar 28
Designing for E-commerce: Best Practices to Boost Conversions
- Ankit Garg
- Jan 28
- 6 min read
As the competition begins to rise in the e-business arena, the toughest task is to redesign a website that sells the consumer into buying the company’s products. The worldwide market for e-commerce is expected to surpass $7.9 trillion by the year 2027 and that means that any business that is not prepared to offer its customers a quality, intuitive online store will certainly be missing the boat. It is clear that customers no longer just want convenience and easy-to-use interfaces, they expect fast, safe, and enjoyable use of a site or app.
Consider these key statistics:
According to statistics, 88% of online shoppers won't return to a site if they have a bad experience.
A poor checkout process causes 69.99% of carts to be abandoned.
Over 50 percent of e-commerce sales happen over mobile.
These numbers prove why you need to optimize every edge of your e-commerce product development strategy for improved conversions.
What is a Conversion in E-commerce?
A conversion takes place when a user makes one or several desired actions. This can be bought, subscribing to a newsletter, or simply placing items in the cart. These are some of the actions that every e-commerce store should take to increase their chances of a better conversion rate.
Why Are Conversion Rates Important?
The conversion rate you have indicates how adequately your site persuades people to take action. For instance, if you have a store that receives 100 visitors within a given time and only 3 purchase your products then your conversion rate is 3%. This makes complete sense as a higher rate means more sales for the company without necessarily requiring higher traffic.
Best Practices for Designing E-commerce Websites
1. Use High-Quality Product Images
Images are the closest we can get to 'the touch and feel' experience in an online shopping experience.
Explain and present the product from various sides.
Full details with an indication of the included zoom feature.
Try to keep the source of light and background of your image as static as possible.
Why it’s necessary: High-quality images = Customers can visualize what they are buying therefore generating confidence in their purchase decision.
2. Simplify Navigation
An intuitive structure on a website makes it easy for users to find what they are looking for.
Use clear categories and subcategories outlining a customer flow.
Allow the user to search with autocomplete in a search bar.
Adding links to the previous pages to give users a chance to go back.
Why it’s necessary: This makes it easy for the user, especially on the time they spend on the site thus making them stay longer for more conversions.
3. Optimize for Mobile Devices
Mobile optimization is not a luxury; more than half of online shopping is completed on a mobile device!
Design for responsive website layout based on multiple screen sizes.
Ensure that the buttons are placed large enough to be accessed through the tap.
Check the mobile checkout process for smooth functioning.
Why it’s necessary: Keeping your mobile users engaged and reducing bounce rates are only possible with a seamless mobile experience.
4. Speed Up Your Website
A faster page load speed will directly affect user satisfaction and conversions.
Reduce load time for images and videos by compressing it.
To make your site fast across the globe, use a content delivery network (CDN).
To minimize the unnecessary scripts and plugins.
Why it’s necessary: With fast loading, they decrease the abandonment rate, and improve the shopping experience as a whole.
5. Highlight Customer Reviews
Social proof significantly affects the purchase decisions made on the online platform.
Show current average ratings of the products.
Users should be able to filter by helpful or recent.
Authenticity through the use of feature video or photo reviews.
Why it’s necessary: Reviews help build trust, especially for new customers who have no idea what your brand is.
6. Offer Guest Checkout
When you have account creation during checkout, not only is it bad for you but it can also put off potential buyers.
Enable users to buy as a guests.
Allow account creation to be found as an optional step after checkout.
Quicken the process by using as few fields as possible.
Why it’s necessary: Reducing cart abandonment through a simplified, controllable, frictionless checkout experience.
7. Display Trust Badges
When shoppers enter payment information, they need to feel safe.
Follow secure transactions with SSL certificates.
Choose to add trust seals by making your site “Verified by Visa” or “Secure Checkout.”
Put your return policy and customer service contact information first.
Why it’s necessary: This serves to reassure customers that your site is secure and legitimate as well.
8. Showcase Free Shipping
One of the leading causes of cart abandonment is shipping costs.
Free shipping on purchases over a certain amount.
Locate the place where free shipping was included.
Offer your customers expected delivery dates for up-to-date information.
Why it’s necessary: Free shipping is seen as valuable by customers, which increases the likelihood that a customer will complete their purchase.
9. Create Clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs)
CTAs in the form of call to actions (CTA in short) to tell users what the next action on their shopping journey might be.
The call to action should be action words like, ‘Add to Cart’ or ‘Shop Now’.
Put the CTAs above the fold and on product pages.
Make buttons stand out by using contrasting colors.
Why it’s necessary: CTAs without confusion, provide users the clarity to act right away.
10. Add Live Chat Support
Live chat will enable buyers who are on the fence to get real-time support.
Chatbots help with 24-hour support.
Place a ‘Need Help?’ button on pages that are important such as checkout & FAQs.
Support for multiple languages makes it easy for global customers.
Why it’s necessary: Quick responses to questions eliminate the hesitation of purchase and build trust.
11. Optimize Your Checkout Process
Processing lengthy checkouts leads users away.
Use the progress indicators to show the checkout steps.
Make the payment options range from credit cards to wallets to PayPal.
Save the details of the users to allow them to purchase in the future.
Why it’s necessary: A streamlined way to checkout ensures a pleasant experience by reducing drop-offs.
12. Use Urgency and Scarcity Tactics
The sense of urgency will trigger immediate action.
Messages such as “Only 3 left in stock” or “Sale ends in 2 hours.” can be displayed.
Add countdown timers to your product pages.
Show fast-selling items as “Hot” or “Trending”
Why it’s necessary: FOMO (fear of missing out) is the foundation for urgency which leads to quicker purchase decisions.
13. Offer Personalized Recommendations
The Shopping experience becomes better with personalization.
Always suggest a complementary product or upsell.
Show a 'Recently Viewed' component.
Recommend products through AI using user behavior.
Why it’s necessary: Recommendations that match the user’s taste increase the average order value and provide the users with a reason to feel engaged.
14. Simplify Your Design
Your users don’t have a chance to be distracted with a clean, uncluttered design.
Whitespace makes your important elements stand out.
Don’t stuff pages with unnecessary information.
For a professional look, stay with consistent fonts and colors.
Why it’s necessary: The design is simple so it doesn’t distract users while navigating and making purchases.
15. Add Social Proof
Social proof is credibility building.
Trending products or “Most Popular” categories.
Display real-time purchases via pop-ups.
Recount the awards or certifications your brand got.
Why it’s necessary: Social proof gives users confidence that if others are comfortable shopping in your store and purchasing things from you, they will do the same.
Conclusion
Good e-commerce design not only means a good-looking design, but also a design that is effective in increasing sales. With the help of these 15 best practices, you will be able to create an enjoyable shopping experience for the visitors and turn them into buyers. Here we can see how each aspect has a critical role in boosting sales; from navigation to the checkout process or how products are showcased. Begin making these changes today – even the small things really do make a difference and can set the roots for a profitable online business.
Author Bio
Harikrishna Kundariya is a marketer, developer, IoT, Cloud & AWS savvy, co-founder, and director of eSparkBiz Technologies. His 14+ years of experience enables him to provide digital solutions to new start-ups based on IoT and SaaS applications.
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