A few years ago it was possible to design a basic, sketchy Ecommerce site by integrating a few products into it and making it work so that it made sales easily. Nowadays Ecommerce and the online marketplace has evolved into a more professional Ecommerce world.
The big changes in SEO and Google algorithms along with the sharp rise of mobile Ecommerce has revolutionized Ecommerce designs and client expectations.
Now, in order to attract consumers and make leads into conversions, Ecommerce websites must be perfect visually and technically while presenting products or services in an efficient manner that increases user retention.
This is the first and most important one. You’ll read this one in almost all articles on the subject of effective web designs and there is a reason for that – nowadays over 70% of websites are opened from a smartphone. If your business website isn’t mobile friendly, you’re likely driving potential customers away just by the sheer frustration of poor navigation. That’s why it’s ever so important to have a website that’s mobile first.
Tip: Multi-directional layouts work great on mobile. They allow you to scroll through the pages in directions other than up and down. Left, right, diagonal, forward and back … you can go wild to enhance the smartphone shopping experience! This interactive aspect facilitates navigation, while being fun for the Internet user. In addition to maintaining visitor engagement, you give your store a creative edge over the competition.
We now live in a content world where people spend an average of 145 minutes a day on social media like FaceBook, Instagram, and TikTok (Source statista). People are used to consuming thousands of pictures and videos, and they expect to find this type of content on any website they visit. If you want to guarantee recurring visitors and more engagement within your website, your content needs to be on par with their expectations.
Tips on creating engaging content:
In recent years, live chat has proven to be one of the key tools to encourage your customers to continue shopping on your site. As a practical and personalized channel, it is ideal for offering quality assistance to customers who need to be accompanied quickly in their navigation or to get the answers to their questions. Optimizing the experience offered by your live chat is a major focus since its quality will determine visitor satisfaction, conversion, and ultimately, loyalty.
Besides the customer relationship aspect, live chat can significantly boost your sales. In this sense, live chat is at the heart of a winning equation:
Live Chat = Increase Conversions + Customer Satisfaction + Long-lasting Relationships
In order to create a climate of trust conducive to interaction, it is important to give an identity to the advisers who will interact with your visitors. This is because your customers will enjoy talking to a human more than a robot.
To reassure Internet users, always make sure to give a brief presentation of the person they are talking to as soon as a conversation is initiated. For example, you can start the conversation with “Hello, let me introduce myself, I am Sam, customer advisor. How can I help you? I will be happy to help you. “.
These few words are enough to encourage your customers to express their needs to you. They will have the feeling of forging a real human relationship with your brand, as it would be in a physical store.
As with your product pages, make the payment process as clear and simple as possible.
If the buying process seems long and complicated, you are going to lose customers. Make sure everything runs smoothly, that you offer diverse payment methods that adapt to the customers’ cultural habits.
Your design should be simple, understated, and easy to navigate. Give your customers the choice to register on your site or not. Everything should be crystal clear: what information you need (and where to state it), the different delivery options (and their prices), and what to do in the event of a problem or return of merchandise. Once the purchase is made, direct your customers to a confirmation page so they know everything went according to plan.
In short, if you want people to buy your products, your buying and paying process needs to be smooth.
Tip: Here is a list of payment providers to look at for your website.
When designing your online store, find ways to show your potential customers that your existing customers are happy with your products. Add a rating system (and then get as many 5 stars as possible!), and/or a section with testimonials from past customers. Also think about creating a space for your customers to leave their opinion on your products after a purchase, etc.
The more transparent you are about the satisfaction of your customers, the more trustworthy you will appear, and the more your conversion rate will increase.
Reviews reassure your clients and increase your e-reputation. Therefore you should take the time to orient and entice the customer to leave a review on your site.
For 62% of online shoppers, delivery is the number one criteria when shopping on the Internet. Almost one in 2 consumers abandons their shopping cart if delivery is not available on a merchant site. Another equally alarming behavior among online shoppers: 59% of Internet users abandon their order because of unsatisfactory delivery options.
According to FEVAD (Fédération du e-commerce et de la vente à distance), 85% of customers have their products delivered to their home. You should therefore try to offer your customers the most expedited and best delivery options possible.
Delivery times are a decisive criteria for online customers, and it is essential to deliver a product as quickly as possible. If it were possible (who knows what the future holds), the online consumer would want their product immediately. In the United States, 58 percent of consumers were more likely to increase their total order on Amazon to meet the quota for same-day delivery through Amazon Prime.
To be customer centric, you must do everything possible to provide affordable and expedited delivery. This is a key part of conversion today. Don’t let your competition outperform you here.
The principle of an A / B test is to send 50% of the traffic to a version A of a page and 50% to a version B. Between these 2 pages, only one variable has been modified.
For example: the color of a call-to-action (CTA), the place of an image on a page, the size of a visual… The idea is to identify which page converts the best and replicate this version on everything on the site.
Using analytics, the decision is based on the best user experience and not a subjective opinion such as your own personal opinion (ex: I prefer blue so my CTAs will be blue). A/B testing is purposeful in it’s experimentation as it provides objective results. A / B tests are a great tool to help you fine-tune your website and increase your website’s traffic flow and the amount of time visitors stay on your page.
Tip: Here are some you can try out.
– Google Optimize
– A/B tasty
– Visual Website Optimizer
– Nelio A/B testing
Last but not least, consume e-commerce! The only way you will be able to take your website to the next level is by searching and learning new ways to improve on what you have already built. E-commerce is a constantly evolving market where trends and best practices change faster than a model during the fashion week. You need to keep yourself up to date in order to stay relevant and ahead of your competition. Listen to podcast, read blogs, and watch youtube videos about the latest trends. To not fall behind, you must stay up to date!
We hope these tips and tricks will help you out in your quest to create the best e-commerce experience. Want to learn more or get some help to get started? Contact us down below to get all the information and help you need. We can also audit your website for free.
