eCommerce Website Design Mistakes to Avoid At Any Cost
There is hardly any business imaginable these days that doesn’t have a website. Most business websites are increasingly getting equipped with e-commerce features to take on the business conversion opportunities and to reach out to a wider audience with the business deliverables. In that sense, the difference between so-called business websites and e-commerce stores are steadily decreasing.
By MANEV DAVE
While e-commerce stores are increasingly becoming the face of businesses irrespective of size and niche, not all e-commerce stores are equally successful. Besides marketing and strategic flaws, one of the common factors that negatively impact e-commerce stores include design shortcomings. For any aspiring eCommerce development company catering to new business brands, knowing these common flaws and mistakes is a must.
Here we are going to explain the most important design shortcomings and flaws negatively impacting e-commerce stores.
No 1: A Design not Compatible with all Mobile Devices
There is hardly anything surprising about the fact that more than 60% of web searches for products and services happen on mobile devices. And since it comprises a multitude of Android devices and a long line of iPhone and iPad devices, you have a really overwhelming variety of devices across the two leading OS platforms.
Naturally, the user interface and user experience design of the e-commerce store must be fully compatible and befitting to all these device screens. In case your e-commerce store looks great in smaller to medium length screens but looks crappy on extra long screens of the latest flagships, it definitely points out a crucial design mistake that you need to mend.
No 2: Choice of a Poor Theme or Bad Plugins
If you think the choice of theme entirely depends on just because it looks great, you probably don’t have any idea about what a good design takes. You need to list out the features and come up with a basic prototype design showcasing all your web store buttons and layout options. While doing this, you can have a gross idea of the expected user experience of the store. Now, choosing the right theme that perfectly meets your desired UX requirements becomes easier.
Once you have figured out the expected user experience, you can also develop a custom theme for your e-commerce store if you don’t find any suitable theme from the theme marketplaces. As for plugins choose only the verified plugins from reputed sources that are used by other e-commerce stores in your niche.
No 3: Complex and Effort-consuming Checkout
According to most experts, a complex checkout process that takes too much effort for the customers to purchase an item is the biggest reason for an undermining shopping experience.
To improve on this common design mistake, make sure the checkout process remains simple and takes not more than one or two steps for completing a purchase.
Apart from a simplified checkout design, it is advisable to follow certain conventions like displaying shipping costs and taxes.
No 4: Offer as Many Shipping Options as Possible
Since people’s priorities and shipping behavior are different, they also expect as many shipping options as possible. This is why a great e-commerce store always provides its customers as many shipping options as possible.
A variety of shipping options also give customers more flexibility and at times, an option to reduce the shipping cost. For example, a customer can choose to pick up products from the nearby store instead of paying for the doorstep delivery.
No 5: Imperfect Product Description and Depiction
Designing a perfect product page is the single most important priority that can impact business conversion more than anything else. Most customers take the final call on buying a product after reading the product description and seeing the product images in detail. So, both product descriptions and visual descriptions of the items are important for business conversion. Are you about to hire magento developers for eCommerce website development to turn your e-commerce aspiration into reality? Well, they must be insisting on great product page design as a priority.
It is rightly said that e-commerce product page design is an art that pays well in terms of steady business conversion. First of all, there should be a lot of white space and minimum visual clutter to ensure easy viewing of the product images and the features and specifications. Secondly, the description must be very precise, easy to understand, and informative about all that matters to the customers. Instead of using jargon, the description should incorporate information that orients customers about the actual product benefits.
No 6: Not Using Quality Images
These days most customers read less and watch more for their buying decisions. This is simply because high definition images and video content can quickly help them grab a detailed idea of how the actual product is going to be. In case you are not using quality images in your product pages, you are going to be punished with low audience engagement and business conversion.
Use high-quality images that can be zoomed to allow getting a closer view of the products. Make sure on any device this zooming in can be done with simple gestures. Provide multiple images to cover all the different angles and viewpoints of the visitors while seeing a product. Lastly, don’t forget to provide a graphic image describing the features and physical components of the product.
No 7: Under-Optimized Search and Filter Options
Most shoppers while accessing the online stores on their tiny mobile screens happen to be impatient and restless and they always prefer using search options for quick access to the products they are looking for. The search option is further simplified by detailed filter options related to the niche covering each and every specification.
Offering voice searches is very effective as an increasing number of customers prefer to search online using voice commands. Make sure your voice search option is advanced enough to decipher the pronunciation of customers using Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology.
To improve the search option, offer a comparison of similar products and models along with their prices. Lastly, help customers use the search function from anywhere in the app and provide the search field or button in a prominent position, preferably above the fold.
No 8: Lack of Integrated Customer Service
As per most researches on the factors responsible for losing business conversion, lack of quality customer service and support tends to be a principal reason impacting business conversion. First of all, always provide the traditional customer service options like email support or customer support helpline number and showcase these details in prominent spots.
Apart from the traditional customer service and support links and buttons, an e-commerce app must be equipped with integrated chat support that can answer most of the common customer queries and guide customers in solving common problems and complaints. If your store can integrate intelligent customer service chatbots equipped with AI technology, this can help in improving business conversion even more.
No 9: Complicated Navigation
Another major factor that makes people desert eCommerce stores is complex navigation. An e-commerce store that makes it harder for customers to browse products and make purchases can really give a frustrating experience.
To make navigation simple and easier, all the buttons and clickable elements should be big enough for finger tapping. Secondly, the most commonly accessed navigation buttons and menu options should be placed on prominent spots of the device screen. Lastly, it is important for the products to be categorized on the basis of price, most viewed, latest or recently added, etc.
Conclusion
There are obviously several other e-commerce design mistakes that demand equal attention. Any design mistake that undermines the shopping experience and makes purchases difficult should be avoided at all costs. While designing the user interface, always focus on making things easier for the customers to browse, navigate, search, and purchase on your store.
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Manev Dave is the senior developer at CMARIX Technolabs, a leading eCommerce development company with 8+ years of experience. He loves to write about eCommerce technology, startups, entrepreneurship, and business. His creative abilities, academic track record, and leadership skills made him one of the key industry influencers as well.
