There are times when ecommerce website designers prioritize creativity and design over customer usability, overshadowing certain features that would create a better shopping experience for online consumers. Anything as simple as colors to the more complicated flash animations can send the wrong signal to shoppers if not used accordingly. Not only can this lead to less traffic, but those who actually get to visit the ecommerce site would soon abandon the cart if the shopping experience proves to be a nightmare.
3DCart, a reputable eCommerce platform, offers helpful tips that ecommerce website designers can put into practice when creating online stores to increase conversion. With years of experience, these tips are guaranteed to bring one or two positive changes to both ecommerce website designers and store owners.
1. Shopping cart should be visible. Ecommerce website designers should make online shoppers feel at ease when they purchase products by making sure that the shopping cart is visible at all times. This simple web design technique assures shoppers that products they want to buy are actually registered. Additionally, the check out data should be readily available so customers can easily go back to the checkout page no matter where they finish shopping.
2. Optimize “add-to-cart” buttons by using a direct call-to-action approach. Experience has shown that offering options such as “more details,” “learn more,” or “add-to-cart” buttons don’t offer as much conversion as having a specific “Buy now” option. The choice of colors is likewise important as the buttons should correspond to the site’s overall concept and theme.
3. Offer auto-complete functions for search boxes. Ecommerce website designers know that search boxes are a necessity for online stores because it makes searching for products easier. To give shoppers a better experience, the “auto-complete” function can give searchers the closest matches in real time, which means that searchers can see the results as soon as they type in the keyword. It also avoids directing shoppers to the wrong products if they don’t find the right keywords.
4. For ecommerce stores with thousands of products and categories, navigation paths should be as clear as possible. The best way to do this is to have fly-out menus because shoppers can easily access any category page without too much clutter on the webpage. Also have a path between categories and subcategories so shoppers can easily find their way through the website.
5. Visitors should have the firsthand as to how they want to shop. Shopping preferences vary across all shoppers and it would be very difficult to please each customer. However, as long as you have the right tools that allow shoppers to customize how they browse through products (by price, new arrivals, bestsellers, size, color, budget, etc), conversion rates will increase in no time.
