10 Principles of a Great eCommerce Site (Infographic)
Did you know that by 2021 there will be $4.51 trillion USD spent on e-commerce sites across the world?
That’s a lot of money and a big opportunity for online businesses, but it also means that there's a lot of competition.
If you want to succeed online you can follow these 10 principles for building a great e-commerce site. These tips will help you stand out from the crowd and have a fantastic and profitable online business.
1. Make Your Site Mobile Friendly
Getting customers to your site can take a lot of work. Paid ads, marketing campaigns and building your brand can all help grow your business and drive traffic to your site. But if your website isn’t mobile-friendly you’ll lose out on lots of customers. Just having a website isn’t enough these days. It needs to be responsive and have great UX design.
Over 80% of Internet users in the US have used a mobile device to shop online. - buildthis.io
2. Improve Page Loading Speed
Slow page loading speed is one of the largest contributing factors in poor site bounce rates. Online shoppers these days have very little patience and will leave your site if they’re forced to wait. Optimize your site by reducing image file sizes, using browser caching and reducing redirects. These can all help make your site load quicker.
A 1-5 seconds load time increase the bounce rate probability by 90% - Google
3. Make The Shopping Process Easy
Getting customers to your site is the hard part. It’s important to not give them any reason to leave your site and not complete their purchase. Simply, make the products on your site easy to buy. Make the ‘Buy’ and ‘Checkout’ buttons easily visible. It’s also a good idea to not require customers to make an account to checkout and list products in the local currency.
23% of users will abandon their shopping cart if they have to create a new user account. - Neil Patel
4. Use Good UX Design
Making an e-commerce site is now easier than ever thanks to Wordpress and Shopify. But making a website with good UX design is much harder. However, simple practices like well laid out menus, easy site navigation and an engaging landing page all help to turn visitors into customers. Good UX design can make your site stand out amongst your competitors.
38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive. - Sweor
5. Make Paying Easy
Now that your customer wants to checkout, it’s important to make this process as simple as possible and not give them a reason to not complete their purchase. Ensuring that you have a range of payment options available is a great way to do this. It’s also a great idea to clearly state your shipping costs and returns policy. All these factors help in gaining the customer’s trust and increases conversions.
Trusted services like PayPal have 6.5 million users in Canada. - Finextra
6. Use Email Communication
Email is a great tool to communicate with your customers. You can easily inform them of sales or the release of new products. It’s also a powerful tool in reengaging with customers who have abandoned their carts. You can also build trust in your brand by promptly emailing receipts and delivery updates.
The average revenue per email for an abandoned cart email is $27.12 USD. - SmartrMail
7. Use High-Quality Photos and Videos
Visual content on your website can be used to deliver information about the product and also reinforce your brand identity. The majority of shoppers depend on photos and videos of products to help them make their decision. A picture paints a thousand words after all, so it’s important that you use a professional for content for your site.
75% of online shoppers rely on product photos when deciding on a potential purchase. - Efelle Creative
8. Develop A Consistent Tone Of Voice
When a customer is buying from your site it’s because they want to buy from you! Your branding, ethos and business practices align with theirs and they want to be your customer. That’s why it’s important to have a consistent tone of voice across your site. Make it relevant to your business. If you’re selling medical supplies your tone should be professional and use precise language. If you’re selling kids toys the language should be simple and fun.
65% of customers say that they are emotionally connected to a brand. - SEMrush
9. Drive Sales with a Blog
Blogging is a great way to increase your sales. It gives you a chance to further explain your product and makes your customer’s more informed. You’ll find blogs that explain complicated technology, blogs that give you travel tips and much, much more. Once a customer is better informed, they’ll feel more comfortable spending money on your site.
53% of marketers say blogging is their top content marketing priority. - Hubspot
10. Build Trust with an About Section
You can build a long-lasting relationship with your customers by giving them honest and transparent information about your brand and business. In your 'About' section on your site, you can give information about how the product is made, who makes it and any other information that you feel is relevant. Building this relationship gives you a chance to turn a customer into a returning customer.
A repeat customer has a 60-70% chance of converting. - Smile.io
E-commerce sites can really help you grow your business and make more sales. If you follow these 10 rules your customers will love using your site and will be likely to return. If you want professional help with your site, get in touch with Custom Fit Online and let us build your dream e-commerce site.
By Harlen Malkowich