The growth of online shopping is simply jaw dropping. A study shows that In 2018, an estimated 1.8 billion people worldwide purchased goods online (Statista, 2018). In the same year, global e-commerce sales amounted to $2.8 trillion (this is almost 10x the GDP of Singapore). If that isn’t enough to blow you away, projections show that global e-retail sales are going to grow to up to $4.8 trillion by 2021.
These days we do almost everything online and that includes shopping as well. Also with the COVID-19 pandemic speeding up the transition for business digitalization, there is no better time than now to jump into e-commerce for your business. Web design and development is extremely critical when creating an ecommerce website.
Below are 4 tips to implement when creating your ecommerce website.
1. Keep The User In Mind
Always focus on the user experience for your website. Every single detail of your website from product images to call-to-action buttons could potentially influence a user’s decision to make a purchase. User experience is paramount for leads conversion and turning existing customers into repeat customers.
The biggest shortcoming of ecommerce business is the inability to let their customers touch, feel and try the product before making a decision. While there is currently no solution for solving this issue, you can cover this deficiency in other areas of your business. During the design process, put yourself in your visitor’s shoes. What kind of layout is going to be easiest for them to navigate? How can you organize your products in a way that makes sense for the end user? How can you simplify the checkout process? What preconceived notions will your customers have?
Adding in product videos and interactive product images will also enhance customer experience and increase their engagement with your website.
2. Be Clear About Your Pricing
Honesty is always the best policy. When designing your ecommerce website, remember to always be upfront and honest about the price of the products or services you are selling. Put your pricing at a place where it is easy to find and simple to understand.
This rule also applies to shipping. Always be upfront about shipping costs on your products as well as shipping policies customers may need to know about. Studies show that displaying shipping information too late in the purchase process leads to increased cart abandonment rates. Make sure your customers can see the total cost of a product, including shipping, prior to making a purchase.
(photo reference: https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/ecommerce-web-design/)
Additionally, make your checkout page as simple as possible for users to navigate easily. Provide all information about the checkout process so that your visitors will have a peace of mind when purchasing.
3. Prioritize SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is without a doubt the best long term strategy for website marketing. If you don’t have a strong SEO strategy in place, you are losing out on brand impressions, clicks, and sales.
These are the most interesting SEO stats we think you should know.
- 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine. (BrightEdge)
- 0.78% of Google searches click on results from the 2nd page. (Backlinko)
- 53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search. (BrightEdge)
- 92.96% of global traffic comes from Google search, Google Images, and Google Maps. (Sparktoro)
- SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media. (BrightEdge)
- 69.7% of search queries contain four words or more. (Ahrefs)
Not everyone who wants what you’re selling will navigate straight to your website. In fact, research shows that 46% of consumers start the buying process through a search engine, such as Google. With these statistics shown, it is vital for your ecommerce site to be one of the top results on a search engine. Focus your efforts and money on search engine optimization because your competitors are doing exactly that to win your potential customers over.
It has been proven that most successful ecommerce sites are the ones that are willing to put in the hard work in the first one to two years that is so critical when it comes to spreading brand awareness and setting your store up for success for the long haul.
4. Utilize Email Marketing
Build a system to consistently provide your existing customers with valuable content such as monthly promotions, new products, upcoming industry trends and interesting articles. To have a successful ecommerce site, you need to have lots of visitors ready to buy and a strategy to drive them to your website. Building an ecommerce email list is one of your best options. A great way to add subscribers is to collect email addresses during the checkout process.
Here is an example from Esme & Eisig.
You should also utilize emails by reminding shoppers about their abandoned carts which can help to improve your website sales conversion rate. Once a user sets up their profile, you can tell when they add something to their shopping cart without buying it. They were interested in the product enough to add it to their cart, all they need is just a push from you to convince them of their buying choices. Sending an email reminding the shopper about the item can be just enough to finalize the sale.
The abandoned cart rate, on average, falls between 60-80%, according to Baymard. While it may be normal to experience abandoned carts, you should use email marketing to make the conversion happen. You can have the first email sent within six hours of the cart abandonment to better help the conversion. Consider also sending at least 3 emails afterwards trying to recover it. You can consider offering an additional discount or free shipping to help convert the sale.
Conclusion
Designing an ecommerce website can be tricky and maintaining it can be even trickier but do not let it intimidate you. See what works for your website and constantly optimize the areas that are lacking behind or slowing your business growth. That said, you should start to identify changes that need to be made and prioritize the ones you think are the most important.
If you are looking to improve on your business with digital solutions such as website design, digital marketing or video production, feel free to email us at enquiry@apexmedia.com.sg
We are more than happy to provide a complimentary consultation with regards to your business!