A well-designed e-commerce website can make a big difference in your sales.
Many businesses make the mistake of using an off-the-shelf third-party shopping cart solution rather than have someone develop a custom online store for them. The cookie-cutter products are hard to customize in order to meet your needs and those of your customers, and this ends up costing you more in the long run.
We recommend that your e-commerce website be purpose-built for your particular retail requirements. For one thing, it gives you more control over the content. This also provides you better sales margins over time because you will not be constrained by some third party’s arbitrary limits on site activity or sales volumes. Here are five rules for the web development of e-commerce sites that will grow your online sales:
The shopping and checkout experiences must be easy and pleasant for your customers
With extensive competition on the internet, customers will just as soon go to the next website that sells what you offer but has more attractive graphics, a nice layout, obvious navigation, an easy-to-manage shopping cart, and a simple checkout process. Features include:
- Extensive search that allows customers to drill down into a sales category (if applicable) – such as by size, gender, or style.
- A shopping cart that is visible all the time or easy to retrieve, and easy to update.
- Transparent fee disclosure (special orders, rush orders, add-ons, shipping/handling).
- Less is more in terms of checkout pages. Streamline the process as much as possible but be sure to include a confirmation page so customers can double-check their orders.
Customize and brand your e-commerce website—as you need, when you want
A professional look conveys stability and reliability. Incorporate your company colors and logo, and write copy that reflects your brand. Then choose the best ways for people to search for your inventory. With high-quality customization e-commerce software, you should be able to manage inventory easily and make updates on an as-needed basis. A great way to boost sales of particular items is through the ability to feature products on a rotating basis or offer special discounts on specific items as you desire so ask about these sales-enhancing capabilities before the site is built.
Take your cues from internal site search
An internal site search box site allows visitors to look for specific items but also tells you about their experience on your website. Are customers searching for goods that are there but they can’t find them?
Are they using keywords and phrases you had not considered or optimized for? The search terms used could inform your content and search marketing strategy.
Take your store mobile
The explosive growth of smartphones and tablets means people are browsing and buying online in more places, on more devices, than ever before. Make sure your online store is mobile-friendly. It’s important to let your website design company know that you want a mobile friendly website before the actual website development starts.
Make customers feel secure
Many people are still leery about sharing credit card or other personal information on e-commerce websites. SSL certificates and security badges, clearly displayed, tell customers it’s safe to shop and buy from your business.
These are by no means the only criteria you should consider when building your e-commerce website but they lay the foundation for lots of smooth online transactions. There are many other components that go into a successful e-commerce site; feel free to contact us with your questions before you launch your online store.