Today, the world goes digital very quickly, and by 2040, most businesses will go online. Moreover, 95% of online shopping pertains to eCommerce. While this means that entry to eCommerce is easy, this also means you will have a lot of competitors as soon as you attempt to enter eCommerce. While having competitors is practically a driver of the free market economy, this thing goes hard on you once you are an entrepreneur on the market, offering your goods and services. You get to give a good reason to your customers that your services and/or products are better than that of your competitors. We invite you to get acquainted with the eCommerce features.
Mobile-friendly design
Today, more than half of customers come from mobile devices. Thus, you need to power up your mobile version to engage these customers. Mobile-friendly websites are a thing that helps you to attract more customers, especially those ones, who come from mobile. So, if you need to increase traffic to your website, boost your mobile version and improve the design so that the conversion rates are higher.
There are special tips that make your mobile version more appealing to the users. The most important one is a responsive design. Having a responsive design means that you are going to have your page displays adjusted to the screen dimensions of the visitors. As a result, the website looks great not only on desktops but also on smartphones, devices, and tablets.
Navigation
Navigation should be a part of your design and help your visitors to find what they want in just a few clicks. Try your website for yourself. Can you find the item that you need in two or three clicks? If you do, your navigation is just fine. However, if you don’t, it is time to think about redesigning your website so that it is easy to find the item that your customers want. Either way, navigation should be clear and obvious to every user who appears on your website.
Basically, there are two parts of the design: UI and UX. While UI is a user interface, UX is a user experience, and both need to ensure smooth navigation and perfect work of technical features of the website. In other words, UI provides instructions for users, and UX ensures that users apply those instructions successfully.
Security features
Like any other website, you need to comply with security requirements. While security and safety of data are what is required by the law, it is important that the customers feel secure, too. The thing is, online platforms are often a target of cybercriminals, and the personal and financial information of customers needs to be protected so that they can make online transactions safely. The basic security features go with the secure eCommerce platform. More specifically:
- Having an SSL certificate establishes a safe connection between the website and the users. Make sure there is a green lock at the beginning of the web address of the page. By clicking there, you can view an SSL certificate of the vendor.
- Activating two-factor authorization makes it way harder to access someone’s information without authorization. So, offer this one to your customers so that they are safer when at your store.
- Explain your privacy policies to your customers by enlisting them in the footer of the website. Privacy policies are aimed to ensure that your data are not shared with other third parties with no proper access.
Prominent shopping cart and checkout buttons
Your cart and checkout should be easy to use on your website. For example, one of the ways to boost your conversion and attract more customers to the cart and checkout is to place the buttons “add to cart” and “checkout” at the most prominent parts of the website. Also, when going to the checkout page, there is a need to make sure that the customers see the specs of chosen items, their quantity, and price. Thus, your customers will be able to check and/or change their orders. Importantly, make sure that the cart is saved when abandoned. In this case, when returning, your customers will see their chosen items and are more likely to complete checkout.
Multiple payment options
The more payment methods you offer, the better. The importance and the ways to use the payment gateways are discussed in more detail in the blog post about payment gateways. Anything popular is going to work when it comes to payment options. Digital wallets, credit cards, PayPal, everything might work as soon as you offer the most frequently used payment options on the market.
High-quality photos and videos
When adding content to your website, think carefully about photos and videos that show your product to the customers. When it comes to products they shop for, customers want to see as much as possible. Therefore, it makes sense to put extra effort into building visual content. Detailed images that show your product do not only attract your customers but also showcase details of your product.
With high-quality photos and videos, it is easier to show attention to detail and attract customers with a detailed description of the product. As soon as there are dozens of competitors to your products, it is important that yours is chosen, which means building images is crucial for having your products noticed. At this point, investing in a good camera is a good way to boost your conversion rates.
Detailed shipping and return information
Think about providing specific information about shipping and the ways to return the items. This is going to make your customers more comfortable buying those items, which increases conversion. Practically, shipping information and return policy should be quick to find and easy to understand. It is not only a lawful requirement but also it makes sense on a broader scale. Usually, putting your return policy to the footer increases conversion significantly.
Reviews/Testimonials
Adding an option to provide testimonials and reviews is one more tool that is going to increase the trust of your customers. When there are reviews and testimonials on the website, customers understand that these items are bought and used, and there are living breathing people who use them. This increases the likelihood of a completed purchase. Generally, it is a good idea to add a review tool to the product card. Also, you can offer a cashback option or a discount for the next purchase if a customer provides a review and/or a testimonial.
Item availability
It is irritating to choose the item just to see that this item is out of stock. So, try to avoid the situation when your customer is facing the need to place the item on the waiting list or search for a replacement. It is fair to show the item is out of stock right away before it is added to the cart. Ideally, when you say that the item is out of stock, you should provide at least approximate information on when it is going to be available again.
Frequently asked questions
There are questions that the customers ask very often, such as what is a return policy when the item is going to be delivered, what payment methods are, and many more. These questions are clear to anyone who worked at the store at least once. Customers are curious to know how they can exchange their item if the size is not a great fit, and what are the terms and conditions of replacement. When buying in the online store, there is no chance to ask these questions in person, so the FAQ section is a great idea to have these questions answered.
Contact Information
Having contact information in the most visible part of the website is a must to build trust with your customers. When your customers know your address and your contact number, they are more likely to complete a purchase and to return because being open with your customers builds trust, and it is important.
Conclusion
Yet still, the number of tools and features that bring more customers and increase conversion is close to unlimited. Once you have the features discussed in our list successfully added, you might want to add more. It is a great idea, just remember that your website should be navigated easily. There is no good in adding features if customers cannot access them. So, invest in a usable and user-friendly website with responsive design, and you will have more sales than ever before. We at SOFTLOFT know that online stores are popular when they are easy to navigate and neatly looking at all devices. Just contact us to get professional and individual advice.
