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By Abhyudaya Tripathi
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16 Mar, 2016
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~ 7 minutes to read
16 Mar, 2016
~ 7 minutes to read
Online shopping always provides a fascinating experience to frequent buyers. eCommerce is the new dawn of business as it has completely changed the conventional ways of trading and the definition of business.
eCommerce, today, is far beyond the buying and selling of products as it’s a complete process of running a business online. With the advent of web-based technologies and smartphones, we are living in the time when mobile has already dominated desktops regarding online searches. Thus, no wonder, if I conclude this point at the beginning of this write-up that “Mobile is the Future.”
Also Read: Common Mistakes With ECommerce Websites
Earlier, the biggest challenge for companies was to establish a trust among buyers but today, it’s not an issue anymore.
There is huge competition in the field of eCommerce SEO services, and you can sense it with this example. Suppose, you want to buy a mobile online, then you will visit several sites to make the best purchase. In fact, e-commerce provides numerous facilities that have made shopping experience joyous.
If we talk about the level of competition between eCommerce companies, then you have to accept the fact that it’s quite high, and the reason is its growing popularity. According to Statista, the worldwide e-commerce retail sales are expected to soar from 1.3 trillion US dollars in 2014 to 3.55 trillion in 2019.
So, the real test for companies is to bring customers to their sites. With an aim to capture potential buyers and improve sales, you need to have a user-friendly site that offers products that buyers mainly search for.
Take a look at this graph, which shows worldwide digital buyer penetration from 2011 to 2018.
It is quite clear from this graphical representation that digital world is indeed attracting customers.
Now, I’ll mention some basic elements of an eCommerce website that are needed for creating a dynamic business site.
A website that isn’t user-friendly is worthless, to say the least. A successful business hinges on a great user experience (UX) and if your site is providing great user experience, then undoubtedly, the race is yours.
Sites that compel users to play guessing games are often abandoned by the visitors. So, the site should be simple, sober, and user-friendly so that even new visitors can easily navigate your website. By providing easy navigation, you are allowing buyers to explore the site without any trouble. This results in visitor spending more time on your site. Further, the homepage of the site should be designed to encourage the customers to explore the various product categories to make a purchase. The different product categories should be self-describing and even include subcategories, if necessary, so that visitors can find their relevant products easily. Additionally, the search bar should be designed in a way to list available items on the site whenever a query is placed in the box.
TIP: Avoid a messy look of the site. Display some of the best-selling products with CTAs that compel users to take actions.
Freedom to choose or narrow down the results is one of the crucial elements of a powerful eCommerce site. In addition to it, shopping card should be flexible so that it allows users to alter the order at the time of checkout.
Customers enjoy shopping when they get the exact product they require, and filters play a crucial role in enhancing the shopping experience. For instance, if a buyer is endeavoring to purchase a blue formal shirt, then with the help of filters, he/she can narrow the search results to find exact or something close to the desired product.
While adding products to the cart, customers must have the functionality to access it the time they want to. Further, freedom to increase and decrease the quantity or removing any product from the cart must be there so that they could find flexibility in your site.
Unarguably and undoubtedly, mobile is the future and the companies that have already realized this fact and started implementing it on their site already wins half of the race.
To understand the influence of mobile, you can take the example of a renowned Indian eCommerce entity, “Myntra” that has already shut down its desktop version and become a first full-fledged mobile entity.
This is what “Myntra” shows on its website:
Around 80% of online buyers are adults and own a smartphone, so, it is quite clear that going mobile can be a beneficial decision for your business.
Proper placement of call-to-action button can skyrocket your sales. For instance, putting CTAs on your homepage for the top featured products will be a brilliant idea.
Further, if any of your top featured products gets clicked then on the very next page you should provide a clear CTA to purchase that product along with some more suggestions with CTAs to explore further. Always remember one thing; never close the path of your buyer and allow him to explore more for increasing the probability of buying.
Further, if you are offering some discounts or any sale then your CTA button can be “Click here to grab 10% discount.”
Graphics are something that can create a fantastic user experience for your eCommerce website. These are extensively used to define the product views. Whether it is online shopping or offline shopping, buyers always intend to see products from different angles.
However, you can call it as a disadvantage of online shopping because you cannot touch the product you are planning to purchase. However, it is all about competition and to remain ahead of it, companies are putting their best efforts to make buying experience better.
High-quality graphics are extremely helpful for describing products. Aside from this, a proper product description (as per products) such as model no, technology-used, year of manufacture, warranty, and so on help buyers to get a clear idea about products.
Related: Effective Strategies for E-Commerce Product Page SEO
You win half of your race if you get succeed in providing 27 X 7 customer support. It is something with which you can achieve the trust of your buyers. Online shopping is prone to mistakes as it happens when customers make the mistakes and sometimes companies. So, customer support provides you a window to assist and to solve queries of your buyers regarding purchase to make their shopping experience better.
Security is the biggest concern in online shopping. Even today, when technological advancement has reduced security issues up to a great extent, numerous potential buyers still avoid shopping online. Well, it’s a dynamic world where things change every moment, and soon self-restircted buyers will surely walk down the path of online shoping for the convenience it offers. In the meanwhile, companies are emphasizing on website security by having comodo PositiveSSL Wildcard to provide a secure environment for unlimited subdomains with a single cost.
Apart from it, transparent policies can be another useful way to ensure customers that their data is used only for the site and will not be shared to third-party.
I tried to cover the basic elements of an eCommerce website that you must include in your business website. If you already have an eCommerce website, and it misses out on some of the characteristics mentioned
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