The Top eCommerce Web Design Tips

Where do you sell your products? In a physical shop just around the corner? In a crowded shopping mall somewhere? Or perhaps a night market where crowds throng for cheap deals? Wherever that is, the thing about the Internet is that people are no longer limited by distance. They can find your business and purchase something from you if you carry what they need. It makes sense; until it doesn’t.

As per Goodfirms, 73.1% of customers flee a site that has a non-responsive design. That in itself is already a good enough reason to spend money on the web design and customer experience of your online store.

 

 

Here’s your ultimate guide to all the website design tips you must know to sell more.

 

What Is an eCommerce Website?

Most businesses commit this important mistake while designing a website: that it simply needs to be pretty.

 

That is indeed part of the formula, but the design of an online shop is quite different from that of a brochure or portfolio site. An eCommerce (also referred to as e-commerce) site has a vital purpose: to drive sales

 

An eCommerce platform is a website where you can sell your products online. It offers functionalities like a product catalog, shopping cart, payment gateway and order management.

Traditional websites are not designed to enable online transactions, but to inform or persuade prospective customers or clients.

 

Here’s a rundown of how they differ:

 

Aspect	eCommerce Website	Traditional Website
Purpose	Chiefly for product or service purchasing and selling	Mainly to serve as a source of information or content
User Interaction	Highly interactive: users can search products, add to cart, and checkout	Less interactive: users read or download content
Content Update Frequency	Regular updates with new products, promotions or offers	Updates may be less frequent, mainly static content
Security	High-level transaction security (SSL certificates, payment encryption)	Standard security measures, lesser emphasis on transaction security

 

Essentially, a classic website is supposed to be a “face” of a business. It should reflect one’s work, values, how to get to them and even a business’s culture.

 

For online shops, it’s everything with a slight twist. An eCommerce website is a physical extension of a physical shop, with the extra convenience of being able to access any time and anywhere.

 

Types of eCommerce Websites

eCommerce websites are not identical. Zulfiqar suggested that there are six primary categories of eCommerce websites developed for various purposes:

 

• Business to Business (B2B): These are websites that sell goods or services of one business to another. For instance, Alibaba.com is a B2B website that unites manufacturers and wholesalers from various nations.

 

• Business to Consumer (B2C): These are websites selling goods or services of a business to a single consumer. For instance, Amazon.com is a B2C website selling various products to online consumers.

 

• Consumer to Business (C2B): These are sites where individual consumers sell their products or services to businesses. For instance, Upwork.com is a C2B site that brings together freelancers and clients across different industries.

 

• Consumer to Consumer (C2C): Such sites allow individual consumers to trade or sell their goods or services with other consumers. For instance, ebay.com is a C2C site that offers web-based auctioning and  e-commerce between the buyer and the seller.

 

• Business to Administration (B2A): Such websites provide business goods or services to a public administration or government agency.

 

• Consumer to Administration (C2A): They are doors to single consumers which allow them to give or take products or services to or from a public administration or government agency.

 

Being absolutely certain about the type of website you are running is imperative as it makes it possible for you to change your services so as to respond to the needs of your targeted clients.

 

For instance, a C2C website might focus on building a minimalistic platform for people to simply buy and sell products, whereas a B2A website might focus on security and timeliness in providing services to government institutions.

 

7 eCommerce Web Design Best Practices You Should Know

Building a website to make more sales isn’t a straightforward process, though. That’s why the typical eCommerce conversion rate is 2.5% to 3%. (Shopify) So, how do you make your online store conversion-ready? Website design considerations to remember are listed below:

 

1. Design for Mobile

All responsive web design advice begins with mobile.

 

“Without it, customers will have a poor user experience on their smartphones” and other devices.

 

In this day and age, it’s already a no-brainer that your website must be optimized for these devices. Every person has a smartphone right in their pocket, making it easier for them to shop online and on the go.

 

Make sure that your eCommerce web design can do the following:

 

• Load fast
• Resize images and text to fit smaller screens
• Have a user-friendly interface for touch commands

 

Look at the following website of a glass rail firm:

 

 

Its desktop eCommerce layout still appears the same when it’s resized for a smaller screen:

 

It facilitates users to access the site on multiple devices and ensure a smooth experience. Sites have to be available everywhere, anywhere, at any time, wherever you are and whatever device you have. That is what mobile-friendly e-commerce website creation is all about

 

2. Keep Navigation Easy for Everyone

Resizing items for all screens is not where it ends, clearly. Your clients must also comfortably comprehend the hows and wheres of your website.

 

Do not confuse your customers with a messy and disorganized layout, said by Zulfiqar . For instance, if you’re selling different products, group them into different categories, such as clothes, accessories and footwear. You should also apply easy and understandable labels to your navigation menu.

 

This is how a rubber surfacing company is using navigation for an improved user experience and e-Commerce website development:

 

 

Aside from having separate categories for its residential, commercial and standalone surfacing products, it also made knowing about the company easier. It included a portfolio of its works, an About Us section and service locations.

 

That way, customers won’t feel lost navigating the website despite the variety of products being offered.

 

3. It’s All About Conversions

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) refers to the intentional placement of things and words on your website in order to persuade visitors to take action. eCommerce designers use this tactic to drive more sales through one web page.

 

Below are some responsive web design tips on how to accomplish this:

 

• Call-to-action design: A call-to-action (CTA) instructs your visitors what to do next. It may be a button labeled ‘Buy Now’ or just a sentence like ‘Book your appointment now.’

 

• 

 

• White space usage: Busy websites repel customers, so they are less likely to make a purchase or sign up for a service.

 

• Simplifying forms: Lengthy and complicated forms discourage potential customers from completing them. Keep your forms short and only ask for essential information.

 

 

Everything should be easy for your customers: to read, go to the next step and make the final purchase. If they have to do multiple steps just to achieve one goal, then you’re likely to lose them.

 

You can also “add a frequently asked questions (FAQs) section, where customers can look up answers to popular questions or interact with a bot.”

 

Zulfiqar also recommends providing several payment methods, including:

 

• PayPal
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay

 

In this way, “customers can pick their preferred option and not have to enter their card details themselves.”

 

4. Instill Confidence With Customer Testimonials

It’s only right to be wary of new products. If you cannot find any proof of how a product has benefited other clients, you may not want to purchase it.

 

Therefore, provide reassurance for your customers by posting customer feedback and reviews on your site. These can be in written form, videos or even photographs.

 

 

Implementing this “can make you more trustworthy and encourage more visitors to convert,” claimed Zulfiqar.

 

The more reviews you have, the more Google will like you. Just ensure that, as eCommerce designers, your reviews are from real people with real experiences. Google does not want manipulated, AI-generated reviews.

 

5. Don’t Forget About Your Brand

You are an online store competing against others who sell similar products. So, it’s very important to give the consumers a reason why they should buy from you.

 

That’s what a brand is in eCommerce design.

 

You want to ensure that your website reflects your brand personality and identity so that others can easily identify and trust you,” said Zulfiqar.

 

He recommends being consistent with the following items throughout your website in order to do this:

 

• Colors
• Fonts
• Logos
• Tone of voice

 

All of these should be consistent and represent your brand’s personality.

 

There isn’t a strict rule on on-brand content when building an e-commerce website. Everyone is, after all, unique. Just ensure that whenever you design something, you always keep your brand in mind.

 

Look at this franchise renovation business:

 

 

It maintains a constant colour scheme and text fonts in its eCommerce look, hence easily identifiable while browsing through various pages.

 

6. Be Very Visual

An eCommerce website without images? That’s a disaster waiting to happen.

 

“Customers view the features, details and benefits of your products using images,” Zulfiqar said.

 

“Offer multiple views, zoom and customer reviews to allow the user to compare and select the best option”

 

Visual content is central to showcasing your products and giving customers a clear idea of what they’re purchasing.

 

Check out this organic beauty firm’s website:

 

 

 

 

 

It employs professional-level lighting and photography to make its products appear even more attractive. The natural elements employed also match its organic brand identity, further establishing its brand. 

 

7. Technical Details Count (A Great Deal)

In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, your eCommerce website should also be a pleasure to navigate. This implies that it’s accessible, loads fast and has a secure checkout.

 

Zulfiqar recommends employing a “one-click checkout for all buys, or entering the minimum information required to make the purchase.”

 

To accomplish this, it is important to optimize technical SEO aspects. Look at your Core Web Vitals, repair any broken links and implement HTTPS encryption to guarantee a seamless user experience. Yes, these web design tips are indeed very, um, technical-sounding. But there are diagnostics available that check website health, including:

 

• Google Search Console
• Google Lighthouse
• Semrush

 

Use these tools to detect any technical problems and fix them early. This makes you rank high in search and minimize the number of customers abandoning your site.

 

Create a Conversion-Ready Site With Bloom Agency

Getting the optimal mix for an eCommerce site can be challenging. Do you want it to look nice or be easy to use? Do you want to optimize for search engine placement or the checkout process? Apply these responsive web design best practices to your eCommerce site to launch your business into the stratosphere.

 

With Bloom Agency, you can do it all and more.

 

Our eCommerce design teams and specialists provide full-service website-building solutions that are suitable for stores of any size. If you’re a small company just beginning or a larger company with many products, we possess the tools, expertise, and web design best practices you’ll need to be successful.

 

Begin creating your dream online store through Bloom Agency today.