1 Mobile Responsiveness on eCommerce websites
2 Appealing design
3 Fast Loading Speed
4 Easy Navigation on eCommerce websites
5 Easy to Use Checkout
6 Product filtering, Sorting and Search
7 Wish-list
8 Related Items
9 Product Recommendations
10 High resolution photos and videos
11 Informational Pages (FAQs, Reviews)
12 Security features
13 In Conclusion
Intro
When shopping online, customers are looking for many different factors. Ecommerce has become a predominant way to shop because of its convenience and the variety stores can offer.
It is therefore important that businesses ensure their eCommerce websites are optimised to give customers the best shopping experiences.
This blog will showcase 12 key features that customers are looking for when shopping on eCommerce websites.
Mobile Responsiveness on eCommerce websites
In today’s age, the mobile phone has become a core part of everyday life. Because of this, people are using their phones to conduct standard tasks, shopping being an ever rising activity. Since people are mobile shopping more frequently, it is key that eCommerce businesses ensure their sites are optimised for the device. Having a responsive site for mobiles is necessary for the best possible customer shopping experience. You should make sure your site’s layout adapts to the dimensions of most mobile devices. User functionality can be a crucial factor in customers wanting to make purchases on your site.
Appealing design
Having a well thought-out and appealing design is also an important feature for an eCommerce website. People are visual, and how the content of your site is presented has a great influence on it’s accessibility. Be mindful of simple errors such as font colours clashing with your background. You want to ensure any and all text is clear to read. Poor design choices will only turn away potential customers or worse, encourage your current ones to shop elsewhere
Fast Loading Speed
People don’t want to wait for things they want longer than they have to. Your eCommerce website’s loading times need to be swift if you want a smooth shopping experience for your customers. It only takes 3 seconds for a customer to decide if they feel the look of your site.
Easy Navigation on eCommerce websites
Ensuring that your site is easy to navigate is of great importance. If people cannot find what they are looking for because of poor functionality this prevents them from shopping on your site.
A site that is easy to navigate has a clear and defined menu, content is organised concisely and is identifiable. Your site’s navigation should direct customers to where they want to go with little difficulty.
Easy to Use Checkout
You ultimately want to ensure as many conversions as possible. To get these purchases you want to make sure the checkout process is clear and easy to use. This coincides with the layout and design of your site. You also want to ensure that there are a variety of avenues to pay I.e Paypal. It is important that you customers are not so restricted in how they wish to pay.
Product filtering, sorting and search
It’s key to ensure that you use efficient listings and filters with your products on your site. Using proper listings and clear categories for the types of products you sell make it easier for customers to find what they want. This also links to having a site with easy navigation.
Wish-list
This is a great feature to have for browsing customers. Sometimes it may be the case that they don’t want to buy a certain product at the present time, but wish to do so in the future. Having a wish-list feature allows people to add products to a list they hope to buy from you soon. By incorporating this into your site, you can retain customers even if they can’t buy your goods at the present.
Related items
This feature is a handy one to have for your eCommerce website. A ‘Related Items’ category can help you recommend similar products to those who browse your site. There is bound to be someone who wasn’t aware that you sell something they need. Features like these communicate a level of engagement for your customers, recommendations are a sign that you care.
Product Recommendations
This builds off of related items. It is also good to have features which direct customers to specific products that match their interests or purchase history. Moreover, having a product recommendations list can help personalise the shopping experience for your customers. If you want to boost your sales and customer retention this is an ideal feature to implement.
High resolution photos and videos
The presentation of your eCommerce site is another factor that decides if your customers will continue to use it. Be sure to use high resolution images to headline your products. It doesn’t send a positive message to customers if the portrayal of the product they want to buy is poorly displayed. Using high quality videos and photos can also make the difference in convincing potential buyers to double down.
Informational Pages (FAQs, Reviews)
Regardless of how presentable your site is, there will be a customer with queries they want answered. This is where you can introduce FAQs and other informational areas on your site. Consumers value brands that they can trust, and being active in answering their queries presents you as a beacon of information. This makes all the difference in the amount of consumers who may recommend your products. Doing reviews and having FAQs will establish you as a brand with knowledge, which helps in attracting more niche audiences to your site.
Security features
Security measures are heavily important with customers. With hacking and data fraud being rife, it is important that you provide customers with secure ways to shop on your site. It may be ideal to add measures such as trust signals to areas where they are required to add sensitive information. Secure payment processing must be ensured for customers purchasing on your site. First-time buyers and newcomers to your site are parties who greatly appreciate brands that take security very seriously.
In Conclusion
It is very important that as an eCommerce business you ensure your site is safe and easy to navigate for online shoppers. There are some great features you can implement from FAQ pages, appealing designs and emphasis on security features. If you want to attract and retain customers these features will help. Simple things like ensuring your site is optimised for mobile shopping can attract more customers to your eCommerce site.
