Tag Archives: eCommerce Website

One question that business owners repeatedly put forward to website developers is regarding the creation of the best eCommerce website that leads to high rates of conversion. A lot of information exists about this topic and many articles have been written detailing the importance of a number of factors as far as effective website design is concerned.

A successful eCommerce website is more about the sales that it can generate rather than how good it actually looks. A good eCommerce website should result in high rates of conversion and not deter the customers from returning to the online business.

There are a number of things to be considered in this regard. As a business owner, start by asking yourself the following questions:

• Does your eCommerce website offer easy navigation?
• Is the loading time too high for the site?
• Is your website trustworthy, even if only in the looks?
• Will a customer be required to follow too many steps before eventually completing the purchase?
• Is the checkout process complicated?
• Do the landing pages have a professional design?
• Is there great content to support the eCommerce site?
• Do you allow your products to be shared easily on social media?

These are just some of the questions that you, as the business owner, must consider before you can develop a successful eCommerce website. Let us now take a look at the various factors to be considered if you are looking to improve conversions to your online business website.

The landing page is the most important

Most companies fail to realize the importance of having a good landing page designed for their website. A landing page designed for any particular product that you are advertising online can serve as the catalyst and boost sales of the other products you have on offer. In order to make your landing pages work properly it is important that they are designed well. Have an informative, persuasive and crisp copy made for the landing page of your website.

Taxonomy and efficiency of search

If there is a huge eCommerce site to search through, coming across a great product is a seemingly difficult job. When your eCommerce store has a number of products to sell, ensure that you have them effectively categorized and made available in the form of an easy taxonomy. The categorization should be such that the products are easy to search and find as well. Nothing can be more annoying for a customer than failing to find a relevant product on your eCommerce site even when it is up for sale on the same.

An easy checkout process

Being able to impress potential customers with your landing page is one great means of boosting the sales for your online business. It prompts them to enter their information and subsequently proceed through to the checkout page. However, if you have a complex checkout process and tend to ask your customer too many questions, it may simply irritate them and cause them to leave. Chances are they will never again return to your online store and opt for the services of a rival. This is why you should ensure that you have a fast and simple checkout process to work with. Abstain from asking information that is of no essence to your business (for example, it is of no consequence to know about the marital status of your customer). Prompt them to enter their credit card information and make the purchase as soon as possible.

Reliability and trust

The first thing that hits the minds of customers when they enter their credit card details is whether the information is being compromised. In a bid to allay these fears, ensure that you are always available at hand to answer the questions that they may put forward to you. A web-based customer service, chat service or call centre usually makes for a good idea. Placing identifiable signs in suitable areas that scream reliability and trust is also an option. Mastercard, Visa and VeriSign are some examples in this regard.

Great content to support

All said and done, an eCommerce website that does not offer good content in support of the products and services will simply be a big let down. Prospective customers are more likely to turn their backs on such a website if they are not clear about the products on offer. Just think about it, would you be interested in buying products from a company that does not have the desired levels of professionalism. If you wish to have top-notch content for your website, hire professional content writers who can write out a great copy for the products. A successful content marketing campaign will further help boost sales for your eCommerce website in a manner that can only be termed as impressive.

The aforementioned factors are among some of the most important that need to be considered while designing for an eCommerce website. By incorporating all of them in your design plan, it is likely that you will be able to increase the number of conversions to the site. In most cases, eCommerce sites prove to be a big failure because they lack a professional design. A properly planned and well thought out website is the perfect recipe for increasing leads and, in turn, the site conversion rate. If in doubt, then consider seeking professional help in this regard.

Applying the surfing analogy to eCommerce

Surfing is very often regarded as an extreme sport primarily because of the sheer power of the ocean that it harnesses. Waves gather a raw tidal energy as they surge towards the shore and this propels the skilled surfers along at exhilarating speeds, often raising them up to intimidating heights.

However, the possibility always remains where they lose control over this harnessed power that results in deadly consequences. What was once their source of success truns out to be their source of failure.

The growing market of mobile devices is of as much importance to an eCommerce company as a gigantic wave is to a surfer. If you can harness its power, it will increase your revenue and conversions. On the other hand, a failure to do so will leave you floundering and swamped while your competitors surge ahead into the horizon.

Mobile device and the eCommerce market

The power of the mobile device market is clearly defined by its rapid expansion. The year 2014 is only eight months old and already 70 tablets and five times the number of smartphones have been introduced in the market. Taking into account the fact that there are many user who continue to make use of older models, it is an indication that the device market is continuing to grow in bulk, absorbing newer models while the older ones continue to thrive.

The proliferation of operating systems and browsers is another major contributing factor to the substantial growth of the market. As is the case with smartphones, frequent releases of new OS and browser versions don’t mean that users will ignore the older ones. Recent statistics have revealed that many users continue to work with IE 6,7, or 8 and older versions of Firefox although many upgrades have been made available in the market.

Why is this the right time for eCommerce to ride the mobile industry wave?

Why is it that this growth in the mobile industry signals an opportunity for eCommerce to be hugely successful? It is because the accompanied increase in the number of consumers buying on tablets and smartphones has been equally significant. Industry estimates suggest that for the year 2014, mobile shopping is likely to account for around 17.6% of retail sales in the world. That is a year-on-year increase of as much as 62%. Sales via tablets will increase by as much as 100% while smartphones will contribute a 44% increase in eCommerce.

It is up to you to ensure that your apps and sites work perfectly on every device that your potential customers make use of. By doing so, you will be able to significantly increase your potential sales across a platform that is fast turning into the preferred channel of shopping for customers. Simply put, it is time for you to ride the mobile device wave to usher in an increased conversion rate along with higher revenues.

After the crest comes the trough

However, a failure to do so will leave you at a risk of being overwhelmed by the number of customers who fail to buy from your site, thus giving your competitors an opportunity to leave you treading water. If a customer finds that he is unable to make a purchase from your site through their mobile device, possibly due to a broken shopping cart among other factors, not only do you end up losing that sale but also a potential customer for the future. Statistics have found that as many as 79% of online shoppers who are disappointed with their experience on a website are less likely to return again for another purchase.

As you read this, the mobile device wave continues to gather momentum and surge forward towards the eCommerce companies. So are you going to start paddling towards it and catch it at the right point, or will you leave it for a moment where the momentum wears off considerably and prevents a significant impact? The choice is entirely in your hands!